As previously reported, it’s a notable week for rap in the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10, as Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop,” featuring Wanz, logs a second week at No. 1 and A$AP Rocky reaches the upper tier with “F**kin Problems,” featuring Drake, 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar (15-10). Who else makes news on the Hot 100 and other singles charts?
— Justin Timberlake: A notable title departs the Hot 100’s top 10 after rocketing 84-4 last week: “Suit & Tie,” featuring Jay Z, which falls to No. 13. The lead single from Timberlake’s album “The 20/20 Experience,” due March 19, plunges 2-8 in its second week on Hot Digital Songs, dropping by 65% to 109,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan after it stormed the chart last week with 315,000.
Still, “Suit” climbs 16-14 on Hot 100 Airplay (61 million all-format impressions, up 14%, according to Nielsen BDS) and enters Streaming Songs at No. 40 (536,000 on-demand streams, up 109%, according to BDS). Promotion leading up to the set’s release, which includes Timberlake’s planned appearance at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 10, could secure the song’s momentum in coming weeks.
— Gotye: Having already topped a bevy of Billboard charts and earned the honor of the No. 1 Hot 100 song of 2012, “Somebody That I Used to Know,” featuring Kimbra (45-44 in its 56th week), adds a new milestone: With 21,000 sold last week, it passes 7 million in digital sales, according to SoundScan, becoming just the fourth title to crack the 7-million-sold barrier. The Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling” leads with 8.2 million, followed by Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” (7.7 million) and LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” (7.5 million).
(The songs spent eight, 14, seven and six weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, respectively.)
— AWOLNATION: Spurred by renewed radio promotion, “Sail” re-enters the Hot 100 at a new peak (No. 63), having previously risen as high as No. 82 in October 2011. The cut, which has sold 2 million, concurrently re-enters Hot Rock Songs at No. 11. It’s now bubbling under Adult Top 40 with 85 spins last week on nine reporters.
After “Sail” peaked at No. 5 on the Alternative airplay chart in August 2011, the band, fronted by Aaron Bruno, logged two more top 10s: “Not Your Fault” (No. 3, March 2012) and “Kill Your Heroes” (Oct. 27, 2012).
— fun.: “Carry On” advances 81-75 in its fourth week on the Hot 100, the follow-up to the group’s six-week No. 1 “We Are Young,” featuring Janelle Monae, and the No. 3-peaking “Some Nights.” “Carry” bullets at No. 3 on Triple A, No. 8 on Alternative and No. 19 on Adult Top 40, while bowing at No. 39 on Mainstream Top 40 and No. 73 on Hot 100 Airplay (17 million, up 25%).
— Pitbull: “Feel the Moment,” featuring Christina Aguilera, starts at No. 99 on the Hot 100 and No. 38 on Mainstream Top 40. It also brings back, via a sample, a-ha’s classic 1985 Hot 100 No. 1 “Take on Me.” “Moment” marks Aguilera’s second consecutive Hot 100 collaboration: “Just a Fool,” with Blake Shelton, her co-coach on NBC’s “The Voice,” reached No. 71 in December. [Billboard.biz]