Nicki Minaj finally gets a US #1

Posted May 12, 20205 yr

https://www.billboard.com/articles/business...fW4R-FmCSL09ljA

Doja Cat's "Say So," featuring Nicki Minaj, leaps from No. 6 to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, marking each artist's first leader on the list. The song surges to the top following the arrival of its remix with Minaj.

Notably, Minaj shatters the record for the longest wait for a first Hot 100 No. 1, by total career entries, as "Say So" is her 109th charted title on the tally.

Minaj's record run to No. 1: While Doja Cat rules the Hot 100 with her third Hot 100 entry, Minaj leads with her 109th. That's the longest that a Hot 100-topping artist has had to wait for a first No. 1, blasting past Justin Bieber, who notched his first with his 47th entry, "What Do You Mean?," in 2015. (Of course, both Minaj and Bieber have tallied titles in an era in which album cuts, not just properly promoted singles, are eligible to hit the Hot 100, a rule not invoked until 1998, or 40 years after the chart originated. And, this stat covers only artists that have led the Hot 100; the cast of Fox's Glee, with 207 appearances, for instance, has not earned any No. 1s.)

Minaj first appeared on the Hot 100 dated Feb. 20, 2010, as featured on Lil Wayne's "Knockout." Her 10-year and three-month journey to her first No. 1 marks the longest since … just last week, when Kid Cudi made his first trip to the top with "The Scotts" (billed as by The Scotts, Travis Scott and Kid Cudi), wrapping an odyssey of 11 years, three months and a week dating to his first appearance. (This week, "The Scotts" slides to No. 12 in its second frame.)

Minaj also adds her 18th Hot 100 top 10. She previously hit a No. 2 high with "Anaconda" in 2014. Her 109 entries are the most among women in the chart's history, with "Say So" lifting her into a tie with Elvis Presley for the fourth-most among all acts (with the start of Presley's career having predated the Hot 100's inception).