Author: Rap Hooks

One week after seeing his nine-week reign at No. 1 with breakout hit “Ordinary” interrupted by “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters, Alex Warren is back atop the Billboard Hot 100 this week once again.

“Ordinary” resumes its dominance for a milestone 10th week on the chart Aug. 23, helped in large part by a duet performance of the smash with country superstar Luke Combs — which the two delivered at Chicago’s Lollapalooza festival in July, and which they delivered to streaming services on Aug. 8. It also reigns on the Songs of the Summer chart for a 12th week, the chart’s entire run for 2025 thus far.

Is it a surprising 10-week No. 1? And does it feel right as the likely Song of the Summer? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.

1. Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” reaching the 10-week mark at No. 1: surprising or not surprising?

Katie Atkinson: Progressively less surprising as the weeks wore on, but if you’d asked me back in June when it first reached the summit if it would still be topping the chart three months later, I never could have predicted this. Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” might be the closest comparison – which only spent one week at No. 1 on the Hot 100 last year, but has racked up a whopping 104 weeks (so far!) on the chart. What I’m saying is: Teddy walked in 2024 so Alex could run this year.

Kyle Denis: Surprising. I hate to be a Negative Nancy, but I really did think a better and more interesting song would have knocked “Ordinary” off the top spot four or five weeks ago. 

Jason Lipshutz: Not surprising. Once “Ordinary” elbowed its way to the top of the Hot 100 in June, every metric indicated that Alex Warren’s burly sing-along was a multi-platform smash, and that the song was in for an extended run at No. 1. Double-digit weeks atop the Hot 100 is rarefied air, and impressive for any artist — let alone a relative unknown like Warren prior to his breakthrough smash — but the signs that “Ordinary” could make it this far were there from the get-go. 

Melinda Newman: Given how rare it is for any song to reach No. 1, much less hit this watermark, it’s surprising. It’s also surprising because of how polarizing the song is— as many people seem to hate it as love it. But what’s to hate? It is an uncynical song of unabashed devotion to one’s partner, with subtle religious overtones thrown in. Sure, it’s a little treacly, but it’s a legit, true love story. We’re in troubling times and people are gravitating toward a song that lets them escape into their own romantic tale. I think there’s still a stigma for male artists who come up through TikTok and were social influencers that doesn’t seem to affect women artists like Billboard cover girl Addison Rae, who came from the same Hype House collaborative group that spawned Warren. 

Andrew Unterberger: Once it reached No. 1 for one week, 10 weeks was practically a lock. “Ordinary” is the exact kind of song whose reign is seemingly indefinite — broadly appealing across DSPs and radio formats, with major pop culture presence but not inextricably tied to any one trend or breakout moment. I thought 15+ weeks was almost certainly in play; it still might be, but now it’s got real challenges to clear first.

2. While “Ordinary” gave up the No. 1 spot to “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters last week, it’s back on top this week in part due to an official live performance with Luke Combs that’s been released to DSPs. Do you think this new live collaboration is a particularly interesting new part of the song’s story, or mostly just a one-week blip?

Katie Atkinson: Now I kind of want a Luke Combs solo cover of the song with full country production (imagine the twinkly piano intro swapped with a plucky acoustic guitar instead), but I don’t see this live duet becoming a lasting part of the song’s story. What the Lollapalooza recording proves is how impressive it is that “Ordinary” had the juice to reclaim the top spot after a cultural phenomenon like “Golden” supplanted it.

Kyle Denis: I’m going to go with the Luke Combs version being a one-week blip. It’s cool to see Alex embraced by a more established music star — particularly one from a different genre — but I don’t anticipate this version growing into a significant chapter of the song’s story. 

Jason Lipshutz: I was ready to write off the Luke Combs-assisted live version of “Ordinary” as a festival stunt designed to entertain a Lollapalooza crowd and juice streaming numbers… but man, Combs sounds sort of perfect growling out those verses and going full blast on the chorus alongside Warren. “Ordinary” makes sense when revamped into a country-pop sing-along, and Combs proved with his “Fast Car” cover that he can add Nashville gravitas to a well-known hit. I could see this one getting a proper studio version and persisting.

Melinda Newman: Country superstar Combs giving the song his blessing by performing it at Lollapalooza with Warren really counts for something and will help introduce the song to country fans who weren’t familiar with it yet. There’s something very sweet about two guys singing adoringly about their wives. Though they don’t sing together much, Warren holds his own on stage vocally with Combs and that’s no small feat. He sounds better live with Combs than he does on the record.

Andrew Unterberger: More than demonstrating anything about “Ordinary,” it just demonstrates to me what a powerhouse vocalist Combs is. Warren is no slouch in that department either, but the second Combs lays into that first verse, he kinda makes the song his — he Kelly Clarksons the singer-songwriter, if you will. That might drive some new ears to the song, and deservedly so, but I imagine in the long term it’ll more just make for some new Luke Combs fans.

3. Lower on the Hot 100, Alex Warren is also present at No. 58 with “Eternity,” after previously debuting at No. 16 with the song, and his You’ll Be Alright, Kid album is still hanging around the top 10 after bowing at No. 5. Has Warren done enough to prove that he’s not a one-song sensation, or do we still need to see what he can do once the “Ordinary” momentum finally dies down?

Katie Atkinson: He’s not quite out of the one-hit-wonder woods just yet, but he is already in the rarefied air of spending double-digit weeks at No. 1, so this isn’t just any hit. It’s tough to tell someone who has already accomplished so much in his relatively short career that he needs to try to follow it up with more success after this came out of left field, but I do think it’s going to take more than “Ordinary” and its album to solidify his status in pop music.

Kyle Denis: I think he’s done enough at the moment; I’d even throw in his smart collaborations with Rosé (“On My Mind”) and Jelly Roll (“Bloodline”), which both landed on the Hot 100. With the VMAs on the horizon and several fall/winter awards shows following soon after, Alex has more chances to truly establish his name and brand outside of “Ordinary,” specifically in the realm of live performance, which I think is important for such a relatively faceless song. 

Jason Lipshutz: Warren is following the same playbook as contemporaries like Teddy Swims and Benson Boone, by releasing new songs and a full-length to exist concurrently with a smash single while also not overshadowing it during its chart run. Teddy and Benson have been able to transcend their respective breakthrough hits and prop up sturdy careers, and I’d bet that Alex does the same thing, as “Ordinary” naturally cedes the floor to follow-up hits that will not be quite as dominant but will achieve solid chart runs and round out a touring set list.

Melinda Newman: No, but that’s OK. That’s no slight on him. Proving you’re not a one-hit wonder is only something that can be solved by having another hit. Let’s see where he is in two years. But like lots of artists, his breakthrough hit may be the biggest song he ever has in his career and there’s no shame in that. 

Andrew Unterberger: I think he’s demonstrated that there’s real pop-level interest in him beyond the song, which is all he really needs to do at the moment. Compare him to an artist like Glass Animals, who had a similarly slow-burning breakout hit that topped the Hot 100 and lasted on the chart forever — that band hasn’t returned to the Hot 100 yet, while Warren has already reached the chart another three times. That’s no slight on Glass Animals, which has a devoted following in its own right, but that group’s time as pop stars will likely be limited to one song. Warren has shown he at least has the potential for much more.

4. “Ordinary” is certainly on pace to end the season as Billboard’s official song of the summer — do you think it makes sense as a good or fitting honoree for this year?

Katie Atkinson: I like it best when a song of the summer sounds summery – “I Had Some Help” (2024), “As It Was” (2022) and “Butter” (2021) fit that bill – but a smash this big, hitting its stride from June-August, is impossible to overlook. If I’m going on vibes alone, my personal song of the summer is probably Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild” or Justin Bieber’s “Daisies,” but they’re just not as ubiquitous as “Ordinary” has been.

Kyle Denis: I mean it makes sense because it’s the top-performing song of the summer on our charts… but it’d be a bold-faced lie if I said “Ordinary” made any kind of dent in my personal 2025 summer experience. 

Jason Lipshutz: While we tend to think of the song of the summer as a sunny, upbeat pop song, that hasn’t been the case for a few years at this point: Morgan Wallen made country dominate in 2023 and 2024 with “Last Night” and “I Had Some Help,” respectively, while Harry Styles’ “As It Was” earned the SOTS crown with a pop song with a more somber tone. The downcast, stomping “Ordinary” does not scream “song of the summer,” but it’s an inescapable anthem, with 10 weeks at No. 1. The people have spoken, and they want their holy water watered down during this season.

Melinda Newman: It’s been a very weird summer in that regard in that nothing else has really raised its hand or been as sticky. Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild” was certainly a contender, but didn’t have the charm of “Espresso.” Justin Bieber’s “Daisies,” which I personally love, didn’t catch on and came out too late. For all the raging success of the Kpop Demon Hunters soundtrack and the three top 10 Hot 100 hits it has spawned, those songs don’t have the ubiquity or broad appeal that “Ordinary” has. 

Andrew Unterberger: Not really, but the numbers are undeniable.

5. How many weeks do you think “Ordinary” will ultimately spend atop the Hot 100?

Katie Atkinson: We’ve got some big releases looming here – especially Carpenter next week and whenever Taylor Swift feels like deploying a lead single – but it feels safe to assume that there could be at least another week in the chamber for Warren. Otherwise, my money is on “Golden” to resume its run in the top spot.

Kyle Denis: At this rate, “Ordinary” will probably stay atop the Hot 100 until Sabrina Carpenter (Man’s Best Friend) and Taylor Swift (The Life of a Showgirl) release their new albums. Or maybe we get an especially moving live performance or new version of “Golden,” “Love Me Not” or “The Subway” to further break up Warren’s reign. 

Jason Lipshutz: I’ll give it one more week. We’ve not only got “Golden” fiercely competing for the top spot, but another Sabrina Carpenter album a little over a week away, as well as rumored or confirmed upcoming projects from Doja Cat, Cardi B and, of course, Taylor Swift. Maybe “Ordinary” will be able to fend off that stiff competition, but I’d bet that Warren will persist in the top 10 of the Hot 100 after being replaced at No. 1 sooner than later.

Melinda Newman: The second Taylor Swift drops the first song from The Life of a Showgirl — and we have no idea when (or if) that will be before the album comes out on Oct. 3 — “Ordinary” is out of there. But it’s a song that wears well, and people that love it love it very much. It has a slow burn rate — it’s still gaining in streams — so it could be pushed out of No. 1 by Demon Hunters’ “Soda Pop”and pop back up. Or it may fall out, but hang out in the upper reaches, like Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control,” Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” or Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” for months. After women pop singers dominated for the last few years, they are now sharing their space with male solo artists and it’s really a fun time for pop fans. 

Andrew Unterberger: I’ll give it one more week after “Golden” dies down — assuming it will die down eventually; there’s been no real indication to this point that KPop Demon Hunters won’t just get more and more popular until the end of time — and there’s no other big debut to challenge it. But those weeks might be few and far between for the next month or two, so it wouldn’t be shocking to me if 10 is the (still incredibly impressive) final number for “Ordinary.”

If there are no coincidences in Taylor Swift‘s world, then her ever-observant Swiftie fans are convinced that the pop superstar will headline the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show.

What’s their evidence? Well, during Swift’s appearance last week on the New Heights podcast, hosted by boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother Jason, fans picked up on a few hints — including an extended conversation about baking sourdough bread. Next year’s Super Bowl is at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, home of the San Francisco 49ers, whose mascot happens to be a miner character named Sourdough Sam. If that’s not enough, Swift said she now talks about sourdough “60% of the time” — and next year’s big game happens to be Super Bowl 60.

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are laying out all the fan evidence pointing to Swift headlining the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show. If Swift does wind up with the gig, she would be the first halftime headliner to not come from the worlds of R&B or hip-hop since 2020, when Latin pop superstars Shakira and Jennifer Lopez shared the stage.

Also on the show, as Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” returns to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a 10th total week, we’ve now got three KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack songs in the top 10. Plus, on the Billboard 200, Gunna, mgk, Jonas Brothers and BABYMETAL all make waves in the top 10, as Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem scores an 11th week at No. 1.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

By now, you’ve heard about the five artists who are slated to receive Kennedy Center Honors in December – Michael Crawford, Gloria Gaynor, KISS, Sylvester Stallone and George Strait. At a press conference announcing the honorees, President Trump said he was “98% involved” in the selections and that he’ll host the televised ceremony on which these artists are saluted.

While Trump’s involvement will make many view these selections through a partisan lens, we’re asking you to put that aside and simply tell us what’s your favorite song associated with this year’s honorees. We give you two choices for each honoree.

For Crawford, the Tony-winning star of The Phantom of the Opera, you can choose between his two most famous solos in that show: “The Music of the Night” and “The Phantom of the Opera.”

For Gaynor, you can choose between her two top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: her discofied remake of The Jackson 5’s “Never Can Say Goodbye” and her Grammy-winning No. 1 smash “I Will Survive.”

For KISS, you can choose between their rock anthem “Rock and Roll All Nite” and their image-broadening ballad “Beth,” the band’s first top 10 hit on the Hot 100.

For Stallone, you can choose between Hot 100-topping hits from two of his Rocky movies: Bill Conti’s “Gonna Fly Now” and Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.” Both songs were Oscar-nominated for best original song. (Fun Fact: Stallone is this year’s only Kennedy Center Honors recipient who is associated with two No. 1 Hot 100 hits.)

For Strait, you can choose between “Amarillo by Morning,” a 1983 hit that has long been a fan favorite, and “Check Yes or No,” one of his record 44 No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.

What’s your favorite of these 10 songs associated with this year’s Kennedy Center Honorees? Vote!

Drake wraps one of his fastest climbs to No. 1 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Airplay chart as “What Did I Miss?” tops the ranking dated Aug. 23, its sixth week on the list. The single rises a spot after a 13% surge in plays on U.S. panel-contributing rhythmic radio stations in the tracking week of Aug. 8-14, according to Luminate.

Drake extends his record Rhythmic Airplay No. 1 count to 42. It’s his third of 2025, following two-week champ “Nokia” in May and the one-week leader “Somebody Loves Me,” with PARTYNEXTDOOR in July.

The new chart-topper pads Drake’s substantial lead over all other acts for the most No. 1s on Rhythmic Airplay since the chart launched in October 1992. Here’s the current leaderboard:

42, Drake
17, Rihanna
16, The Weeknd
14, Chris Brown
13, Bruno Mars
13, Lil Wayne
13, Usher

As “What Did I Miss?” arrives at the summit in its sixth chart week, it caps one of Drake’s nine quickest trips to No. 1 among those 42 champs. It matches five other songs that needed mere six-week runs to the penthouse: through his feature on Rihanna’s “Work” and his own “One Dance,” featuring WizKid and Kyla, “Nice for What,” “Way 2 Sexy,” featuring Young Thug and Future, and “Rich Baby Daddy,” featuring Sexyy Red and SZA. The superstar’s “God’s Plan” and “Toosie Slide,” meanwhile, took just five weeks each to the top. His best sprint came via “In My Feelings,” which reigned in its fourth week on the chart.

Elsewhere, “What Did I Miss?” rises 3-2 on the audience-based Rap Airplay chart, through a 10% jump in listenership, and 8-6 on the plays-based Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart (up 9%).

Meanwhile, Drake’s eyeing another hit on Rhythmic Airplay. His collaboration with Central Cee, “Which One,” advances 29-23 in its second week on the chart, courtesy of a 49% week-over-week increase in plays.

JADE isn’t holding back when it comes to speaking up about her beliefs — and that includes calling out those who choose not to do the same about important issues.

In an interview with The Guardian, the former Little Mix star shared her belief that it’s impossible to separate pop music from social and political developments. In her case, that’s meant standing up for the LGBTQ community and advocating for Palestinian people who have been suffering for years amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, to name a couple of the causes she’s championed.

“I don’t think you can be a pop artist and cover your eyes,” she told the publication, before name-checking another star whose approach she disagrees with. “I saw Matty Healy say that he doesn’t want to be political, which I found disappointing.”

The piece comes a couple of months after The 1975 frontman made headlines for his comments during the band’s 2025 Glastonbury set. Though Healy has previously referenced politics in songs such as 2018’s “Love It If We Made It,” the rocker had told his crowd at the time, “We honestly don’t want our legacy to be one of politics … You can go out into the world and there’s loads of politics everywhere. We don’t need more politics. We need more love and friendship.”

JADE, however, thinks that Healy needs to re-examine why he’s able to make such a statement in the first place. “It’s very easy for someone who’s white and straight and very privileged to say that,” she added to the publication. “Good for you, hun!”

The now soloist is currently gearing up to release That’s Showbiz Baby!, her long-awaited debut album about the highs and lows of finding global fame on The X Factor all the way back in 2011. JADE’s brazenness concerning the issues she’s passionate about translates into the songs on the album; on one track, “IT girl,” she gets brutally honest about how restricted she felt by the music industry during her time with Little Mix.

“We all know what it’s about,” she recently told Billboard of the track. “It’s got a certain cheekiness — I’m a laugh-at-my-trauma kind of girl, and I really enjoy writing music that ruffles people’s feathers because that’s what art should do. Those are my experiences, and now that I’m on my own, there’s nothing holding me back from telling that truth.”

That’s Showbiz Baby! arrives Sept. 12.

Federal regulators say a company illegally bought thousands of tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and resold them at inflated prices for more than $1 million in profit, according to a new lawsuit.

In a complaint filed Monday (Aug. 18) by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the watchdog group accused ticket broker Key Investment Group LLC of using “illegal means” to purchase more than 379,000 event tickets on Ticketmaster, including 2,280 for Swift’s record-shattering Eras concerts.

By “charging a significant markup to consumers” when reselling those tickets, attorneys for the FTC say Key Investment Group made roughly $7 million in profit — and deprived concertgoers of the chance to buy them at a fair price.

In a statement announcing the case, FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said the agency was sending a message to “unscrupulous middlemen who harm fans and jack up prices through anticompetitive methods.”

“Today’s action puts brokers on notice that the Trump-Vance FTC will police operations that unlawfully circumvent ticket sellers’ purchase limits, ensuring that consumers have an opportunity to buy tickets at fair prices,” Ferguson said.

In a statement, Key Investment Group said it would “vigorously defend itself” against a “clear example of regulatory overreach.”

“The case threatens to dismantle the secondary ticket market for live events, further consolidating power in the hands of the industry’s largest monopoly,” the group said.

Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation were not named in the lawsuit nor accused of any wrongdoing.

Swift’s Eras Tour wrapped in December with a record-shattering haul of more than $2 billion in face-value ticket sales over a two-year run. The unprecedented demand for the tickets led to a disastrous presale in November 2022 and then created an infamously pricey resale market throughout the run.

In Monday’s lawsuit, the FTC says Key Investment bought at least 10 tickets to 38 different Eras Tour concerts, paying a total of $744,970.29. It then resold them on the secondary market for $1,961,980.65, netting $1,217,010.36 in profit.

At just one concert — Taylor’s stop at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium in March 2023 — Key Investment allegedly used 49 different accounts to buy 273 tickets, a move the FTC says “dramatically exceeded” the six-ticket limit imposed by Ticketmaster.

To get around such limits, FTC says the group used “thousands of fictitious Ticketmaster accounts,” as well as proxy or spoofed IP addresses, virtual credit cards and fictitious names.

Notably, the lawsuit claims the group also used so-called SIM banks — a device holding hundreds of cellphone SIM cards commonly used by scammers to send text messages from different phone numbers. The group allegedly used the banks to receive the unique verification codes sent by Ticketmaster to thwart the use of ticket-buying bots.

Monday’s case was filed under the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, or BOTS Act, a 2016 statute that makes it illegal to use technology like bots to buy tickets en masse by skirting platform restrictions.

“By circumventing Ticketmaster’s security measures, access control systems, or other technological controls or measures to buy tickets, and then selling or offering to sell the tickets, Defendants have violated and continue to violate the [BOTS] Act,” the lawsuit says.

But in its response statement, Key Investment Group said the lawsuit “twisted the intent” of the BOTS Act and turned it into “a weapon against legitimate businesses and consumers.”

“Under the FTC’s interpretation, anyone who purchases more than four tickets or uses more than one account could be deemed in violation of federal law,” the group said. “That outcome is not only illogical, it is absurd.”

It’s not the first time that Swift’s infamously pricey tickets led to a crackdown. Earlier this year, New York prosecutors brought criminal charges against a “cybercrime crew” that allegedly stole more than 900 tickets to the Eras Tour and other events and then resold them for more $635,000 in illegal profit.