If you’ve recently tuned into your local Top 40 radio station, or started TikTok, chances are you’ve come across Lizzo’s outraged hit “About Damn Time” (or at least found it on your phone in meme form).
This week, after a three-month climb, “About Damn Time” becomes Lizzo’s second song to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, following “Truth Hurts”—another inescapable hit-slash meme—in 2019.” About Damn Time” supplants Harry Styles’ “As It Was”, which falls at number 2 after a 10-week run at the top. Also on the singles chart, Kate Bush’s 37-year-old “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”, which is still experiencing a new wave of popularity since his appearance on the Netflix show “Stranger Things”, peaking at No. 3.
However, the popularity of ‘About Damn Time’ wasn’t enough to send Lizzo’s new LP, ‘Special’, to the top of the album chart. That position is still occupied by Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti”, which is number 1 for the fourth time in a row and sixth overall since its release in May.
In its 11th week of release, “Un Verano” had the equivalent of 103,000 sales in the United States, with virtually all of its commercial activity attributable to 143 million clicks on streaming services, according to tracking service Luminate. Week after week, “Un Verano” has proven to be a streaming blockbuster, even though none of the individual songs topped #4 on the Hot 100 chart (which is based on a combination of streaming, song sales, and radio airplay).
“Special,” Lizzo’s fourth album — and second for a major label — opens at #2 with the equivalent of 69,000 sales, including 37 million streams and 39,000 copies sold as a complete package. On TikTok, Lizzo posted videos of herself searching for “Special” vinyl in Target and reacting as fans buy and drop their copies. (Grape colored, “standard black” or both?)
Number 2 is Lizzo’s highest position on the album chart to date, surpassing that of her latest album, “Cuz I Love You”, which went to number 4. a woman this year.
Also on the album chart this week, Harry Styles’s “Harry’s House” is number 3, Morgan Wallen’s “Dangerous: The Double Album” is number 4 and Drake’s “Honestly, Nevermind” is number 5.