Q2 2021 Trend Highlights

Home , 24kGoldn, Astronaut in the Ocean, DaHeala, Deja Vu (Uptown Baby), Good 4 U, Iann Dior

2021 Mid-Year THE STATE OF THE HOT 100 TOP 10

SELECT HIGHLIGHTS

Compositional and Industry Trends for the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 The State of the Hot 100 Top 10 takes an in-depth look at Q1 and Q2 2021's compositional and industry-related trends for the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10. What follows are a few select highlights from the report.

SONGS...... PAGE 3

PERFORMING ARTISTS...... PAGE 4

SONGWRITERS...... PAGE 8

PRODUCERS...... PAGE 12

RECORD LABELS...... PAGE 15

TIKTOK HITS...... PAGE 18

#1 SPOTLIGHT...... PAGE 19

2019 VS. 2020 COMPOSITIONAL TRENDS...... PAGE 24

Data is for songs that charted in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 and excludes holiday songs.

Data related to compositional characteristics are propriety to Hit Songs Deconstructed.

Artist, songwriter, producer, label and charting information are aggregated from the PRO’s, Billboard, and streaming platforms.

All credits are from the date songs entered the Top 10.

At times percentages may not add to 100% due to numbers being rounded up or down.

Production teams (i.e. The Audibles) are counted as a single producer.

© 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 2 of 27 Hot 100 Top 10 Overview Forty-one songs charted in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 during the first half of 2021, 17 of which entered the Top 10 for the first time in Q2. 41 11 Hot 100 Hot 100 Top 10 Songs #1 Hits

95.south Interlude Rapstar 17 Amari Kiss Me More Traitor NEW SONGS IN Astronaut In The Ocean Montero (CMBYN) Without THE HOT 100 Butter My.life You TOP 10 (Q2 2021) Deja Vu Peaches Yonaguni Good 4 U Pride.is.the.devil Your Power

Staying Power: Weeks in the Top 10 in Q2 2021 (New Arrivals)

15 13

10 10 10 9

5 5 5 5 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Weeks in the Top 10 in Q2 2021 in the Top Weeks 0

Butter Amari My.life Traitor Montero Deja Vu Rapstar Peaches Good 4 U 95.south Interlude Yonaguni Without You Your Power Kiss Me More Pride.is.the.devil

(Mid-Year 2021)

© 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 4 of 27 Performing Artists 41 Thirty-two primary artists and PERFORMING 11 featured artists charted in ARTISTS the Hot 100 Top 10 in the first half of 2021. 32 11 PRIMARY FEATURED ARTISTS ARTISTS

#1 Twelve primary artists scored a #1 hit, led HITS by Olivia Rodrigo with two. Primary Artists

Olivia Rodrigo Drivers License, Good 4 U 2 9 #1 HITS WEEKS AT #1

24KGoldn, Mood Drake, What's Next

Anderson .Paak, Leave The Door Open Justin Bieber, Peaches

Ariana Grande, Save Your Tears (Remix) Lil Nas X, Montero (Call Me By Your Name) Bruno Mars, Leave The Door Open Olivia Rodrigo, Drivers License, Good 4 U BTS, Butter Polo G, Rapstar Cardi B, Up The Weeknd, Save Your Tears (Remix)

Primary Artists 5 2 with More than One TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE J.Cole TOP 10 Top 10 Hit 95.south, Amari, Interlude, My.life, Pride.is.the.devil

4 21 4 5 Olivia Rodrigo TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE Drake TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 TOP 10 Deja Vu, Drivers License, Laugh Now Cry Later, Lemon Pepper Good 4 U, Traitor Freestyle, Wants and Needs, What's Next

3 25 3 19 TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE Ariana Grande TOP 10 Justin Bieber TOP 10 34+35, Positions, Save Your Anyone, Holy, Peaches Tears (Remix)

2 5 2 25 TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE BTS TOP 10 The Weeknd TOP 10 Butter, Dynamite Blinding Lights, Save Your Tears (Remix)

(Mid-Year 2021)

Songwriters with Three or More Top 10 Hits Nine songwriters scored three or more hits. They are led by J. Cole with five, followed by Daniel Nigro, Drake and Olivia Rodrigo with four each.

Ariana Grande (3), 34+35, Positions, Save Your Tears (Remix) Daniel Nigro (4), Deja Vu, Drivers License, Good 4 U, Traitor

Drake (4), Laugh Now Cry Later, Lemon Pepper Freestyle, Wants And Needs, What's J. Cole Next 95.south, Amari, Interlude, My.life, J. Cole (5), 95.south, Amari, Interlude,

Pride.is.the.devil My.life, Pride.is.the.devil Justin Bieber (3), Anyone, Holy, Peaches

Mr. Franks (3), 34+35, Holy, Positions Omer Fedi (3), Montero (Call Me By Your 5 2 Name), Mood, Without You TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 Olivia Rodrigo (4), Deja Vu, Drivers License, Good 4 U, Traitor Tommy Brown (3), 34+35, Holy, Positions

Songwriting team sizes of five or more have consistently been the most popular over the last five years, a trend that held steady in the first half of 2021. Only three songs had a single writer credit, all of which were penned by J. Cole.

Songwriter Team Size Q1-Q2 2021

100

80 54%

60 54% 5+ Songwriters 40 In the frst half of 2021, 54% of songs had fve or more credited 20% 20 songwriters. 12% 7% 7%

0 5+ 2 3 4 1

Fifty-one songwriters scored a #1 hit in the first half of 2021. Of them, only three #1 scored more than one: Daniel Nigro and HITS Olivia Rodrigo (Drivers License, Good 4 U) and Omer Fedi (Montero, Mood)

Daniel Nigro, Drivers License, Good 4 U Jenna Andrews, Butter Olivia Rodrigo, Drivers License, Good 4 U Joshua Baker, Up Omer Fedi, Montero, Mood Justin Bieber, Peaches 24kGoldn, Mood KBeaZy, Mood Aaron Simmonds, Peaches Keavan Yazdani, Peaches Alex Bilo, Butter Lil Nas X, Montero Anderson .Paak, Leave The Door Open Louis Bell, Peaches Andrew Watt, Peaches Maneesh, What's Next Ariana Grande, Save Your Tears (Remix) Max Martin, Save Your Tears (Remix) Belly, Save Your Tears (Remix) Oscar Holter, Save Your Tears (Remix) Blake Slatkin, Mood Pardison Fontaine, Up Brody Brown, Leave The Door Open Polo G, Rapstar Bruno Mars, Leave The Door Open RM, Butter Cardi B, Up Rob Grimaldi, Butter DaHeala, Save Your Tears (Remix) Ron Perry, Butter D'Mile, Leave The Door Open Roy Lenzo, Montero Daniel Caesar, Peaches Sean Island, Up David Biral, Montero Sean Leon, Peaches Denzel Baptiste, Montero Sebastian Garcia, Butter DJ SwanQo, Up Shndo, Peaches Drake, What's Next Stephen Kirk, Butter Einer Bankz, Rapstar Supah Mario, What's Next Felisha King, Peaches Synco, Rapstar Giveon, Peaches The Weeknd, Save Your Tears (Remix) HARV, Peaches Yung DZA, Up iann dior, Mood

(Mid-Year 2021)

4 21 3 12 TOP 10 WEEKS IN TOP 10 WEEKS IN HITS THE TOP 10 HITS THE TOP 10 Daniel Nigro Tommy Brown Deja Vu, Drivers License, 34+35, Holy, Positions Good 4 U, Traitor

3 23 3 2 TOP 10 WEEKS IN TOP 10 WEEKS IN HITS THE TOP 10 Omer Fedi HITS THE TOP 10 J. Cole Montero (Call Me By Your Amari, Interlude, My.life Name), Mood, Without You

3 12 3 2 TOP 10 WEEKS IN TOP 10 WEEKS IN HITS THE TOP 10 HITS THE TOP 10 Mr. Franks T-Minus 34+35, Holy, Positions Amari, Interlude, Pride.is.the.devil

The most common producer team size was three during the first half of 2021, accounting for 34% of songs.

Producer Team Size Q1-Q2 2021 34%

40 34% 27% 24% 3 Producers 20 In the frst half of 10% 2021, 34% of songs 5% were produced by 0 teams of three 3 2 1 4 5+

#1 HITS

Daniel Nigro, Drivers License, Good 4 U Oscar Holter, Save Your Tears (Remix) Omer Fedi, Montero, Mood Rob Grimaldi, Butter Alexander 23, Good 4 U Ron Perry, Butter Blake Slatkin, Mood Roy Lenzo, Montero Bruno Mars, Leave The Door Open Sean Island, Up D'Mile, Leave The Door Open Shndo, Peaches DJ SwanQo, Up Stephen Kirk, Butter Einer Bankz, Rapstar Supah Mario, What's Next HARV, Peaches Synco, Rapstar KBeaZy, Mood Take A Daytrip, Montero Maneesh, What's Next The Weeknd, Save Your Tears (Remix) Max Martin, Save Your Tears (Remix) Yung DZA, Up

(Mid-Year 2021)

© 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 15 of 27 Record Labels Twelve record labels had songs charting in the Hot 100 Top 10 in the first half of 2021. Interscope and Republic tied for the most with ten each.

300 Interscope Warner 12 Atlantic RCA Warner Music RECORD Columbia Republic Nashville LABELS Def Jam Rimas EMG S-Curve

Labels with the Most Top 10 Hits (Q1 - Q2 2021)

Interscope Q1-Q2 2021 Genre Breakdown

50% 50% 10 50 0 SONGS Hip Hop/Rap Pop

Republic Q1-Q2 2021 Genre Breakdown 50 40% 40%

10 10% 10% 0 SONGS Hip Hop/Rap Pop R&B/Soul Country

© 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 16 of 27 © 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 17 of 27 2021 TikTok Hits While just about every Top 10 hit has been used and promoted on TikTok, there are some hits that overwhelmingly owe their initial rise to fame to the app. In the first half of 2021, the most notable were Drivers License, Astronaut In The Ocean, Mood and What You Know Bout Love, which were featured in a combination of dances, trends, comedic sketches and more.

1 16 1 31 PEAK CHART WEEKS PEAK CHART WEEKS POSITION IN THE TOP 10 POSITION IN THE TOP 10

Drivers License Mood Olivia Rodrigo 24kGoldn (feat. iann dior)

6 10 9 4 PEAK CHART WEEKS PEAK CHART WEEKS POSITION IN THE TOP 10 POSITION IN THE TOP 10

Astronaut In The Ocean What You Know Bout Love Masked Wolf Pop Smoke

© 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 19 of 27 #1 Hit Spotlight Olivia Rodrigo's Drivers License was the top performing #1 hit, spending eight weeks at the top spot during the first half of 2021.

8 Weeks at #1

Song: Drivers License

Primary Performing Artist: Olivia Rodrigo

Songwriters: Daniel Nigro, Olivia Rodrigo

Producer: Daniel Nigro

Record Label: Interscope

Drivers License Key Compositional Characteristics

Primary Genre: Pop Key: Bb Major Sub-Genres/Influences: Alt/Indie, Form: I-A-B-A-B-C-B

Ballad/Power Ballad, Pop, First Chorus Appearance: 0:53 / 22% of

Singer/Songwriter the way into the song Lead Vocal Delivery Type: Sung Prominent Instruments: Bass

Lyrical Theme: Love/Relationships (Synth), Claps, Drums/Perc (Primarily Song Title Placement: Verse Electronic), Piano (Acoustic), Sound Length: 3:57 Effects, Strings (String Section), Synth Tempo: 72 BPM (Non-Bass)

Peaches Butter BTS Justin Bieber (feat. Daniel Caesar & Giveon) Drivers License Olivia Rodrigo Rapstar Polo G

Save Your Tears Good 4 U (Remix) Olivia Rodrigo The Weeknd & Ariana Grande

Leave The Door Open Up Bruno Mars & Cardi B Anderson .Paak

Montero (Call What's Next Me By Your Drake Name) Lil Nas X

Mood 24kGoldn (feat. iann dior)

© 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 21 of 27 #1 Hit Spotlight Below are select compositional characteristics for the 11 songs that charted at #1 during the first half of 2021.

Sub-Genres & Influences Featured in 2 or More #1 Hits

100

82% 80

60 55% 55% 45% 40 POP 27% 27% PRIMARY GENRE 20 18% 18% 18% 18%

Pop Trap Rock Hip Hop Alt/Indie R&B/Soul Retro (1980s)

Electropop/SynthpopBallad/Power Ballad Lead Vocal Gender

55% Solo Lead Vocalist 27%

9% 55% Exclusively Sung Delivery 63%

Exclusively 63% Male Lead Vocals Male 63% Female 27%

Male/Female 9%

© 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 22 of 27 #1 Hit Spotlight Below are select compositional characteristics for the 11 songs that charted at #1 during the first half of 2021.

Prominent Instruments Used in 25% or More of #1 Hits

100 100% 100% 82%

64% 55% 50 45% 45% 36% 27%

0 Claps

Bass (Synth) Guitar (Electric) Bass (Electric) Drums/Perc (All)Synth (Non-Bass) Piano (Acoustic) Drums/Perc (Electronic) Drums/Perc (Acoustic)

Lyrical Themes

100

73% 64% 80

64% THREE KEY 60 CHORUS COUNT MAJOR 45% 40 36%

82% 64% 20 18% 18%

0 UNDER 100 BPM UNDER 3:00 SONG LENGTH TEMPO RANGE Lifestyle Boasting Introspection Hooking Up Love/Relationships

Select Report Highlights

Lyrical Themes Instrumentation

60 60

40 40

30% 26%

20 20 18% 14%

0 0 Hooking Up Acoustic Drums

2020 2021 2020 2021

Song Length "D" (Departure) Sections

60 60 55% 52%

40 40 37% 37% 37% 27%

20 20

0 0 Bridge Bridge 3:00-3:29 Surrogate

2020 2021 2020 2021

Lyrical Themes Song Length

60 64% 60 50%

40 40

23% 23% 20 20

0 0 Introspection Under 3:00

2020 2021 2020 2021

Instrumentation Chorus Sections

81% 80 65% 60

60 57%

40 40 29%

20 20

0 0 Claps 3 Chorus Sections

2020 2021 2020 2021