Week Ending July 14, 2013. Songs: Seven For Jay-Z

Seven songs from Jay-Z’s chart-topping Magna Carta…Holy Grail invade this week’s Hot 100. Jay-Z’s bounty includes “Holy Grail,” a collabo with Justin Timberlake, which opens at #8. It’s the second highest-debut of the year, trailing only Baauer’s viral phenomenon “Harlem Shake,” which opened in the top spot in March.

“Holy Grail” is Jay-Z’s 20th top 10 hit; Timberlake’s 14th (since leaving *NYNC). It’s their second top 10 hit together, following “Suit & Tie,” which reached #3 earlier this year.

Jay-Z is the first rapper to amass 20 top 10 hits on the Hot 100. Lil Wayne and Ludacris are tied for second place, with 18 each. (Ludacris’ tally counts the remix of Jason Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem,” on which he was featured.) Jay-Z has been the lead (or co-lead) artist on 12 of his 20 top 10 hits. (This compares to eight for Lil Wayne and seven for Ludacris.)

“Holy Grail” features an interlude from Nirvana’s 1991 rock classic “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” That gives the members of Nirvana (who wrote the song) a co-writing credit on a 2013 hit.

Jay-Z also has the week’s second highest new entry with “Tom Ford,” which debuts at #39. Tom Ford, 51, gained fame for his turnaround of the Gucci fashion house and the creation of the Tom Ford label. He also directed the 2009 film, A Single Man, which starred Colin Firth.

Five other songs from the album enter the chart: “F*ckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt” (featuring Rick Ross) at #64, “Part II On The Run” (featuring Beyonce) at #81, “Oceans” (featuring Frank Ocean) at #83, “Picasso Baby” at #91 and “Crown” at #100.

Magna Carta…Holy Grail sold 528K copies in its first week. That constituted the second biggest first-week tally of the year, behind only Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience (968K in March).

Remember when Justin Timberlake was M.I.A. as a recording artist, far more interested in breaking into film and doing guest shots on SNL? He’s back. Timberlake has two songs in the top 10 and a third further down the chart.

As noted above, “Holy Grail,” on which he is featured, debuts at #8. Timberlake’s own “Mirrors” drops from #7 to #9. This is the 14th week in the top 10 for the latter song, which ties Timberlake’s 2006 hit “My Love” (featuring T.I.) as his longest-running top 10 hit to date.

Timberlake also has the week’s third highest new entry with “Take Back the Night” at #47. This is the first single from Timberlake’s fourth solo album, The 20/20 Experience: 2 of 2, which is due Sept. 30. (That album and the first The 20/20 Experience will also be bundled as one package, The 20/20 Experience: The Complete Experience, which will be released the same day.)

“Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell tops the Hot 100 for the sixth week. That puts it in a tie with “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz for the longest run at #1 so far this year. Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out Of Heaven” also spent six weeks on top, but its run was divided between 2012 and 2013. (Two of these three songs are strongly evocative of hits by earlier performers. “Blurred Lines” echoes Marvin Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up (Pt. I). It also borrows from Michael Jackson. “Locked Out Of Heaven” is so reminiscent of reggae-tinged songs by The Police that Sting joined Mars to perform the song on the Grammys in February.)

“Blurred Lines” sold 384K copies this week. It just missed becoming the first song in digital history to top 400K in weekly sales four times. (It remains tied with “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye featuring Kimbra, which topped 400K in weekly sales three times last year.) “Blurred Lines” becomes the eighth song to top the 3 million mark in 2013.

“Blurred Lines” received 179 million all-format radio “audience impressions,” according to Nielsen BDS. That’s the greatest one-week total since Alicia Keys’ “No One” rated 192 million audience impressions in December 2007. “Blurred Lines” is also #1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for the sixth week.

“Blurred Lines” also returns to #1 on The Official U.K. Singles chart. This is its fifth week on top, which makes it the longest-running #1 of the year in the U.K. It surpasses Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” (which also features Pharrell Williams), which logged four weeks on top. “Blurred Lines” is the first single to spend five or more weeks at #1 in both the U.S. and the U.K. since “Somebody That I Used To Know.”

Daft Punk’s

“Get Lucky” logs its fifth week at #2. This means that Pharrell Williams is featured on the top two songs on the Hot 100 for the fifth straight week. Williams is one of only six artists in the rock era to hold down the top two spots for five or more weeks. He follows The Beatles (10 weeks in 1964), Bee Gees (five weeks in 1978), Ashanti (five weeks in 2002), OutKast (eight weeks in 2003-2004) and T.I. (six non-consecutive weeks in 2008).

While “Get Lucky” probably won’t reach #1, the members of Daft Punk have hit the top spot before. They had a co-writer credit on Kanye West’s “Stronger,” which sampled their 2001 song “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.”

“Get Lucky” is #1 on Dance/Electronic Songs for a ninth week, passing “Harlem Shake” for the longest reign since the chart bowed in January.

Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop” holds at #3 for the third week. The song tops the 1 million mark in digital sales this week.

Imagine Dragons’

“Radioactive” holds at #4 for the third week. It’s #1 on Rock Songs for the 17th week. The song tops the 4 million mark in digital sales this week. It’s the 17th rock song (as defined by Nielsen SoundScan) to top the 4 million mark. But we need to dig into this. Nielsen SoundScan classifies some songs as rock that many, if not most, people would call pop. For example, the top five songs on their list of the best-selling rock songs were all classified as pop in the Grammy process: “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye featuring Kimbra, “We Are Young” by fun. featuring Janelle Monae, Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours,” Train’s “Hey, Soul Sister” and Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida.” While it’s always hard categorize music, I think the Grammys made the right calls on all these songs.

Adhering to Grammy classifications (and improvising in the cases of Journey and Nickelback), “Radioactive” is the fourth best-selling rock song in digital history, following Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” (5,777,000), The Fray’s “How To Save A Life” (4,363,000) and Nickelback’s “Rock Star” (4,229,000). It has pulled ahead of Kings Of Leon’s “Use Somebody” (4,068,000).

“Cruise” by Florida Georgia Line featuring Nelly dips from #5 to #6. The song tops the 5 million mark in digital sales this week. It’s only the third country song to reach that plateau, following Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” (6,177,000) and Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” (5,594,000).

“Cruise” is #1 on Hot Country Songs for the 20th week. It’s the first song to spend 20 weeks at #1 on this chart since Ray Price’s “Crazy Arms” in 1956. “Cruise” is the longest-running #1 by a group or duo ever.

Bruno Mars’ “Treasure” jumps from #8 to #7. The song tops the 1 million mark in digital sales.

Anna Kendrick’s

“Cups (When It’s Gone From Pitch Perfect)” holds at #10 for the second week. The single runs just 2:07. That’s short, but it’s not the shortest top 10 hit of the “rock era.” That distinction is held by Hayley Mills’ “Let’s Get Together,” which she sang in movie The Parent Trap. The song, which reached #8 in October 1961, ran just 1:28.

The next three shortest running times on top 10 hits are Annette’s “Tall Paul” (1:34; #7 in 1959), The Dave Clark Five’s “I Like It Like That” (1:38, #7 in 1965) and Fess Parker’s “Ballad Of Davy Crockett” (1:39, #5 in 1955).

Here's the low-down on this week's top 10 songs.

The Top Five: “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell holds at #1 for the sixth week in its 13th week on the chart. This is its seventh week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #1 (384K)…“Get Lucky” by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams holds at #2 for the fifth week in its 13th week on the chart. This is its ninth week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #6 (157K)… Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop” holds at #3 for the third week in its sixth week on the chart. This is its fourth week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #2 (216K)…Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” holds at #4 for the third week in its 46th week on the chart. This is its 13th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #4 (179K)…“Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton rebounds from #6 to #5 in its 23rd week on the chart. This is its 15th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #10 (113K).

The Second Five: “Cruise” by Florida Georgia Line featuring Nelly dips from #5 to #6 in its 41st week on the chart. This is its 12th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #5 (158K)… Bruno Mars’ “Treasure” jumps from #8 to #7 in its ninth week on the chart. This is its fourth week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #7 (131K)…“Holy Grail” by Jay-Z featuring Justin Timberlake debuts at #8. It’s Jay-Z’s 20th top 10 hit; Timberlake’s 14th (since leaving *NYNC). Digital sales rank: #3 (196K)…Justin Timberlake’s “Mirrors” drops from #7 to #9 in its 22nd week on the chart. This is its 14th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #16 (72K)… Anna Kendrick’s “Cups (Pitch Perfect’s When I’m Gone)” holds at #10 for the second week in its 29th week on the chart. This is its second week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #8 (121K).

Selena Gomez’s “Come & Get It” drops from #9 to #12, ending a nine-week run in the top 10.

“Same Love” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Mary Lambert jumps from #14 to #11 in its 18th week. It’s vying to become the third top 10 hit for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis; the first for Lambert. Digital sales rank: #9 (118K)…“I Need Your Love” by Calvin Harris featuring Ellie Goulding jumps from #20 to #17 in its 13th week…Capital Cities’ “Safe And Sound” jumps from #31 to #19 in its 11th week.

Jason Derulo lands his sixth top 20 hit as “The Other Side” inches up from #21 to #20 in its 13th week. This surpasses Derulo’s girlfriend Jordin Sparks, who has had five top 20 hits.

Ciara’s

“Body Party” jumps from #25 to #22 in its 12th week. It’s from her Ciara album, which enters The Billboard 200 at #2 this week. A second single from the album, “I’m Out” (featuring Nicki Minaj) jumps from #50 to #44 in its second week….Florida Georgia Line’s “Round Here” jumps from #54 to #40 in its fifth week… “Crazy Kids” by Ke$ha featuring will.i.a.m or Juicy J jumps from #49 to #41 in its seventh week.

“Right Now” by Rihanna featuring David Guetta jumps from #63 to #52 in its fourth week… “Ooh La La” by Britney Spears featuring G.R.L. vaults from #94 to #54 in its fourth week…J. Dash’s “Wop” jumps from #87 to #55 in its sixth week…Avicii’s “Wake Me Up!” jumps from #68 to #59 in its third week…OneRepublic’s “Counting Stars” jumps from #80 to #71 in its fourth week. The song has climbed as high as #32.

Lana Del Rey’s

“Summertime Sadness” debuts at #72. It’s the week’s highest new entry that isn’t by Jay-Z and/or Justin Timberlake. The timely track is from Born To Die, which has sold 681K copies since its release in January 2012. Del Rey is also moving up with “Young And Beautiful” from The Great Gatsby soundtrack. That song jumps from #93 to #89 in its 12th week. The song has climbed as high as #22…Lorde’s “Royals” jumps from #90 to #74 in its second week.

Sara Bareilles’

“Brave” jumps from #91 to #82 in its fifth week. It’s from her Blessed Unrest album, which will enter The Billboard 200 next week at #2 or #3…The Finatticz’s “Don’t Drop That Thun Thun!” debuts at #88. The act is signed to Knockout Entertainment, along with Ray J and Willie Norwood, among others…Jason Aldean’s “Night Train” re-enters the chart at #90…Karmin’s “Acapella” debuts at #98. It’s from the duo’s first studio album, Pulses, which is due this fall. The pair’s “Brokenhearted” reached #16 on the Hot 100.

“Hall Of Fame” by The Script featuring will.i.am tops the 2 million mark in digital sales this week. It’s The Script’s second song to reach this plateau. “Breakeven” is up to 2,709,000.

The Lumineers’ “Ho Hey” becomes the 15th song to top the 2 million mark in 2013 sales. The smash also topped 2 million in 2012 sales (2,369,000, to be precise).