Doja Cat’s ‘Paint the Town Red’ Tops Hot 100 for Second Week, Taylor Swift’s ‘Cruel Summer’ Rules Radio

Gary Trust
·5 min read
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Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red” rebounds from No. 2 for its second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. The rapper/singer’s second career leader, which first led three weeks earlier, is her first to reign for multiple weeks, after her “Say So,” featuring Nicki Minaj, spent a week at No. 1 in May 2020.

Plus, Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” rises 6-4 on the Hot 100 (after reaching No. 3) and ascends to the summit on the Radio Songs chart, becoming her eighth leader on the airplay ranking.

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The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated Oct. 7, 2023) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Oct. 3). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

“Paint the Town Red,” released on Kemosabe/RCA Records, drew 52.6 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 17%) and 27.5 million streams (up 3%) and sold 6,000 downloads (down 19%) in the Sept. 22-28 tracking week, according to Luminate. It wins the Hot 100’s top Airplay Gainer award for a second consecutive frame.

The single climbs 3-1 on the Streaming Songs chart – becoming Doja Cat’s first leader on the list; adds a second week at No. 1 on Digital Song Sales; and pushes 9-7 on Radio Songs. It concurrently tops the multi-metric Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a fifth and sixth week, respectively.

(As “Paint the Town Red” samples Dionne Warwick’s 1964 standard “Walk on By,” legendary late songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David are credited as writers on both songs. Doja Cat’s hit is Bacharach’s first multi-week leader, among eight total No. 1s, since “That’s What Friends Are For” by Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder [four weeks in 1986]; David has his first multi-week No. 1, among five leaders, since the Carpenters’ “[They Long To Be] Close to You” [four weeks, 1970].)

SZA’s “Snooze” rises 3-2 for a new Hot 100 high, with 72.9 million in radio audience (up 4%), 17.5 million streams (down 18%) and 2,000 sold (down 35%); a week earlier, it jumped from No. 8 following the Sept. 15 release of its remix featuring Justin Bieber. It tops the multi-metric Hot R&B Songs chart for a 10th week.

The song becomes SZA’s third to reach the Hot 100’s top two – all this year – following her first two No. 1s: “Kill Bill,” which led for a week in April, and Drake’s “Slime You Out,” on which she’s featured; the latter debuted at No. 1 a week earlier and falls to No. 12.

Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s No. 6-peaking 1988 Hot 100 classic “Fast Car” rides 4-3, following eight weeks at its No. 2 high. It adds a second week at No. 1 on the multi-metric Hot Country Songs chart.

Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” advances 6-4 on the Hot 100, after hitting No. 3, and elevates 2-1 to crown the Radio Songs chart (76.1 million, up 2%). The song becomes Swift’s eighth Radio Songs leader, as she breaks out of a tie with Maroon 5, Katy Perry and Usher for the fourth-most since the chart began in December 1990; Rihanna leads with 13 Radio Songs No. 1s, followed by Mariah Carey (11) and Bruno Mars (nine).

Here’s an updated look at Swift’s Radio Songs No. 1s:

Title, Weeks at No. 1, Year(s):

  • “Cruel Summer,” one, to date, 2023

  • “Anti-Hero,” five, 2022-23

  • “Wildest Dreams,” two, 2015

  • “Bad Blood” (feat. Kendrick Lamar), five, 2015

  • “Blank Space,” six, 2014-15

  • “Shake It Off,” four, 2014

  • “I Knew You Were Trouble.,” four, 2013

  • “You Belong With Me,” two, 2009

As previously reported, “Cruel Summer” becomes Swift’s sole longest-leading No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart, where it leads for an eighth week, surpassing her seven-week reign with “I Knew You Were Trouble.”

“Cruel Summer” was originally released on Swift’s 2019 album Lover. Republic Records began promoting it as a single in June, as Swift has performed it on her The Eras Tour, her first in which she’s been able to spotlight songs from Lover, which was released shortly before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, the song is the second released in the 2010s to top Radio Songs this year; The Weeknd and Ariana Grande’s “Die for You” (also on Republic) dominated for two weeks in February, after it was originally released, by The Weeknd solo, in 2016.

Meanwhile, with Radio Songs No. 1s in the 2000s, ’10s and ’20s, Swift is the only artist with leaders on the chart in each of the three decades, as well as the only artist with No. 1s as a lead act in any three distinct decades, dating to the ‘90s.

Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything,” featuring Kacey Musgraves, holds at No. 5 on the Hot 100, four weeks after it debuted at No. 1. It leads the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Rock Songs charts for a fifth week each.

Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” rebounds 8-6 on the Hot 100, following 16 weeks at No. 1, the most ever for a non-collaboration; Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” keeps at No. 7, following two nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1; and Gunna’s “Fukumean” rises 9-8, after hitting No. 4.

Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” returns to the Hot 100’s top 10, lifting 11-9, after reaching No. 3. It rules the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart for a record-extending 57th week.

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10,  Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” is steady at No. 10, after hitting No. 6.

Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Oct. 7), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Oct. 3).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

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