Hot 100 First-Timers: Ben Shapiro Debuts With Tom MacDonald Team-Up ‘Facts’

Xander Zellner
·2 min read
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Ben Shapiro, the conservative political commentator and editor for The Daily Wire, makes his debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated Feb. 10), thanks to “Facts,” his new collaboration with Canadian rapper Tom MacDonald.

Released Jan. 26, the song enters at No. 16 with 5.6 million U.S. streams and 96,000 downloads sold in its opening week (Jan. 26-Feb. 1), according to Luminate. Its sales sum is the second-biggest in a single week this year, after Megan Thee Stallion’s “Hiss,” which concurrently arrives with 104,000 sold. “Hiss” and “Facts” launch at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on the Digital Song Sales chart.

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Notably, Shapiro directed his audience to engage with the song on his verse, rapping, “All my people download this, let’s get a Billboard No. 1.” He also taunts Nicki Minaj, saying, “Nicki take some notes, I just did this for fun” – presumably alluding to recent beef between Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion.

Shapiro had not appeared on any Billboard chart before this week, with “Facts” marking his first and only musical release to date.

The song earns MacDonald his fourth and highest-charting Hot 100 entry, after “Snowflakes” (No. 71 peak), “Brainwashed” (No. 89) and “Fake Woke” (No. 96), all in 2021.

Elsewhere, “Facts” debuts at No. 6 on Hot Rap Songs and No. 8 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, both of which use the same multimetric methodology as the Hot 100. As MacDonald reaches each genre list for the first time, MacDonald achieves his first top 10 on the tallies. He had previously peaked as high as No. 22 on Hot Rap Songs with “Brainwashed” and No. 31 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs with both “Snowflakes” and “Brainwashed.”

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