It's Official: Black Women Made History on the Billboard Chart This Week

From Harper's BAZAAR

• Doja Cat's "Say So" remix with Nicki Minaj reached the number one slot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart yesterday.

• Coming in second is Megan Thee Stallion's remix of "Savage" featuring Beyoncé, which dropped the same week.

• This marks the first number-one hit for Doja and Nicki, and the first time four Black female solo artists occupied the Hot 100's top two spots.

Update, 5/13:

Billboard confirmed that by securing the top two slots on the Hot 100 list, Doja Cat, Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion, and Beyoncé did make history: "This week marks the first in which four Black female solo artists occupy the chart's top two rungs."

The last time multiple Black women soloists occupied these spots was in 2009, when Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" took number one and the Rihanna-featuring "Live Your Life" by T.I. took number two.

Original story, 5/12:

Black women are setting records on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week. Yesterday, rappers Doja Cat and Nicki Minaj secured the number one spot on the storied list with their new "Say So" remix, marking the first time either artist has ever done so.

It also marks the first time in almost six years that a song by two solo women artists has earned the title, following "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX in 2014. Black female solo artists who've shared a number one hit before include Lil' Kim and Mya, who shared the win with Christina Aguilera and P!nk for "Lady Marmalade" in 2001, and Brandy and Monica for "The Boy Is Mine" in 1998.

Though this is Minaj's first time at number one, the artist has graced the Hot 100 list 109 times, the most among women in the Billboard chart's history. The closest she came to the top of the list before yesterday was in 2014 with "Anaconda," which peaked at number two.

Close behind "Say So" is another hit remix by a powerhouse pair: "Savage" from Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé. The rap collaboration from the two Houston natives, which was released the same week as Doja and Minaj's track, benefits vulnerable communities from the artists' hometown in Texas during the coronavirus pandemic. This is the first top 10 entry for Stallion and Beyoncé's 19th. Aside from the two duos, the only other woman on the top 10 this week is Dua Lipa with "Don't Start Now."

After the news broke yesterday, fans also pointed out that the combination of "Say So" and "Savage" landing number one and two on the Billboard Hot 100 marked the first time in history that four Black women have topped the rankings. Billboard has not yet confirmed the statistic, but it's a moment in music worth celebrating nonetheless. Plus, the fact that both songs fall under rap and hip-hop genres, in which women are often overlooked in comparison to their male counterparts, makes the wins ever sweeter.

And to those who think this is an opportunity to compare women's accomplishments, Doja has a message for you. "Obviously, women have been pitted against each other, and this is f---ing so not that," she said during an Instagram Live yesterday, per Billboard. "We've climbed over that, and that's cool."

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