Travis Scott’s ‘Meltdown’ No. 1 as ‘Utopia’ Floods Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart

9 August, 2023

Travis Scott storms to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart as “Meltdown,” featuring Drake, launches atop the list dated Aug. 12. The track leads a parade of all 19 songs the streaming edition of Scott’s new Utopia album on the chart. The long-awaited parent set, first teased in 2020, debuts at No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with the biggest week for any rap album in 2023, and gives Scott his third champ.

“Meltdown,” released on Cactus Jack/Epic Records, traces its chart-topping start to 32.2 million official U.S. streams in the week ending Aug. 3, according to Luminate, more than enough to secure its No. 1 entrance on the R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs chart. The tune also sold 2,000 copies in its debut week, prompting a No. 5 bow on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales list. For the third and final metric that informs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs – radio airplay – the collaboration registered 8,000 audience impressions – well below the threshold of any R&B/hip-hop radio chart, though the song is not being promoted as a single for radio airplay. (“K-POP,” the pre-release track with Bad Bunny and The Weeknd, is the current radio focus.)

Thanks to “Meltdown,” Travis Scott achieves his sixth No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Here’s a recap of his now half-dozen leaders:

Song Title, Artist (if other than Travis Scott), Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1

“ZEZE,” Kodak Black featuring Travis Scott & Offset, one, Oct. 27, 2018
“Sicko Mode,” 10, Nov. 3, 2018
“Highest in the Room,” one, Oct. 19, 2019
“The Scotts,” with The Scotts & Kid Cudi, one, May 9, 2020
“Franchise,” featuring Young Thug & M.I.A., one, Oct. 10, 2020

Featured artist Drake, meanwhile, adds a record-extending 28th Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs No. 1 to his account. It’s his second visit to the summit in 2023, after his one-week champ “Search & Rescue,” likewise debuted at No. 1 in April. As Drake further distances himself from the competition, here’s a review of the acts with the most No. 1s on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs since the chart became an all-encompassing genre survey in 1958:

28, Drake
20, Aretha Franklin
20, Stevie Wonder
17, James Brown
16, Janet Jackson
15, The Temptations
13, Marvin Gaye
13, Michael Jackson
13, Usher
11, Lil Wayne
11, R. Kelly

Behind “Meltdown,” Scott floods Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart as the entire 19-track Utopia album lands on the list, including five additional tracks in the top 10. Seventeen of the ranks go to debuts, with the lone exception being “K-POP,” which debuted at No. 2 last week.

Here’s the full Utopia recap on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs this week:

No. 1, “Meltdown,” featuring Drake
No. 2, “FE!N,” featuring Playboi Carti
No. 5, “I Know ?”
No. 7, “Hyaena”
No. 9, “Thank God”
No. 10, “Topia Twins,” featuring Rob49 & 21 Savage
No. 11, “K-POP,” with Bad Bunny & The Weeknd
No. 12, “My Eyes”
No. 13, “Modern Jam,” featuring Teezo Touchdown
No. 14, “Delresto (Echoes),” with Beyoncé
No. 15, “Telekenesis,” featuring SZA & Future
No. 16, “Sirens”
No. 17, “God’s Country”
No. 18, “Skitzo,” featuring Young Thug
No. 19, “Circus Maximus,” featuring The Weeknd & Swae Lee
No. 20, “Til Futher Notice,” featuring James Blake & 21 Savage
No. 22, “Lost Forever,” featuring Westside Gunn
No. 23, “Looove,” featuring Kid Cudi
No. 24, “Parasail,” featuring Yung Lean & Dave Chappelle

The Scott show is much of the same on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, where “Meltdown” opens at No. 3 as the highest Utopia track of the week. All 19 Utopia songs are present on the list as well, pushing Scott into the rare triple-digits club as he becomes the 15th act to surpass 100 career hits on the chart.