Despite dividing two of Hip-Hop’s biggest fan bases (the #Barbz and #Hotties), the headline-grabbing beef between Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj did do something good as it underscored the commercial viability of female Rap.
Details inside.
Consuming the entertainment news cycle from Friday (January 26) to Friday (February 2), there’s no corner one could turn without hearing the latest in a slew of developments related to the musical quarrel between Minaj and Stallion – a duel that went from social media to the charts.
Both acts dominated real-time sales and streaming tallies as their respective fans waged war on their behalf by “running up” the numbers on digital platforms.
With her highest first-week sales to date (a whopping 104,000 units moved across its various versions), Stallion’s ‘Hiss‘ ultimately raced to the finish line in first place by not only scoring her first solo #1 debut on the Hot 100 but also making history as only the third female rapper to have done so in the chart’s 65-year history (following Minaj and Lauryn Hill).
That doesn’t mean Nicki’s stats were anything to shake a stick at, however.
Despite not enjoying a full tracking week (due to its release on January 29), ‘Big Foot’ still managed to stomp to approximately 37,000 in sales, just under 11 million in streams, and nearly 600,000 audience impressions in radio airplay in less than 5 days.
The figures were just enough to give ‘Big’ the second biggest opening of the week among females and land it at #23 on the updated Hot 100.
For Minaj, the debut marked a milestone as it made her the first female artist of color to boast 75 top 40 hits. Among all acts, she leaves the related records of Kanye West, Elton John, Eminem, and Rihanna even further in her rear view.
The jaw-dropping diss tracks by Stallion and Minaj together managed to sell nearly half of the cumulative sales of the Hot 100’s entire top 40 (which moved a reported 173,000 between the other 38 songs in the chart region).
In fact, if it weren’t for the politically charged Tom MacDonald and Ben Shapiro song ‘Facts,‘ the ladies’ two songs would’ve outsold all other 98 songs on the all-genre chart combined.
Either way, eyes will certainly be glued to Billboard to see how ‘Hiss’ and ‘Big Foot’ perform on next week’s edition of the Hot 100.
Until we find out, click here to see who else had a great week on the hitlist.