Kendrick Lamar ends Shaboozey's almost-record-breaking Billboard run

Kendrick Lamar will likely never be hated by another artist as much as he’s hated by Drake, but Shaboozey does have good reason to be a little peeved at him today. The Virginia-based artist was on track for a record-breaking run with his countrified J-Kown interpolation, “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which—until today—had spent an almost uniquely historic 19 weeks straight at no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The only other artist in Billboard history to match that number is Lil Nas X, whose “Old Town Road” (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus) did it in 2019. (Mariah Carey had previously held the record for 24 years with her Boyz II Men duet “One Sweet Day.”) If not for Lamar and his unannounced album, GNX, Shaboozey likely would have broken the record. 

Bad news for Shaboozey, who came in at no. 6 this week, but Lamar’s dominance did earn him some records of his own. The “Not Like Us” rapper completely swept this week’s top five, with “Squabble Up,” “TV Off” (feat. Lefty Gunplay), “Luther” (feat. SZA), “Wacced Out Murals,” and “Hey Now” (feat. Dody6) respectively. He officially joins Taylor Swift, The Beatles, and his nemesis, Drake, as one of the only four artists ever to do so. (Drake may be drawing up new legal action about Lamar’s “fabricated” popularity as we speak.) “Squabble Up” is also Lamar’s third no. 1 of the year, giving him the most top songs of any artist in 2024. (“Not Like Us” and “Like That” with Future and Metro Boomin topped the chart in May and April respectively.) GNX tracks “Reincarnated” and “Man At The Garden” also clocked in at no. 8 and no. 9 respectively, bringing Lamar’s career total up to 22 top 10 hits. 

In addition to Shaboozey, the only other non-Lamar artists represented in this week’s top 10 are Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars for their stalwart chart performer “Die With A Smile,” and the Queen of Christmas herself, Mariah Carey, with—you guessed it—”All I Want For Christmas Is You.” Even if Shaboozey had been successful in breaking the no.  1 record this week, Carey likely would have come like the Grinch to take it away from him as soon as the days started to get a bit colder.