Hot 100 Haus: Billie Eilish’s ‘Bad Guy’

Hot 100 – No. 1 for the week of August 24th, 2019:

“Bad Guy” – Billie Eilish

Written by: Billie Eilish O’Connell, Finneas O’Connell

Produced by: Finneas O’Connell

But Why: Billie Eilish has spent her entire music career in the limelight positioning herself as the anti-pop star who still racks up more streams and radio plays than most of your pop favs, but it wasn’t until “Bad Guy” that she really emphasized the POP in anti-pop. “Bad Guy” took the quiet darkness and barely-restrained contempt that creeps through a good deal of her work and folded it into the shiniest of pop hooks, complete with an ear worm breakdown that sounds both chiding and giddily maniacal. The lyrics are endlessly quotable, and she also tucks in a post-song interlude into the end of “Bad Guy,” with a completely different beat and icy, sneering, confident lines about her own romantic appeal. Given Billie’s mass appeal as a pop star across multiple generations, this No. 1 seemed inevitable from the get-go and further cements Eilish’s status as one of the pop greats of our time.

Statistically, Eilish took advantage of “Old Town Road”s declining momentum (after 19 weeks at No. 1, so long I actually forgot I had this column), to drop a vertical music video online, as well as a “Bad Guy” tape cassette for sale on her website. According to Billboard, these tactics helped give the track the final push it needed to end its nine week run at No. 2 and take the crown.

What didn’t help? The horrific Justin Bieber remix, which could have been SO great and turned out SO bad. Bieber, of course, took the opportunity to give himself credit for the song’s success. HOWEVER, given the remix was never officially listed on Billboard charts, and also the fact that it sits in the lower reaches of the iTunes charts, far behind the original, that credit is dubious at best.

Stats On Stats: Per Billboard.com’s weekly top 10 article, “Bad Guy” is Billie Eilish’s first No. 1 hit. It rises to No. 3 on Streaming Songs at 39.1 million US streams in the tracking week ending August 15 and moves to No. 6 on the Digital Song Sales chart, at 20,000 sold in the same tracking week. It currently dips to No. 6 on the Radio Songs chart with 93 million audience impressions in the tracking week ending August 18.

Next Week’s #1: It would be great to get Billie a second week at the top, but there are two other songs that are aggressively vying for the No. 1 spot. Closest behind is Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes’ corn-syrup sweet pop collab “Senorita,” which sits at No. 2 on the Hot 100, and the other is Lizzo’s zany and fun kiss-off “Truth Hurts,” which sits at No. 4 but is currently topping the iTunes chart.

No offense to Mendello/Camilawn/whatever their couple name is, but I’m hoping Lizzo takes the top spot. She absolutely deserves the recognition and her first chart-topper.

Feel Old Yet: Billie Eilish is the first artist born in the 21^st century to top the Hot 100, and the youngest since Lorde (*bows head in prayer) led for nine weeks with “Royals” at age 16 (Billie is currently 17).

I Have Feelings: Admittedly I wasn’t on the Billie Eilish bandwagon until she released “when the party’s over” last  year, which I think may be one the greatest songs of the decade, but even before I was a fan, it was clear she had superstar qualities. “Bad Guy” is a perfect pop song for the current pop music landscape, and the song and the video both push Billie the closest she’s ever been to looking like a pop star. The song is built around a very radio-friendly hook, the video is wildly colorful and Billie is as suave as ever in front of the camera. It sounds like she, Finneas, and her team knew when the song was made that it would be a smash, and did everything possible to guarantee that. Hats off to her, the number one is much deserved in my opinion. And regardless of whether or not she’ll score another No. 1 in the future, it’s very safe to say she’s going to be able to continue to build a thriving career as an artist and a singer-songwriter off this huge success.

I love “Bad Guy,” I loved it from the first listen, and for the most part it still holds up after the umpteenth listen. The only part of the song that has grown old is the pre-chorus, but my favorite part is still that outro, where that guttural, flailing beat comes in and Billie does her best Lana Del Rey pout. It certainly helps that the song comes from one of the best albums of the year, WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

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