Hot 100 Haus: Post Malone & Swae Lee’s ‘Sunflower’

Welcome to Hot 100 Haus, where writer Chris Will breaks down each No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 for 2019.

Hot 100 – No. 1 for the week of Jan 19, 2019:

“Sunflower” – Post Malone & Swae Lee

Written by: Post Malone, Swae Lee, Carter Lang, Billy Walsh, Louis Bell

Produced by: Carter Lang, Louis Bell

But Why: Post Malone and Swae Lee are both top 40 fixtures and regulars to the Hot 100 top 10; some of the most iconic pop songs of the past few years have had either one of them at the helm (“Unforgettable” is a Swae Lee song feating French Montana, and I refuse to acknowledge otherwise). They’ve also joined forces before on the weird, warbly and deeply-douchey  “Spoil My Night,” a fan favorite and top 20 debut from Post’s lengthy and languid Beerbongs & Bentleys. Therefore, putting the two together on a mid-tempo pop song and making it the centerpiece of the soundtrack for the best Spiderman movie of all time (if you think differently you’re wrong) was already a guaranteed win. Plus, a new music video for the track premiered last week, and Into The Spiderverse picked up best animated feature film at the Golden Globes last Sunday, so this No. 1 feels very timely indeed.

Stats On Stats: Per Billboard’s weekly top 10 article, “Sunflower” is Swae Lee’s third top 10 hit, first No. 1 as a solo artist, and second No. 1 overall (following the viral smash “Black Beatles” with Rae Sremmurd), while Posty picks up his fifth top 10 hit and third chart-topper (following “Psycho” and “Rockstar”).

It’s also No. 1 on both the Streaming and Digital Song Sales charts, with 47.6 million US streams for the tracking week (Streaming tracks Thursday to Thursday, so as of Jan. 10) and 48,000 downloads (for the week ending Jan 13). It clocked in at No. 10 on the Radio Songs chart with 60.8 million audience impressions for the previous week.

Next Week’s #1: I’m actually going to just say it’s going to be “Sunflower” again, since it’s still No. 1 on iTunes and y’all seem to really love your hip-hop adjacent male pop stars.

“High Hopes” is climbing the iTunes charts, and just logged its eighth week at No. 1 on the Radio Songs chart. So, though it’s unlikely, it could sneak its way to the summit next week. If anyone deserves a No. 1 in 2019, it’s Brendon Urie.

Feel Old Yet: “Sunflower” is the first song from a Spider Man soundtrack to reach the Hot 100 summit. The last one that got close? In the summer of 2002, when Chad Kroeger of Nickelback’s “Hero” from Music from and Inspired by Spider-Man hit No. 3 on the Hot 100.

I Have Feelings: Well, at least we’re continuing our streak with pop songs being No. 1 this year, right? There’s something very Taylor Swiftian about the “Sunflower” beat, and the full-on synth-pop sound feels like a somewhat surprising but natural sonic switch for both Posty and Swae, who have been nothing but pop stars since they both debuted on the charts (even if they’ve tried to present themselves as rap artists). It’s not my favorite Post Malone No. 1 (“Psycho” absolutely takes the cake), nor do I think it’s better than Rae Sremmurd’s “Black Beatles,” but it’s the first male-fronted pop song at No. 1 in quite some time that I think actually sounds good.

Do I think this will signify a permanent change in sound for either artist? Probably not Post, I’m convinced he’s going to go Mumford-folk pop before he goes full on synth-pop. For Swae Lee, a shift into an unabashed pop sound would make more sense. Either way, I’ll be happier when I see other pop artists replace this song at No. 1 (I’m holding out hope that “Dancing with a Stranger” has a chance).

Let us know your thoughts on “Sunflower,” and look out for future installments as more tracks hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this year!

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