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Welcome back squirrel friends! I hope everyone is staying sane and continuing to K Pop through quarantine like a bazooka.
As discussed in last week’s blog, I have always been a huge fan of female pop stars. My current theory is that as a gay male I identify and empathize with female pop star’s simultaneous mastering and upending of the female archetypes enforced by our misogynist society. As a gay man, I too am familiar with the dual desire to affirm and reform my male gender identity. At the same time, female pop stars are objectively fabulous, hilarious, badass and fun- which is definitely a large part of the appeal.
As all SOCIALLY THRIVING teens do, I spent a lot of time as a teenager crafting a bizarre formula to weight diva’s charted singles from the Billboard Hot 100 chart. I got the idea from a book of The History of Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 Hits my parents got for me. Of course, I in no way believe that chart success is at all reflective of actual musical quality or any hierarchical value. Beyonce is still definitely my artist of the decade. I just like tabulating stats. Stats are just stats.
I weight each top 40 hit as 1 point, a top 10 hit as 2 points, and a #1 hit as 3 points. All hits get points in all three categories if they qualify. For example, Ariana Grande’s “Thank You Next” got to #1 on the Hot 100, so she gets 1 point for it being a top 40 hit, 2 points for it being a top 10 hit, and 3 points for it being a #1 hit, for a total of 6 points. Katy Perry’s “Daisies” got to number 40 on the other hand, so she gets 1 total point for it (no shade- K a lot of shade).
I made lists of the divas with the most points from singles that charted from 2010 to present. I also wanted to see how successful these divas are at remaining relevant, and who the dominant new pop stars of the last five years have been. Thus, I have a second list of divas with the most points for singles from 2015-2020. Here are they are below!
Hits from 2010-2020
| # | Name | Top 40s (x1) | Top 10s (x2) | Number 1s (x3) | Points |
| 1 | Taylor Swift | 56 | 24 | 6 | 122 |
| 2 | Rihanna | 37 | 18 | 9 | 100 |
| 3 | Nicki Minaj | 58 | 18 | 2 | 100 |
| 4 | Ariana Grande | 29 | 16 | 4 | 73 |
| 5 | Katy Perry | 21 | 11 | 8 | 67 |
| 6 | Lady Gaga | 20 | 12 | 3 | 53 |
| 7 | Cardi B. | 23 | 7 | 3 | 46 |
| 8 | Beyonce | 23 | 6 | 2 | 41 |
| 9 | Selena Gomez (incl & The Scene) | 20 | 8 | 1 | 39 |
| 10 | Kesha | 13 | 9 | 2 | 37 |
Hits from 2015-2020
| # | Name | Top 40s (x1) | Top 10s (x2) | Number 1s (x3) | Points | Change from 2010 |
| 1 | Taylor Swift | 28 | 12 | 3 | 61 | Same |
| 2 | Ariana Grande | 23 | 11 | 4 | 57 | +2 |
| 3 | Nicki Minaj | 28 | 8 | 2 | 50 | Same |
| 4 | Cardi B. | 23 | 7 | 3 | 46 | NA |
| 5 | Halsey | 14 | 6 | 2 | 32 | NA |
| 6 | Selena Gomez | 15 | 6 | 1 | 30 | +3 |
| 7 | Beyonce | 15 | 4 | 2 | 29 | +1 |
| 8 | Rihanna | 12 | 6 | 1 | 27 | -6 |
| 9 | Camilla Cabello (incl. 5th Harmony) | 11 | 5 | 2 | 27 | NA |
| 10 | Lady Gaga | 8 | 4 | 2 | 22 | -4 |
| 11 | Billie Eillish | 8 | 3 | 1 | 17 | NA |
| T12 | Bebe Rexha | 6 | 3 | 0 | 12 | NA |
| T12 | Alessia Cara | 4 | 4 | 0 | 12 | NA |
| T14 | Normani (incl. 5th Harmony) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 11 | NA |
| T14 | Adele | 4 | 2 | 1 | 11 | NA |
| T16 | Meghan Thee Stallion | 5 | 1 | 1 | 10 | NA |
| T16 | Sza | 6 | 2 | 0 | 10 | NA |
A few notes before I get to the fun music video bonanza. You can see of course that Kesha and Katy Perry both fall off the list when you update it for 2015-2020. In the case of Kesha there is devastating story of abuse that upended her career and with the exception of the amazing song “Praying” seems to have ended her chart success. That’s a shame because I love Keshas new music. Katy Perry also seems to have fallen out of chart favor but with a less obvious cause. She was unstoppable during the 2010-2013 period, scoring an amazing 8 number 1 hits (Teenage Dream is a legitimately amazing song). Yet, she hasn’t been able to keep up that success in recent years, as she has only scored 1 top 10 hit since 2013. Katy has always been a truly versatile pop star in terms of her style, but I would argue also never really developed an image or persona beyond “catchy and cheesy” (you could also add problematic to that description). For that reason, fans have been less adamant about sticking by her as she has gotten older (of course, in true misogynist fashion, pop music doesn’t always make it easy for female stars to age). She recently scored a new top 40 hit with “Daisies” so it will be interesting how she continues to try to remain relevant and reclaim her past glory.
Camilla Cabello and Halsey are the divas who move into the top 10 when you limit the list to just 2015-2020. Both had very successful albums a few years ago (Halsey’s second album “Hopeless Fountain Kingdom” was released in 2017, while Camilla had her debut “Camila “in 2018”) that yielded lots of hits but have released less successful follow-ups chart-wise in the last year. It will be interesting to see if either can rebound and continue to have chart success- otherwise we should definitely be sad.
I included several up and comers on the 2015-2020 list to highlight some of our new crazy kids. Billie Eillish is the media darling of the moment and has increasing chart success with each new release- her most recent single “My Future” debuted at #6 on this week’s chart. She could easily continue to move up the list in the coming years. Normani and Bebe Rexha have both had some hits of their own, but at this point have garnered most of their chart points from collaborations. Normani in particular has an ardent fanbase who could easily serve as motivation (wink) for her next release to propel up the chart. Alessia Cara had a slew of high charting hits from 2015 to 2017 but hasn’t been successful on the chart since, so her list trajectory for the moment seems to be downward. Adele is a huge force in pop music and could easily move back up the chart when her new album is released. Sza is one of the most successful current R&B stars and could easily move up this list when her new album is released. Finally, Meghan Thee Stallion easily is the most promising up and comer on this list. She has had 3 top 40 hits and one #1 hit, the amazing “Savage”, this year. Her amazing brand new single “WAP” with Cardi B. (conservative criticism of it can fuck all the way off, thanks) will likely show up in a big way on the chart in coming weeks.
Below, I briefly describe the chart success of the elite eight (Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B., Beyonce, Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Selena Gomez) who appear on both lists and include my favorite of their songs from both halves of the last decade (2010-2015 and 2015-2020). Enjoy!
Taylor Swift (#1 2010-2020, #1 2015-2020)
Say what you will about Taylor (and I truly do- here is one of my favorite descriptions of Taylor’s dangerous white privilege infused image- https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/on-loving-taylor-swift-while-being-brown/), she has proven to be a thoroughly durable pop star. From 2010-2015, she transitioned fully from being conceived primarily as a country star to one of the US’ leading pop stars. She dutifully weathered some mildly disappointing releases chart wise (her 2019 album “Lover” was a critical success but her first album not to yield a #1 hit on the Billboard chart since 2010), and finally just clinched the #1 spot on these lists with her brand new “Folklore” album. She is the pop star thus far who has most successfully taken advantage of the quarantine by releasing a full album that fans are happy to buy in droves even without music videos or extensive promotion. She had 1 song (“Cardigan”), debut at #1, 2 more debut in the top 10, and 7 more songs from Folklore debut in the top 40 on this week’s Billboard chart (for a total of 19 points). “Folklore” definitely has put her back on an upward chart trajectory chart for now, and there’s little sign she’ll slow down soon. My favorite song of Taylor’s from 2010-2015 is Wildest Dreams (even Violet Chakhi knows it’s good!) and my favorite Taylor song of the last five years is Delicate (I hate the video’s quirky white girl nonsense, but I like the song).
Rihanna (#2 2010-2020, #8 2015-2020)
Rihanna is undoubtedly one of the most durable and powerful pop forces of our time. She’s one of the artists on this list who gets almost as many chart points from songs she is featured on as her own singles (there are infinite examples but Wild Thoughts is a notable recent feature bop). Her last album was release in 2018, so she’s been a bit quiet since then focusing on her makeup line and being an overall badass. She has absolutely nothing left to prove but I still hope she returns to pop music soon. There are far too many amazing Rihanna bops to choose from, but I’ve always had an affinity for the dramatic “Man Down” (it gives me all the True Crime realness I’ve been loving during quarantine). Finally, “Love on the Brain” is a perfect choice for the 2015-2020, as it shows how much Rihanna has matured vocally and musically. We know she goes hard, and will undoubtedly continue to do so.
Nicki Minaj (#3 2010-2020, #3 2015-2020)
As you can see from her place on the lists, Ms. Minaj has stayed impressively relevant on the charts during the entirety of the last decade. She is of course widely acknowledged for creating many successful hits through features on other artist’s songs. 22 of her 58 top 40 hits since 2010 have been from her own singles, and 26 have been from songs she is featured on for other artists. She had her first two #1 hits this year (one for her feature on Doja Cat’s “Say So” and the other on her duet with 6ix9ine “Trollz”). There are so many great Nicki songs to choose from, but I wanted to pick one feature and one main song. My favorite single of hers from the past 5 years is the understated but potent “No Frauds” from 2017, and of course her scene-stealing feature on Kanye West’s “Monster” from 2010 is arguably her best work ever.
Ariana Grande (#2 2010-2020, #4 2015-2020)
In the past 10 years, Ariana Grande has gone from being a pop music up and comer to the premiere female pop star of the moment. She steadily released 5 albums since her debut, Yours Truly in 2013m and each has led to an increased chart success. She’s definitely currently at the height of her chart success- she has had 8 top ten hits over the past 3 years, half of which have gone to #1. She could easily claim the #1 spot on these lists when her next album is released. Until then, I’ve chose the classic “Break Free” for her 2010-2015 song, and the visually stunning “God Is a Woman” for her later decade entry.
Lady Gaga (#6 2010-2020, #10 2015-2020)
Lady Gaga’s success on these lists, particularly the 2015-2020 list, shows that it definitely isn’t over in pop music if the Bradley Cooper is singing. Gaga of course had unparalleled chart success from 2008-2011, collecting 11 top 10 hits during that time, 3 of which went to #1. Unfortunately, her hits from 2008 and 2009 weren’t with the span of these lists, and what was is her chart dry spell period. From 2012-2018 Gaga only had 3 top 10 hits on the chart. This period coincides with the release of her albums Artpop and Joanne, which both continue to be adored by her fans but didn’t have as much of an impact on the chart as her earlier albums. What revived Gaga’s chart career was her turn in the film A Star is Born. In 2018, the iconic “Shallow” from the film became her first #1 hit on the Billboard chart since “Born This Way” in 2013. Since then, her album Chromatica has yielded 2 top 10 singles. It remains to be seen how vigorously Gaga’s success on the chart can continue, but for now it’s definitely raining on her like a tsunami. I landed on the classic “Edge of Glory” for her early decade pick, and “Stupid Love” from Chromatica, which has a cheesy 80s flair that I simply adore.
Cardi B. (#7 2010-2020, #4 2015-2020)
Nobody has burst onto the scene in the last five years harder than Cardi B. Just to clarify: she has been so successful on the chart since her first charted single in 2017 (the irrepressible “Bodak Yellow”), that it vaults her into the list for all of 2010-2020. As mentioned earlier with “Wap”, Cardi could rapidly move up these lists very soon. I picked 2 songs for Cardi even though she doesn’t have hits from 2010-2015. “Money”, which was featured in the film “Hustlers” feels like classic Cardi and has a sumptuous video. Cardi’s feature on the single “Taki Taki” has lines that will forever made me laugh and have changed my personal dating strategy., “He said he really want to see me. I said we should have a date- where?- at the Lamborghini store”. Well played.
Beyonce (#8 2010-2020, #7 2015-2020)
No better example is that there that charts are just stats- not the only or primary way we should critique pop stars, than Beyonce. As her albums have grown more conceptual and experimental, her chart dominance has slightly declined. From 2002 to 2010, Beyonce had 12 top 10 hits, 5 of which went to #1, from her own albums. Since 2010, she has only had 2 top 10 hits from albums. Yet, Beyonce has stayed extremely relevant on the chart in 2 other ways. She has frequently released successful collaborations with other artists, including two #1s- “Perfect Duet” with Ed Sheeran (which always has bothered me conceptually because- on what planet would Beyonce not know she was beautiful, and need Ed Sheeran of all people to tell her) and the AMAZING “Savage” remix with Meghan Thee Stallion. The other way Beyonce has stayed winning on the charts has to do with the current streaming age of music. Because the Billboard charts now include online streaming counts, there has been greater opportunity for non-single album tracks to chart highly. This has matched up perfectly with Beyonce’s growth as an artist, as though they don’t get to the top 10, many of the songs on her albums chart within the top 40 now (off of her last album, 2016’s “Lemonade”, 8 of the 12 album tracks charted in the top 40). This seems like a sustainable chart strategy (get big hits with collaborations and shore up the numbers with album tracks in the top 40), so it would not surprising if B is still a chart factor in the decade to come. She told us after all- don’t you ever for a second get to thinking she’s irreplaceable. I chose “Drunk in Love” for her early decade jam, and “Hold Up” for her later decade jam.
Selena Gomez (#9 2010-2020, #6 2015-2020)
There is perhaps no less likely persistent pop music chart presence than Selena Gomez. She never seemed to have the vocal chops or stage charisma that would lead you to think she would become a dominant chart diva. Yet, she started with the weirdly useless Disney background band “Selena Gomez & The Scene” to steadily chart top 40 hits. As most Disney pop stars do, she went solo and sexy in 2013 and started to steadily chart top 10 hits. Her massive popularity as a celebrity (she was the most followed woman on Instagram from 2015 to 2018) undoubtedly led to her to being sought after for collaborations with prominent producers like Zedd, Dj Snake, Marshmellow and Kygo, which lead to more hits. She recently got her first #1 hit with the ballad “Lose You To Love Me”, a blatant reference to her public prior romance with Justin Bieber. Can she keep it up in the next decade? It’ll be interesting to watch her go. I chose the so early 2000s it hurts “Slow Down” for her early decade hit, and the simply wild “Fetish” for her later decade hit.
There are some lovely examples of these pop giants collaborating together, so I’ve included 2 more of my favorites cross-diva songs below. I also have a Spotify playlist that includes women from the list and also lists I have of the top women of the last 15 and 20 years which I can include in future blogs. Enjoy the Spotify below! I am thinking of updating my K Pop and Diva lists every couple of months so be on the lookout for those! Another monster blog done. I’d rather be dry but at least I’m alive. Until next time!
Dumb Pop Culture Lists 