The Billboard Hot 100 chart ranks the best performing songs in the United States. Its data is based collectively on each song's weekly physical and digital sales, as well as the amount of airplay received on American radio stations and streaming on online digital music outlets.
When analyzing the songs on this chart, we are essentially taking a look, week by week, at the topics that have been the most widely accepted and emotionally impacting on a national scale. By assessing these songs and understanding the reasons behind their popularity, we can gain a better sense of the topics that are the most culturally appealing and accepted, why those topics are so appealing and accepted, and how to replicate that same mass appeal through strategic auditory implementation.
By assessing the songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that have ranked #1 over the last three years (November 14th, 2015 - September 29th, 2018), it becomes apparent that most of the topics amongst all the songs are relatively similar, but the amount of time spent talking about each topic differs between each song. By looking at how each artist uses similar topics to tell different stories, we can focus in on exactly what factors make each song draw such a mass appeal.
If the best songs of the month, or year, or decade were assessed to identify factors of mass appeal, and the strategies that made those songs appealing was replicated to create new mass appealing auditory content, the question emerges; Is there a formula to produce a #1 hit?
During the last three years, there have been 31 songs that have spent at least one week as the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
These songs range from one week appearances, all the way up to 16 week appearances at the #1 spot. 58% of these songs were #1 for three weeks or fewer, with roughly 32% of those songs only spending one week at #1. The other 42% of these songs spent one month or more at #1.
These 10+ week #1 hits are the best of the best during the last three years. By analyzing song qualities like lyrical topics, story structure, tempo changes, and other things of that nature, there are similarities that have proven to be successful in terms of mass popularity, acceptance, and emotional response.
Lyrical Analysis
When assessing the lyrical content of a song, it's important to notice things like new topic frequency and topic repetition. This gives a very clear look the type of content that is keeping these songs in the #1 spot for so many weeks.
Topics surrounding past and present relationships seem to be the most frequently revisited topic between all the artists, but by noticing how each artist chooses to address the same topics, we can see what viewpoints, attitudes, and outlooks, are most universally accepted.
The first song we'll look at is In My Feelings by Drake, which spent 10 weeks at #1.
This song has an extremely catchy uptempo beat and initial lyrical chorus, which undoubtedly helped in keeping this song in the #1 spot for 10 weeks. The bulk of this song's lyrics come from Drake asking if this woman still wants him, and telling this woman that he will always want her. He uses a variety of phrases like "I want you, and I need you" throughout the song. However, Drake also spends 23% of the song asking for reassurance from this girl that she won't leave him. He uses catchy phrasing like, "Say you'll never ever leave from beside me." This pleading tone lasts throughout the entirety of the song, even though the next most addressed topic is that the girl in fact does want Drake (or so he says). I believe that this back and forth on whether or not Drake actually has this girl by his side, is what makes the song so widely accepted. These topics are ultimately relatable to anyone that has ever had a school-yard crush and wasn't sure if the feelings were reciprocated.
Drake also speaks of a woman in this next song, but he is far less concerned with asking how she feels. Instead, in this song, he simply tells her how he needs their night to pan out.
One Dance spent 10 weeks at #1.
This song also has a very catchy, uptempo beat which makes sense as it's a song about dancing with a girl. It's interesting however that Drake is pleading with this girl to dance with him for about 16% of the song, but he spends roughly 20% of the song talking about how much she loves him. In fact, the first line of the song is a woman saying that she likes his style. This type of back and forth suggests a level of complexity to their relationship that most people can relate to. Lyrics like, "she love me long time," are also littered throughout the song. With the added bulk of sexual innuendos that are prevalent throughout 18% of the song as well, Drake is making it known that he is very interested in this woman. I think what makes this song so universally accepted is that Drake is very strategic about what he says. As you can see above, he spends about the same amount of time reassuring this woman that he'll get her the things she wants and talking about his elevated status, as he does telling her how he wants her sexually. By balancing out these topics, Drake makes it known that although he really wants this girl, he wants to take care of her other needs equally as much. He shows her support both mentally and physically, and instead of being the one asking for reassurance like he did on In My Feelings, he reverses roles and we are able to see Drake's different attitudes with two different girls.
The next song I analyzed was also addressing a relationship. This one however, is about a past relationship that didn't end well.
Hello spent 10 weeks at #1.
This song was about Adele reaching out to an ex who wants nothing to do with her anymore. As you can see above, only a few topics take up 75% of the song. The lack of topics make the song easy to understand and highlight how sorry Adele really is. She dwells on the fact that she is trying to get ahold of this man. By him being unresponsive for 25% of the song, it almost makes the listener feel bad for Adele, even though she admits that he is mad because she cheated on him. I thought this lyrical technique was interesting to assess because it forces the listener to side with Adele, even though she is the one that's in the wrong. This song also follows the trend of having very few topics that are easily understandable. I think this is a big reason for the song's success. Adele simplifies the song by only talking about a few key points, making it easy to comprehend regardless of the age of the listener.
Next on the list is another Drake song. Surprisingly, he takes a break from talking about women to tell the world that despite all the hate, he is doing alright.
God's Plan spent 11 weeks at #1.
When he's not telling us about his latest girlfriend or his houses on both coasts, Drake likes to let the world know that he's really just like everyone else. He loves his mom, he wants his friends to live long lives, and he doesn't want any trouble from his enemies. He never misses a chance to boast however. With lyrics like, "s*** was different with me" taking up about 37% of the song, and lyrics about Drake's enemies taking up only 17% of the song, Drake subliminally bests his enemies once more by literally spending twice as much time talking about his own accomplishments as he does their hate. This makes it very obvious to the listener that although Drake has a lot of enemies, he will always be better than them. I think this song is so widely loved because the overall message of God being in control is sincere. Also, by addressing topics that the everyday person deals with, Drake once again created a song with topics that most people can appreciate.
This next song is structured very differently but actually spent one additional week in the #1 spot.
Shape of You by Ed Sheeran spent a whole 3 months as the #1 song in the country.
As you can see, Ed Sheeran wasn't shy about telling this woman that he wants her. He spends roughly 87% of the song telling her that she's the one he wants, that he's the one for her, and that they already have romantic chemistry. Due to Sheeran's lyrical genius and pure vocal range, this barrage of complements and promises became wildly popular. The song starts by Sheeran setting the scene and quickly professing his love. With lyrics like, "Your love was handmade for somebody like me," and "my heart is falling," Sheeran is not holding back from saying how he feels. I think one reason for this song's popularity is because Sheeran doesn't obsess with talking about wanting this woman in a sexual way. Although the song's title would suggest that it would be a sexual song, I think that by commenting that he loves her body in addition to everything else about her, it makes the song seem very genuine. Also, by getting to the part of the song where he is professing his love so quickly, it makes it that much more convincing that he really does care about her. This portrayal of unconditional love is romantic and universally appealing, which might be why it became so popular. I also noticed that the song's structure is similar to Adele's Hello, in the way that only a few topics take up the majority of the song. Once again, this lyrical style makes the song very easy to understand for all age ranges, which is likely another reason for the song's success.
This next song is a has a slower tempo and tells of an old relationship that is now a bit more nonchalant. While Sheeran took the relentless complementing approach, this couple's relationship tells a different story.
Closer by The Chainsmokers also spent 3 months at #1.
This song is about an ex couple that sees each other after a long time, and they realize that nothing has changed between them. The song was brilliantly constructed as a duet between the couple. It starts out with the man reaching out to the woman, they trade a few verbal jabs like some ex's might do, and then he goes on to tell her how when he sees her, he can't stop himself from liking her. The woman then responds by basically saying the same things back to the man. I thought that this was a very strategic way to construct the song because it follows America's cultural gender norms. In the United States, for the most part, it is generally the cultural norm for the man to approach the woman and initiate conversation. By staying consistent with this cultural norm, the song naturally puts the outcome of the situation in the woman's hands. When she responds positively, aside from simply staying within America's gender norms, the song becomes a love story. I also felt like the topic frequency of the song stayed consistent with cultural gender norms as well. Generally speaking, it is a cultural norm in America for men to be portrayed as being motivated and mainly driven by sex. Even though that wan't the main topic of this song, the man talks about wanting the woman sexually three times more than the woman talks about wanting him in the same way. By the woman not talking as much about wanting the man sexually, and spending more time talking about the qualities of their relationship, I felt that the song stayed very consistent with America's gender norms, which may explain why this song was #1 for so many weeks. This next song was far and away the most interesting song I analyzed.
By securing 16 weeks in the #1 spot, the Despacito/Justin Bieber remix was the highest rated song of the last 3 years.
This song was interesting from the very start. Most of the song is in Spanish, which may explain why it stayed in the #1 spot for so long. If it was recorded in English, I think more people in the United States would have realized how explicit it really is. He spends about 40% of the song talking about how he wants this woman in a sexual way, and interestingly enough, spends about another 20% of the song saying how he wants to take things slow. 60% of this song is a contradiction which in a weird way I think adds to the song's mass appeal. It is a catchy, high energy beat, and it's a little goofy at times. Lyrics describing how she's his, "sunrise on the darkest day," resulted in this song relying on sexual innuendos and cliche pickup lines. There were also far more lyrics in this song than the others, but the topic count was very low, much like the other songs on this list. This suggests that repetition of a few universally accepted topics can be all that it takes to create a #1 hit.
So back to the main question: Is there a formula for a #1 hit?
Short Answer: Yes
Long Answer: It'll take more than just analyzing the songs' lyrics. Songs impact people in so many different ways that for us to truly create a formula for writing a #1 hit, we would not just look at lyrical topics. We would also look at things like instrument frequency, beat type, seasonal influencers, and much more. We gain a great deal of information by assessing these top songs' lyrics, but by doing a full investigation into all of the factors for what evokes the emotional musical responses, we will be able to know exactly how to evoke emotional responses in listeners in a way that's never been done before.