Kid Laroi hit #1 with “Stay”

Stay The Kid Laroi with Justin Bieber

Writer(s): Charlton Howard, Justin Bieber, Magnus Høiberg, Charlie Puth, Omer Fedi, Blake Slatkin, Michael Mule, Isaac De Boni, Subhaan Rahmaan (see lyrics here) Released: July 9, 2021 First Charted: July 24, 2021 Peak: 17 US, 110 BA, 16 ST, 2 AC, 16 A40, 2 UK, 112 CN, 117 AU, 16 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 11.0 US, 1.8 UK, 17.66 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1219.92 video, 3296.98 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Australian singer/songwriter and rapper Kid Laroi was born Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard in 2003. His first album, the mixtape Fuck Love, was released in 2020 when he was just 16 years old. A deluxe edition, known as Fuck Love (Savage) was released later that year and added seven more songs. One of the songs was “Without You,” his ninth chart entry in Australia and first #1. It also reached the top 10 in the United States. In 2021, yet another version (Fuck Love 3: Lover You) was released and added seven more songs. The blockbuster, career-making song from that release was “Stay,” a collaboration with Justin Bieber, with whom he’d previously worked on the song “Unstable” from Beiber’s Justice album. “Stay” reached #1 in more than 20 countries, including Australia and the United States. Its 17 weeks at #1 in Australia made for the second-longest run in the chart’s history. It was Bieber’s eighth chart topper on the Billboard Hot 100 and Kid Laroi’s first. He was only the second Australian solo male artist (after Rick Springfield) top top the chart. Upon its release, Billboard appropriately said the song “sounds like it should push [Laroi] to a new level” of stardom. WK In addition to seven weeks at #1, the song spent a record non-consecutive 14 weeks at #2 and 23 weeks in the top three. It also became the first song in Billboard Hot 100 history to spend its first 40 weeks consecutively in the top 10. WK It was the most listened to song on Apple Music in 2022. SF Stereogum’s Chris DeVille described the fast-paced, snyth-pop song as “maniacally catchy.” WK It grew out of time with producers Charlie Puth and others about a year before its release. Puth came up with the song’s keyboard riff SF that “serves as the song’s spine and eventually becomes the chorus melody.” WK The lyrics explore a troubled relationship where the singer is at fault and begs his partner to stay with him, despite his broken promises. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Kid Laroi SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/11/2023; last updated 10/12/2024.

Tones and I “Dance Monkey” spends 24th week at #1 in Australia

Dance Monkey Tones and I

Writer(s): Toni Watson (see lyrics here) Released: May 10, 2019 First Charted: September 7, 2019 Peak: 4 US, 11 A40, 12 MR, 111 UK, 17 CN, 124 AU (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 3.6 UK, 14.66 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2811.24 video, 3042.09 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Singer Toni Watson (stage name Tones and I) accomplished the astonishing feat in January 2020 of spending a 24th week atop the Australian chart with “Dance Monkey,” the second single from her debut EP The Kids Are Coming. It cemented it as the biggest chart-topper in the history of the country, surpassing Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” which spent 22 weeks at the top in 1943. It also won the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Music Award for Best Pop Release and the Australian Performing Right Assocation (APRA) Music Award for Song of the Year. “Dance Monkey” was an international smash as well, reaching #1 in more than 30 countries. In the UK, its 11 weeks at #1 gave her the biggest chart-topper for a female artist in the history of the UK charts. It also racked up two billion airs on Spotify as well as YouTube. It was also declared the most Shazmed song of all time in November 2020. WK Watson explained that she wrote the song when busking at Byron Bay in New South Wales, Australia. She loved the freedom of performing on the streets, but was frustrated by drunks, idiots, and people with short attention spans. It made her feel like a trained monkey, inspiring her to write the song about the pressure she felt to entertain people. It specifically grew out of one night when one person stole her money and another tried to play her keyboard. SF Some of the lyrics grew directly out of comments from the crowd that night: “I’ve never seen anybody do the things you do,” “I see the way you shine,” “You stopped me dead when I was passing by,” and “You make me wanna cry.” SF Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Tones and I SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 7/20/2023; last updated 5/3/2024.