Jack Harlow “First Class” hit #1

First Class Jack Harlow

Writer(s): Jackman Harlow, Jasper Harris, Douglas Ford, Rogét Chahayed, José Velazquez, Micaiah Raheem, Nickie Jon Pabón, Ryan Vojtesak, Stacy Ferguson, Jamal Jones, Will Adams, Elvis Williams, Christopher Bridges (see lyrics here) Released: April 8, 2022 First Charted: April 21, 2022 Peak: 13 BB, 14 BA, 11 DG, 13 ST, 11 RR, 17 A40, 110 RB, 2 UK, 11 CN, 12 AU (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 0.6 UK, 3.91 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 168.11 video, 853.51 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Rapper Jack Harlow was born in Kentucky in 1998. He released several mixtapes and EPs before his debut album, That’s What They All Say, came out in 2020 and was a top-five, million-selling album. He experienced his first chart success with the album’s single “What’s Poppin’,” which reached #2 on the pop and R&B charts on its way to being certified seven times platinum. In 2021, Harlow reached #1 as a guest artist on Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby.” Th next year, he topped the charts on his own with “First Class,” the second single from his sophomore album, Come Home, the Kids Miss You. It appeared first on TikTok, going viral and gaining 28.8 million views before it was officially released. WK Harlow uses the song to brag about his lifestyle changes since making it big with “What’s Poppin’.” He can now afford to fly his friends and family first class, “treat his lady to the finer things in life, and upsize his mom and dad’s property.” SF The song heavily samples Fergie’s “Glamorous,” a #1 song from 2007. He said the song “was one of the biggest and most important songs of my childhood. It influenced my whole style.” SF NPR’s Reanna Cruz said the song finds Harlow “dabbling in the space between the dorky and affable – perhaps the key to his success. You can’t help but root for him.” NPR “He knows what he’s doing and…he games the Gen-Z algorithm to great effect.” NPR Billboard magazine named “First Class” the #1 R&B/rap song of the year. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Jack Harlow NPR NPR.org (4/14/2022). “Jack Harlow, ‘First Class’” by Reanna Cruz SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 1/7/2024; last updated 10/15/2024.

The Black Eyed Peas hit #1 with “Boom Boom Pow”

Boom Boom Pow Black Eyed Peas

Writer(s): William Adams, Allan Pineda, Jaime Gomez, Stacy Ferguson (see lyrics here) Released: November 12, 2008 First Charted: March 8, 2009 Peak: 112 US, 15 BA, 110 DG, 16 RR, 21 A40, 51 RB, 12 UK, 19 CN, 16 AU, 21 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 6.9 US, 0.73 UK, 27.0 (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.5 radio, 367.9 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: With their lead single from their fifth studio album, The E.N.D., the Black Eyed Peas achieved a feat they hadn’t accomplished before – they topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. The song spent an amazing 12 weeks atop the charts – but it was only the beginning. The Peas didn’t have to wait long for their next #1 – the album’s follow-up single, “I Gotta Feeling,” followed “Pow” into the pole position, giving the Peas the rare distinction of knocking themselves from the top. “Feeling” proved even more successful, holding on to #1 for 14 weeks – giving the Peas a full six-month lock on #1! All four members – Will.i.am, Fergie, Taboo, and apl.de.ap – have solo raps in the futuristic-sounding, auto-tuned song. Boston Globe described the song and others from the album as “substance-free, grammatically suspect dance floor jams” which were nonetheless “booty-shaking pleasures.” WK Digital Spy’s Nick Levine called it “a fairly ridiculous robopop stomper” but also said, “Frankly who cares? Right now this just sounds cracking.” WK Rolling Stone said it was “an assault on the senses, and on good taste. And it’s the best thing The Black Eyed Peas have ever recorded.” WK Will.i.am acknowledge the song’s unusual and repetitive nature when he told Rolling Stone, “It has one note. It says ‘Boom’ 168 times. The structure has three beats in one song. It’s not lyrics – it’s audio patterns, structure, architecture.” SF He told Billboard the song “was made for underground clubs. Like, if I would’ve thought that was gonna be a radio song, I would’ve made it different…‘Boom Boom Pow’ is proof that if something’s dope, regardless of if it has that sprinkled radio vibe, that it should be played on the radio and the people are gonna like it.” WK People definitely liked it. They watched the video on YouTube more than 100 million times WK and scooped up 6 million copies of the song in the U.S. and another 2.5 million internationally. It was the best-selling song on iTunes in 2009. It was a big seller right out of the gate, hitting 465,000 downloads in its first week, making it the highest sum which had been achieved at that point by a group in one week. SF Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Black Eyed Peas SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: Last updated 4/25/2023.

Fergie hit #1 with “Big Girls Don’t Cry”

Big Girls Don’t Cry (Personal) Fergie

Writer(s): Stacy Ferguson, Toby Gad (see lyrics here) Released: May 22, 2007 First Charted: May 5, 2007 Peak: 11 US, 17 BA, 18 RR, 16 AC, 17 A40, 2 UK, 13 CN, 19 AU, 24 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, 0.6 UK, 6.39 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.8 radio, 596.7 video, 496.67 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Fergie was with the band Wild Orchid for ten years before joining the hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas in 2002. The group took off with her as a member – the albums Elephunk (2003) and Monkey Business (2005) moved 8 and 10 million copies worldwide respectively. In 2006, Fergie decided to release her first solo album – The Dutchess. With 9 million in sales worldwide, it matched her group efforts and the album’s five top-five singles gave her even more chart success as a solo act than what the Peas had previously achieved. “Big Girls Don’t Cry” was the fourth single from the album and the third to top the Billboard Hot 100. It made her the first female artist since Christina Aguilera in 2000 to have three #1 songs from an album. BB Instead of relying on the hip hop and urban elements of the previous singles, this one was an acoustic-based ballad featuring credits from about thirty instrumentalists, including eighteen violinists and players on viola, celli, bass, drums, and keyboards. WK The song is about breaking up with someone, but reminiscing about what that person was like. Fergie told AOL the song, which she wrote before she joined the Black Eyed Peas, was about independence. SF About.com’s Bill Lamb noted that it represented artistic growth for Fergie and UKMix.org’s Alex MacGregor praised the song as timeless. WK “Big Girls” also reached #1 in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway. WK and was Fergie's first No. 1 on the U.S. Mainstream Top 40, Adult Contemporary and Adult Top 40 charts. BB It was iTunes most-downloaded song in 2007. SF Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Fergie BB Billboard (9/08). “All-Time Hot 100” SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Last updated 8/6/2023.