SZA's "Kill Bill" hit #1 on the R&B chart for the first of 21 weeks

Kill Bill SZA

Writer(s): Solána Rowe, Rob Bisel, Carter Lang (see lyrics here) Released: January 10, 2023 First Charted: December 21, 2022 Peak: 11 BB, 14 ST, 11 RR, 30 AC, 7 A40, 121 RB, 3 UK, 3 CN, 11 AU (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 8.0 US, 1.2 UK, 11.47 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 316.87 video, 2121.68 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: R&B singer/songwriter Solána Imani Rowe (known as SZA) was born in 1989 in St. Louis, Missouri. After several EP releases, she signed with RCA Records and released her debut album, Ctrl in 2017. It was certified three times platinum despite the absence of any songs to chart as high as the top 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. Five years later, she was back with her SOS, her second album. It topped the Billboard album chart and gave SZA another triple platinum album. It also gave her five top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the album’s fifth single, “Kill Bill,” which met with the greatest success. It was released in January 2023 because of its successful streaming numbers. Three months later, a remix with rapper Doja Cat boosted the song’s success. The song spent eight weeks at #2 before finally triumphing over the Billboard Hot 100. It only spent one week on top, but was a major success on the R&B chart, spending 21 weeks at #1 and breaking the previous record by “Old Town Road.” The song title is taken from the martial arts movies Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004), directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Uma Thurman as an assassin out for revenge against her ex-boyfriend. Similarly, the song follows the protaganist’s fantasy to kill her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend. Some critics “found her murder fantasites extreme but relatable to a degree.” WK “The song’s candid exploration of…unfiltered, violent emotions were a point of praise” WK for some critics. Interestingly, though, SZA has been annoyed by the song’s success. She said she put little heart or energy into making the song. As she said, “’Kill Bill’ was super easy – one take, one night.” SF Despite her feelings, the song wasn’t just a commercial success but has been well received critically as well. It garnered Grammy nominations for Record and Song of the Year. Billboard magazine called it her “first totally ubiquitous smash.” SF Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for SZA SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 1/4/2024; last updated 10/14/2024.

Sam Smith “Unholy” hit #1

Unholy Sam Smith with Kim Petras

Writer(s): Sam Smith, Kim Petras, James Napier, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Henry Walter, Blake Slatkin, Omer Fedi (see lyrics here) Released: September 22, 2022 First Charted: October 5, 2022 Peak: 11 BB, 14 BA, 14 DG, 14 ST, 16 RR, 29 AC, 11 A40, 14 UK, 14 CN, 16 AU, 30 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 1.2 UK, 5.70 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 525.85 video, 1646.94 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Singer/songwriter Sam Smith was born in 1992 in London, England. He first made a name for himself as the guest singer on Disclosure’s “Latch” (#11 UK, 2012) and Naughty Boy’s “La La La” (#1 UK, 2013). He released his first solo album, In the Lonely Hour, in 2014. The album sold 12 million copies worldwide, propelled by three #1 singles in the UK, including “Stay with Me.” 2017 saw the release of The Thrill of It All and Love Goes followed in 2020. Both reached the top 5 in the UK and U.S.. Fourth album, Gloria, came out in 2023. The album’s single, “Unholy,” gave him his sixth top-ten hit and first chart-topper in the United States. Variety’s Jem Aswad called it “one of the most musically innovative and unusual songs in years” WK top top the Billboard Hot 100. Petras was born male in 1992 in Germany. She started hormone therapy at 12, completing her gender transition four years later. At the time, she was the youngest person in the world to undergo sex affirmation surgery. SF From 2011 to 2020, she released multiple singles and EPs, but none reached any of the major U.S. or UK charts. “Unholy” was not only a breakthrough for Petras, but a triumph for the LGBQT+ community as it marked the first time an openly non-binary artist (Smith) and an openly transgender artist (Kim Petras) topped the Billboard Hot 100. It is a “sexually charged electropop, dance-pop, and synth-pop song…which marked a shift away from ballads for Smith.” WK Lyrically, it focuses on a man who cheats on his wife at a strip club, specifically The Body Shop, an infamous LA Sunset Strip club. SF Smith sings from the perspective of one of the man’s acquaintances. SF Petras sings from the perspective of the woman with whom the man cheats. SF Critics praised the song as “catchy yet unusual.” WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Sam Smith SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 1/7/2024; last updated 10/15/2024.

Noah Kahan “Stick Season” released

Stick Season Noah Kahan

Writer(s): Noah Kahan (see lyrics here) Released: July 8, 2022 First Charted: September 3, 2022 Peak: 9 BB, 19 AC, 11 A40, 2 AA, 15 MR, 17 UK, 3 CN, 13 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 3.0 UK, 9.17 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 119.41 video, 1664.79 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Singer/songwriter Noah Kahan was born in 1997 in Strattford, Vermont. When his song “Stick Season” was released in 2022, it caught everyone by surprise, becoming a top-10 hit in the United States and a #1 song in the UK. He wasn’t a brand new singer. He’d released two albums previously – Busyhead in 2019 and I Was/I Am in 2021. Despite multiple singles, he’d never reached the pop charts in the U.S. or UK. As the lead single from his third album of the same name, “Stick Season” started slowly but went viral on TikTok after singer Olivia Rodrigo covered the song on BBC Radio 1. WK It propelled Kahan to #1 in the UK, Australia, Belgium, Ireland, and the Netherlands. It went top 10 in the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand. Kahan first performed the song on a live stream on his Instagram feed in 2020. He wrote another verse for the song in 2022 and uploaded it to TikTok. When it became successful, it prompted him to finish the song. It still took him awhile, partly because of his doubts that a song written specifically about his home state of Vermont would appeal to people who lived elsewhere. WK The term “stick season” refers to the time in autumn in New England when the leaves have fallen but snow has yet to come. SF Without their leaves, the trees appear “stick-like” and “the landscape can seem baren and desolate.” SF Kahan said it is “a time of transition” that is “super depressing” because it “means that winter is coming soon and it creates a lot of anxiety.” WK Kahan used it as a metaphor for a broken relationship and how it left “him feeling like the world around him is now bleak and barren.” SF Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 11/21/2025.

Rema “Calm Down” released

Calm Down Rema with Selena Gomez

Writer(s): Divine Ikubor, Andre Vibez, Michael Hunter (see lyrics here) Released: February 11, 2022; remix with Selena Gomez: August 25, 2022 First Charted: September 7, 2022 Peak: 3 BB, 110 BA, 14 RR, 7 AC, 12 A40, 3 UK, 19 CN, 11 AU (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, 1.8 UK, 9.27 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1802.08 video, 2120.92 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Afrobeat singer/songwriter and rapper Divine Ikubor (stage name Rema) was born in 2000 in Nigeria. He first gained recognition in 2019 with the song “Dumebi.” He signed a deal with the record label Jonzing World that same year. After two EPs, he released his first studio album, Rave & Roses, in 2022. After the lead single, “Calm Down,” was remixed with Selena Gomez, it became his first chart entry on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #3. It was her ninth top-ten hit. “Calm Down” is now regarded as the biggest Afrobeat song of all time. WK Rolling Stone said Rema “is the kind of singer who savors simple pop pleasures with a track that’s appropriately warm, bright, and captivating.” WK Rema said the song “is all about the events that led me to finding love at the time.” WK He said he met a girl dressed in yellow at a party. Her friends were being stuck up and Rema told the girl, “Yo, just calm down. Let’s have a chat.” SF He said they talked and danced but she wanted to stay with her friends. Nonetheless, the two stayed in touch and hit it off. On the remix with Selena Gomez, she assumed the perspective of Rema’s love interest. SF Vanguard writer Adegboyega Remmy Adeleye said that Gomez “complements Rema’s vibe perfectly, maintaining the same energy as the original release.” WK Rema said that while some artists have an egotistical attitude that anything they contribute would be “dope…she wanted to know if I resonated with whatever she did on it – and I did. I loved it.” SF Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Rema DMDB encyclopedia entry for Selena Gomez SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 3/24/2024; last updated 10/16/2024.

Adele “Easy on Me” hit #1 for first of 10 weeks

Easy on Me Adele

Writer(s): Adele Adkins, Greg Kurstin (see lyrics here) Released: October 15, 2021 First Charted: October 23, 2021 Peak: 110 US, 115 BA, 12 DG, 15 ST, 12 AC, 110 A40, 2 AA, 32a RB, 18 UK, 18 CN, 14 AU, 12 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 1.8 UK, 8.88 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 975.3 video, 1884.59 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: After Adele’s debut album, 19, in 2008, she won the Grammy for Best New Artist. Her sophomore effort, 2011’s 21, became the best-selling album of the 21st century with sales over 31 million. That album and its follow-up, 2015’s 25, both won Album of the Year Grammys. Between them, the two albums gave Adele four #1 songs. Her biggest was “Hello” from 25, which spent ten weeks on top. While that set the bar impossibly high for Adele’s 2021 release, 30, she still pulled off another multi-platinum, #1 album which spawned yet another huge hit, “Easy on Me,” another ten-week chart topper. The song broke streaming records for a song in both a day and a week for Spotify and Amazon Music. WK The song was also nominated for Grammys for Record and Song of the Year. Adele won both awards with “Rolling in the Deep” and repeated the feat with “Hello.” Could she pull it off a third time? The “minimally produced pop ballad [is] set to a prominent sobre piano and propelled by sparse beats. Expressing themes of nostalgia, regret, and forgiveness, the lyrics represent Adele’s plea to her son, [Angelo], in which she details her struggles with her dissolved marriage and requests him to be kind to her.” WK Adele and her ex-husband, Simon Konecki, separated in 2019 after eleven years together and finalized their divorce in March 2021. “Easy on Me” was the first song she wrote for 30. Then she wrote nothing else for six months because she though the song said it all. SF Adele said, “I just felt like I wanted to explain to [Angelo], through this record, when he’s in his twenties or thirties, who I am and why I voluntarily chose to dismantle his entire life in the pursuit of my own happiness. It made him really unhappy sometimes. And that’s a real wound for me that I don’t know I’ll ever be able to heal.” WK Nick Levine of New Musical Express said “Adele has never sounded better.” WK The Independent’s Alexandra Pollard praised the raspy vocals, sentimental lyrics, polished sound, and piano composition. WK Cat Zhang said in Pitchfork that the song “isn’t really trending new ground,” instead sticking to Adele’s classic formula. WK Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/12/2023; last updated 10/13/2024.