Despite its title, Drake’s “2 Hard 4 the Radio” is making waves on airwaves. It becomes the first newly released track from his trio of new albums to reach Billboard’s all-format Radio Songs chart — and makes him the first artist to accumulate 100 career entries on the ranking.
The track enters the chart (dated June 6) at No. 50 with 9.4 million audience impressions May 22-28, a 50% week-over-week surge, according to Luminate.
The cut is from Drake’s album ICEMAN, which tops the Billboard 200 for a second week. A week earlier, thanks to the set, HABIBTI and MAID OF HONOUR, he became the first artist ever to rank at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 simultaneously on the Billboard 200.
One song each — released last year — from ICEMAN and MAID OF HONOUR previously reached Radio Songs: “What Did I Miss?” (No. 27 peak, August), from the former, and “Which One,” with Central Cee (No. 34, October), from the latter.
With the entrance of “2 Hard 4 the Radio,” Drake swells his total to 100 career entries on Radio Songs. He first made the list just more than 17 years ago, when “Best I Ever Had” debuted (May 23, 2009). It became his first of three No. 1s and 24 top 10s; he subsequently led as featured on Rihanna’s “What’s My Name?” in 2011, and with his “One Dance,” featuring WizKid and Kyla, in 2016.
As Drake adds another historic mark to his résumé, here’s a rundown of the artists with the most appearances on Radio Songs since the chart began (as of the week dated Dec. 8, 1990):
- 100, Drake
- 82, Chris Brown
- 82, Lil Wayne
- 63, Nicki Minaj
- 59, Kenny Chesney
- 56, Jay-Z
- 55, Taylor Swift
- 54, Tim McGraw
- 52, Rihanna
Drake, thus, boasts the most career entries on the Billboard Hot 100 (402) and two of the three charts whose metrics feed the Hot 100: Streaming Songs (309) and Radio Songs. On Digital Song Sales, he ranks third with 160 charted titles, after the Glee cast (237) and Taylor Swift (190).
“2 Hard 4 the Radio” debuted at No. 9 on the May 30-dated Hot 100 as one of nine new top 10s for Drake, who upped his record count to 90 career top 10s. “Janice STFU” has spent its first two weeks on the chart at No. 1.
R&B/hip-hop is leading the way among radio formats on Drake’s new music. “2 Hard 4 the Radio” bounds 31-19 in its second week on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart and “Janice STFU” debuts at No. 22.
