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The Hit Songs Deconstructed Trend Report provides an in-depth look
at the compositional and industry related trends for the Billboard
Hot 100 Top 10.
What follows are select highlights culled from the Q3 Trend Report. The full Q3
Trend Report will be available to Hit Song Deconstructed Subscribers later this
month. To learn more about a Hit Songs Deconstructed subscription visit
HitSongsDeconstructed.com.
In Q3 2018, 28 songs, 31 credited performing artists, 119 credited songwriters, 48 credited
producers, and 11 record labels landed in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10.
Four songs charted at #1. They include three Hip Hop songs – In My Feelings (Drake), Nice for
What (Drake), and I Like It (Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny, J Balvin), and one Pop song – Girls
Like You (Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B).
Drake remained the top artist. In Q3 he had the most #1 hits (2), the most Top 10 hits (7), and
spent the most time at #1 (11 weeks total). He also had the most credits as a songwriter (8).
Year to date, Drake had the most Top 10 and #1 hits (11 and 3, respectively), spent the most
weeks at #1 (29 weeks), and had the most Top 10 songwriting credits (13). Post Malone spent
the most weeks in the Top 10 (39 weeks), followed by Cardi B and Drake at 35 weeks, each.
Q3 2018 Songs ...................................................................................................................... Page 3
Notable Players ..................................................................................................................... Page 4
Compositional Trend Highlights ........................................................................................... Page 6
© 2010 - 2018 Hit Songs Deconstructed. All rights reserved. 2
© 2010 - 2018 Hit Songs Deconstructed. All rights reserved. 3
28 songs charted in the Hot 100 Top 10 during Q3 2018:
• Better Now: Post Malone
• Boo'd Up: Ella Mai
• Don't Matter To Me: Drake featuring Michael Jackson
• Emotionless: Drake
• FeFe: 6ix9ine featuring Murda Beatz, Nicki Minaj
• Girls Like You: Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B
• God Is A Woman: Ariana Grande
• God's Plan: Drake
• I Like It: Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny, J Balvin
• I Love It: Kanye West, Lil Pump
• I'm Upset: Drake
• In My Feelings: Drake
• Killshot: Eminem
• Love Lies: Khalid, Normani
• Lucid Dreams: Juice WRLD
• Lucky You: Eminem featuring Joyner Lucas
• Meant To Be: Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line
• Nice For What: Drake
• No Brainer: DJ Khaled featuring Chance The Rapper, Justin Bieber, Quavo
• No Tears Left To Cry: Ariana Grande
• Nonstop: Drake
• Psycho: Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign
• Sad!: XXXTentacion
• Sicko Mode: Travis Scott
• Stargazing: Travis Scott
• Taste: Tyga featuring Offset
• The Ringer: Eminem
• Youngblood: 5 Seconds Of Summer
© 2010 - 2018 Hit Songs Deconstructed. All rights reserved. 4
Primary Artists
Record Labels
Drake Two #1 Hits
Primary Artists with #1 Hits (excludes featured artists)
Drake Seven Top 10 Hits
Cardi B One #1 Hit
• Weeks in the Top
10: 1 Week
Primary Artist with the Most Top 10 Hits (excludes featured artists)
Republic
Eleven Top 10 Hits
Interscope
Six Top 10 Hits
Drake 13 Weeks
Cardi B 13 Weeks
Primary Artists with the Most Weeks in the Top 10 (excludes featured artists)
Maroon 5 13 Weeks
Labels with the Most Top 10 Hits
Epic
Three Top 10 Hits
Warner Bros.
Two Top 10 Hits
Maroon 5 One #1 Hit
© 2010 - 2018 Hit Songs Deconstructed. All rights reserved. 5
Songwriters
Behind the Scenes Writers with the Most Top 10 Hits
Performing Artist Writers with the Most Top 10 Hits
Producers
Producers with the Most Top 10 Hits
Drake Eight Top 10 Hits
Eminem Three Top 10 Hits
Louis Bell Three Top 10 Hits
Ray Fraser Three Top 10 Hits
40 Three Top 10 Hits
Louis Bell Three Top 10 Hits
Illa Da Producer Three Top 10 Hits
40 Three Top 10 Hits
© 2010 - 2018 Hit Songs Deconstructed. All rights reserved. 6
Compositional Trends:
Q3 at a Glance:
• Number of Top 10 Hits: 28
• Number of #1 Hits: 4
• Number of New Songs: 17
• Songs with a featured artist: 32% of songs
• Most Popular Primary Genre: Hip Hop
• Most Popular Influence: Hip Hop
• Most Popular Lead Vocal Delivery: Sung/Rapped Combo
• Most Popular Lead Vocal Gender: Solo Male
• Most Popular Key: Minor
• Most Popular Song Length Range: 4:00 +
• Average Intro Length: 0:17
Primary Genres
Hip Hop’s prominence continues to reach new heights. As a primary genre it accounted for 71% of the Hot 100
Top 10 in Q3 2018, up from 35% during Q3 2017.
Pop, on the other hand, continues to become less and less prominent in the Hot 100 Top 10, accounting for
only 14% of songs in Q3 2018.
© 2010 - 2018 Hit Songs Deconstructed. All rights reserved. 7
Influences
As an influence shaping the sound and vibe of songs in the Hot 100 Top 10, Hip Hop played a role in 93% of all
hits, up from 78% during the same quarter in 2017. Trap followed at 77% of songs.
When looking exclusively at songs outside the Hip Hop primary genre, Hip Hop’s influence also continues to
increase. It played a role in 75% of songs during Q3 2018, which is up from 67% in Q3 of 2017.
Dance/Club, which was present in 43% of the Hot 100 Top 10 in Q3 2017, fell to just 7% in Q3 2018. Tropical,
which was present in 30% of the Top 10 in Q3 2017, fell to just 4% in Q3 2018.
© 2010 - 2018 Hit Songs Deconstructed. All rights reserved. 8
Lead Vocal Gender
Men continue to dominate the Top 10. 57% of songs that landed in the Top 10 in Q3 feature exclusively male
lead vocals. Just 11% feature exclusively female vocals.
However, when you look at songs outside the Hip Hop primary genre, female lead vocals have been on the
rise quarter over quarter.
© 2010 - 2018 Hit Songs Deconstructed. All rights reserved. 9
Lead Vocal Delivery
Songs that feature a combination of sung and rapped vocals continue to be the most popular, accounting for
54% of the Top 10 in Q3.
Lyrical Themes
Lifestyle surpassed love/relationships as the most popular lyrical theme during the first quarter of 2018 and
has continued to increase in popularity quarter over quarter, playing a role in 61% of Top 10 hits in Q3.
However, when looking exclusively at songs outside the Hip Hop primary genre, love/relationships continues
to be the most popular, playing a role in 75%.
© 2010 - 2018 Hit Songs Deconstructed. All rights reserved. 10
Key
Minor keys continued to shape the vibe of the majority of songs in the Top 10 in Q3 (64%). However, half of
the songs that charted at #1 in Q3 are in a major key.
For the first time in at least 5 years, we also saw a song featuring a combination of both major and minor keys,
Sicko Mode.
Average Intro Length
Average intro length has increased significantly over the past year, from 11 seconds in Q3 2017 up to 17
seconds in Q3 2018.
© 2010 - 2018 Hit Songs Deconstructed. All rights reserved. 11
Song Length
The number of songs that are four minutes or longer shot up from 14% in Q2 to 35% in Q3, making it the most
popular song length range of the Hot 100 Top 10. Over the past 5 years, the four minute or longer range has
only surpassed the 3:00 – 3:59 range twice, once in Q1 2014 and once in Q2 2017.
