Genre-splicing arena-rockers Imagine Dragons have been regular presences on the Billboard Hot 100 since 2012, when they first broke out with official debut single “It’s Time,” which eventually peaked at No. 15 on the chart. They bettered that with the No. 3-peaking followup “Radioactive,” and then revisited the Hot 100’s top 10 three more times that decade, most recently with 2017’s No. 4-peaking “Thunder.”
Now, they’re back for the first time this decade, with the bombastic “Enemy.” The song, which was recorded as the theme to animated Netflix series Arcane: League of Legends and also includes a verse from acclaimed rapper J.I.D, climbs one spot on the Hot 100 this week to a new peak of No. 7, with a sixth straight week as the chart’s top Airplay Gainer.
How do Imagine Dragons keep finding their way back to the chart’s top tier? And what kind of breakout moment is this for J.I.D? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
1. “Enemy” marks the fifth top 10 hit for Imagine Dragons in their decade-plus career — basically an unmatched level of crossover success for any kind of band that’s emerged in the last 10 years. What do you think the biggest reason they’ve been able to maintain such a high level of success for so long is?
Rania Aniftos: They’ve mastered the formula for a hit. I know Imagine Dragons have gotten a bad rap and comparisons to cringey bands like Nickelback in the past few years… but even if you don’t like them, you have to admit that their songs get stuck in your head. A lot of their big hits follow the same build-up to a dynamic, catchy chorus, so why fix what’s not broken on “Enemy?”
Katie Atkinson: Radio, radio and more radio. The song is also top 10 on the all-genre Radio Songs chart, as well as Pop Airplay and Adult Pop Airplay. Radio has been very kind to Imagine Dragons over the years, with their pop-rock sound fitting in on a variety of formats. Plus, they have such an upbeat, Jock Jams kind of vibe to all their songs that fits perfectly into both an arena tour or a stadium packed with sports fans. The world needs pump-up music!
Jason Lipshutz: Their malleability. Imagine Dragons are a rock band in the same way that Maroon 5 is a pop band – they exist in their primary genres, but can stretch the parameters of their sounds to allow mainstream trends to engulf and re-shape them in ways that yields mainstream success more often than not. “Enemy” doesn’t sound anything like “Thunder,” the snappy pop-rock track that was Imagine Dragons’ previous top 10 hit, and while its twitchy industrial energy resembles that of “Radioactive” from a decade ago, the JID bullet-time verse makes “Enemy” swivel toward a different direction mid-song. As long as Imagine Dragons keep morphing into unexpected positions, they’ll keep finding success.
Joe Lynch: When you think of the fact that no other rock band has enjoyed this kind of Hot 100 crossover success in the last decade, you have to ask yourself what sets Imagine Dragons apart from most rock bands – in other words, check the ID. They’re loud and anthemic, sure, but a lot of rock bands are. One thing that sets them apart is the way their sound deemphasizes guitars. This is not a riff-based rock act, but a beat-based one; couple that with Dan Reynolds’ rhythmic, rap-influenced delivery and you have a band uniquely primed for chart/radio success in an era where hip-hop, not rock, is the dominant sound. Plus, the ongoing relationship with Justin Tranter, one of this era’s surefire song scribes, doesn’t hurt.
Andrew Unterberger: Familiarity. Imagine Dragons songs don’t necessarily all sound like one another, but they all definitely sound like Imagine Dragons, and it’s an identifiable and proven commodity on top 40 radio and streaming playlists. They’re a safe proposition as reliable performers, and even when they don’t hit, they never totally miss either. And when they do connect, it’s been a good bet to at least go top 20 for nearly a whole decade now.
2. Though their success has been relatively consistent, it has been four years since the last time Imagine Dragons visited the top 10. Are you surprised that “Enemy” was the song to bring them back?
Rania Aniftos: A bit. As I previously noted, I feel like Imagine Dragons have become the (undeserved) butt of a joke among the new generation of music listeners, so it’s great to see them find success despite that. However, I think the tie-in to Arcane: League of Legends reintroduced the band to that same younger generation in a cooler, more exciting way.
Katie Atkinson: Not surprised! The song reminds me of the band’s famous 2014 Grammy team-up with Kendrick Lamar for a fiery, percussive performance of “Radioactive.” J.I.D’s style is reminiscent of Lamar’s, so it’s almost like Imagine Dragons was able to reclaim some of that magic – which, at the time, put the band on their biggest stage to that point. So they’ve revisited the sound that put them on the map and lit a new spark under fans who might have strayed from them over the years.
Jason Lipshutz: Most big Imagine Dragons hits take me around 10 listens to realize that they will be big hits; I was the guy convinced that “It’s Time” was going to be a more durable single than “Radioactive” 10 years later, and was, of course, laughably wrong. By now, I understand the immediacy of the “Enemy” hook, the graceful tilt of its pre-chorus and the vitality of JID’s appearance well enough to see why this has become one of the bigger crossover hits for the band.
Joe Lynch: Not really. You listen to this one and it instantly reminds you of just about every other top 10 Hot 100 hit this band has lodged. It’s no retread, but the quite-loud-quiet pattern, the fist-pumping chorus, the falsetto and the immaculately clean production are – if it’s not too early in their career to say this – classic Imagine Dragons.
Andrew Unterberger: A little surprised, though I probably shouldn’t have been — once the song caught a little momentum on TikTok and radio, it was perhaps bound to only speed up from there. FTR, though, I still prefer the absolutely bonkers “Cutthroat” from last year.
3. He’s had a fairly successful career already as a cult favorite among rap fans and a reputation for being one of the most technically proficient MCs in the game, but this is J.I.D’s first major hit on the Billboard charts. Does it seem like a breakout moment for him as a crossover star, or more of a one-off success?
Rania Aniftos: Admittedly, I didn’t give J.I.D’s catalog a proper chance before “Enemy,” but after hearing his verse, it makes me want to delve into his music more. I imagine I’m not the only one who feels that way, and I see J.I.D having more Billboard chart hits in the future, whether that’s solo or through another high-profile collaboration.
Katie Atkinson: A breakout moment, for sure. I mentioned Lamar earlier, and just like Kendrick wasn’t afraid to hop on a Taylor Swift remix in 2015, J.I.D now has a taste of mainstream success that could just skyrocket him from here. It would be funny if Imagine Dragons becomes the common bond in two hip-hop success stories from the past decade.
Jason Lipshutz: Hard to say! Being part of a top 10 single on the Hot 100 chart marks a major profile boost for a highly gifted and technically dazzling rapper like J.I.D, but it’s also not a bellwether for how his next few solo singles will perform. Hopefully he’ll be able to capitalize on this success on his own terms, instead of pivoting too hard into the rap-rock lane in an attempt to recapture this commercial magic.
Joe Lynch: I think “Enemy” is a really impressive showcase for J.I.D. Not only is his verse the most exciting, original part of the song, but his speed and dexterity automatically stand out from the majority of rap on the radio. But the fact that what he’s doing on the mic isn’t quite in line with radio means he doesn’t exactly have a clear-cut path to scoring another Hot 100 top 10 hit, at least as the primary credited artist. Will this look open doors for him though in terms of future collabs or TV spots? I would think so.
Andrew Unterberger: It never hurts to have your name on a top 10 record, certainly, and his guest verse is certainly an able demonstration of the verbal pyrotechnics J.I.D is capable of. But I don’t know if this is really gonna be his gateway to consistent crossover success — it’s much more Imagine Dragons’ song, and plenty of listeners who only hear the song in excerpted form might not even be familiar with his contributions to it. Hopefully it gets his excellent 2017 debut set The Never Story some new fans at least.
4. “Enemy” has gotten a sizable bump from the popularity and acclaim of the Arcane: League of Legends animated Netflix series it was written as the theme for. With newly recorded themes more of an exception than rule at this point in TV history, do you think the more traditional TV theme is something of an under-tapped resource for artists and/or TV shows?
Rania Aniftos: Maybe? While the “Skip Intro” feature on streaming services makes me believe that the success of “Enemy” is an exception – as I personally don’t sit through theme songs anymore – it might be different for animated series or shows tailored to a younger audience, similar to Miley Cyrus’ “Best of Both Worlds” for Hannah Montana. It’s hard to say, though. I feel like the reasoning behind a hit is so random these days, even if it strays away from what we would typically predict.
Katie Atkinson: I feel like the “skip intro” function on streaming services makes it tough for a theme song to break through. If I have the option to save that 30 seconds or a minute of time and skip straight to the episode, I do. Having said that, I think syncs of any nature are vital for musicians. Any time you can get someone to passively listen to a song they otherwise wouldn’t hear is invaluable. While people like me are skipping away, people who don’t know how to use their smart remotes are forced to listen, so it’s a win.
Jason Lipshutz: When you think about the ubiquity of video streaming services and how popular television series dominate the cultural conversation in ways that most popular films no longer do, I believe we are indeed due for a TV theme revival. Maybe that doesn’t exist in the old-school, opening-credits format anymore, but shows like Yellowjackets and Euphoria demonstrate that smash TV shows can result in real bumps for associated music when positioned in smart ways. Who knows? Maybe the What We Do in the Shadows theme turns into the chart smash it deserves to be.
Joe Lynch: If you follow the Billboard Japan Hot 100, you know that the chart-topping tunes usually hail from a TV series, oftentimes animated. With video streaming now essentially just as easy and ubiquitous as music streaming, it absolutely seems like TV themes are an untapped resource for artists looking to promote their latest single or a one-off between albums.
Andrew Unterberger: I think it’s possible. These days, a legitimate cross-platform tie-in is such an asset for a single early in its development — and even with the “Skip Intro” function, once a song becomes an important part of a show or movie’s identity, fans don’t have to watch the opening credits it soundtracks 10-12 times a season for it to worm its way into their music consumption. (Of course, it helps when the show is generally well-received by audiences, as Arcane has been.)
5. We don’t see too many band/rapper teamups near the top of the charts these days, but what’s one other such artist combo who you think could produce similar chart magic to ID/J.I.D in 2022?
Rania Aniftos: Let’s ride on Glass Animals Hot 100 success and say that they should team up with someone like Drake for an unexpected, laid back hit. Maybe a 2022 re-working of “Gooey”?
Katie Atkinson: It’s only a matter of time until someone harnesses the pop-punk revival with a pop-punk/hip-hop combo platter (in addition to MGK’s two Lil Wayne features on his new album, of course). I’m thinking Hayley Williams could make her first rap-adjacent song since B.o.B’s “Airplanes” when Paramore and Post Malone link up. Hell, Post Malone can hang in the pop-punk world too, but just add in a few bars for fun.
Jason Lipshutz: Pretty surprising that Twenty One Pilots, a band that can make a rap-adjacent rock smash with the best of them, doesn’t have one of these yet, right? Give me a TØP-Future team-up and watch me hit replay a hundred times.
Joe Lynch: I know she’s busy with the Encanto cast these days, but I would pay many Euros to see Megan Thee Stallion team up with Eurovision winners/”Beggin’” hitmakers Måneskin on a collaboration. You know if they brought that to an awards show, the onstage chemistry and visuals would be insane.
Andrew Unterberger: Two words: Gucci Måneskin.
