Just three weeks from their last time at the summit, Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice recapture the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Rhythmic Airplay chart as “Barbie World” with Aqua flies 7-1 to lead the list dated Aug. 26 and rewrite the record for the biggest jump to No. 1 in the chart’s history. The pair previously led with their one-week champ, “Princess Diana,” on the chart dated Aug. 5.
“Barbie World” leaps to No. 1 after a substantial 31% increase in weekly plays that made it the most played song on U.S. monitored rhythmic radio stations in the week ending Aug. 17, according to Luminate. The swell secured the song the weekly Greatest Gainer honor, for the largest improvement in plays for the week among the chart’s 40 titles. From the rhythmic chart panel, Summit Media stations WHZT-FM in Greenville, S.C., KPHW-FM (Honolulu, Hawaii) and WKHT-FM (Knoxville, Tenn.) led all reporters for the most “Barbie World” plays in the tracking week.
With a 7-1 flight, “Barbie World” breaks the record for the largest leap to the No. 1 spot on Rhythmic Airplay since the list began in 1992. Previously, two songs managed 6-1 ascents for the prior best: Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” in 1992, and Da Brat’s “Funkdafied” in 1994.
Thanks to “Barbie World,” Ice Spice gains her third Rhythmic Airplay No. 1 – all achieved in 2023. She first led alongside PinkPantheress on the one-week champ “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” in May, and returned with “Princess Diana” earlier this month.
For Minaj, “Barbie World” becomes the 11th Rhythmic Airplay champ of her career. Here’s a fresh look as the collection adds its newest member:
Song Title, Artist (if other than Nicki Minaj), Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1
- “Bottoms Up,” Trey Songz featuring Nicki Minaj, one, Nov. 30, 2010
- “Super Bass,” one, Aug. 6, 2011
- “Touchin, Lovin” Trey Songz featuring Nicki Minaj, four, Nov. 22, 2014
- “Truffle Butter,” featuring Drake & Lil Wayne, one, March 28, 2015
- “Hey Mama,” David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj, Bebe Rexha & Afrojack, one, July 25, 2015
- “Rake It Up,” Yo Gotti featuring Nicki Minaj, one, Nov. 4, 2017
- “Big Bank,” YG featuring 2 Chainz, Big Sean & Nicki Minaj, one, Oct. 20, 2018
- “Hot Girl Summer,” with Megan Thee Stallion & Ty Dolla $ign, one, Oct. 26, 2019
- “Super Freaky Girl,” four, Oct. 1, 2022
- “Princess Diana,” with Ice Spice, one, Aug. 5, 2023
- “Barbie World,” with Ice Spice & Aqua, one (to date), Aug. 26, 2023
Beyond its Rhythmic Airplay coronation, “Barbie World” progresses on other radio charts. It steps 9-7 on Rap Airplay following a 33% rise in weekly audience impressions, bumps 18-16 on Pop Airplay through a 36% rally in weekly plays and shoots 21-13 on the all-genre Radio Songs chart with a 41% increase in weekly audience, to 36.8 million. On the latter two charts, the improvements in plays and audience, respectively, win it the Greatest Gainer tag on each list.
“Barbie World,” which samples Aqua’s 1997 top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit (and No. 8 Rhythmic Airplay success) “Barbie Girl,” appears on the soundtrack to Barbie: The Album and plays during the end credits of the accompanying blockbuster film that sits at a $1.2 billion worldwide gross. The soundtrack debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and, in addition to “Barbie World,” has generated hits for Dua Lipa (“Dance the Night”) and Billie Eilish (“What Was I Made For?”).
