Drake is back on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart after four years as the Spanglish tune “Gently,” featuring Bad Bunny, debuts at No. 1 on the Oct. 21-dated ranking. The artists exchange roles on the chart this time, as compared to Benito’s “MIA” featuring Drake, which dominated for 16 weeks between 2018-19.
“Gently” is one of 23 tracks on the Canadian rapper’s For All The Dogs album, which debuts at No. 1 on the overall Billboard 200 list — his 13th leader there. The dembow track’s No. 1 start is fueled largely by streaming activity, with some digital sales, a normal pattern for both acts’ catalogs. Hot Latin Songs combines streaming, sales data, and radio airplay into its rankings.
“Gently” launches with 24.3 million streams in the U.S. during the Oct. 6-12 tracking week, according to Luminate. That sum bursts into a No. 9 start on the overall Streaming Songs chart and a No. 1 on Latin Streaming Songs.
Sales, too, propel the song to a strong bow: “Gently” nearly generated 2,000 downloads in the U.S., for a No. 1 start on Latin Digital Song Sales.
With “Gently,” Drake nabs his third champ (and third through a collaboration with a Latin artist) among three total entries on the multi-metric survey. His also ruled as a featured artist on Romeo Santos’ “Odio” for 13 weeks in 2014. Meanwhile, as mentioned, Bad Bunny’s “MIA,” (also featuring the Canadian superstar) took charge for 16 weeks, starting with the Oct. 27, 2018-dated list.
Bad Bunny, meanwhile, collects his 13th No. 1, tying Shakira for the fourth-most rulers on the list. Since Hot Latin Songs launched in 1986, Enrique Iglesias continues to have the most No. 1s, with 27. Here’s the review of leaders:
27, Enrique Iglesias
16, Luis Miguel
15, Gloria Estefan
13, Shakira
13, Bad Bunny
11, Marco Antonio Solis
11, Ricky Martin
Beyond its No. 1 debut on Hot Latin Songs, “Gently” makes its way across multiple Billboard charts: It debuts at No. 12 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, No. 10 on the Billboard Global 200 (largely powered by 44 million worldwide streams), and No. 20 on the Global Excl. U.S. list (mostly driven by 21 million clicks outside the U.S.)
