Cardi B Makes History in the U.K. as “WAP,” Featuring Megan Thee Stallion, Rises to the No. 1 Spot on Singles Chart

Cardi B’s wap-ping her way into the music history books…

The 27-year-old half-Dominican American rap superstar’s smash “WAP,” featuring Megan Thee Stallion, has reached the No. 1 spot on the U.K. charts.

Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion

Cardi B’s “WAP” rises 2-1 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, to become the first-ever female rap collaboration to reach the summit in the U.K.

After two weeks at No. 2, the track snags 65,000 charts sales, including 8.5 million streams, to take the title, the Official Charts Company reports.

It’s a personal best for both artists. Cardi B’s previous peak on the U.K. chart was No. 5 for 2018’s “Finesse,” her collaboration with Bruno Mars. Megan’s previous high point was a No. 3 for “Savage” in May of this year.

“WAP” is just the second female-led single to hit the top this year, following Lady Gaga’s “Rain On Me” featuring Ariana Grande in May.

You’d have to go back to September 2014 for the last all-female collaboration to hit No. 1, Jessie J, Grande and Nicki Minaj’s “Bang Bang”.

Anthony Ramos to Serve as a Presenter at This Weekend’s MTV Video Music Awards

Anthony Ramos wants his MTV…

The 28-year-old Puerto Rican singer/actor, who currently appears in the film version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical Hamilton on Disney+, will participate in this weekend’s MTV Video Music Awards.

Anthony Ramos

Ramos will serve a presenter during Sunday’s award show, which will be hosted by Keke Palmer. Other presenters include Nicole Richie, Drew Barrymore and Kelly Clarkson.

There will be several “first” moments during this year’s MTV VMAs, besides the fact that it’s being held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

BTS will make their first television performance of their English-language single “Dynamite,” while Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande will perform “Rain On Me” on stage for the first time on television since releasing their No. 1 hit. The two pop stars lead this year’s nominations with nine each. Maluma and CNCO are also confirmed to perform.

Taboo and his fellow Black Eyed Peas members, who performed “Where Is the Love?” on the VMAs pre-show 17 years ago, are making their way to the main stage for their first time ever to perform “Vida Loca,” from their eighth studio album Translationfor the first time. 

But previously announced acts J Balvin and Roddy Ricch will no longer appear at the socially distanced ceremony.

Here’s a look at the presenters and performers for the 2020 MTV VMAs, which will broadcast live around various NYC locations at 8:00 pm ET:

Presenters: 
Anthony Ramos
Bebe Rexha
Bella Hadid
Drew Barrymore
Jaden Smith
Joey King
Kelly Clarkson
Machine Gun Kelly
Madison Beer
Nicole Richie
Sofia Carson
Travis Barker

Pre-Show Performers:
Chloe x Halle
Jack Harlow
Lewis Capaldi
Machine Gun Kelly featuring Travis Barker and blackbear
Tate McRae

Performers: 
Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga
Black Eyed Peas
BTS
CNCO
DaBaby
Doja Cat
Maluma
Miley Cyrus
The Weeknd

Maluma Takes Top Two Spots on Billboard’s Latin Airplay Chart

Maluma is celebrating two concurrent hits…

The Colombian singer has become only the sixth act to concurrently hold the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart as “Sin Contrato” soars 7-1 on the February 11-dated chart.

Maluma

At the same time, the singer remains at No. 2 as a featured act on Shakira’s “Chantaje” for a third straight week.

At 23-years-old, he’s the youngest artist to rule the top two spots on the chart, and the first to do so since 2011.

Before Maluma, the youngest artist to conquer the No. 1 and No. 2 spots was Alejandro Fernandez, who at 25 ruled the chart for two straight weeks in January of 1998 with “En El Jardin,” featuring Gloria Estefan, at No. 1, while “Si Tu Supieras” was No. 2.

Selena spent the most weeks holding both top spots. Beginning four months after the Tejano superstar died, she spent six non-consecutive weeks at the top with “Tu Solo Tu” and “I Could Fall In Love,” between July and September in 1995. She would have been 24-years-old.

The most recent artist to achieve the feat was Pitbull on the October 15, 2011-dated list. He crowned the chart with “Rain On Me,” featuring Marc Anthony, while “Give Me Everything,” featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer, held the No. 2 slot.

The other acts to simultaneously hold the top two spots are Juan Luis Guerra and Juanes.

Maluma’s No. 1s on Latin Airplay
Title, peak date (weeks at No. 1)
“Borro Cassette,” Nov. 21, 2015 (three weeks)
“El Perdedor,” featuring Yandel, Aug. 13, 2016 (one week)
“Vente Pa’ Ca” (Ricky Martin featuring Maluma), Oct. 15, 2016 (two weeks)
“Chantaje” (Shakira featuring Maluma), Nov. 19, 2016 (three weeks)
“Sin Contrato,” featuring Fifth Harmony or Don Omar and Wisin, Feb. 11, 2017 (one week, so far)

“Sin Contrato,” which boasts a version featuring Fifth Harmony and one featuring Don Omar and Wisin, as well as Maluma’s original solo version, rises to the top boosted by a 38 percent at the radio format (to 15.1 million audience impressions in the week ending Jan. 29, according to Nielsen Music).

Meanwhile, on the Hot Latin Songs chart (which blends airplay, sales and streams), “Sin Contrato” earns a new peak hopping 13-7, reaching the top 10 for the first time in its 22nd charting frame. In addition to the on-air increase, 1.4 million U.S. streams (down 1 percent, in the week ending Jan. 26) also support the climb, which marks the singer’s fifth top 10.

Elsewhere on the charts, Maluma vaults 25-5 on Top Latin Albums with Pretty Boy Dirty Boy, with 2,000 equivalent album units earned, during the chart’s first week as a consumption based ranking. The updated chart switched to a multi-metric methodology, blending pure album sales, track equivalent album (TEA) units, and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units. Under the previous album-sales-only formula, the set debuted at No. 1 on the Nov. 21, 2015 chart. The jump marks the first time that the set returns to the top five since its arrival.

Finally, Maluma also lifts 14-10 on the Social 50 chart, which is powered by data tracked by music analytics company Next Big Sound, and ranks the most popular artists on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Wikipedia, and Tumblr. He previously peaked at No. 7 on the December 24 ranking.