As we learned last week, Black Panther: The Album will drop next Friday, February 9th, via TDE. It's a huge coup for the label, who will use the opportunity to flesh the soundtrack out with cuts by its own artists (most notably Kendrick Lamar, who's set to appear on five of the album's 14 songs), who will accompany other big names like Future, 2 Chainz, The Weeknd, and more. Earlier this year, we heard "All The Stars," Kendrick and labelmate SZA's contribution, which debuted at #2 on our chart thanks to a Drake and Lil Wayne reunion. The album's third single fares better this week.
Lil Wayne, who's dominated the whole month with his Dedication 6 mega-tape, once again has the most appearances in this top ten, with two. New tracks barely missing out on spots this week include Migos and 21 Savage's "BBO (Bad Bitches Only)" (#13), Joey Bada$$' "Thugz Cry" (#14), Tee Grizzley's "Colors" (#16), and Gunplay and Rick Ross' "Cheap Thrills" (#19).
10. Royce Da 5'9" & DJ Premier Feat. Dave East - Era
It's now been almost three years since Royce and Preemo first hinted at a sequel to 2014's PRhyme project, and they're finally kicking things into gear for round two. The lead single for the upcoming project, which features Dave East, debuts at #10.
9. Lil Wayne - Main Things
We've seen several tracks from D6, both the original and "reloaded" version, chart thus far in 2018, but we're not done yet. This one, a rework of Tay-K's breakout 2017 single, "The Race," is the latest to break into the top ten, debuting at #9.
8. Lil Wayne - Big Bad Wolf
The other track from Weezy's D6 in our top ten this week is also the only holdover from last week's list. The consensus on "Big Bad Wolf" is that it contains some of the hardest bars Wayne's spat in years, and its chart performance reflects that. This one is down seven spots in its second week out, finishing at #8.
7. XXXTENTACION - Shining Like the Northstar
XXXTENTACION released his first official song of 2018 this past week, but since then, it's been pulled from streaming services. It's unclear why we can't hear "Shining Like the Northstar" at the moment, but whatever the case, it debuts at #7.
6. Wiz Khalifa - Captain
Wiz Khalifa's been dutifully posting music snippets on Instagram for the past few weeks, promising that new music was on the way. Last week, loosie "Captain" appeared alongside an accompanying video. We don't yet know if a new Khalifa project is in store, but with this track debuting at #6, the Taylor Gang boss' momentum looks strong as ever.
5. Chris Brown - State of the Union
After Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union address last night, Chris Brown responded with a song titled after the annual presidential speech. Breezy hit the top ten numerous times in the late months of 2017 with tracks from his mega-album Heartbreak on a Full Moon and does it again with this loosie, which debuts at #5.
4. Childish Gambino Feat. Schoolboy Q & Ab-Soul - Unnecessary
It's rare, but not unheard of for one of our Thursday Throwback Tracks to make the top ten, and that's exactly what happened with this TDE-studded cut from Donald Glover's early Childish Gambino project Royalty. Chalk it up to anticipation for Glover's next move, but "Unnecessary" debuts at #4.
3. Rick Ross Feat. T-Pain & Kodak Black - Florida Boy
Rozay really missed a golden opportunity here by calling his Florida posse cut "Florida Boy" instead of "Florida Man," the name of a popular meme that speaks to the wild nature of his home state. Nevertheless, the T-Pain and Kodak Black-assisted track debuts at #3.
2. Joyner Lucas Feat. Meek Mill - Run It
Meek's name was mentioned a lot around the Super Bowl yesterday, with many of the victorious Eagles and fans in Philly using the occasion to rally for their hometown hero's release from prison on dubious charges. Last week, he also caught an assist on this Timbaland-produced Joyner Lucas track. "Run It" dropped late last week, and in its second week out, is up 33 spots from #35 to #2.
1. Kendrick Lamar & The Weeknd - Pray For Me
The latest Black Panther track finds K Dot and The Weeknd pairing up for the first time since 2016's "Sidewalks," one of the biggest bangers off of Mr. Tesfaye's Starboy. Unsurprisingly, "Pray For Me" was the runaway winner for views this week, and debuts at #1.
