Abel Tesfaye, AKA The Weeknd, has had one of the most unexpected career paths of any R&B artist in the new millennium. Basically paving the way for every ensuing singer/rapper who's warranted the "mysterious" tag when first emerging, his early tracks paired The-Dream's Lothario musings with an indie-influenced, lo-fi sound, and druggy themes. After major label move Kiss Land flopped commercially and critically, he went back to the drawing board and returned with a pop sheen courtesy of superproducer Max Martin. Last year's Beauty Behind The Madness produced two massive singles, sold the tenth-most copies of any album in 2015, and won a Grammy, marking the start of a new era for Tesfaye. His follow-up, Starboy, is out on November 25th, and based on HNHH users' reactions to its two lead singles, it's poised to be huge.
Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, and The Weeknd all tie with two appearances on the list apiece, but as Wayne and Ross only show up for guest appearances, and Abel's the lead artist on both of his, he's the clear winner. New tracks barely missing out on spots on this week's list include Quavo's "My Pockets" (#11), A$AP Mob and Key!'s "Crazy Brazy (#12), Majid Jordan's "Free (Us)" (#13), and DJ Drama's new remix of "Wishing" featuring Fabolous, Trey Songz, Tory Lanez, Jhene Aiko, and Chris Brown (#14).
10. Mac Miller Feat. Anderson .Paak - Dang!
At this point in 2016, two songs that were released in the same week in July have proven the longest-lasting entries in our Top Tracks lists in quite some time (both pass Young Thug and Lil Uzi Vert's "Dope," which lasted nine consecutive weeks). One is Mac Miller and Anderson .Paak's Divine Feminine cut "Dang!", which admittedly has appeared in our Top Ten non-consecutively, but is now ten weeks from its initial release. This time, it's up two spots from #12 to get another gasp of life at #10.
9. Tory Lanez Feat. Rick Ross - Super Freaky
Tory dropped his first Fargo Friday cut since I Told You's release two Fridays ago, and this week, it's broken into the Top Ten. The Rick James-referencing "Super Freaky" gets a major assist from Rozay, making his first of two appearances as a featured artist on this week's list. In its second week out, "Super Freaky" moves up two spots from #11 to #9.
8. DJ Khaled Feat. Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown, Future, August Alsina, Jeremih & Rick Ross - Do You Mind
Unlike Mac Miller's "Dang!", DJ Khaled and company's "Do You Mind" has been in each and every Top Ten for ten straight weeks. The Usher-interpolating, superstar-studded cut is also slowly rising up the actual Billboard charts, climbing from #93 to #88 this past week. On our charts, it holds at last week's ranking of #8.
7. Meek Mill & Pusha T Feat. Priscilla Renae - Black Moses
Meek Mill's mainly been in the news for his beef with The Game, but with all of their collective diss tracks dropping out of the Top Ten this week (as popular as disses are, their success is usually pretty short-lived), he's back in thanks to the "Birth Of A Nation" soundtrack. Obviously, Pusha T's presence helps a lot too. "Black Moses" debuts at #7.
6. The Weeknd Feat. Daft Punk - Starboy
The first of the aforementioned new Weeknd singles, "Starboy" benefits from the huge coup of a Daft Punk appearance, their first original contribution to hip hop since getting co-writing credits on Pharrell's "Gust Of Wind" in 2014. Last week, it debuted at #1, but in its second week out, it moved down five places to make room for Tesfaye's newest album leak.
5. YFN Lucci Feat. 2 Chainz & Lil Wayne - Key To The Streets (Remix)
YFN Lucci's Wish Me Well 2 track "Key To The Streets" was already performing well when Migos and Trouble were its featured artists, but since adding Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz, the song's gotten even hotter. Look for Lucci to show up on our charts more, perhaps even with no features, off the strength of this. In its third week out, the "Key To The Streets" remix rises two place from #7 to match its week one spot of #5.
4. Gucci Mane & Lil Wayne - Oh Lord
For being two enormous icons of the South, GuWop and Tunechi have collaborated a shockingly small number of times. Wayne's "Steady Mobbin" and Gucci's "Stupid Wild" are the only two that I can recollect, but last week we got another, courtesy again of the Birth Of A Nation soundtrack. "Oh Lord" makes its debut at #4.
3. Drake Feat. Pimp C & dvsn - Faithful (Extended Version)
Somehow, a new Drake track dropped, and it didn't immediately rocket to our #1 spot. Ok well, it's not entirely new, but this extended version of Views' "Faithful" does lengthen dvsn vocalist Daniel Daley's role, giving him a verse and and an outro. I guess you can chalk up its shortcomings (relatively speaking) to the lack of new Drizzy vocals. In its first week out, this cut of "Faithful" debuts at #3.
2. Juicy J Feat. Kanye West - Ballin
In terms of our top-charting songs this year, Kanye's been the only one with any hope of hanging with Drake-- it seems like the only reason he doesn't have as many #1s under his belt is because he simply hasn't dropped as many loosies or guest verses. But this time, he comes through with the assist for Juicy J on the trap godfather's new cut "Ballin." Arguably just because of Ye, the track debuts at #2.
1. The Weeknd - False Alarm
Two singles, two #1 debuts on the HNHH charts. That's what The Weeknd's achieved with "False Alarm," the second track we've heard off of Starboy, and first with Tesfaye going solo dolo. It hasn't fared as well as the title track (only getting a 60% approval rating from you guys), probably due to its Prince-esque retro sound-- but personally, I love that gated snare sound. Nevertheless, it's sick that Abel can get something so out of vogue to the top. "False Alarm" debuts at #1.
