Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora in the "Black Widow" video
Last week, Iggy Azalea’s “Black Widow (featuring Rita Ora)” emerged as a threat to leapfrog Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off” and thus prevent the lead “1989” single from reaching number one at pop radio.
Thanks to a late week slowdown, it did not achieve that feat. “Shake” held its ground, and it ultimately replaced Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass” as the #1 song at America’s largest radio format. “Black Widow” closed the week at #2.
In a way, it was almost a good thing that “Black Widow” did not reach #1 last week. If it had, it would not have received the privilege of reaching the peak of two radio formats in the same week.
Per the the Friday edition of Mediabase’s rolling airplay chart, “Black Widow” is now the most-played song at both pop and rhythmic radio.
“Black Widow” first claimed a leadership position on Thursday’s edition of the rhythmic chart. Friday’s chart reveals that “Widow” received 6,277 rhythmic spins during the October 10-16 tracking period. Ahead of Jeremih’s declining #2 “Don’t Tell ‘Em (featuring YG)” by more than 300 spins, “Black Widow” will have no trouble holding onto #1 through Sunday, which is when Mediabase issues its official weekly airplay chart.
The Azalea-Ora collaboration, meanwhile, is #1 at pop as of Friday’s chart. Its count of 17,529 spins during the October 10-16 frame gives it a lead over the 17,472 earned by Swift’s #2 “Shake it Off.” As is the case with its position at rhythmic, it will have no trouble retaining number one through the official update on Sunday.