Thursday, May 18 and Friday, May 19 were big days in the world of pop music: four pop singles entered the market.
Selena Gomez released an eagerly anticipated new solo single in “Bad Liar.” Liam Payne introduced the world to “Strip That Down (featuring Quavo),” his first single outside One Direction. Camila Cabello debuted “Crying In The Club,” her first completely solo single — and first release since officially departing Fifth Harmony. Katy Perry shared her Nicki Minaj collaboration “Swish Swish,” which many perceived as a response to Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood.”
All four singles entered the market with enormous stakes. In scoring three pop radio number ones and two Top 5 Billboard Hot 100 hits during her “Revival” album era, Gomez had been flirting with elite hitmaker status. If immensely successful, “Bad Liar” may have put her in that rarified air.
Payne was actually the last One Direction original to release music outside the group, but with “Strip That Down,” he became the first to issue a clear, unabashed, mainstream pop/rhythmic single. He became the truest test case for whether the masses would accept a One Direction member as a mainstream “pop star.”
In addition to the hits she released as part of Fifth Harmony, Cabello scored a moderate hit in her Shawn Mendes collaboration “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and a major hit in her MGK duet “Bad Things.” While it was hard to deny Cabello’s heavy contributions to those successes, it was categorically impossible to give her full credit. No such asterisk would apply to “Crying In The Club.” It was a completely solo release — and thus a very valid test of her prowess as an artist and as a commercial draw.
Katy Perry opened her “Witness” album era with “Chained To The Rhythm.” The song was successful by most standards, but it was a disappointment by Perry’s historical standards. It was not as catchy as “California Gurls” or “Roar.” It was nowhere near as successful.
Follow-up “Bon Appetit (featuring Migos)” was a textbook flop. A solid video spurred some interest, but the song itself performed poorly on iTunes and Spotify and quickly stalled at radio.
“Swish Swish” thus debuted with incredible pressure. While most had already accepted the fact that the “Witness” era was probably not going to yield a diamond smash in the vein of “Firework” or “Dark Horse,” few were willing to ignore the fact that Katy Perry is Katy Perry. She is one of the world’s biggest and most charismatic pop stars, and she really needed a hit at least remotely befitting that status. She also needed to generate some momentum ahead of the “Witness” release.
The stakes were very real. Did the songs deliver? Here is how they are performing as of 12:40PM ET on July 5, 2017. Radio information is via Mediabase. YouTube views are global; all other data is US-only.
Bad Liar:
Billboard Hot 100: #24
iTunes: #11 (currently discounted)
Spotify: #30
Pop Radio (official position for June 25-July 1 tracking week): #13 | airplay up 5.5% vs. last week
Pop Radio (real-time position for July 2-8 tracking week): #13 | airplay up 6.3% vs. last week
Rhythmic Radio (official position for June 25-July 1 tracking week): #33 | airplay up 5.3% vs. last week
Rhythmic Radio (real-time position for July 2-8 tracking week): #32 | airplay down 3.8% vs. last week
Hot AC Radio (official position for June 25-July 1 tracking week): #34 | airplay up 15.3% vs. last week
Hot AC Radio (real-time position for July 2-8 tracking week): #33 | airplay up 1.9% vs. last week
YouTube Music Video Views: 76 million views since June 14
Strip That Down:
Billboard Hot 100: #33
iTunes: #24
Spotify: #19
Pop Radio (official position for June 25-July 1 tracking week): #21 | airplay up 13.5% vs. last week
Pop Radio (real-time position for July 2-8 tracking week): #21 | airplay up 15.0% vs. last week
Rhythmic Radio (official position for June 25-July 1 tracking week): #19 | airplay up 28.3% vs. last week
Rhythmic Radio (real-time position for July 2-8 tracking week): #17 | airplay up 21.2% vs. last week
Hot AC Radio (official position for June 25-July 1 tracking week): #36 | airplay up 16.8% vs. last week
Hot AC Radio (real-time position for July 2-8 tracking week): #32 | airplay up 35.4% vs. last week
YouTube Music Video Views: 39 million views since June 1
Crying In The Club:
Billboard Hot 100: #50
iTunes: #41 (currently discounted)
Spotify: #59
Pop Radio (official position for June 25-July 1 tracking week): #20 | airplay up 2.1% vs. last week
Pop Radio (real-time position for July 2-8 tracking week): #20 | airplay down 1.1% vs. last week
Rhythmic Radio (official position for June 25-July 1 tracking week): #34 | airplay down 4.3% vs. last week
Rhythmic Radio (real-time position for July 2-8 tracking week): #31 | airplay up 1.6% vs. last week
Hot AC Radio (official position for June 25-July 1 tracking week): #38 | airplay up 5.9% vs. last week
Hot AC Radio (real-time position for July 2-8 tracking week): #39 | airplay up 11.9% vs. last week
YouTube Music Video Views: 45 million views since May 19
Swish Swish:
Billboard Hot 100: #90
iTunes: #84 (currently discounted)
Spotify: #104
Pop Radio (official position for June 25-July 1 tracking week): #37 | airplay down 10.3% vs. last week
Pop Radio (real-time position for July 2-8 tracking week): #38 | airplay down 22.5% vs. last week
Rhythmic Radio (official position for June 25-July 1 tracking week): Not in the Top 40
Rhythmic Radio (real-time position for July 2-8 tracking week): Not in the Top 40
Hot AC Radio (official position for June 25-July 1 tracking week): Not in the Top 40**
Hot AC Radio (real-time position for July 2-8 tracking week): Not in the Top 40**
YouTube Music Video Views: No official music video | Lyric video with Gretchen is at 10 million views since July 3
**”Save As Draft” – not “Swish Swish” – is Katy Perry’s official single at hot adult contemporary
