During Sunday’s 2022 Billboard Music Awards, which was held at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Olivia Rodrigo walked away with a whopping seven trophies, including Top New Artist, Top Female Artist, and Top Hot 100 Artist, to name a few.
Eleven songs won awards across 16 categories, all of which charted in the Hot 100 Top 10 except for two: Måneskin’s “Beggin” (Top Rock Song) and Kali Uchis’ “telepatía” (Top Latin Song).
Of the 16 categories, eight are genre specific and eight are not. Of the non-genre specific categories, The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber’s “STAY” was the clear winner, with trophies for five of the eight categories, including Top Hot 100 Song, Top Streaming Song, Top Collaboration, Top Billboard Global 200 Song (NEW), and Top Billboard Global (Excl. U.S.) Song (NEW).
The remaining three went to BTS’ “Butter” (Top Selling Song), Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” (Top Radio Song) and Doja Cat ft. SZA’s “Kiss Me More” (Top Viral Song).
Silk Sonic’s “Leave The Door Open” won Top R&B Song, Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow’s “INDUSTRY BABY” won Top Rap Song, Walker Hayes’ “Fancy Like” won Top Country Song, Elton John & Dua Lipa’s “Cold Heart – PNAU Remix” won Top Dance/Electronic Song and Ye’s “Hurricane” won Top Christian Song and Top Gospel Song.
In this article, we examine what the nine songs that charted in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 have in common – or not.
To view the comparison tables with the songs, click on the hyperlinks.
Sub-Genres and Influences: Every song (9) possesses a pop influence, six feature a hip hop influence and five an R&B/soul and/or 1970’s retro influence. Only two songs feature a rock influence (“STAY” and “Fancy Like”) or trap influence (“Hurricane” and “Industry Baby”).
Instruments: While every song features drums/percussion, it is an even split between songs with primarily electronic and those with acoustic/electronic combo drums. Only one song features primarily acoustic drums/percussion, and that is “Leave the Door Open.” Eight of the nine songs feature synth and/or synth bass and the next most popular instrument is the electric guitar, featured in six of the songs.
Key: There is an almost even split between songs in major and minor keys, with major edging out minor by one song.
Tempo: When looking at the big picture, the number of slower tempo songs vs. faster tempo are very similar. Four songs were under 89 BPM and five songs above 100 BPM. However, the most popular specific tempo range is the 110 – 119 BPM range, with three songs.
Song Length: When it comes to song length it was a mixed bag. Three songs were under 3:00, three songs were between 3:00 -3:29 and three songs were between 3:30 – 3:59.
Lyrical Themes: The most popular lyrical theme is love/relationships, featured in seven of the nine songs. Lifestyle follows, featured in three songs. Boasting and hooking up are featured in two songs each. Religion, novelty, introspection, and inspiration/empowerment are featured in just one song.
Lead Vocal Delivery: The split between songs that are exclusively sung and those featuring a combination of sung and rapped vocals is four and six, respectively.
Lead Vocal Gender: Only one song features exclusively female lead vocalists (“Kiss Me More”). Two are male/female duets (“Levitating” and “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)”) and the remaining six feature exclusively male lead vocals.
Song Title Appearance: Only one song does not feature the song title, “Hurricane,” while on the other end of the spectrum three songs feature the title between 11 and 15 times.
Song Title Word Count: Less is more when it comes to song titles. Four are one-word titles and three are two-word titles. The two that feature longer titles are “Kiss Me More” and “Leave The Door Open.”
First Section Type: Every song kicks off with an intro except “Hurricane,” which begins with the chorus. Three of the intros are instrumental and five are a combination of instrumental and vocal.
Verse Count and Length: Songs that feature verses with different lengths are most popular (6). The three that feature verses that are the same length are “Butter,” “Leave the Door Open,” and “Fancy Like.” When it comes to verse count, five featured two verses and four featured three verses.
Use of a Pre-Chorus: The majority of songs (6) feature a pre-chorus. “Levitating” features three pre-choruses and the rest two.
First Chorus: Time into Song: Of the eight songs that begin with an intro, the majority (5) have their first chorus landing between 0:20 – 0:39. “STAY” is the only one with the first chorus landing between 0:01 – 0:19 and “Leave the Door Open,” and “Cold Heart” each land between 0:40 – 0:59.
Chorus Count: The majority of the songs feature three choruses. The two exceptions are “Hurricane” with two choruses and “Levitating” with four.
Chorus Length Uniformity: Most songs feature choruses that are the same length. The two exceptions are “STAY” and “Levitating.”
Chorus Precedes the First Verse: Only one song has the chorus preceding the first verse, and that was “STAY.”
Use of a Post-Chorus: It is almost an even split between songs with and without post-choruses, five and four, respectively.
Bridge Count: Only three songs possess a bridge in their framework, “Levitating,” “Fancy Like,” and “Hurricane.”
Instrumental and Vocal Breaks: Only one song features an instrumental break (“Butter”) while four feature one or more vocal breaks.
Last Section: Six of the nine songs end with an outro, while the remaining three end with the chorus (“Levitating,” “Fancy Like,” and “Hurricane”). Of the six that end with an outro, four land between 0:10 – 0:19.
Below is a Spotify playlist with the songs referenced in this article: