With 40% of this week’s Hot 100 Top 10 being comprised of all-male duets/groups (the #1, #2, #4 and #9 spots), we decided to take a closer look at this year’s all-male pairings.
Since the beginning of 2021, there have been 16 Top 10 hits led by all-male duos/groups, including seven hip hop songs and nine non-hip hop songs. Together, these songs make up a whopping 35% of the year’s Top 10 hits, greatly surpassing both male/female duets/groups (4 songs, 8%) and all-female duets/groups (1 song, 2%).
In terms of artist pairings, within hip hop, rappers only teamed up with other rappers. A notable commonality has been Drake, who appeared on almost half of the year’s duet/group hip hop hits alongside other rappers including Lil Durk, Rick Ross and Lil Baby. Conversely, outside of hip hop, it’s been more of a mixed bag, with a combination of pop, R&B and hip hop artists collaborating with one another to maximize their music’s cross-genre reach potential. Of all of these songs, there was a close split between those with multiple primary artists and those with featured artists, with a slight edge going to multiple primary artists.
Lastly, one notable commonality across almost all of this year’s male duet/group led hits regardless of genre is exceptional charting. With the exception of one song, all charted in the top 3, with six making it to the #1 spot – Butter, Dynamite, Leave The Door Open, Mood, Peaches and Permission To Dance.