While charting in the Hot 100 Top 10 is certainly a notable achievement, being able to remain there for a significant duration is a feat that far fewer songs achieve. In 2021, only about one-third of songs (25) had the staying power to reach 10+ weeks in the Top 10.

At the top is the record-setting Blinding Lights, which spent an astounding 57 weeks in the Top 10. Dua Lipa’s Levitating followed at 41 weeks, and Mood rounded out the top three at an impressive 31 weeks.

So, what are the main characteristics found in songs with staying power, and how do they compare to the overall Top 10?

Looking at primary genres, the majority – a little over half – were pop songs. R&B followed at one fifth, and hip hop came in third at just 16%. Conversely, in the overall Top 10, there was a much smaller gap between pop and runner-up hip hop, while R&B came in at a distant third.

Drilling down into the influences shaping the sound and vibe of these songs, the top three not surprisingly were the same as the primary genre breakdown, with pop influencing nearly every song, hip hop influencing a little over half, and R&B influencing 44%. Other notables include rock at a little over one quarter of songs (e.g. I Hope, Mood, Stay), and disco and retro 1970s/1980s at one-fifth (e.g. Dynamite, Kiss Me More, Levitating).

When looking at the overall Top 10, the top three most popular were the same, though pop was slightly less prominent while hip hop was more prominent, and trap tied with R&B for third place.

Looking at lead vocal gender, songs with staying power were very much in line with the overall Top 10, with male vocals being twice as popular as female.  Songs with exclusively sung vocals were more popular among songs with staying power than the overall Top 10, which jibes with the greater percentage of pop songs.

The top five instruments featured in songs with staying power were drums/percussion (with electronic being most popular), synth, synth bass, claps and electric guitar, which is in line with the overall Top 10. However, pound for pound, both claps and electric guitar were notably more popular in songs with staying power, accounting for 68% and 60% of songs, respectively compared to 44% and 41% of the Top 10.  

Lyrical themes among songs with staying power were also in line with the overall Top 10.  Love/relationships came out on top with two-thirds of songs, followed distantly by lifestyle, hooking up and boasting. However, love/relationships was notably more popular among songs with staying power (68% vs. 56%), while introspection was far less popular (note that love/relationships is more common in pop, while introspection is more common in hip hop largely due to Drake and J. Cole’s Top 10s).

Lastly, looking at some notable structural trends for songs with staying power compared to the overall Top 10:

• A greater percentage of songs with staying power were in a major key
• They averaged shorter and faster
• First choruses hit slightly earlier on average

*Excludes Taylor Swift’s 10-minute long All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)

Spotify Playlist: 2021’s Hot 100 Top 10 Songs with Staying Power