With the second month of 2022 coming to a close, it’s time for Under the Hood, where we take a look at the songs that have charted in the Hot 100 Top 10 so far this year!
During the first two months of 2022, 16 songs charted in the Hot 100 Top 10, eight of which were new to the Top 10 this year.
Behind them were 18 credited primary artists, one credited featured artist (Young Thug), 53 credited songwriters, 25 credited producers, and 8 record labels.
Two songs occupied the top spot so far this year – Adele’s Easy On Me, which spent a cumulative 10 weeks in the region, and Encanto’s We Don’t Talk About Bruno, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and performed by the cast of Encanto. This breakout hit has defied boundaries, beating out Disney’s previous record holder for most weeks spent at #1, A Whole New World. As mentioned in last month’s “Under The Hood”, Bruno’s ensemble vocals, plot-centric lyrics, and Latin primary genre make it an incredibly atypical Top 10 hit, even among Disney songs. Still remaining at #1 after 5 weeks, the world is continuing to talk about Bruno.
So, what’s shaping the sound and vibe of this year’s Top 10?
Primary Genres: Pop continues to be the most common primary genre, accounting for half of the Top 10. Hip hop comes in second with a quarter, followed by one song each for dance/club/electronic (Cold Heart [PNAU Remix]), rock (abcdefu), R&B/soul (Need To Know), and Latin (We Don’t Talk About Bruno).
Sub-genres & Influences: Pop also continues to be the most common influence across the Top 10, playing a role in 94% of songs. Hip Hop and trap follow far behind with 50% and 38%, respectively, and approximately one-third of the Top 10 feature a rock or electropop/synthpop influence. Some of the less common sub-genres and influences that are featured in just one song each include punk in GAYLE’s abcdefu, new wave in Justin Bieber & The Kid LAROI’s Stay, fanfare in Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow’s Industry Baby, and theatrical/show tune in We Don’t Talk About Bruno and Surface Pressure.
Vocals: Male leads continue to far outweigh female leads 56% to 25%. This is due in part to the overwhelming majority of male vocalists in hip hop, as well as the relative rarity of all-female duets and groups. Keeping in line with the popularity of the pop genre, sung vocals are most popular at 63% of songs, followed distantly by those with a combination of sung and rapped vocals at 31%. Only one song features entirely rapped vocals – Pushin P.
Lyrics: Also in line with pop’s popularity is the love/relationships lyrical theme, which currently defines a little over half of the Top 10. Lifestyle, which is far more popular in the hip hop genre, follows distantly at 38%. Boasting and introspection round out the top 3 with 19% apiece.
Key & Tempo: Minor keys are in the overwhelming majority so far this year, accounting for 69% of songs. Average tempo is clocking in at 103 BPM, largely due to super-fast songs like Justin Bieber and The Kid LAROI’s Stay (170 BPM) and Lil Nas X’s That’s What I Want (176 BPM) skewing the average north. However, the two most popular tempo length ranges are on the slower end of the spectrum. The 70-79 range accounts for one-quarter of the Top 10, followed by the 60-69 range accounting for one-fifth.
Song Length: The average length of a Top 10 hit YTD is 3:10, with the most popular range being 3:00-3:29 at 44% of songs. Note that this excludes Taylor Swift’s 10-minute epic All Too Well.
Instruments: The most popular instruments of 2022 – those featured in three quarters of songs or more – are the usual suspects, including drums/percussion at 94% (with electronic drums in particular being most popular at 75%), synth (non-bass) at 94%, synth bass at 88% and claps at 75%. Interestingly, strings uncharacteristically follows at 44%, thanks to an array of diverse hits including Cold Heart (PNAU Remix), Ghost, Pushin P, Shivers and We Don’t Talk About Bruno, among others.
First Section: The intro continues to be by far the most popular way to kick off a hit, accounting for all but two songs. The exceptions are We Don’t Talk About Bruno and abcdefu, both of which begin with the chorus.
Last Section: The most popular last section continues to be the outro, accounting for 63% of songs. However, concluding with the chorus has been becoming more popular, accounting for 37% of songs YTD compared to 23% in 2021.
How will the rest of Q1 shape up? Stay tuned for next month’s Under the Hood to find out!
January’s and February’s Top 10 Hits Playlist