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The cardigans are off, and we’re back on the beach. Harry Styles steps on no. 1 on this week’s Hot 100 with “Watermelon Sugar,” a slow-burning hit that hit its first no. 1 has become on the map in the 20th week. Off Styles’s December album Fine Line, “Watermelon Sugar” jumped from no. 7 to no. 1 thanks, in part, to a July 31 video behind the scenes of the music video filming and an August 3 “lost touring visual” of the song. The release of the visual lined up perfectly on National Watermelon Day on August 3, leading to a sales increase for the song. Not only is the song Styles’ first solo no. 1, it is also the first no. 1 song of his career. One Direction previously reached number 2 with ‘Best Song Ever’ in 2013. Styles joins former 1D boy Zayn Malik, who scored a number 1 hit in 2016 for his solo debut ‘Pillowtalk’.
The rest of the top is more of the same. “Rockstar,” “What’s Poppin,” and “Blinding Lights” are starting to look like permanent fixtures as the weeks go by. “Blinding Lights” has mainly remained at the top of the charts through radio play; this week it tied with none other than the 1998 Goo Goo Dolls hit “Iris” for most weeks at the top of Radio Songs, and logged its 18th straight week at no. 1. Billie Eilish made her highest debut ever with new song “My Future” at No. 6. And Taylor Swift had a big fall this week, with “cardigan” exploding from No. 1 to No. 8. It is now her only song in the top 10. Next week expect one horny summer song to make way for another, with an all-but-guaranteed No. 1 debut for Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP.”
