There is good stylistic balance among the debuts in Liveline’s top 20 requests this week—a power ballad from Chappell Roan, our first legit dance hit in a while from Disco Lines & Tenashe, and an R&B crossover whose multi-format airplay and streaming stories are finally breaking through.
Leon Thomas – “MUTT”: It’s now been on the Rhythmic airplay charts for 20 weeks, the last three of which were at #1. It’s also #15 on Top 40 in its ninth week. The song actually came out on August 4, 2024. A friend of mine recommended it a year ago the week after it came out and I really liked it but just kind of forgot about it. In March, a Chris Brown remix was added. In the past few months, it’s been in and out of the Spotify Top 100, where it peaked at #31 and is currently #75. It also peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and this week is #17.
John Garabedian once told me, “A number one song on any chart deserves consideration on Top 40.” This is the smooth, sensual R&B ballad which we’ve been lacking for so long. Thomas is 32 years old, born in NYC, acting, singing and songwriting since the age of 9. He is best known as Andre Harris on Victorious (2010-2013), one of Nickelodeon’s most popular shows of all time. He also co-wrote and produced massive hits for artists like Ariana Grande, Post Malone, Drake and SZA.
“MUTT” is now breaking into our Top 20 requests for the first time on Liveline, this week at #17. That can probably be credited to radio finally giving it a fair amount of airplay during the day, and to heavy exposure on TikTok.
Buried Treasures of the Week
will.i.am, Britney Spears – “Scream & Shout”: A 2013 hit that reached #1 in 24 countries and went top 5 in a dozen more. In the US, it peaked at #4 on Rhythmic, and #3 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Top 40 airplay. Today, it receives almost no airplay. Only 10 spins on 10 different stations in the past two weeks, and suddenly we’ve had half a dozen requests for it in that amount of time. It’s a totally random song that just got lost in the massive archive of hit music. A couple teenagers, moms, kids and middle aged men have asked for it… even one guy with all his cell mates asked for it, listening to our newest affiliate CHWE (Energy 106) Winnipeg, which just debuted on Monday!
Ciara – “Oh”: Her third hit in a row, after the debut “Goodies” and her follow up “1, 2 Step”. All three have gotten a lot of requests on Liveline, but “Oh” is often overlooked and only recently started to get some love. It came out in 2005 and peaked at #1 on Rhythmic, #2 on Billboard and #6 on Top 40. It has 130 million streams on Spotify and 135 million views on YouTube! A party classic for sure.
(@livelineradio)This story first appeared on radioinsight.com