Genius Presents: The Month In Lyrics (January 2019)

Every day, millions of music fans come to Genius to find the deeper meaning behind the lyrics of their favorite artists, from rappers to pop singers to country stars. Our Top Songs Chart reflects what the world is listening to all day, every day. In 2019, we’re continuing to crunch numbers and compile the Month in Lyrics to show what music is catching fans' eyes and ears the most.

The data is broken down into the following categories each month: Top Artists, Top Songs, Top Lyrics, and Top Albums.

With a new No. 1 single dropping halfway through the month and her album due out in just a few days, Ariana Grande ruled January 2019. She earned over 4.5 million pageviews, more than double her closest competition. The popularity (and controversy) of “7 rings” was largely responsible for this success, and the pop star is expected to continue putting up huge numbers in February with the release of her new album, thank u, next.

The rest of the Top 5 was largely holdovers, with XXXTentacion, Eminem, and Drake earning slots. One notable exception is J. Cole, whose new single, “MIDDLE CHILD,” arrived with much fanfare (and nearly one million pageviews) in late January. He’s set to continue rolling out new music throughout the year.

New releases from Billie Eilish, Lil Peep, and Future helped each artist land a spot in the Top 10, while the lower reaches of the charts saw entries by Lana Del Rey and Blueface. Lana was boosted by the release of “hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have, but i have it,” which sparked some controversy after speculation that she was dissing Azealia Banks, while the rise of Blueface’s breakout hit, “Thotiana,” has boosted the meme-driven California MC.

After becoming Grande’s second No. 1 hit, “7 rings” far outstripped its competition with nearly four million pageviews in January. The song’s overall popularity helped it along, as did a prominent interpolation of “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music and controversy surrounding other source material. Fans flocked to the songpage to understand similarities between “7 rings” and several rap songs, including 2 Chainz’s “Spend It,” Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em’s “Kiss Me Thru the Phone,” and Princess Nokia’s “Mine.”

In a distant second was “MIDDLE CHILD,” J. Cole’s first new release of 2019 that addressed his place in the rap game and may have offered some veiled criticism of Kanye West. ​iLOVEFRiDAY’s inescapable meme “Mia Khalifa” landed in third, while The Weeknd’s subtle digs at Drake on Gesaffelstein’s “Lost in the Fire” landed in fourth place.

Controversy was inescapable on the Top Songs chart this month, with Lana Del Rey’s “hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have, but i have it” also putting up big pageviews after speculation that she was taking shots at Azealia Banks. R. Kelly’s rambling and disturbing 2018 release, “I Admit,” also reappeared following the release of Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly documentary series.

Meanwhile, teen sensation Billie Eilish continued to demonstrate her growing popularity by racking up more than 278,000 pageviews on her new single, “bury a friend,” in just two days. New releases from Logic (“Keanu Reaves”) and Kehlani (“Nights Like This”) rounded out the Top 20.

Although it dropped in late December, 21 Savage’s latest album, i am > i was, put up the best pageview average in January thanks to standout tracks like “a lot” featuring J. Cole. Second place belongs to singer-songwriter Julia Michaels, who saw a robust response to her new EP, Inner Monologue, Pt. 1. The project features Selena Gomez and Niall Horan. Older releases from Khalid, Travis Scott, and Billie Eilish rounded out the Top 5.

At No. 6 is California rapper Blueface’s mixtape, Famous Cryp. Blueface has experienced a meteoric rise over the past few months fueled by memes and discourse around his “offbeat” West Coast flow. U.K. rock band Bring Me the Horizon put up a solid pageview average with its latest release, amo, as did singer-songwriter James Blake with his latest effort, Assume Form.

Just outside the Top 10 is Bronx MC A Boogie wit da Hoodie, whose sophomore release, Hoodie SZN, spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart this month fueled almost entirely by streaming. In more surprising news, Atlanta rapper Future’s latest album, Future Hndrxx Presents: The WIZRD, barely cracked the Top 20, falling behind a December 2018 release by Louisiana’s YoungBoy Never Broke Again. Puerto Rican breakout rapper Bad Bunny rounded out the Top Albums chart this month with his debut, X 100PRE.

In addition to landing at No. 1 on the Top Songs and Top Artists charts, Ariana Grande took lead billing on January’s Top Lyrics chart with “7 rings.” Just behind her is The Weeknd; although he took some veiled shots at Drake on Gesaffelstein’s “Lost in the Fire,” it was the song’s chorus that proved to be the most popular. Third place belongs to J. Cole, who teased the refrain for “MIDDLE CHILD” on his Instagram ahead of the song’s release.

Lana Del Rey’s reference to a “black narcissist” got the internet talking this month, helping her land at No. 6, while Lil Pump also cracked the Top 10 after controversy surrounding Asian stereotypes in his lyrics on “Butterfly Doors.” Logic’s new track, “Keanu Reaves,” landed at No. 7, while the rest of the Top 10 was mostly holdovers from previous months.