Genius Presents: The Month In Lyrics (October 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.

After several false starts with the release of his new album, Jesus is King, Kanye West made his grand return this month and easily landed at No. 1 on the Top Artists chart with over 4.3 million views across his catalog. Buzzy new songs from Travis Scott and Selena Gomez helped both artists vault back into the Top 5 in an otherwise quiet month.

Putting up a surprisingly strong performance at No. 5 is Summer Walker, who launched with the biggest first week sales for a female R&B album since Beyoncé’s LEMONADE earlier this month. Her autobiographical songs with tough-talking lyrics drew outsized interest on Genius. She landed two slots ahead of Frank Ocean, who dropped his first new solo material since 2017 with “DHL” and has continued to tease new music at his PrEP+ parties.

An emerging class of rappers earned high marks this month, with recent projects from YoungBoy Never Broke Again, DaBaby, and Lil Tjay landing each artist a slot in the Top 20. A few major pop acts also charted, notably Harry Styles (thanks to his new track “Lights Up”) and Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber (who teamed up for “10,000 Hours”).

Although Travis Scott debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 for the first time in his career with “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM,” it wasn’t enough to beat out Selena Gomez. The former Disney star returned this month to begin the rollout for her first album in five years, and lyrics on “Lose You to Love Me” that seemed to reference her relationship with Justin Bieber naturally drew a ton of interest. Biebs also landed in the Top 5 thanks to his hit Dan + Shay collaboration “10,000 Hours.” Fans were also interested in the lyrics to “Lights Up,” Harry Styles new single that seemed to address rumors about his sexuality.

Kanye West’s highest position on the Top Songs chart this month is only No. 5, but he dominated the competition in terms of total entries. Seven songs from his new album, Jesus is King, landed on the charts, led by the Chick-Fil-A-referencing “Closed On Sunday.” Aside from Kanye, only Gomez and YoungBoy earned more than one Top 20 chart entry

Ashnikko and Yung Baby Tate’s TikTok-fueled hit, “Stupid,” racked up over 250,000 pageviews in October, spread by a series of viral videos. Rounding out the Top 20 is Lewis Capaldi, who finished off the month by rising to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Kanye West lapped his competition this month with Jesus is King, earning 274,000 average pageviews across the album. In second is Summer Walker, whose impressive first week sales and strong performance on streaming translated into fan interest in her lyrics. Thanks to TikTok, UK rapper Ashnikko saw increased attention for her entire 2019 release, Hi, It’s Me, too, while recent releases from YoungBoy Never Broke Again and DaBaby rounded out the Top 5.

The lower reaches of the chart are mostly dominated by holdovers from previous months, although it includes some strong performances from K-pop group SuperM, UK breakout acts Rex Orange County and YUNGBLUD, and Bay Area favorite G-Eazy. In an otherwise-quiet month for new releases, they were able to stand out.

Fans gave Harry Styles' “Lights Up” a close reading after it sparked speculation about his sexuality. It helped the song reach No. 2 on the Top Lyrics chart this month, one spot behind Travis Scott’s out-of-the-gate hit, “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM.” There was also a ton of interest in Selena Gomez’s “Lose You to Love Me,” which many fans think is about her former relationship with Justin Bieber.

Meanwhile, Kanye earned four entries with his religious new album, and Juice WRLD attracted attention for his lukewarm embrace of molly on “Bandit.”

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