track ten chart roundup 2.10.26

Americans keep choosin' country. Plus, a wave of post-Grammys bumps.

Something happened this week that hasn’t before since I started writing my roundups: Not only are there different artists on top of the Hot 100, Billboard 200, Spotify, and Youtube, but all four charts have a new number one this week! Been an exciting start to the year with lots of big debuts, so let’s dive right in.

Everyone seems to think the Hot 100 is broken. Each week, I count down the biggest songs, take a look at what’s trending up in the weeks ahead, and let you know if I think Billboard got it right. Need an explainer on how the charts work so this all makes sense? I have one here for you!

counting down

Billboard Hot 100 #1: “Choosin’ Texas” by Ella Langley

• 1st week at #1; 22.1 million streams (+22% ), 34.4 million radio airplay (+8%) and 12,000 sales (+98%)

Billboard 200 #1 Album: OCTANE by Don Toliver

• 1st week at #1; 162,000 Equivalent Album Units

Billboard Global 200 #1: “The Fate of Ophelia” by Taylor Swift

• 7th week at #1; 50.7 million streams (-5%) and 6,000 sales (- 9%)

Spotify Weekly US #1: “The Great Divide” by Noah Kahan

• 1st week at #1; 12,463,096 streams

Youtube Weekly US #1: “Big Guy” by Ice Spice

• 1st week at #1; 5,115,086 views (-970,907)

Apple Music US Daily #1: “DtMF” by Bad Bunny

r/Popheads Chart: “Stateside” by PinkPantheress feat. Zara Larsson

my last.fm: “Cool” by Gwen Stefani

• just an all time great song (and music video!!!)

trending up:

• Grammy bumps come in this week: “Ordinary” bounces back to #4, “DtMF” back to #10, “Yukon” up ten slots to #21, and Olivia Dean manages 6 songs on the Hot 100 this week.

• Don Toliver has an absolutely massive week with 18 songs from his new album OCTANE on the Hot 100. The top track so far is “Body” which debuted at #14.

• “Let ‘Em Know” by T.I. is rising the charts, jumping 33 slots this week to #50

• “Big Guy” by Ice Spice has been hanging around the upper reaches of the YouTube charts, but finally makes it to #1 this week. Maybe not surprisingly after the methodology change, it doesn’t even appear anywhere on the Hot 100.

debuts & news:

• “I’ll Change For You” by Mitski - moody!! have always been a bit up and down on her, but I enjoy this one

• Not brand new, but new to me is “El Camino” by Buscabulla, a song I found through Annie from Earslug’s playlist of artists from PR to know after the SuperBowl

• “Dreams” by Coco & Breezy - worth checking out the whole EP, even if I might not personally need every spoken word situation here, but this track is a standout and just makes me feel summery in this endless winter

guest pick (feat. Dev):

This week, I have a pick from Dev, who writes about a huge variety of music both inside and outside the United States. Well in line with his pick today, I recommend his piece If You Proclaim Rock & Rap Are Dead Your Ears Are Stuck In America.

My pick has to be “Omens” by EsDeeKid. Released just two months after the mega viral collab with Timothée Chalamet (currently at 60.2M views on Instagram) and in the middle of his sold out NA + Australia tour, which I’m desperately trying to find tickets for, EsDeeKid in his latest release showcases he’s only soaring from here. With production you feel in your chest the entire track and bragidocious bars like: “’25, I did a milli’, boy/ ‘26, I need a billi’, boy/ I’m the best out of the city, boy” the Scouser gives a prelude to what he’s going to bring to the genre this year. Though I find the whole “rap is dead” conversation incredibly tired and ignorant as it completely ignores all of the incredible rap being released outside the US, if you do believe that statement just know EsDeeKid is aboard a ghost ship and he’s about to wreck America’s shores.

consensus pick (#1 on the charts):

In my first chart roundup of 2026, I gave “Choosin’ Texas” by Ella Langley the contrarian pick award as she showed real promise in her chart climb. That being said, the heavy competition among new debuts and world-class stars like Bad Bunny, Bruno Mars, and Harry Styles made this far from a guarantee. We are seeing country just continue to soar on the charts, and this song is an indicator it isn’t going anywhere. Beyond #1 on the Hot 100, “Choosin’ Texas” also hits #5 on Youtube and # 2 on Spotify, all three of which represent new peaks. Ella still has room to grow, too, with an album and tour coming up.

contrarian pick (#1 in our hearts): “DtMF” by Bad Bunny

Okay, I’m sure some chart watchers are like… just wait a week. And to be fair, the title track from the Grammy Album of the Year which also happens to be the closing track of the Superbowl halftime show is not exactly a contrarian pick. However, “DtMF” is at #10 this week after a #2 peak in January 2025, and despite the big streaming numbers Bad Bunny is putting up, I’m not convinced that he’s going to be able to beat Taylor’s vinyl sales for “Opalite” next week. That’s not to say that he shouldn’t - midweek streams clearly point to the fact that he’s bigger, but the bump from the Superbowl is also more diffuse (yesterday he had the top 6 songs on the US Spotify Daily chart). I’m giving it to him this week with the hope that I can confidently call “DtMF” the consensus biggest song in America next week, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Know someone who has great taste and would make a great guest pick? Tag them in a comment or send me a message with their info!