Megan Thee Stallion’s New Single Is A Top 10 — But It Misses The Hot 100

It’s only been about half a year since Megan Thee Stallion stopped promoting her album Megan. The reissued version of that full-length, titled Megan: Act 2, essentially served as a deluxe edition of the original, which arrived in June 2024. The updated set dropped in October of the same year.

Now an independent artist after leaving her label deal, Stallion is working harder than ever to keep her name and music in the spotlight — and on the charts. The Grammy winner and superstar is back on the Billboard rankings with her latest single, “Whenever,” which becomes a huge hit on some tallies, while also falling somewhat short on others in its first frame on the lists.

“Whenever” Opens Inside the Top 10

“Whenever” starts in healthy positions on a handful of genre-specific rosters. Stallion’s tune opens at No. 5 on the Rap Digital Song Sales chart and No. 6 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales list.

Fans of Stallion were quick to purchase the track, making it the loftiest debut on the rap-specific ranking. On the more all-encompassing R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart, it lands just behind Doechii’s “Anxiety,” which starts at No. 1.

Stallion has now collected more than two dozen top 10s on both of these tallies. She’s up to 26 total appearances inside the highest tier on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales list, and 33 top 10 smashes on the Rap Digital Song Sales chart. Only six of her tracks that have appeared on that ranking have failed to crack the top 10.

Megan Thee Stallion’s New Single

When it comes to broader consumption, though, “Whenever” doesn’t perform quite as well. The cut misses the top 10 on both the Hot Rap Songs chart, where it opens at No. 16, and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs list, where it debuts at No. 24.

Stallion has scored dozens of hits on those rankings throughout the years, but her performance on the more all-encompassing Hot Rap Songs tally pales when looking at how well so many of her tunes have sold. In an odd bit of coincidence, the Grammy winner’s total number of placements on the list of the most consumed rap tracks in the country perfectly matches her accumulation of top 10s on the Rap Digital Song Sales chart.

“Whenever” Just Misses the Hot 100

Somewhat disappointingly, “Whenever” fails to reach the Hot 100, though it came very close to appearing on the list. The track debuts at No. 2 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100, the Billboard tally that ranks the most-consumed songs that haven’t yet broken into the all-genre Hot 100. It’s possible that “Whenever” will grow in popularity via increased sales, streaming, and possibly radio attention, which could eventually send it to the Hot 100. But that seems somewhat unlikely, as in today’s fast-paced music business, many tunes that debut on the Bubbling Under chart never make the jump, as their initial frame often turns out to be their biggest.