For the second time in her career, Doja Cat has earned a No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100. Announced on Monday (September 11), Doja’s “Paint The Town Red” topped the chart over a month after its initial release (August 4), as it has been continuously gaining steam on both the Hot 100 and Spotify charts in the last few weeks.
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This achievement marks the first song to hit No. 1 this year where the primary artist is a rapper, considering blossoming Ohio emcee Latto’s No. 1 earlier this year came when she featured on “Seven,” released by K-pop artist Jung Kook. On top of being a significant moment for hip-hop, “Paint The Town Red,” which samples Dionne Warwick’s 1964 song “Walk On By,” also gives the iconic Warwick her first contribution to a No. 1 song since 1986.
In fact, “Walk On By” also includes instrumentation by the legendary Burt Bacharach, which netted him a writing credit on “Paint The Town Red.” So, according to Chart Data, this means Bacharach has landed a No. 1 in five different decades, including in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 2000s, and the 2020s.
When speaking with the producer of “Paint The Town Red,” Earl On The Beat, he told American Songwriter that he had been holding onto the instrumental for around two years and that he felt like the beat was ahead of its time.
“I made that beat two years ago and sometimes as a producer, you have to be ahead of the wave,” he said in our August interview. “You have to be ahead before the sound catches up if that makes sense. So sometimes you may make certain records that may be years ahead, but they can’t get off right then and there… I reworked that beat a little bit, and added some new things to it. That was literally one of the first ones I chose to send (to Doja). I make everything, but at that moment, I didn’t necessarily have anything for her, but I knew I had that… I love what she did over it.”
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As noted before, the ascent of “Paint The Town Red” was not immediate. With the help of TikTok and its ever-so-addicting chorus, the song climbed up the Hot 100 week by week. After debuting at No. 15, and staying there for a second week, the song eventually crept up to No. 5 in its third week, then No. 3 in its fourth, and now No. 1 in its fifth.
Throughout this time, the song had also been dominating on Spotify, topping charts like the USA Top 50 and Spotify’s Global chart. As the second promotional single for her upcoming fourth album Scarlet, “Paint The Town Red” has been able to establish a roaring wave of momentum for the LP, which is set to release on September 22.
However, as Doja is employing a new rap-centric approach, Scarlet will come out on the same day as Drake’s long-awaited For All The Dogs album, where Doja Cat will try to dethrone Drake on top of the hip-hop world. And, if the success of “Paint The Town Red” is any indicator, she could certainly do just that.
Photo by: Rich Polk/NBC
