Entrenched in the “Kiss”ing Booth: Chris Brown And T-Pain Stay Atop The Charts

Ed. note: Chris “dennisobell” Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on the Billboard Hot 100 in the latest installment of “100 And Single”:

After marching to No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 last week, Chris Brown’s “Kiss Kiss,” featuring T-Pain, solidifies its lead this week, as radio airplay begins to catch up with the song’s strong sales. With second-place Timbaland/OneRepublic seeing a slowdown in points for their “Apologize,” and most of the Top 10 static, Brown could be smooching atop the chart for several weeks yet.

A Game of Inches: Alicia Keys’ “No One” has spent more than half its chart life in the Top 10, but closing the deal is proving difficult: It’s up one hard-earned notch to No. 3 on the Hot 100 this week. “No One” has been the most-played song at radio for a month now, and at iTunes, there hasn’t been a week when the song hasn’t sold more copies than the week before. Problem is, those sales gains have been getting smaller–they’re only 4% this week–and Chris Brown’s closing the gap with her in airplay; “Kiss Kiss” is now the second-most-played song at radio.

Although Keys is less than a decade older than Brown, what you’re seeing atop the chart right now is a typical adults-vs.-kids pattern. Broadly speaking, songs that appeal to older demographics do better at radio early on, while younger-leaning hits tend to explode in sales before radio catches up. (Adults are also more likely to wait for an album to drop, while kids find 99 cents an easier bite of their disposable income.)

Keys, praised on the cover of last week’s Billboard as a “career artist” and beloved by radio listeners twice her age (remember all those Grammys five years ago?), is now a known quantity and enjoyed multi-format airplay for “No One” from the start. Brown–let’s call him the Gen-Z Usher–relies primarily on a high-school-age, Top 40-listening fanbase that judges him on a song-by-song basis; they were bored by “Wall to Wall,” but they showed up in force when “Kiss Kiss” dropped on iTunes, then belatedly spurred their local deejays to crank the song up to maximum rotation.

“Kiss Kiss” was actually down in sales last week, but it’s still No.1 on that chart. With Brown’s album in stores this week and selling well at iTunes, the song should see another sales burst. The questions for Keys are: 1, can she maintain her airplay lead over Brown; and 2, will the imminent release of her album give her the iTunes boost she needs to seal the deal?

No Such Thing as Bad Publicity, Data Point 2,463,892: Following up Jess’s item today about the business benefits of public shame, the release of Britney Spears’ Blackout album juices the sales of several of its songs. “Gimme More,” which never got past its headline-grabbing vault to No. 3 a month and a half ago, sees its first chart gain since then, inching back up to No. 13 on the Hot 100. (It probably would’ve reentered the Top 10 if the song’s airplay weren’t already virtually dead.)

The more notable feat comes from the second Blackout song to make the chart, “Piece of Me.” It debuts on the Hot 100 at No. 65–not mind-blowing as debuts go, but remarkable only because Zomba, Spears’ label, hasn’t even formally anointed the song as the next single or started working it heavily to radio. The chart debut comes entirely from sales points, as “Piece” instantly ranks among the 20 biggest sellers on the digital chart (it sold 34,000 downloads last week, vs. 71,000 for the established “Gimme”).

Easily the most talked-about track from the album–did any Blackout review fail to mention it?–“Piece of Me” is Spears’s “Leave Me Alone” and solidifies her carnival-freak reputation for those who enjoy her antics more than her artistry. That said, it’s also a wicked-catchy song and a favorite around the Idolator flophouse. Either way, the public has spoken with their dollars, so don’t be surprised if “Miss American Dream since [she] was 17” is showing her derriere on a pop station near you imminently. (Missing from the Hot 100 thus far, but also making iTunes’ top 100, are potential hits “Radar” and “Break the Ice.”)

Stuff to Watch: The only thing that makes us feel better about Fergie’s “Clumsy” making the Top 20 in only its fourth chart week–besides the fact that, admittedly, it’s the most tolerable of her solo tracks yet–is that it was outmaneuvered this week by “I’m So Hood.” At No. 19, DJ Khaled and his massive featured-artist entourage–including, yes, T-Pain again–are growing solidly in both sales and airplay and should make the Top 10 in a week or two. But forget Khaled, T-Pain and the Ferg: the most likely winners’-circle debutante in the immediate future is Finger Eleven’s “Paralyzer.” Four more notches, and the Ontario-based veterans will have one of the slowest-moving Top 10 hits in chart history. Make way, hosers!

The top 20, with last week’s position and total weeks charted in parentheses: 1. Chris Brown, “Kiss Kiss” (LW No. 1, 8 weeks) 2. Timbaland feat. OneRepublic, “Apologize” (LW No. 2, 14 weeks) 3. Alicia Keys, “No One” (LW No. 4, 9 weeks) 4. Soulja Boy, “Crank That (Soulja Boy), Soulja Boy Tell’em” (LW No. 3, 17 weeks) 5. Colbie Caillat, “Bubbly” (LW No. 5, 19 weeks) 6. Kanye West, “Stronger” (LW No. 6, 15 weeks) 7. Baby Bash feat. T-Pain, “Cyclone” (LW No. 8, 15 weeks) 8. Kanye West feat. T-Pain, “Good Life” (LW No. 7, 8 weeks) 9. Rihanna feat. Ne-Yo, “Hate That I Love You” (LW No. 9, 10 weeks) 10. Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson & D.O.E., “The Way I Are” (LW No. 10, 23 weeks) 11. J. Holiday, “Bed” (LW No. 11, 16 weeks) 12. Fergie, “Big Girls Don’t Cry” (LW No. 12, 29 weeks) 13. Britney Spears, “Gimme More” (LW No. 16, 9 weeks) 14. Finger Eleven, “Paralyzer” (LW No. 18, 22 weeks) 15. matchbox twenty, “How Far We’ve Come” (LW No. 14, 10 weeks) 16. 50 Cent feat. Justin Timberlake & Timbaland, “Ayo Technology” (LW No. 13, 13 weeks) 17. Pink, “Who Knew” (LW No. 15, 22 weeks) 18. The-Dream, “Shawty is a 10” (LW No. 21, 9 weeks) 19. DJ Khaled Featuring T-Pain, Trick Daddy, Rick Ross & Plies, “I’m So Hood” (LW No. 30, 8 weeks) 20. Fergie, “Clumsy” (LW No. 28, 4 weeks)