Official HIGE DANdism Holds Top 2 Slots on Japan Hot 100

Official HIGE DANdism’s domination of the Billboard Japan Hot 100 continues as “I LOVE…” leads the latest tally for the second consecutive week and fifth in total.

On the chart dated April 13 to 19, the four-man piano band’s mid-tempo ballad led streaming, look-ups and video views, while also coming in at No. 2 for downloads, No. 13 for physical sales, No. 20 for radio airplay, and No. 57 for Twitter mentions.

The figures speak for the track’s strength as well: downloads are up from 16,613 units last week to 17,787 this week; streaming slightly down from 6,645,802 streams to 6,223,592; and video up from 8,098,834 views to 8,115,880.

HIGE DAN’s “Pretender” also stays at No. 2 on the Japan Hot 100 this week, logging its 16th nonconsecutive week in this slot. The song led the list seven times, and with one more month to go until the mid-year chart is announced, the focus now is how close “I LOVE…” can get to its predecessor’s record, with the share of physical sales generally dropping due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The band’s new release, “Parabola,” hit the top 10 last week and rises to No. 6 on the latest tally. The track is fueled mainly by streaming, which jumped from 1,469,234 streams last week to 3,832,331 this week, and currently has no video view points, meaning it still has enough reserve to continue climbing up the list.

HIGE DAN is of course the top contender for mid-year MVP with four songs in the top 10, seven in the top 20, and nine in the top 100, but last year’s artist of the year Aimyon’s songs have been climbing back up in recent weeks, powered by streaming.

The young singer-songwriter is featured on Ken Hirai’s “Kaibutsu-san” released in March (at No. 21 this week); and her former No. 1 single “Marigold” (No. 15) and No. 2 single “Harunohi” (No. 20) are rising again, thanks to her performing acoustic renditions on current TV commercials. With her upcoming record, “Hadaka no kokoro,” on the horizon, how its release affects her catalog on the chart is something to keep an eye on during the next few weeks.

The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, radio airplay, Twitter mentions, YouTube and GYAO! video views, Gracenote look-ups, audio streams from Amazon Music Unlimited, Apple Music, AWA, Google Play Music, KKBOX, LINE MUSIC, Rakuten Music, RecMusic provided by Gfk Japan, dHits, Uta Pass and Spotify, plus karaoke data from Daiichikosho and XING (excluded until further notice).

Billboard Japan Hot 100 Top 10 (dated April 13 to 19)
1. [1] I LOVE… / Official HIGE DANdism (1,633 copies / 17,787 downloads / 6,223,592 streams)
2. [2] Pretender / Official HIGE DANdism (none / 9,726 downloads / 5,035,269 streams)
3. [-] Ai wo shiru / Last Idol (67,569 copies / none / none)
4. [3] Gurenge / LiSA (1,270 copies / 16,356 downloads / 3,832,331 streams)
5. [5] Hakujitsu / King Gnu (none / 11,693 downloads / 4,384,635 streams)
6. [10] Parabola / Official HIGE DANdism (none / 19,163 downloads / 3,335,655 streams)
7. [-] Wish on the same sky / MONSTA X (58,317 copies / none / none)
8. [80] Hira hira / GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE (12,449 copies / 2,399 downloads / 1,922,307 streams)
9. [7] Shukumei / Official HIGE DANdism (none / 4,345 downloads / 3,241,456 streams)
10. [8] Anata ga irukotode / Uru (none / 8,462 downloads / 2,620,214 streams)

[ ]: Position last week
( ): Physical sales / downloads / streams (Top 50 only)