This week, Kanye West has one of the top songs in the country, but you won't find it on your copy of Yeezus. Those MP3s from last year's Cruel Summer won't help you much either. Rather, you'll have to dig out your old CD copy of Late Registration—or, you know, go on YouTube, where a viral video helped make a song from 2005 finally become a charting hit in the top 20 on Billboard's Hot 100.
Two weeks ago, news video writer/producer Marina V. Shifrin released a video announcing to her boss that she was quitting her job. Set to Kanye West's "Gone," the longtime fan favorite from Late Registration, it showed Shifrin enthusiastically dancing her way out of her abandoned office at 4:30 a.m. and quickly made the rounds online. It's since racked up more than 15 million views on YouTube and made all kinds of waves in the press, in addition to netting Shifrin a job offer from Queen Latifah.
It also gave "Gone" the shine that Kanye fans have long felt it deserved due to Billboard's recently revised formula, which includes streaming plays. In addition to netting 9,000 digital sales (up from almost nothing the week before), the song accounted for 6.2 million streams, according to Nielsen BDS. That was enough to land "Gone" at No. 4 on Billboard's Streaming Songs chart, No. 6 on its Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, No. 4 on its Rap Songs chart and No. 18 on the Hot 100.
Since the song was never released as a single, this marks its chart debut—eight years late. It's also the fifth highest debut for any of Kanye's 59 singles to enter the Hot 100, according to Billboard. His highest first week entry was at No. 3 with "Love Lockdown." The only rappers with more Hot 100 entries than Kanye's new total of 59 (which ties him for 12th among all artists) are Lil Wayne, with 120; Jay Z, with 80; and Drake, with 65. Kanye may not care about making radio hits as much anymore, but maybe it's just because he can count on old his songs to become hits on their own.
If you haven't seen the video yet, check it out below:
[via Billboard]
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