Don Toliver snatches his first top 10 hit as a lead artist on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart as “Bandit” opens at No. 9 on the list dated Feb. 17. The track, released on Cactus Jack/Atlantic Records, also starts at No. 38 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, the week’s highest debut.
In the tracking week of Feb. 2 – 8, “Bandit” recorded 10.9 million official U.S. streams, according to Luminate. The sum sparks the song’s No. 5 entrance on the Rap Streaming Songs chart and No. 18 start on the corresponding, all-genre Streaming Songs list. Streams drive almost all the “Bandit” activity for the week; the song sold a negligible number of sales downloads and registered 145,000 airplay audience impressions.
Although “Bandit” gives Toliver his first top 10 as a lead artist on Hot Rap Songs, the Houston-based rapper/singer has two prior visits in featured roles, which both peaked at No. 3. He and NAV had supporting spots on Internet Money and Gunna’s “Lemonade,” in 2020, while he and Future were guests on Metro Boomin’s “Too Many Nights,” in 2022.
Elsewhere, “Bandit” begins at No. 13 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and becomes Toliver’s best showing as a lead act, overtaking the No. 15 peak of “Flocky Flocky,” featuring Travis Scott, in 2021. On the all-genre Hot 100, “Bandit” arrives at No. 38 and gives the artist his third top 40 hit. “Too Many Nights” reached No. 22 in December 2022 and SZA’s “Used,” which features Toliver, earned a No. 30 high the same month.
Toliver’s new track also yields a win for Kevin Parker, best known as the chief figure of Tame Impala, who claims a songwriting credit from “Bandit” sampling the act’s “One More Hour.” Thanks to the lift, Parker picks up his first top 10 as a writer on Hot Rap Songs after three previous entries: Kanye West’s “Violent Crimes” (No. 14) in 2017, Travis Scott’s “Skeletons” (No. 24) in 2018 and Kid Cudi’s “Dive” (No. 20) in 2020.
This story originally appeared on Billboard
