It’s been an eventful year for Canadian music. Billboard Canada releases the year-end versions of several charts: Canadian Hot 100, Canadian Albums, Top Artists (a combination of data from both), Canadian Airplay, Canadian Streaming and Canadian Digital Song Sales. Each piece tells a story about the Canadian music landscape of 2024.
It’s no surprise who tops the year-end Billboard Canadian Hot 100 chart. Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” breaks the record for longest No. 1 lead this year, surpassing Lil Nas Weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. Hot 100, he set a similar record, but it was set first in Canada and lasted longer (on the U.S. year-end Hot 100, “Tipsy” It came in second behind Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control.”
The biggest music story this year is Drake and Kendrick Lamar. If one song could be declared a winner based on the charts alone, it would be “Not Like Us.” Even in Drake’s native Canada, Kendrick’s irresistible diss track ranks among the top. The song ranked No. 11 on the year-end Canadian Hot 100 and No. 11 on the year-end Streaming Songs chart. However, the chart success has also brought some controversy, with Drake launching legal action alleging that Universal Music Group, iHeartRadio and Spotify conspired to inflate the numbers. But the song was really popular.
Meanwhile, Drake’s biggest hits have little to do with his Kendrick beef. “IDGAF” with Yeat ranked No. 54, “Rich Baby Daddy” with SZA & sexyy Red ranked No. 67, and “First Person Shooter” with J. Cole ranked No. 75, all from his 2023 album of the year for all dogs. So what about on the Canadian artist charts for 2024? Drake is ranked 4th and Kendrick is ranked 17th.
It’s no surprise to see Taylor Swift dominate the year-end charts, but her unprecedented Eras tour – undoubtedly the highest-grossing tour of all time – completed this November in Toronto and Vancouver. Gave an extra boost. Taylor’s all-era (or album, if you’re old-school) boost has her locked in at No. 1 on the Artist Chart, which combines data from the Canadian Hot 100 and Canadian Album Charts . In the latter chart, Swift occupies four of the top 10 spots: tortured poets department Ranked first, 1989 (Taylor version) 4th place and lover and midnight Located at numbers 9 and 10.
Check out the full chart breakdown here, including trends like the resurgence of Canadian icons, homegrown radio hits and the success of Francophone Quebec and Punjabi artists. And find all 2024 year-end charts here.
This story was originally published on canadian bulletin board.
