Mega Monday: The Record Extends Itself Again, and the Songs That Got Bounced Out Two Weeks Ago Just Walked Back In
Ella Langley's 'Choosin' Texas' logs a 26th nonconsecutive week at No. 1, extending the record it already owns, while Taylor Swift's 'Patient Zero' keeps sliding (No. 1 to No. 5 to No. 8 in two weeks) and 'BbY WOW' and 'Hate That I Made You Love Me' -- both bounced from the top 10 two weeks ago -- climb right back in as last week's three simultaneous new arrivals already thin out to one.
By Song Reviews · November 9, 2026
What Mega Monday Is
Every Monday, Song Reviews takes the previous week’s Billboard Hot 100 top 10 and asks the one question a chart position can’t answer on its own: is the popularity deserved? Two weeks ago, this column watched three brand-new songs crash the top four at once while “Choosin’ Texas” reclaimed No. 1 after a month away. This week, the record just keeps extending itself, last week’s big crash victim keeps falling, and two songs given up for dead a fortnight ago are already back from the grave.
This Week’s Chart
The Hot 100, week of November 7, 2026:
| # | Song | Artist | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Choosin’ Texas | Ella Langley | Holds at No. 1 for a 26th nonconsecutive week, extending its own all-time record. |
| 2 | Housewife | Tate McRae | 7.2/10 – holds at No. 2. |
| 3 | Boston | Stella Lefty | 8.0/10 – climbs from No. 6 to No. 3, still the top 10’s best-reviewed song. |
| 4 | Been by Now | Morgan Wallen | 7.3/10 – climbs from No. 7 to No. 4. |
| 5 | Dracula | Tame Impala & JENNIE | 6.4/10 – climbs from No. 8 to No. 5. |
| 6 | Nicole Kidman | Adéla | 7.1/10 – climbs from No. 9 to No. 6. |
| 7 | expectations (Remix) | Olivia Rodrigo & Chappell Roan | 7.6/10 – falls from No. 3 to No. 7. |
| 8 | Patient Zero | Taylor Swift | 5.8/10 – falls from No. 5 to No. 8, now two weeks removed from No. 1. |
| 9 | BbY WOW | Karol G, Judeline & rusowsky | 7.7/10 – re-enters the top 10 at No. 9 after falling out two weeks ago. |
| 10 | Hate That I Made You Love Me | Ariana Grande | 6.0/10 – re-enters the top 10 at No. 10 after falling out two weeks ago. |
“Lies” (Zach Bryan feat. Lana Del Rey) and “stupid song” (Olivia Rodrigo), both of which debuted or held top-10 positions two weeks ago, have fallen out of the top 10 entirely this week.
Is the Popularity Deserved?
Start at the top, where there’s genuinely nothing left to say that this column hasn’t already said twice. “Choosin’ Texas” set the longest No. 1 run in Hot 100 history this fall, lost the top spot in October, reclaimed it two weeks ago, and this week simply holds – a 26th nonconsecutive week at No. 1, extending a record it already owns outright. At some point a chart-accountability column has to admit when a song has stopped being a story and started being a fact of the chart’s weather. This is that point. Nothing about “Choosin’ Texas” needs defending or interrogating this week; it is simply, still, the biggest song in the country.
The more interesting case this week is everything happening underneath it, because the top 10’s actual composition is turning over faster than its actual quality is. Taylor Swift’s “Patient Zero” is the clearest evidence: No. 1 three weeks ago, No. 5 two weeks ago, No. 8 this week – a song sliding at a steady, almost scheduled pace, the exact shape of a single that was never going to hold once real competition showed up. Compare that to “Boston,” “Been by Now,” “Dracula,” and “Nicole Kidman,” all of which climbed this week without a single new arrival pushing them – four songs quietly consolidating position while the two most recent splashy new entries (“Lies” and “stupid song”) already vanished entirely, and a third (“expectations (Remix)”) slid four spots in a week. The pattern across two straight Mondays now is consistent: a sudden crowd of new arrivals creates a lot of noise and very little staying power, while the songs already a few weeks into their run just keep climbing past them.
And then there’s the specific symmetry at the bottom of the chart, which is the week’s best evidence for that same point. Two weeks ago, “BbY WOW” and “Hate That I Made You Love Me” got shoved out of the top 10 entirely by that week’s rush of three simultaneous new entries. This week, with that rush already evaporating, both songs walk right back in at No. 9 and No. 10 – not new momentum, just old momentum reasserting itself once the noise clears. A chart position lost to a crowded week isn’t the same as a chart position lost to a song getting worse, and the Hot 100’s last two weeks are about as clean a demonstration of that distinction as this column is likely to get.
Hero image: “Boston” single cover art, used under fair use for editorial commentary.