The DaBaby Remix Of Dua Lipa’s ‘Levitating’ Is Still Near The Top Of The Charts Despite Fewer Radio Plays

The backlash to DaBaby’s controversial HIV/AIDS comments at Rolling Loud a couple weekends ago (for which he only just apologized today) has been severe, as he’s been dropped from multiple festival lineups and dragged by many of his peers in music. Dua Lipa, who recruited DaBaby to join her on the “Levitating” remix, said she was “surprised and horrified” by the things DaBaby said on stage.

Since the controversy, music curators have started phasing the DaBaby version of “Levitating” off of playlists and radio airplay, but in spite of that, the song is still doing quite well on the charts. On the new Hot 100 dated August 7, the “Levitating” remix is at No. 5, a slight drop from its spot at No. 3 last week. The Rolling Loud incident happened on July 25, which was a few days into the tracking week reflected on the latest chart, July 23 to 29.

Billboard reports that remix saw a 12-percent drop in plays compared to the solo version of the song last week, noting, “On July 25, 71% of its plays was via the remix; on July 29, the last day of the tracking week, the share dropped to 59%.”

If the solo version of “Levitating” ends up becoming the most prominent version of the song in terms of charting activity, it is possible for DaBaby’s credit to be removed from “Levitating” as it appears on the Hot 100 and other charts. A similar thing happened last year when Nicki Minaj was removed from the Hot 100 listing for Doja Cat’s “Say So.” Billboard explained at the time, “After two weeks of Minaj showing as a featured artist on ‘Say So’ on the Hot 100 and other charts that utilize the same methodology, only Doja Cat is now listed, as the original version, without Minaj, is now driving the majority of overall activity for the song; the change does not affect any of Minaj’s achievements on those charts the past two weeks, and she continues not to be credited on the song on any airplay charts, as the vast majority of the song’s airplay is still for the original version.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.