As Drake rules the charts, the 'song of the summer' race heats up

Drake's ICEMAN holds at No.1 in its second week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and the rapper still has four songs in this week's top 10, led by "Janice STFU" at No.

1.The song also leads Billboard's inaugural "Songs of the Summer" chart for 2026, but powerhouse competition looms.No discussion of the midyear pop charts would be complete without a breakdown of contenders for the honorific "song of the summer" — namely, the track that comes to dominate radio playlists, beach hangs and barbecues.

The designation is unofficial and frequently based on vibes, but Billboard still does its best to make it as scientific as possible.Each summer, Billboard unveils and updates its latest limited-series Songs of the Summer chart, which adds up and averages how the biggest current hits perform on the Hot 100 between late May and early September.Last year, No.

1 overall went to Alex Warren's "Ordinary," which ruled the Hot 100 for much of the summer — and only last week dropped off the chart amid the deluge of new Drake songs.To make the Songs of the Summer chart, a song can't have been a major hit in a prior summer; that would have precluded "Ordinary," for example, from inclusion in 2026.The only song in this week's top 20 that doesn't qualify for Songs of the Summer in 2026 is Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," which climbs to No.

19 on the Hot 100 thanks to renewed interest sparked by the horrendous Jackson biopic Michael.Because Drake's ICEMAN is still posting massive numbers on streaming, that album locks down seven of the 20 tracks that make up 2026's inaugural Songs of the Summer chart.But the number is bound to drop in the coming weeks, as ICEMAN streaming subsides and major new releases enter the conversation: Olivia Rodrigo's new album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, drops on June 12 — its latest single, "The Cure," debuts on both the Hot 100 and Songs of the Summer at No.

5 — while Ariana Grande readies a new record, Petal, for release on Jul...