Will "Patient Zero - Taylor Swift" be the Billboard Hot 100 #1 song for the week of October 24?

Analysis

"Patient Zero" is reported to have led the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week, on the chart dated Oct. 17, which reflects the Oct. 2-8 measurement week. It was released on Sept. 25 as one of four bonus tracks on The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, and it became Swift's 16th career No. 1 on the Hot 100. That momentum is the main reason the forecast leans toward the song keeping the crown on the Oct. 24 chart. The song has also ended Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas" reign atop the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, a different territory from the U.S. chart but a sign of the song's strength. Langley's track set an all-time Hot 100 record with 23 weeks at No. 1, so the song that displaced it is no minor rival. The main threat is Drake. His HABIBTI (FOMO) deluxe edition arrived on Oct. 2, and all four of its new tracks are on the latest Hot 100. "Solar Eclipse" with Don Toliver debuted at No. 5, "Quebec" at No. 11 and "Cold Shoulder" at No. 18. Those placements sit well below No. 1, and the supplied research does not show how close any challenger is. The Oct. 24 chart covers a later tracking week than the one now published. The next chart update is the thing to watch. Billboard says charts update each Tuesday, so the following update should land on Oct. 20. If "Patient Zero" holds No. 1 there, the picture strengthens. A Drake track climbing from its current spot would weaken it.