Doja Cat has taken out the top spot in Triple J’s Hottest 100 of 2023 with her single Paint the Town Red.
The US rapper, whose song samples Dionne Warwick’s Walk On By, made history on Saturday as the first woman of colour to top the countdown, finishing ahead of G Flip in No 2 with The Worst Person Alive.
G Flip made history too, setting a new record for the most songs in the countdown for an artist in a single year. It was clear by about 5pm that the Melbourne singer and drummer was going to at least match the previous record of six songs held jointly by Wolfmother and Spacey Jane, before set a new bar with a seventh track.
“I can’t thank you enough for getting round me,” G Flip said, audibly holding back tears on the phone from London with Triple J hosts Bryce Mills and Concetta Caristo.
G Flip’s seven entries account for more than half the songs on their second studio album, Drummer. G Flip, whose international profile has skyrocketed over the last two years, also claimed the record for most songs in the count by a solo artist, passing Billie Eilish who had five songs in 2019.
It was also a big day for the Australian producer and DJ Dom Dolla, whose track Saving Up came in at No 3 directly followed by Rhyme Dust, a collaboration with MK, at No 4.
Others who made a strong showing in terms of the number of songs featured included Olivia Rodrigo and Fred Again with four tracks each in the countdown, while Dom Dolla, SZA, the Rions, Teenage Dads, Lana Del Rey and Peach PRC all had three.
Another record thoroughly broken was the longest time between Hottest 100 entries, as Kylie Minogue returned to the count after 26 years. Her global hit Padam Padam came in at No 48, the first time Minogue has appeared since Did It Again in 1997, beating a record previously held by the metal act Slipknot who had a 19-year absence. Another inimitable pop icon would have taken the record had Kylie fallen short: Madonna last appeared in the poll in 2000 with Music but sneaked into the 2023 count with a feature on The Weeknd’s track Popular.
And the Perth duo Old Mervs, whose track Sweetheart came in at No 47, may have set a record for the number of F-bombs dropped in an on-air interview during the countdown, clocking four in a matter of seconds while chatting with hosts Lucy Smith and Dave Woodhead.
The influence of TikTok was visible in the poll but not dominant. The UK act PinkPantheress was the second-most played artist on Triple J in 2023, but her Ice Spice collaboration Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2 – which was inescapable on the platform for several months – didn’t crack the top 30, coming in at #36.
The Australian pop singer and creator Peach PRC, who has more than 2 million followers on TikTok, had three of her 2023 singles in the countdown. London’s Kenya Grace, who first grew her profile on the app, made it to No 46 with her UK chart-topping hit Strangers, while fellow platform-conquering Britons the Last Dinner Party snuck in at No 86. But the American rapper Jack Harlow cracked the top 10 with the viral hit Lovin On Me coming in at No 9.
A final number worth noting: the annual charity drive, with T-shirt sales and donations raising more than $502,000 for the youth mental health foundation Headspace (it is unclear how much of this amount was driven specifically by hosts Mills and Caristo who threatened to “just say the word ‘vibes’ over and over again” until the $500,000 milestone was reached).
The top 10 was filled out by the towering dance banger Prada by Cassö, D-Block Europe, and Raye at No 5; Fred Again’s hit Adore You (with Obongjayar, who became the first Nigerian act to feature in the countdown); Melbourne-based star Troye Sivan’s Rush at No 6; Eilish at No 7 with her wistful contribution to the Barbie soundtrack, What Was I Made For; and Post Malone at No 10 with Chemical.
