Hot 100 First-Timers: Mac DeMarco Debuts With 2019 Track ‘Heart to Heart’

Mac DeMarco has already tallied Billboard chart accolades, and now he’s also a Billboard Hot 100-charting artist, as his song “Heart to Heart” debuts on the Jan. 28-dated ranking at No. 98.

The track, from the Canadian singer-songwriter’s fourth studio album, 2019’s Here Comes the Cowboy, debuts almost entirely on the strength of 5.8 million U.S. streams (up 7%) in the Jan. 13-19 tracking week, according to Luminate.

TikTok has been instrumental in the song’s resurgence, as the song has been used in more than 94,000 clips on the platform. (TikTok does not contribute to Billboard’s charts.) In a 2019 interview with Entertainment Weekly, DeMarco described the song as a tribute to late rapper Mac Miller. “We had this strange history,” he said, alluding to their tongue-in-cheek feud over their similar names, “and then we became really close, and I was going over to his place multiple times a week, up until the point that he passed away.”

“Heart to Heart” has also found success on other Billboard rankings: It rises 6-5 on Hot Alternative Songs and 9-8 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, marking his first top 10 on each chart.

Here Comes the Cowboy became a hit upon its release. The set debuted at No. 1 on Americana/Folk Albums, No. 2 on Alternative Albums, No. 3 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums and No. 10 on the Billboard 200. It also reached No. 3 on Top Album Sales and Vinyl Albums.

DeMarco first appeared on a Billboard chart in November 2012, when his debut studio album 2 opened at No. 49 on the Heatseekers Albums chart, before reaching No. 26 the following year.

Since then, DeMarco has charted four albums on the Billboard 200: Salad Days (No. 30 peak in 2014), Another One (No. 25, 2015), This Old Dog (No. 29, 2017) and Here Comes the Cowboy. Another One also hit No. 1 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Alternative Albums and Americana/Folk Albums.

DeMarco has been a notable vinyl seller, as three of his releases have topped Vinyl Albums: Salad Days, Another One and This Old Dog.

On the songs front, DeMarco charted two tracks prior to “Heart to Heart,” both also from Here Comes the Cowboy: “On the Square” and “Nobody” reached Nos. 44 and 46, respectively, on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs in 2019.

DeMarco released his fifth studio album, Five Easy Hot Dogs, last Friday. The set is entirely instrumental, and he recorded it during a road trip from Los Angeles to New York.