How Did ‘Tit for Tat’ Become Tate McRae’s Best-Debuting Song as a Lead Artist?

As large arsenic 2024 was for Tate McRae, 2025 seems by each indications to beryllium an adjacent bigger twelvemonth for the still-rising popular star. She’s scored her archetypal No. 1s connected some the Billboard 200 (February’s So Close to What) and the Billboard Hot 100 (May’s Morgan Wallen-led “What I Want”), portion traversing the country’s arenas connected the Miss Possessive Tour and mounting the VMAs somewhat virtually connected fire.

Now, she tin adhd different solo smash to her 2025 resumé. “Tit for Tat,” a caller standalone McRae azygous thought to beryllium inspired by her breakup with travel popular hitmaker The Kid LAROI, bows astatine No. 3 connected the Hot 100 this week — her 3rd apical 5 deed connected the chart, pursuing “What I Want” and the No. 3-peaking “Greedy” — and marking easy her champion debut connected the Hot 100 arsenic a pb artist.

How did the opus execute specified a mighty debut? And wherever bash we presently fertile Tate among the year’s top popular stars? Billboard staffers reply these questions and much below.

1. Tate McRae’s “Tit for Tat” debuts astatine No. 3 connected the Hot 100 this week, her champion debut and tied for her highest highest arsenic a pb artist. On a standard from 1-10, however large a woody is this bow for McRae?

Katie Atkinson: 10. Considering the established contention she had to leapfrog to debut that precocious – including her ain duet with Morgan Wallen – this is nary tiny feat. It took months for her different biggest solo deed “Greedy” to claw its mode to the aforesaid rung, truthful this has to consciousness similar an accomplishment for McRae to present beryllium capable to rocket consecutive to the aforesaid high-water mark.

Stephen Daw: This feels similar an casual 9 to me. A No. 3 debut, particularly up against illustration behemoths similar “Golden” and “Ordinary,” is the information constituent to beryllium that Tate is simply a capital-P Pop Star. “Tit For Tat” earning this precocious of a debut shows that neither “Greedy” nor “What I Want” were flukes for making it to the apical 10, and that audiences are precise intelligibly buying what she is selling. If I were connected Tate’s team, I’d beryllium popping champagne close astir now. 

Kyle Denis: I’m going to spell with an 8. Sure, she got the No. 1 with her Morgan Wallen duet, but this lofty debut — with a standalone azygous dropped mid-tour, nary little — is simply a overmuch much convincing illustration of however Tate’s prima has exploded since she archetypal reached the Hot 100’s apical 10 with “Greedy.” 

Michael Saponara: I’m going with a 9. I deliberation a No. 3 Hot 100 debut with a solo way shows Tate’s moving up successful people erstwhile it comes to her hitmaking quality and prima power. Coming disconnected a Billboard 200 No. 1 medium (So Close to What) and a Hot 100 No. 1 collab with Morgan Wallen (“What I Want”), I consciousness it was important for Tate to proceed capitalizing connected the momentum garnered from earlier successful the twelvemonth with different deed of her own. 

Andrew Unterberger: I’ll accidental a 7 — and the information that it’s lone a 7 shows what an unthinkable twelvemonth McRae has had to this point, wherever a No. 3 Hot 100 solo debut inactive registers arsenic a breakthrough, but hardly a wholly shocking oregon unforeseeable one.

2. Though “Greedy” had antecedently peaked astatine No. 3 connected the Hot 100, that opus took months to scope its eventual perch. What bash you deliberation is the biggest crushed “Tit for Tat” has been by acold her best-debuting azygous yet?

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