The charts are still in something of a post-festive lull, but things are starting to get back to normal as new material begins to creep into the lower end of the chart.  And with the X Factor sales tailing off, there’s a change at the top.  Having spent the last three weeks stuck at number two, 2011’s first number one single is…

…“What’s My Name” by Rihanna featuring Drake, finally completing a tortuously slow 18-10-8-4-2-2-2-1 climb to the top that began at the tail end of November.

Once again, Rihanna has three singles in the current top ten, the others being “Only Girl (In The World)” at 9, and “Who’s That Chick” with David Guetta at 10.  This one is, relatively speaking, a mid-paced romantic number, and the hook is a grower.  Lyrical high point: guest rapper Drake attempts maths.  (“The square root of 69 is eight-something, right?”)

This is Rihanna’s 22nd top 40 hit, and her fifth UK number one following “Umbrella” in 2007, “Take A Bow” in 2008, “Run This Town” with Jay-Z in 2009, and “Only Girl (In The World”) last November.  The chart compilers, always looking for a hook, were quick to put out a press release announcing that Rihanna is the first female solo artist to have number one hits in five consecutive years.  This is true, though (i) it does require you to count “Run This Town”, where she wasn’t the lead artist; (ii) the actual record for number ones in consecutive years is seven, held jointly by Elvis Presley and the Beatles; and (iii) Madonna would probably have managed six, if only she’d released anything in 1988.

Drake is a Canadian singer who, if Wikipedia is to be believed, is possibly better known to some of you from having once been in Degrassi: The Next Generation.  (Did it have a holodeck?)  This is his third UK hit and the biggest by a mile.

There are no new entries in the top ten, but it’s worth mentioning “Do It Like A Dude” by Jessie J at number 5, a much-hyped single which initially seemed to have sputtered out in the mid-20s back in December, but now gets a second lease of life; having dropped as far as 34, it’s been climbing back over the last three weeks, and now leaps 13 places into the top 10.  The music industry are terribly excited about Jessie J, who’s been cropping up in a lot of “stars of 2011” lists – not a reliable guide to success, but usually enough to get a bit of initial attention.  I’m still not sold on this single, but hey, I suppose it’s an improvement on the Miley Cyrus single she co-wrote, “Party in the USA”.

The highest new entry is at number 15: “Me and You” by Nero, a dubstep production duo from London.  The record itself is pretty good – it’s kind of halfway between Daft Punk’s retro electro and Chase & Status’s epic productions (uh, without the guitars).  Not sure about the video, which is going for some sort of arcade nostalgia vibe and doesn’t quite know what to do with it.

Further down the chart, at number 24 “It’s Okay” by Cee Lo Green is the follow-up to the summertime viral hit “Fuck You”.  It’s another piece of Motown revivalism, but this time without the novelty value of the swearing.  Hence, number 24.  Good song, though, and the midweeks have it climbing (though not by much).

Number 29 is “Hello” by Martin Solveig & Dragonette.  Solveig is a Parisian DJ who’s had a couple of minor hits in the past – “Rocking Music” (number 35 in 2004) and “Everybody” (22 in 2005).  Dragonette are an electropop group from Ontario, who haven’t charted before.  This is kind of awesome, and thankfully the midweeks suggest it’ll go further.  It’s got a great video, too, clearly produced by the French label – it helps if you know that the guy at the end is Gael Monfils, the French tennis number one. Bob Sinclar, who co-stars in the video, is indeed another famous French DJ with a string of UK hits – but apparently he has nothing to do with this single, making his prominent appearance in the video all the more gloriously pointless.

Number 33 is “Jungle” by Professor Green featuring Maverick, one of those off-the-peg rap tracks where the artist reminds us that he comes from the sort of area which is unlikely to feature on Location, Location, Location any time soon.  Green’s fourth and smallest hit (though it may yet climb); first hit for guest singer Maverick Saber.

“Pack Up” by Eliza Doolittle re-enters at number 38, having originally peaked at number 5 last July, and to be honest, I have no clue why it’s back.  A similarly random re-entry is “Hold You” by Gyptian at number 40, which peaked at 16 back in November and never actually dropped lower than 63; it may be sticking around.

Finally, this week’s left-field new entry is “Limit To Your Love” by James Blake at number 39 – technically a dubstep record, but an incredibly minimal one, and you’d certainly be stretching it to call it dance music.  It’s a cover version of a Feist album track from 2007. Kind of brilliant on headphones. Might sound terrible on laptop speakers…