Dave Chappelle Had YouTube’s Top-Trending 2020 Video With Raw Netflix Special

Dave Chappelle’s performance delivered the week after the police murder of George Floyd was the No. 1 trending video on YouTube this year, according to the video platform.

YouTube on Tuesday revealed the top 10 trending video rankings for the U.S., as well as the top creators and songs of 2020. Normally, YouTube releases those alongside the annual Rewind video, but it nixed the celebratory recap mashup this year.

Chappelle’s 27-minute video is titled “8:46,” the length of time a Minneapolis police officer pinned his knee on Floyd’s neck. Posted to the Netflix Is a Joke channel on YouTube in June, it’s not available on Netflix itself. (Chappelle has multiple comedy specials on Netflix, which recently removed comedy sketch series “Chappelle’s Show” at the comedian’s request.) The description of the video notes, “Dave is not interested in monetizing any content related to George Floyd’s death” and encourages viewers to make donations to the Equal Justice Initiative.

To compile its trending-video rankings, YouTube uses a proprietary algorithm that factors in total views, likes, comments and searches.

Other videos hitting the YouTube 2020 top-trending U.S. list were “Saturday Night Live’s” cold open reenacting the first Trump-Biden debate, featuring Alec Baldwin and Jim Carrey; makeup artist Jeffree Star’s video revealing the breakup with his boyfriend; Ricky Gervais’ Golden Globes monologue; and “The Office” star John Krasinski reuniting with Steve Carell in his pandemic-inspired series “Some Good News.”

YouTube’s top 10 songs in the U.S., based on total number of views for the year, were all in the rap category. Topping the list was Future’s “Life Is Good” featuring Drake, followed by Tekashi 6ix9ine’s “GOOBA” and Lil Baby and 42 Dugg’s “We Paid.”

The top U.S. creators of the year on YouTube, based on total in-country subscribers gained in 2020, were MrBeast, Dream, ZHC, SSSniperwolf and Tiko. YouTube’s ranking of “breakout creators” by subscriber gains, looking only at channels with more than 200% year-over-year growth in 2020, includes TikTok superstar Charli D’Amelio and her sister Dixie.

Here are the rankings from YouTube for the U.S. for 2020:

Top Trending Videos

1. 8:46 – Dave Chappelle – Netflix Is a Joke
2. Building the Perfect Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder – Mark Rober
3. First Debate Cold Open – Saturday Night Live
4. We Broke Up – jeffrreestar
5. I Bought the World’s Largest Firework ($600,000) – MrBeast
6. I’m Coming Out – NikkieTutorials
7. Minecraft Speedrunner VS 3 Hunters Grand Finale – Dream
8. Ricky Gervais’ Monologue – 2020 Golden Globes – NBC
9. Quarantine Stereotypes – Dude Perfect
10. Some Good News with John Krasinski Ep. 1 – SomeGoodNews

Top Creators

1. MrBeast
2. Dream
3. ZHC
4. SSSniperwolf
5. Tiko
6. Chloe Ting
7. JoshDub
8. The Royalty Family
9. LazarBeam
10. James Charles

Top Breakout Creators

1. Dream
2. Tiko 
3. Chloe Ting
4. EddieVR
5. Charli D’Amelio
6. GeorgeNotFound
7. Dixie D’Amelio
8. Corpse Husband
9. Some Good News
10. Hyram

Top Music Videos

1. Future – Life Is Good ft. Drake
2. Tekashi 6ix9ine – GOOBA
3. Lil Baby x 42 Dugg – We Paid
4. NLE Choppa – Walk Em Down feat. Roddy Ricch
5. Cardi B – WAP feat. Megan Thee Stallion
6. DaBaby – Rockstar ft. Roddy Ricch
7. Roddy Ricch – The Box
8. Drake – Laugh Now Cry Later ft. Lil Durk
9. YoungBoy Never Broke Again – Lil Top
10. Lil Baby – The Bigger Picture