Number One With a Bullet
Being number one with a bullet is a reference to the use in the past of bullets in front of the titles of the top 500 songs in Billboard Magazine. If a particular song was quickly becoming a hit and was selling a good quantity of product the editors of Billboard would put a bullet icon in front of the listing to indicate a soon-to-be hit. Once a song hit #1 then it lost its bullet, having achieved the top position. Therefore, a "number one with a bullet" really did not exist but it seems to mean the best of the best. The bullet mark before the listing indicated that the record had moved up significantly from the previous week, and was still selling rapidly. When the term is used today, it GeneRally refers to being the new best, and being there to stay.