A Familiar Tyler, the Creator Favorite Finally Hits the Hot 100
Written by djfrosty on April 26, 2023
Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up column, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.
This week: Tyler the Creator’s new material is overshadowed by an older favorite, TikTok goes “Narcissistic” and a contemporary Christian rock classic gets a boost from an unlikely corner.
“See You Again,” Again: Tyler, the Creator’s 2017 Single Back for a Hot 100 Run
While Tyler, the Creator recently charted a trio of new cuts from his Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale deluxe reissue on the Billboard Hot 100, this week his highest-peaking entry on the chart comes from several album eras earlier. “See You Again,” the Kali Uchis-featuring love song, originally appeared on Tyler’s 2017 Columbia album Flower Boy, and just missed Billboard’s marquee songs chart, peaking at No. 13 on the Bubbling Under listing.
But the song has remained a steady streamer in the six years since its initial release, and in the past month, it’s crossed the threshold from “reliable catalog performer” to “legitimate new hit.” The song got a big boost from TikTok, of course, in particular via a trend of users lip syncing to, or commenting on, the section where Tyler’s “OK OK OK” and Uchis’ “La la la” hooks overlap, as well as a variety of other popular videos using the video over the last month. The star duo also gave the song a spotlight with a performance at weekend one of Coachella on April 16, with Tyler making a special appearance during Uchis’ set.
The combined result has been a surge over the past four weeks from 3.9 official on-demand U.S. streams (for the tracking week ending March 30) to nearly 8.3 million on the week ending April 20, according to Luminate – a gain of 112%. Consequently, the song debuts at No. 65 on the Hot 100 this week, belatedly making it the biggest hit on the chart from Flower Boy (passing the No. 87 peak of the A$AP Rocky-featuring “Who Dat Boy”), and also Uchis’ highest-charting entry since her breakout hit “Telepatía” hit No. 25 in summer 2021. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Odetari Opens Up & Scores an Unlikely Dance Hit
This week, rising producer Odetari scores his first-ever chart entry with “Narcissistic Personality Disorder,” which debuts at No. 11 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. “Lost for words,” the independent artist posted on Twitter upon finding out about the feat — but based on the weeks-long rise of the propulsive track, the dance chart debut is only the beginning for Odetari’s viral hit.
The Houston native has described the self-released song as “about me constantly being in battle with destructive habits and asking god/universe for forgiveness,” and has used his recent singles to document his multiple personality disorders. The frankness of the lyrics (“I’m so full of myself, I’m selfish / Everybody want some help, can’t help it”), paired with the unrelenting tempo of his production, has proven affecting to listeners, and “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” has blown up on TikTok, with positive reactions to Odetari’s own posts as well as clips using the song as a soundtrack to others’ personal issues.
As a result, the song has skyrocketed on streaming platforms since its Apr. 1 release: from 65,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during the week ending Apr. 6, to 1.33 million streams the following week, to 2.38 million the following week, according to Luminate. Considering its subject matter and under-two-minutes run time, “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” is an unlikely breakthrough hit — but the more listeners connecting with its powerful message, the higher it will climb. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
A Travis Scott Interlude Gets Its Due
With interludes an increasingly common fixture of major hip-hop and pop albums over the last couple decades, fans are always lobbying for their musical short kings to be given their due. In the streaming age, those songs are able to find their audiences like never before, with brief-but-captivating cuts like The Weeknd’s Lana Del Rey-featuring “Stargirl Interlude” and Paramore’s “Interlude: I’m Not Angry Anymore” becoming among the most-listened-to cuts on their respective full-lengths.
In truth, Travis Scott’s “sdp interlude,” from 2016’s Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, isn’t even that short – over three minutes, practically prog rock by this era’s standards. But fans have still made the case for it being underrecognized on TikTok over the past few months, saluting the original and also sharing clips of an unreleased fuller version with more of Scott’s actual rapping on it. As a result, fans have returned to the proper McKnight version on streaming, with official on-demand U.S. plays of the song raising from 1.1 million for the week ending March 30 to nearly 2.0 million for the week ending April 20, according to Luminate – a gain of 81%. – AU
Hillsong’s ‘Oceans’ Becomes a Streaming Knockout
While boxing and worship music aren’t the most natural fit together, a much-ballyhooed heavyweight bout in Las Vegas last Saturday night (Apr. 22) caused a streaming uptick for one of the biggest Christian music hits of the past decade. Before taking the ring for his match against Gervonta “Tank” Davis, 24-year-old lightweight fighter Ryan Garcia used “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail),” the 2013 smash from Hillsong United, as his walkout music, causing an eruption of chatter about the decade-old song from fans surprised by the choice as well as unfamiliar listeners newly discovering the track.
Although Garcia ultimately lost the fight, “Oceans” won a healthy streaming gain: the song rose 56% in daily streams from Saturday to Sunday, up to 360,000 streams, according to Luminate. That’s a nice boost for the winner of the Top Christian Song prize at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards, which spent a record 61 nonconsecutive weeks atop the Hot Christian Songs chart. – JL
Q&A: Alex Tear, VP Music Programming at SiriusXM + Pandora, on What’s Trending Up in His World
What’s been the most interesting pop trend over the first four months of 2023, in your opinion?
As we rolled into 2023, David Guetta & Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good” sampled Eiffel 65’s “Blue,” and Metro Boomin with The Weeknd & 21 Savage have a chart-leading presence with “Creepin,” that’s maximizing Mario Winans’ 2004 hit [“I Don’t Wanna Know”]. We’ve now got several new sample-led entries at pop radio, from [songs that use] Haddaway’s “What Is Love” to La Bouche’s “Be My Lover” to Alice Deejay “Better Off Alone” to Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You.” What’s old is new, and we’ll keep close to audience reaction to amplify or minimize our latest artist/industry appreciation or short-cut for appeal to the masses.
We’re getting close to Song of the Summer territory. What are some tracks you’re keeping an eye on?
I feel we’re still a few rollercoaster clicks from reaching our song(s) of summer vision, but I do like the continued mass appeal movement with Pop Country artists finding their way at top 40. Although a remake, Luke Combs kills it with “Fast Car.” Kane & Katelyn Brown and Morgan Wallen continue to rise up the pop charts. No doubt, there’s more to be had! Let’s not forget Dan + Shay, who’ve had great success at mainstream pop and are currently climbing the chart with Charlie Puth [collaboration “That’s Not How This Works”]. We’re also embracing Avery Anna on HITS 1: her track “Self Love” is reacting well with our SiriusXM audience.
We’ve seen multiple years-old songs, from The Weeknd’s “Die For You” to Lady Gaga’s “Bloody Mary” to Miguel’s “Sure Thing,” push toward the top of the charts in recent months. How has that trend affected how you consider your programming?
These are all welcome additions that are in the moment of pop culture for one reason or another. We’ll continue to track fatigue with our SiriusXM listeners who will tell us enough is enough.
– Fill in the blank: the artist I’m most interested to see how the rest of their year plays out is ______.
First: so proud of SZA’s continued breakthrough. She’s been a force, but 2023 feels to have solidified her dominance. I’m keeping close to the continued K-Pop movement. XG’s “Left Right” & FIFTY FIFTY’s “Cupid” are topping Shazam and streaming very well. NewJeans is lurking, Stray Kids are making noise, and of course Blackpink had a solid 2022 U.S. pop presence. Let’s also keep a close watch on BTS’s Jimin, coming off a recent No. 1, and Jin, who’s climbing the U.S. charts. – JL
Season’s Gainings: Up in Smoke & Up in Streams
Whether they were celebrating the annual stoner holiday or unwinding from the blue check purge on Twitter, listeners unsurprisingly flocked to a variety of smoking- and weed-themed anthems this past 4/20. Among the bigger gainers were Sublime’s “Smoke Two Joints” (up 114% to 161,000 in official on-demand U.S. streams from April 19-20, according to Luminate), Rick James’ “Mary Jane” (up 92% to 142,000), Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It” (up 149% to 49,000) and Afroman’s “Because I Got High” (up 164% to 250,000). But if you were more concerned with the blaze outside your home than the blazing inside, you might’ve instead turned to Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” – which, with temperatures spiking nationwide, rose 23% to nearly 7.1 million streams for the week ending April 20. – AU