Toby Keith’s Catalog Up 165% in Streams for 4th of July

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: The biggest 4th of July bump comes for a late country legend, while Zach Bryan’s Independence Day-dropped new LP produces a new hit and Bossman Dlow continues his 2024-long winning streak.

Toby Keith, Forever Made in America

Last Thursday, America celebrated its Independence Day — and as always on the 4th of July, listeners flocked to familiar patriotic, inspirational and/or generally U.S.-themed pop, rock and country classics to soundtrack their holiday. Big gainers from July 3 to July 4 included many of the usual suspects: among them, Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” (up 524% in official on-demand U.S. streams to 2.7 million and up 219% in sales to 1,100), Katy Perry’s “Firework” (up 249% to 1.8 million streams and 186% to 500 in sales) and Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.” (up 196% to 2.9 million streams and 113% to 800 in sales), according to Luminate. But the artist with the biggest of 4th of July gains might’ve been one folks were particularly sentimental about this year: Country Music Hall of Famer Toby Keith, who died at age 62 on Feb. 5.

Of course, Keith has always seen some degree of a 4th of July boost — particularly for his most explicitly American-themed hits, which were all up again this year, including “American Soldier” (up 308% from July 3, to 685,000 streams), “Made in America” (up 380% to 914,000 streams) and of course, the controversial post-9/11 anthem “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” (up 356% to a whopping 3.6 million). But this year, it wasn’t just those songs that saw huge streaming gains on July 4: so did non-nationalist signature Keith smashes like 1993’s “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” (up 70% to 864,000), 2003’s Willie Nelson-featuring “Beer for My Horses” (up 124% to 644,000) and 2011’s “Red Solo Cup” (up 119% to 351,000), among many others.

All in all, Keith’s catalog racked up 10.7 million streams and 3,600 digital song sales on July 4 — gains of 165% and 251%, respectively, from his July 3 totals — making for a hell of a nationwide tribute to a performer who made his love of his country as fundamental a part of his artistic identity as any other major act of the past three decades. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

“28,” Days Later: Zach Bryan Has His ‘Bar Scene’ Breakout

Over the past two years, Zach Bryan has become the type of stadium-occupying superstar who floods streaming charts whenever he puts out a new album; it happened in 2023 with his self-titled full-length, and it’s happening again with The Great American Bar Scene, which was released last Thursday (July 4). And while “Pink Skies,” the lead single from the album, debuted at No. 6 on the Hot 100 following its May release, the best-performing new track from the just-released 19-song project in the first few days of its release has been “28,” the album’s wistful, string-laden sway-along.

“28” bowed with 2.77 million official on-demand U.S. streams on Bar Scene’s release date, according to Luminate, and has stayed steady over the next four days — and actually seems to be growing, scoring a new daily streaming high of 2.90 million on Tuesday, in fact. While multiple songs from Bar Scene could register Hot 100 debuts next week, “28” — which is up to No. 9 on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA chart, and No. 3 on Apple Music’s Top Songs — should notch the best start out of the new songs on Bryan’s latest. – JASON LIPSHUTZ

Bossman Dlow Scores Yet Another Hit Thanks to Viral TikTok Trend 

After making a splash on the Billboard Hot 100 — “Get In With Me” (No. 49) and “Mr Pot Scraper” (No. 93) — and earning a bevy of viral hits along the way (“Big One,” “Talk My Shit” and the Glorilla-assisted “Finesse”), Port Salerno, FL rapper Bossman Dlow stands as one of the year’s biggest breakout stars. With “Shake Dat Ass (Twerk Song)” gaining major traction on socials and streaming, Dlow is eyeing yet another hit. 

According to Luminate, “Shake” earned just over 317,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during the period of June 7-13. That figure then jumped by 60% to 508,000 official streams the following week (June 14-20). On June 16, TikTok user @mrflawdaaa shared a 14-second clip of himself exaggeratedly dancing to the song. The clip quickly went viral – it has since collected over three million views on the app – with many users latching onto the part of the choreography that features a glitchy sexy walk. During the period of June 21-27, the first full week with the @mrflawdaaa’s dance trend in the zeitgeist, “Shake” pulled 1.54 million official streams, marking a massive 203% increase from the period prior. The following week (June 28-July 4), the runaway hit leapt a further 117% to a whopping 3.35 million official streams. Over the past three weeks, official on-demand U.S. streams for “Shake Dat Ass” have exploded by over 956%.  

Although he peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard 200 earlier this year with his third mixtape, Mr Beat the Road, “Shake Dat Ass” is featured on the rapper’s self-released debut project, Too Slippery, which dropped on Jan. 1, 2023. With everyone from Kehlani to Taye Diggs to Coi Leray hopping on the dance trend, “Shake” looks poised to continue its growth. – KYLE DENIS

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