Kendrick Lamar’s ‘GNX’ Off to a Scorching Streaming Start (And Lifting Old Sample Source Songs With It)

Welcome to Billboard Pro‘s Trending Up newsletter, 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: A surprise Kendrick Lamar album is good news for (almost) everyone, the original Wicked cast album keeps rising as the new movie soundtrack also becomes a huge hit and OMB Peezy scores a new-old viral hit.

Kendrick Lamar’s ‘GNX’ Sends Sampled Songs By Luther Vandross, SWV & More Streaming

In the least shocking news of the week, GNX, the surprise new album by Kendrick Lamar, has gotten off to a scorching start on streaming services after dropping out of the sky last Friday (Nov. 22). Through its first four days, GNX earned an eye-popping 242.3 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate — never falling below 50 million daily streams through Monday. And the new album is also boosting Lamar’s back catalog aside from GNX, which earned 44.6 million streams from Nov. 22-25, a 10% increase from the same four-day period during the previous week.

Meanwhile, some of the songs sampled across GNX have also enjoyed streaming gains, as listeners peruse the older material that was revived on Lamar’s new LP. With “Squabble Up” eyeing a major debut on the Hot 100 next week, for instance, “When I Hear Music,” the iconic 1984 electro single from Debbie Deb that’s prominently featured in the production, scored a huge boost: 225,000 streams from Nov. 22-25, up 76% from its total from Nov. 15-18 (127,000 streams).

Elsewhere, Luther Vandross’ version of “If This World Were Mine,” which serves as the connective tissue of Lamar’s new SZA collaboration “Luther,” more than doubled its streams from the weekend before GNX arrived (79,000 streams from Nov. 15-18) to last weekend (164,000 streams from Nov. 22-25). And SWV’s 1996 hit “Use Your Heart,” which gets flipped on “Heart Pt. 6,” was also up 25% in streams during those same periods, from 379,000 to 476,000 streams. – JASON LIPSHUTZ

After Bewitching the Global Box Office, Ariana Grande & Cyntha Erivo’s Wicked Soundtrack Soars on Streaming 

Wicked – the Jon M. Chu-helmed film adaptation of the 2003 hit Broadway musical – debuted atop the domestic box office with the biggest opening weekend for a Broadway musical adaptation in history ($114 million). The film grossed $164.2 million globally in its first weekend (Nov. 22-25), with strong word of mouth and rave reviews going into Thanksgiving weekend. 

Starring Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba) and Ariana Grande (Galinda), Wicked was already spurring streaming increases for the Broadway cast recording before it even hit theaters. In the weekend preceding the film’s release (Nov. 15-18) the original Wicked Broadway cast recording pulled 6.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate. That number rose by 109% to 13.8 million streams during the film’s opening weekend (Nov. 22-25). 

Of course, a new adaptation of Wicked means new interpretations of Stephen Schwartz’s timeless music. Alongside Erivo and Grande, fellow cast members Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Ethan Slater, Peter Dinklage and Michelle Yeoh all lend their voices to the soundtrack. “Defying Gravity,” the song that closes the first act of the musical, is easily the most widely known Wicked song, hence the impressive early performance of Erivo and Grande’s version. Streams for their “Gravity” take remained above one million, increasing with each passing day of the film’s opening weekend. On Monday (Nov. 25), the rousing duet collected 1.8 million official on-demand U.S. streams, marking a 30% increase in streaming activity from the day prior. 

The entire new Wicked soundtrack has performed similarly; the set has remained above 7.7 million official on-demand U.S. streams each day since its Nov. 22 release. Monday (Nov. 25) marked the soundtrack’s biggest streaming day so far with over 10.43 million streams earned – a 34% boost from its Sunday streaming total (7.77 million). 

As Wicked continues to enrapture audiences, expect the soundtrack to perform strongly as the film barrels towards the Oscars stage next March. 

Dance Trend Spurs Revival OMB Peezy’s Seven-Year-Old OG Breakout Song 

Back in 2017, Alabama-born, Cali-based rapper OMB Peezy started making major waves as his “Lay Down” single gained traction across the country. Seven years later, a TikTok dance trend has given the song a new life. 

On Nov. 7, TikTok user @rahdboss posted a clip of himself living his best video vixen life and dancing to “Lay Down.” In the following weeks, the clip amassed over 4.8 million views and over half a million likes; the user’s moves quickly captured the attention of other TikTokers, and hundreds of similar videos began to populate the official “Lay Down” TikTok sound, which now boasts nearly 56,000 posts. 

During the first week of the month (Nov. 1-7), “Lay Down” earned over 95,000 official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate. That number exploded by 329% to over 408,000 streams earned during the following week (Nov. 8-14). Last week (Nov. 15-21), that figure once again rose, this time by 142% to over 987,000 official on-demand U.S. streams. Over the past two weeks, “Lay Down” has jumped nearly 940% of streaming activity a whopping seven years post-release. A fire track will always find its audience! 

Q&A: Chris Jordan, Music Agent at UTA, on What’s Trending Up in His World

As we approach the end of 2024, what has been your main takeaway from the hip-hop live space this year?

The days of mediocrity are over — fans are paying closer attention to where they spend their money, raising their expectations for high-quality live events.

How would you describe the evolution of hip-hop festivals (and the presence of hip-hop at all-genre festivals) this year?

Hip-hop festivals were once limited, with few options available. However, in recent years, they have grown significantly in both number of festivals and size. They even compete with mainstream festivals in terms of acts, talent bookings, and ticket grosses. As a result, mainstream festivals have started paying more attention, curating a certain percentage of their bookings of hip-hop artists.

Which artist that you work with do you expect to have a breakthrough 2025 as a live performer?

Fortunately, I have an eclectic roster of amazing artists. I feel that all of my artists are going to put forth great material to then be able to create a great tour. With that said, I feel that Jordan Ward is set to have a tremendous 2025.

Fill in the blank: the hip-hop touring industry needs to think more about _________.

Mental health in relation to the conditions of being on the road can be a strenuous and tenuous challenge. Artists, touring teams, and production staff are often away from their loved ones for long periods, which can lead to unhealthy mental states for everyone involved. This is an issue we cannot afford to ignore. – J.L.

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