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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.
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This week: The Super Bowl pours further gas on Kendrick Lamar’s still-blazing flames on streaming, while a Lady Gaga one-off gets emotionally resurrected and a Latto single gets a huge bump from a new remix with a big-name guest.
TV Off, Headphones On: Kendrick Lamar’s Daily Streams More Than Double Post-Super Bowl
Prior to the Super Bowl, Kendrick Lamar was already one of the biggest artists in the world, with five songs in the top 40 of last week’s Billboard Hot 100. Yet his explosive halftime performance at Super Bowl LIX on Sunday (Feb. 9) was a rising tide that lifted all of his respective boats on streaming services, from the superstar rapper’s latest album to his signature hits to his co-star at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
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On the day after the Super Bowl (Feb. 10), Lamar’s streaming catalog earned 70.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams — a 153% increase from the previous Monday’s total (27.5 million on Feb. 3), according to initial reports provided by Luminate. “Not Like Us,” the Drake diss heard ‘round the world and the centerpiece of the halftime show, experienced an even greater percentage uptick: the former No. 1 hit rose a whopping 222% in daily streams, to 10.4 million on Monday.
Major spikes occurred for halftime highlights “Squabble Up” (up 159% in daily streams compared to the previous Monday), “Luther” (up 150%), “TV Off” (up 139%) and “Peekaboo” (up 186%). All of those songs are featured on Lamar’s most recent album, GNX, which earned a 141% total increase in daily streams across its dozen tracks, notching 31 million plays on Monday. Meanwhile, some of the older hits that Lamar revived for the halftime show scored even bigger bumps: “Humble” was up 242%, “DNA” was up 207% and “All the Stars” was up 295%, as fans returned to some of Lamar’s biggest hits from the previous decade.
And SZA, who joined Lamar on two songs during the showcase, saw her own streams soar thanks to her first Super Bowl halftime appearance. Last Monday, her catalog earned 19.1 million streams; a week later, that number reached 30.3 million streams, a 58% increase on the day after the big game. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Lady Gaga Gets a ‘Hold’ on the iTunes Chart After Emotional Pre-Super Bowl Performance
Few would consider “Hold My Hand,” Lady Gaga’s 2022 soundtrack single from Top Gun: Maverick, to be a signature song of hers: The song charted respectably, reaching No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100, but had little commercial staying power and is unlikely at this point to ever appear on a full Lady Gaga album. But it clearly has a time and a place – and that time and place may have proven to be at the Super Bowl LIX pre-show on Sunday night (Feb. 10), where she performed the piano ballad on Bourbon Street in New Orelans, as part of a tribute to the victims of numerous tragedies that struck American soul in the past year, namely the New Year’s Day attack on New Orleans that left 14 dead.
After NFL legends Tom Brady, Michael Strahan and Terry Bradshaw helped introduce the tribute and the performance, the tribute cut to Gaga at her piano, playing a stripped-down rendition of the Top Gun love theme that accentuated the song’s message of support and perseverance. It clearly resonated with the global audience watching: The song was up 149% in official on-demand U.S. streams over Feb. 9-10 (the day of and day after the Super Bowl) compared to the same two-day period a week before, according to initial reports provided by Luminate, and it was up to nearly 6,000 in digital sales – topping the real-time iTunes chart on Sunday night – up thousands of percent from the negligible amount it moved the prior equivalent period.
It probably won’t be the song most Little Monsters continue streaming in the lead-up to next month’s Mayhem release, but it might have some endurance in Gaga’s catalog after all. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Latto Eyes Yet Another ‘Sugar Honey Iced Tea’ Hit with Some Help from Playboi Carti
Between Grammy-nominated tracks like “Big Mama” and radio-conquering cuts like “Brokey,” Latto’s Sugar Honey Iced Tea album has been cranking out hits for several months now. Big Mama has shown no signs of slowing down in 2025, tapping Playboi Carti to boost the next single from her chart-topping third studio album.
Late last month (Jan. 27), Latto announced that she enlisted Carti for a new version of “Blick Sum.” The high-energy trap banger had been a fan-favorite since Sugar Honey Iced Tea dropped last summer (Aug. 9), but the Carti version lifted the single to new heights. In the week preceding Carti’s take on the song (Jan. 17-23), “Blick Sum” earned over 584,000 official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate. The following week – which includes a shortened tracking week for the Carti version since it dropped on Jan. 28 – that number exploded by a staggering 541% to over 3.74 million official on-demand U.S. streams (all versions combined). In its first full tracking week including the new version (Jan. 31-Feb. 5), “Blick Sum” collected over 5.34 million official on-demand streams. Over the past two weeks, streams for “Blick Sum” have been up 815%.
The new version of “Blick Sum” isn’t technically a remix; it’s actually an earlier version of the song that leaked months ago. Latto ultimately settled on the solo version for her album, but the Carti version remained in circulation, further building anticipation for its eventual release. One TikTok sound containing Carti’s leaked verse collected over 45,000 posts since last October; there was even a quasi-viral dance choreographed to the sound.
Should “Blick Sum” continue its streaming ascent, the Carti-assisted track would become the sixth track from Sugar Honey Iced Tea to do so, the most of any of Latto’s studio albums. – KYLE DENIS
Cyndi Lauper was listed among the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees on Wednesday morning (Feb. 12), and the “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” superstar shared her gratitude for the honor amid her global Farewell Tour.
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“It was amazing news to wake up to after last night’s show at the O2 in London,” she wrote in a statement to Billboard. “The audience showed me so much love, like all the audiences have all along this, my Farewell Tour.”
Lauper continued, “I am so grateful to my fans for my career. From the start, I’ve just wanted to make music that means something to people, that lifts them up and makes them feel seen. This honor, should I get in, is as much for them as it is for me. Thank you, Rock Hall.”
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Lauper is nominated for the Rock Hall’s Class of 2025 alongside 13 other nominees, including Bad Company, The Black Crowes, Mariah Carey, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order, Maná, Oasis, Outkast, Phish, Soundgarden and The White Stripes.
The Grammy-winning “Time After Time” singer was previously nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2023, but ultimately didn’t make the final cut for induction. Her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour continues throughout Europe until the end of February, before Lauper heads to Australia and Japan in April.
The Class of 2025 will be revealed in late April, and this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place in Los Angeles this fall, with more details to be announced in the coming months.
The 74th NBA All-Star Game is back in California as basketball’s biggest weekend invades The Bay Area. In addition to the festivities on the court, there are plenty of parties and events taking place the weekend of Feb. 13-16 in San Francisco and Oakland. It’s the first All-Star Game at the Chase Center, and the […]
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Diddy’s legal concerns continue to grow. Another man has filed a lawsuit claiming he was sexually assaulted by the disgrace Hip-Hop mogul.
TMZ is reporting that yet another unidentified male is suing Diddy over being allegedly violated. John Doe says he was a street musician playing the guitar in front of a Los Angeles nightclub when one of Diddy’s handlers approached him and invited him to a private function hosted by the mogul. He was then driven to Diddy’s home and met with the executive as the two discussed his musical aspirations over cocktails. Later in the conversation the man complimented Diddy’s jewelry to which Diddy invited him to see some more of his collection in a different room.
The two went to a private room and where John Doe says instantly felt dizzy and groggy. He claims Diddy bluntly asked “have you ever sucked a d*** before?” to which he responded “no.” Diddy is said to have then pulled out his penis and added “you should try it.” John Doe says he was forced to perform oral sex on him and was taken anally shortly after. The man says he woke up the next morning with someone giving him intravenous therapy. After the IV was complete he was driven back to the nightclub. To no surprise this lawsuit was also filed by Tony Buzzbee.
Diddy’s legal counsel have denied these claims via a formal statement to TMZ. “As we’ve said before, Mr. Combs cannot respond to every new publicity stunt, even in response to claims that are facially ridiculous or demonstrably false” it read. Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process. In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone — man or woman, adult or minor.”
Diddy’s federal trial is set to commence on May 5.
From Usher’s Super Bowl showcase to the most musically talented Met, appearances related to major sporting events helped artists across genres — and at different career points — earn sizable streaming gains in 2024. (All data according to Luminate.)
And the trend has continued so far in 2025: Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show on Feb. 9 was a major boost for the rapper.
UsherSuper Bowl LVIII (Feb. 11)
The combination of Usher’s career-spanning medley during his spectacular Super Bowl halftime show and the release of his album Coming Home two days earlier helped his streaming catalog skyrocket 299% compared with the previous week, with his 2004 smash “Yeah!” among the biggest gainers.
Jennifer HudsonNBA All-Star Game (Feb. 18)
The R&B veteran’s halftime show medley of her songs “Remission” and “I Got This” at Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse helped give her catalog a 4% boost in weekly streams.
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Candelita“OMG” On-Field Performance (June 28)
New Yorks Mets infielder Jose Iglesias moonlights as the recording artist Candelita, and his live debut of his single “OMG” following a Mets game at Citi Field helped the song move over 1,000 weekly downloads and top the Latin Digital Song Sales chart.
Gojira2024 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony (July 26)
Lady Gaga and Céline Dion were among the stars helping ring in the Summer Games in Paris, but French rockers Gojira grabbed headlines by becoming the first metal band to perform at the Olympics. Its catalog earned a 283% streaming bump over the next four days in the process.
Kavinsky2024 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony (Aug. 11)
As athletes said au revoir to Paris by joining Phoenix, Air and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig onstage, French producer Kavinsky dropped his 2010 synthwave single “Nightcall,” causing a Shazam sensation and boosting the track’s streams by 74%.
BeyoncéNFL Christmas Day Halftime Show (Dec. 25)
During Netflix’s first NFL Christmas showcase, Queen Bey presented songs from her Cowboy Carter album live for the first time at NRG Stadium in her hometown of Houston — and the album shot from 7.4 million weekly streams to 17.6 million during the following week, up 137%.
Kendrick LamarSuper Bowl LIX
Kendrick Lamar was already one of the world’s most-streamed artists, but his riveting halftime show at Super Bowl LIX on Sunday (Feb. 9) helped his biggest hits — and his entire discography — climb even higher. On Feb. 10, the day after his performance at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome, Lamar’s streaming catalog earned 70.9 million official U.S. on-demand streams — a 153% increase from the previous Monday’s total (27.5 million on Feb. 3), according to Luminate. Similar spikes occurred for halftime highlights “Squabble Up” (up 159% in daily streams) and “TV Off” (up 139%), while “Not Like Us” earned an even greater uptick (up 222%); meanwhile, Lamar’s costar SZA, who joined him on two songs during the showcase, saw her own streaming catalog soar, up 58% to 30.3 million streams on the day after the big game.
This story appears in the Feb. 8, 2025, issue of Billboard.
The Academy Award-winning Summer of Soul was jam-packed with awesome performances from Stevie Wonder to Nina Simone. But one performance in the documentary about 1969’s Harlem Cultural Festival was singularly captivating: that of multiracial band Sly and the Family Stone in all its glorious, psychedelic soul-funk splendor. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See […]
Pusha T showed love to Kendrick Lamar for his record-breaking Super Bowl Halftime Show performance in New Orleans. King Push took to his Instagram Story on Tuesday (Feb. 11) saluting K. Dot for a job well done with his Feb. 9 rap-heavy set at the Caesars Superdome. “Mission accomplished… Congrats,” he wrote. Kendrick and Pusha […]
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard Hot 100 dated Feb. 22, we look at the multiple Kendrick Lamar songs that could have a shot at capturing the No. 1 spot following the rapper’s Super Bowl halftime performance.
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Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us,” “Luther” (with SZA) & “TV Off” (feat. TV Gunplay) (pgLang/Interscope/ICLG): Kendrick Lamar just electrified the music-listening world with one of the most-anticipated Super Bowl halftime shows of all time — coming not just one week after a Grammy sweep on Feb. 2 that saw Lamar win all five of his nominations (including record and song of the year), but a year-long run of one W after another that saw him earn our editorial staff’s Greatest Pop Star of 2024 title. The performance was the most-watched in the show’s history, according to presenter Apple Music and the NFL, with over 133.5 million people tuning in to see K Dot take the ultimate victory lap.
And of course, the song they were most interested in seeing him play was his 2024 Billboard Hot 100-topper “Not Like Us.” The already-legendary diss track, our editorial staff’s No. 1 song of last year, had been tied up in litigation in recent months, thanks to lawsuits levied by its target, fellow rap superstar Drake, who seemed intent on making it difficult for his opponent to play the incendiary cut on the world’s biggest stage. But Lamar indeed delivered the song as his performance’s centerpiece, even offering a conspicuous (and already much-memed) smile to the camera upon his first “Say Drake…” mention.
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Though “Not Like Us” has been out for eight months already at this point, and enjoyed two separate trips to No. 1 on the Hot 100 (the second coming after the release of its similarly headline-capturing music video in July), it should have a good chance of capturing the top spot again this week. The song, which has continued to linger on the Hot 100 (already rebounding to No. 15 this week, in anticipation of Lamar’s set and following his big Grammy night), shot back to the top of the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA chart, the Apple Music real-time chart and the iTunes chart following Lamar’s performance, as its performance on Sunday night remains at the center of all pop- and hip-hop-related discussion this week.
But it’s not Lamar’s only track threatening the No. 1 spot this week. Lamar has also seen big gains this week for his GNX single “Luther,” which he and collaborator SZA also gave a centerpiece spot during his halftime set, and which currently ranks just below “Not Like Us” at No. 2 on each of the aforementioned rankings. And right underneath them is the Lefty Gunplay-featuring “TV Off,” which Lamar offered immediately following “Not Like Us” as the closing part of his performance – with producer Mustard coming out to dance and silently rap along to the anthem. “Luther” and “TV Off” are also in prime position on the Hot 100 currently, ranking at No. 3 and No. 10 on this week’s chart, respectively.
Radio play will also be a major factor in which of the Super Bowl-boosted Kendrick tracks plays the biggest threat to the Hot 100’s top spot next week. “Luther” is currently leading there, as it bounds from No. 14 to 11 on the Radio Songs chart this week, and has already been up another 9% in audience impressions over the first four days of this tracking week (Feb. 7-10), according to Luminate. But “TV Off” is also gaining, and “Not Like Us” is now rebounding as well, up a whopping 35% over that same four-day period.
If “Not Like Us” can sustain across streaming, sales and radio throughout the week, it might have the best chance of jumping to No. 1 next week – which would make it the extremely rare non-holiday single with three different runs at No. 1, each separated by multiple months. And regardless, we should see a whole lot of Kendrick Lamar in the top 10 next week.
Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars, “Die With a Smile” (Streamline/Interscope/Atlantic/ICLG) & Lady Gaga, “Abracadabra” (Interscope/ICLG): “Die With a Smile” is officially the song to beat this early 2025, with the superstar duet returning for a fifth frame at No. 1 this week, after briefly being interrupted by Travis Scott’s pole position-debuting “4×4.” The song has even finally captured the crown on Radio Songs, after Shaboozey’s historic 27-week run atop that chart with “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” and should also reign for a second week on that listing – though it will likely soon face serious competition from another starry Bruno Mars teamup, with ROSÉ on “APT.”
Speaking of Bruno and Gaga providing their own competition – the latter now has a breakout smash entirely of her own. Her “Abracadabra” bows at No. 29 on the Hot 100 this week with just over four days of tracking, after debuting with its music video as part of a Mastercard commercial during the Grammys. The song got off to a white-hot start on streaming, and continued growing in the days after, even briefly capturing the top spot on the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA chart — though it has since gotten buried under an avalanche of Kendrick Lamar and SZA. Regardless, the song should make a big jump in its first full week on the Hot 100 – perhaps to the top 10, if it doesn’t get boxed out by Kendrick – and is already aiming to debut on Pop Airplay, as well.
Chappell Roan, “Pink Pony Club” (Amusement/Island): Don’t forget about the Grammys’ best new artist, who has been surging on the Hot 100 following her big win and show-stopping performance of what now appears to be the signature song of Roan’s early career, “Pink Pony Club.” Despite being originally released in 2020, the song is only now really catching on both streaming and radio, as it re-enters Streaming Songs at No. 24 and hits a new high of No. 32 on Radio Songs this week. It should continue climbing on both listings next week, and may also rise on the Hot 100, after hitting a new peak of No. 18 this week.
The NBA All-Star Game — where the greats from the league’s two conferences face off every February — has been a staple of every professional basketball season since 1951 (outside of 1999, due to the lockout-shortened season). But as Carlton Myers, the NBA’s senior vp/head of live production and entertainment points out, “The NBA is […]
It was a good news/bad news day for Grimes on Tuesday (Feb. 11) when the “Delete Forever” singer learned that her ex Elon Musk had taken the couple’s first-born son to a White House briefing. In response to a commenter who noted that four-year-old “Lil X” (born X Æ A-Xii) “was very polite today! You raised him well. He was so cute when he told DJT [Donald Trump] ‘please forgive me, I need to pee,’” Grimes criticized Musk for including their child in the photo-op.
Grimes did not find the seemingly uncleared appearance by her son quite so charming, responding, “He should not be in public like this. I did not see this, thank u for alerting me.” The preschooler spent some of his time in the Oval Office on his father’s shoulders as Trump signed an executive order giving the Tesla boss’ controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) more power to continue its legally suspect slash-and-burn march through the federal beuracracy.
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“But I’m glad he was polite. Sigh,” Grimes added of the little one who at one point was seen picking his nose just inches away from a seemingly irritated Trump. X, dressed in a suit and tie, also pulled faces and seemed to imitate his father’s gestures, at one point mussing Musk’s hair and grabbing his ears in boredom during the daytime White House appearance.
Grimes has three children with Musk — who has a total of 12 children from three different women — and has often been at odds with the world’s richest man over the rearing of their children and his often-controversial public statements. Last month, when Musk made what was widely interpreted as a pair of vigorous Nazi salutes during an inauguration event for Trump, Grimes quickly distanced herself from the billionaire who in late January told a crowd of supporters of the far-right Alternative For Germany party that, “children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great-grandparents,” in an apparent reference to Nazi Germany just two days before Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“There is too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that,” Musk added, praising the anti-immigration, anti-cultural integration party as the “best hope for Germany.”
At the time of the salutes, Grimes wrote, “it is unhealthy that people are this upset when I have not even been online yet today and am only just learning about this controversy now. I don’t know what happened and I will not make a rash statement – I am not a citizen of this country.” She later made it clear that she did not approve of the seemingly fascist gesture many took as a version of the “Sieg Heil” gesture associated with Holocaust mastermind Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party.
“I am not him. I will not make a statement every time he does something. I can only send love back into a world that is hurting,” Grimes said. “To be clear i could go talk s–t and be on a bunch of magazine covers and be a feminist hero and get clout – but it would serve no purpose. I choose my children’s wellbeing. I promise you it doesn’t feel good to be hated all the time for things I don’t even know about, cannot predict and cannot control. But I also chose this path, I accept it. I make the best of it, and I simply wish happiness and health to all.”
Check out Grimes’ post below.
He should not be in public like this. I did not see this, thank u for alerting me. But I’m glad he was polite. Sigh— 𝖦𝗋𝗂𝗆𝖾𝗌 ⏳ (@Grimezsz) February 12, 2025