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On Tuesday night (Aug. 20), Taylor Swift capped off a five-night run at the U.K.’s Wembley Stadium, and the European run of the Eras tour, by unveiling a new music video for “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” that featured behind-the-scenes clips of the mega-selling tour. The anthem about shining in the spotlight amidst personal turmoil is featured on The Tortured Poets Department, which logs its 15th frame at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this week.
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And unlike “Fortnight,” the album’s lead single featuring Post Malone that debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100, “Broken Heart” has slowly been climbing back up the chart, and becoming a multi-platform hit.
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On this week’s Hot 100, “Broken Heart” moves up two spots to No. 33 in its 17th week on the chart (“Fortnight,” meanwhile, slips 11 places to No. 49). “Broken Heart” previously peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100, when it was part of Swift’s second career flooding of the chart’s entire top 10 upon the release of The Tortured Poets Department.
Prior to the music video release, the song’s weekly streaming numbers had hovered around 7.5 million over the past three weeks, according to Luminate. Last week (in the chart week ending Aug. 15), “Broken Heart” earned 7.67 million U.S. on-demand streams, up 3% from the previous chart week (7.43 million streams).
However, “Broken Heart” has been growing more steadily at radio over the past month. On the Radio Songs chart dated Aug. 3, the song placed at No. 42, with an audience of 12.9 million; three weeks later, “Broken Heart” comes in at No. 25 on the current tally, with an audience of 21.1 million (up 10% from the previous chart week). “Broken Heart” debuted at No. 42 on the Pop Airplay chart on July 27, and has climbed to No. 15 over the past month — but the format with the most support has been adult pop, as the track is up to No. 8 on the Adult Pop Airplay chart.
With “Broken Heart” picking up steam at radio while holding steady on streaming services, the music video release could help the single push towards the top 20 of the Hot 100 in the coming weeks. Fans are certainly embracing the all-access glimpse of the Eras Tour, with the “Broken Heart” video approaching 7 million views less than 24 hours after its release.
Watch the “Broken Heart” video below:
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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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See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
This week: Billie Eilish sees big gains for two different songs thanks to two different live performances, Lewis Capaldi gets a big spot in the summer’s biggest romance, and Brat Summer makes room for one of the album’s big collaborators to have a hit of his own.
Au Revoir! Olympics Closing Ceremony Boosts Phoenix, “Nightcall” & More
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The closing ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics capped off a riveting two-week athletic showcase at the Stade de France on Sunday night (Aug. 11) by once again toasting this year’s host city of Paris, as well as looking ahead to the 2028 summer games in Los Angeles. As such, the ceremony combined a showcase for French indie-rock stalwarts Phoenix — who were joined onstage by Air, Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig and French producer Kavinsky, among others — with performances from L.A. natives like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish and Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.
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Fifteen years after breaking through with hits like “1901” and “Lisztomania,” Phoenix reintroduced themselves to the American mainstream, and received a sizable streaming bump: the band’s catalog rose 86%, to 1.12 million U.S. on-demand audio streams from Aug. 11-12 from the same two-day period the previous week (603,000 streams from Aug. 4-5), according to Luminate. Meanwhile, Kavinsky’s 2010 synthwave single “Nightcall” became a Shazam sensation after being featured in the ceremony, as the track grew 74% to 208,000 streams from Aug. 11-12, compared to 119,000 streams during Aug. 4-5.
And while West Coast anthems like RHCP’s “By the Way” and Dr. Dre’s “The Next Episode” made their Olympics bows, a current smash, Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather,” was the greatest gainer on the sales side: the track sold 4,200 digital downloads from Aug. 11-12, after moving under 1,000 units over the same time frame the previous week (Aug. 4-5). There’s nothing quite like playing your song on the world stage to help your top 10 hit climb a few spots higher. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Lewis Capaldi ‘Ends’ Up With His Most Viral Hit in Years, Thanks to Colleen Hoover Film Adaptation
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Back in 2019, the sound of Lewis Capaldi wailing about how he was getting kinda used to being someone you loved was absolutely omnipresent, as his breakout ballad “Someone You Loved” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and spread to all corners of pop culture. After scoring another top 10 hit the next year with “Before You Go,” hits have been relatively sparse for Capaldi in the U.S. But now, he’s got the most streaming momentum he’s had in several years – thanks to a movie that’s now dominating the culture the way “Someone You Loved” did a half-decade ago.
It Ends With Us, the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s wildly popular 2022 romance novel, has become an immediate box office smash, earning $50 million in its first weekend – and has also consumed discussion online, thanks to reports of drama between its star Blake Lively and director/co-star Justin Baldoni. But it’s also boosting the performance of songs across its soundtrack, by artists ranging from indie rock sensation Ethel Cain (“Strangers”) to alt-pop superstar Lana Del Rey (“Cherry”).
The biggest bump, however, has been for Capaldi’s big ballad “Love the Hell Out of You,” originally featured on his 2023 sophomore LP Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent. The song was never officially tabbed as a single, but it may be headed for belated focus-track status now that it’s been featured in Ends’ final scene and end credits. After “Love” earned under 40,000 U.S. on-demand audio streams combined from the period of Aug. 2-5, according to Luminate, that number exploded to over 675,000 for the same four-day period a week later, with the movie now in theaters – a gain of 1,620%, with the song still rising day-to-day. Seems like we might need to get kinda used to Capaldi being someone who’s unavoidable in our lives once again. – AU
Billie Eilish’s Next Big Hit? “Wildflower” Keeps Growing
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Billie Eilish is enjoying a flashy week in the upper reaches of the Hot 100 chart, where “Birds of a Feather” moves up three spots to a new peak of No. 7, while her appearance on the remix of Charli xcx’s “Guess” helps the song bow at No. 12. “Birds” has been the clear breakout hit from Eilish’s third studio album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, thus far — but lower down on the Hot 100, “Wildflower,” the moody ballad that waxes poetic about crossing lines with a friend’s ex, is making noise, and being positioned as a potential fall-time follow-up hit for Eilish.
“Wildflower” has been boosted by a live acoustic performance for Amazon Music’s Songline series, which has earned 6.4 million YouTube views since posting on July 29, and inspired plenty of TikTok analyses of Eilish’s vocal showcase in the clip (“the pain in her voice it’s CRAAAZY,” declares one user). Two weeks ago, “Wildflower” earned 6.66 million U.S. on-demand streams during the chart week ending July 25, according to Luminate; that number grew to 9.08 million streams for the week ending Aug. 9, and as such, the song has leapt from No. 77 to No. 55 on the Hot 100 in two weeks’ time. That’s still a long way away from its No. 17 peak, back when Hit Me Hard and Soft was released in May — but don’t be surprised to watch it creep up closer to that ranking over the next month or two. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
The ‘Brat’ Summer Expanded Universe Is Now Boosting The Dare’s “Girls”
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Among the starrier artists involved in the recent pop culture sensation that was “Guess” remix – which of course included original performer Charli XCX and new featured guest Billie Eilish, as well as the latter’s star collaborator brother Finneas in the production credits – appeared another name that might not be as familiar to mainstream audiences. Harrison Patrick Smith, better known as electro-rocker The Dare – paragon of the modern-day New York “indie sleaze” revival – was the co-producer on the original track, and even gets a shoutout from Charli herself in the “Guess” refrain (“Wear ’em, post ’em, might remix it/ Send them to The Dare, yeah, I think he’s with it”).
Thanks to the bump in exposure from the “Guess” moment (and perhaps partly thanks to the increasing popularity of “indie sleaze”-related fan accounts on TikTok), The Dare is starting to see real movement on his underground breakout hit from 2022, “Girls.” The frisky and slightly dirtbaggy synth-rock anthem received 827,000 official on-demand U.S. streams for the tracking week ending August, according to Luminate – a 261% gain from the 229,000 it posted two weeks before, pre-”Guess.” Indie sleaze may or may not officially be back – some say it never totally existed in the first place – but Brat Summer definitely just keeps getting bigger. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Q&A: Erika Elliott, Executive Artistic Director of SummerStage and The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, on What’s Trending Up in Her World
How did the programming of this year’s Charlie Parker Jazz Festival come together?
The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, currently in its 32nd year and a part of Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage festival, is committed to honoring uniquely New York music traditions and cultural communities. Every year, we aim to present the best jazz musicians that are masters of the genre, as well as championing the next generations of jazz artists who are creating a name for themselves in the jazz world, while keeping an eye on gender equity – all for FREE!
How does the Jazz Fest fit into the larger SummerStage planning?
Our mission at City Parks Foundation SummerStage is to celebrate the cultural communities of New York, and to connect New Yorkers to their public parks. These goals come together perfectly with The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival as the free program takes place in neighborhood parks located in Harlem and the Lower East Side. These communities fostered the growth of Jazz and were the actual communities of where Charlie Parker lived and worked. By celebrating and presenting jazz music in these neighborhoods, we are not only able to acknowledge the lasting legacy and impact of Parker, but honor the jazz roots in the NYC community.
Which trends within modern jazz are most exciting to highlight at this year’s festival?
Overall, across both SummerStage and The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, the thing I find most exciting is the interest in the genre by both young musicians and audiences. There is a global scene that is developing now within jazz, with performers such as Ezra Collective and Yussef Dayes, and in the U.S. with acts like Dana and Alden and Anessa Strings – all who were presented by us this year at SummerStage. There is so much great talent out there, but most importantly young people (folks under 30) are listening and interested in jazz!
Fill in the blank: the performers that casual jazz fans need to discover this year are:
Ekep Nkwelle, Isaiah Collier, Helen Sung Feat. Chris Potter. – J.L.
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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See latest videos, charts and news
This week: a big new remix and bigger new video help a bonus Brat cut become the era’s biggest song yet, while a 2010 pop classic gets a bump from an unexpected fan and the Minions‘ esteemed musical representative strikes again.
Charli XCX’s ‘Guess’ Aiming for Big Hot 100 Bow After Streaming Boom
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Among the many tidings of Brat Summer has been the return of Charli XCX as a fixture on the Billboard Hot 100, a full decade after she helped engineer top 10 hits like Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy,” Icona Pop’s “I Love It” and her own “Boom Clap.” Brat hits like “360” (No. 44) and “Apple” (No. 66) have been climbing the chart after achieving varying states of virality, while the Lorde-assisted remix of “Girl, So Confusing” powered the song to No. 63 upon its June release.
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Those tracks have yet to crack the chart’s top 40 – but “Guess,” which is featured on the deluxe edition of Brat, almost certainly will next week. That’s largely thanks to Billie Eilish hopping on the track for the bonus cut’s remix — capturing the attention of the Internet with lyrics like “Charli likes boys, but she knows I’d hit it,” as well as for Eilish joining Charli on a mountain of underwear in the new version’s official music video (10,000 pairs of which were donated to the charity I Support The Girls following the video shoot).
Following the release of the song and video last Thursday (Aug. 1), streams for “Guess” exploded: in its first four full days of tracking (Aug. 2-5), the song scored 12.27 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate, after earning just 651,000 streams during the same period the previous week (July 26-29) prior to the remix release. Meanwhile, Eilish’s “Guess” appearance is pumping up the other Brat songs around it, with the album (minus “Guess”) up 12% in streams over that same period (from 23.3 million streams to 26.2 million). Don’t be shocked if “Guess” crashes the top 20 of the Hot 100 next week — and if Brat stays strong in the top 10 of the Billboard 200. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Kodak Black Brings Back “Bulletproof” With La Roux Singalong Clips
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Not many folks would’ve guessed Florida rapper Kodak Black as the artist to spark a revival of U.K. electro-poppers La Roux’s surprise 2010 crossover smash “Bulletproof.” But perhaps that’s why it created such newfound interest in the now decade-and-a-half-old pop classic, as footage of Kodak (who’d previously showed his love for the song and its video on an IG live) singing and beating his bare chest along to the cathartic chorus (while standing on his car and brushing his teeth) went viral across social media. Videographer Don James’ clip of the singalong, posted on July 21, attracted 2.6 million likes on TikTok, with countless fans complimenting the aura of the genre-crossing artist.
Many of those fans have seemed unable to get the song out of their head since, as evidenced by its ballooning streaming numbers in the past couple weeks. After “Bulletproof” amassed just under 700,000 official on-demand U.S. streams for the tracking week ending July 18, that number spiked 147% to 1.7 million for the next week, according to Luminate – and another 101% for the period after that, with the song racking up nearly 3.5 million spins for the week ending Aug. 1. Now that the Kodak Black Bump is a real thing, maybe other turn-of-the-’10s alt-pop favorites will look to enlist his help – Kate Nash, perhaps? Neon Trees? – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Pharrell Eyes Another ‘Despicable Me’ Hit With ‘Double Life’
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Pharrell Williams has been a dependable hitmaker for decades – and a fixture of the Minions-verse since his “Happy” (from Despicable Me 2) became one of the biggest pop hits of the 2010s. Both runs continue for Pharrell with “Double Life,” his breakout hit from the Despicable Me 4 soundtrack.
Originally released on June 14 – about a month before the film hit theaters — “Double Life” earned some early traction due to some listeners interpreting the track as a lowkey diss to Drake (who threw shots at Skateboard P with his verse on Travis Scott’s “Meltdown” last summer). During the week of the film’s release (July 5-11), “Double Life” rose a staggering 141% in streams versus the week prior (June 28-July 4), logging 2.57 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate.
A few micro trends helped the song continue to increase in streams week after week, including a dance trend courtesy of Dossan Bell & Oliver Hincy, and another small trend built on its “I know you heard the rumors/ You must get over to it right away” lyric. During the week of July 26-Aug 1, the song earned its biggest streaming boost since the film’s release, jumping nearly 40% to 5.2 million official on-demand streams. That boost was due in large part to yet another trend built around the song’s lyrics: In essence, users playfully pretend to be living a double life by sharing a screenshot that appears to confirm them running both their personal TikTok account and that of a celebrity or brand, like Kamala HQ or Mr. Clean. As the photo set transitions from either a stock image of a question mark or a selfie of the user into the accounts that they “run,” Pharrell croons, “Who will you be tonight? That’s the question.”
On TikTok, the official “Double Life” sounds boast a combined 486,000 clips, while two additional unofficial sounds built around the “that’s the question” snippet soundtrack a further 282,7000 clips. And on Tuesday (Aug. 7), shortly before announcing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris’ official campaign TikTok (@kamalahq) posted a teaser of her announcement using the “that’s the question” trend – with the clip scoring a whopping 2.2 million views. – KYLE DENIS
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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See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
This week: Big movie soundtracks are back, as the classic hits-laden Deadpool and Wolverine and the modern country All-Stars-colleting Twisters both generate huge gains for their featured synchs upon their release, while a pair of very different artists get bumps from their memorable Olympics appearances and much more.
Deadpool & Wolverine & *NSYNC: Marvel Smash Boosts ‘Bye Bye Bye’ & More
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Last weekend at the box office, Deadpool and Wolverine tag-teamed to shatter records: the Marvel superhero crossover starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman grossed a staggering $205 million domestically in its opening weekend, earning the top debut of 2024 so far, and the biggest bow ever for an R-rated movie. Naturally, the success of a film full of popular music cues — the Deadpool & Wolverine soundtrack includes smashes from Fergie, Goo Goo Dolls, Huey Lewis and the News and Avril Lavigne, among others — has resulted in several of those songs experiencing hefty streaming bumps… with Justin, JC, Joey, Lance and Chris leading the way.
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The beginning of Deadpool & Wolverine features Deadpool performing *NSYNC’s classic “Bye Bye Bye” choreography while the No Strings Attached single soundtracks an opening-credits action scene, a sequence that has already been deconstructed and meme’d across TikTok ad nauseum. As a result, “Bye Bye Bye” is booming on streaming platforms — the track sits at a new high of No. 32 on today’s Spotify daily top 50 U.S. chart, ahead of more recent smashes like Eminem’s “Houdini” and Taylor Swift & Post Malone’s “Fortnight” — and scored 3.35 million official on-demand U.S. streams from July 26-29, according to Luminate, up 382% from that streaming total during the same period the previous week (695,000 from July 19-22). “Bye Bye Bye” peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2000, and while the boy band classic probably won’t climb that high again, *NSYNC could actually threaten a return to the Hot 100 if these streaming numbers continue to grow in the coming days and weeks.
While “Bye Bye Bye” may be getting the biggest boost from Deadpool & Wolverine, just about every song on the soundtrack – from Eric Carmen’s ‘80s pop gem “Make Me Lose Control” to the Platters’ doo-wop standard “Only You” – sees major gains this week. In particular, a pair of late-20th-century pop perennials see major gains after being featured in the blockbuster: Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” was up 229% in streams from the weekend prior to the film opening (506,000 streams from July 19-22) to its opening weekend (1.66 million streams from July 26-29), while over that same tracking period, Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” was up 88% in streams, from 708,000 streams to 1.33 million streams. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
New Songs by Country Hitmakers Swept Up by Twisters Soundtrack
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Before Deadpool and Wolverine stormed the box office, the biggest story in the film world this July was the breakaway success of Twisters, spiritual sequel to the 1996 tornado-chasers action-drama blockbuster Twister. While the soundtrack to the Oklahoma-set original film featured a mix of alternative and stadium rock, with just a smattering of country, the new installment – also taking place in the Sooner State – leans all the way in on the latter genre, with a 29-track accompanying album featuring big names from all corners of the country world.
While many of the tracks had been rolled out prior to the official release of the movie and its soundtrack two Fridays ago (July 19), all of those previously available songs saw huge bumps in the tracking week that followed. Miranda Lambert’s “Ain’t in Kansas Anymore” was up 112% in official on-demand audio streams (to 2.3 million) and up 268% in sales (to 1,700) from the prior week, according to Luminate, while Lainey Wilson’s “Out of Oklahoma” grew 182% in streams (2.9 million) and 750% in sales (3,100). And Luke Combs’ “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” already an established top 40 hit, jumps to a new peak on the Hot 100 this week (32-13), thanks to gains of 75% gain in streams (15.2 million) and 178% in sales (7,400).
All the streaming success helped Twisters: The Album score an impressive No. 7 debut on the Billboard 200 albums chart this week – making it the first soundtrack album to reach the chart’s top 10 since last summer’s Barbie: The Album, and the first country soundtrack to do so since Country Strong in 2011. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Olympics Opening Ceremony: Gojira, Céline Dion Streaming Catalogs Go for the Gold
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The opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics — the first commencement extravaganza held outside of a stadium in modern Olympics history, as athletes from around the world paraded by boat along the Seine in Paris on Friday night (July 26) — also included some unexpected musical showcases, from Lady Gaga’s take on “Mon truc en plumes” to Drag Race France stars dominating a fashion runway.
Two of those performances, at very opposite ends of the musical spectrum, were still making waves on streaming platforms in the U.S. days after the opening ceremony: French head-bangers Gojira, which became the first metal act to perform at an Olympics ceremony, and pop legend Céline Dion, in her first performance since 2022 due to her struggle with stiff person syndrome.
Gojira’s surprising spot on the world stage naturally led viewers to peruse the long-running group’s back catalog: the band’s discography earned 3.12 million U.S. on-demand streams from July 26-29, according to Luminate, which represented a whopping 283% increase from the same four-day period the previous week (814,000 streams from July 19-22). And while Dion’s streaming catalog was starting at a much higher level of listens prior to the Olympics, her emotional return to the stage also sparked a major increase in plays, from 4.13 million streams from July 19-22 to 5.91 million streams from July 26-29 — a 43% gain. – JL
Virality of Royel Otis Cover (And Cranberries Original) Continues to “Linger” Thanks to… Uh, Well Just Read On
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Australian pop-rock duo Royel Otis is rapidly becoming the internet’s favorite covers band. After their rendition of Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Saltburn-revived U.K. pop hit “Murder on the Dancefloor” brought them a surprise top five hit on the Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, they caught fire this summer with a new take on the Cranberries’ enduring mid-’90s crossover smash “Linger.” While the cover version had been racking up millions of U.S. streams every week for months already, the song is spiking again the past week, for some extremely 2024 reasons.
Your 14-year-old cousin could probably do a better job explaining the ins and outs of the cover’s recent virality than us, but we’ll give it a shot: Recently, popular Twitch streamer Sketch (real name: Kylie Cox) did a livestream that he called “Sketch of the Union,” meant to address rumors that had surfaced about him having previously appeared in gay porn films that had been shared on adult subscription service OnlyFans. During a particularly memorable part of the stream, Sketch gave credit to some of the folks who had stood by him during backlash he’d received stemming from the rumors (“Shout out Banks, shout out my parents…”), with his voice breaking from the emotion.
Clips of this climactic moment of the livestream ultimately made their way from Twitch to TikTok, with user @DennysJob laying the Royel Otis “Linger” underneath video of Sketch’s shoutout section, for a clip that has amassed nearly seven million views. The combined audio of the song and the speech ended up going viral in its own right, with other users lip synching to the shoutouts, and many more flocking to the song’s YouTube comments section to post variations of “shout out Banks” (with Banks referring to FaZe Clan CEO Richard Bengston, better known as FaZe Banks). As a result, the Royel Otis “Linger” posted over 3 million official on-demand U.S. streams over the first four days of this tracking week (July 26-29), a gain of 135% over the same period the week before, according to Luminate.
But that’s not all, of course. The Cranberries’ original “Linger” – which has already seen some major TikTok success this year, even reaching No. 13 on the Billboard TikTik Top 50 back in February – also had been racking up weekly streams in the millions this summer, and is now also seeing a spillover bump from the Royel Otis version’s increased exposure. The ‘90s “Linger” notched nearly 2.6 million streams from July 26-29, a 25% gain over the same period the week before. If the gains continue, the two versions could be duking it out for position on various rock-based Billboard charts in the weeks to come. – AU
Indian Rapper Hanumankind Makes Global Splash With Project Pat-Inspired “Big Dawgs”
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Thanks to an eye-popping daredevil music video and Project Pat’s timeless, irresistible flow, Kerala-born rapper Hanumankind has scored his first global hit with “Big Dawgs.” During the week of July 12-18, “Big Dawgs” earned just over 40,000 official on-demand U.S. streams. That number exploded by an unbelievable 3,055% to over 1.27 million streams during the week of July 19-25, according to Luminate.
Hanumankind, who is signed to Def Jam India, dropped “Big Dawgs” on July 9, with its official music video arriving the following day (July 10). The music video is inspired by the Well of Death, an attraction where people essentially drive motorbikes or cars around the walls of a silo at a near-90-degree angle. Naturally, such a visually arresting video made major waves, with several major streamers and Internet personalities sharing the clip with their Stateside followings.
On July 24, hip-hop commentator DJ Akademiks shared the music video to his official Instagram page, which boasts 5.3 million followers. On July 25, TikTok personality @itsyujen shared a reaction to the music video, which garnered a whopping 6.4 million views. Over the next four days (July 26-29), “Big Dawgs” posted an 824% increase in streaming activity versus the same period the week prior, with over 3.8 million streams.
The song, which also features Kalmi, has taken over hip-hop discourse in the States, with many lauding Humankind’s nod to Project Pat and his commitment to the art of the music video. On TikTok, the official “Big Dawgs” sound boasts over 25,300 videos and the official music video has earned over 6.1 million views on YouTube.
In an interview with The Hindu, Hanumankind revealed that both Project Pat and Bun B have privately given him his flowers. “These are my idols, my heroes. They hit me up,” he said. “They’re messaging me, telling me that they appreciate what we’re doing over here.” – KYLE DENIS
Kapo Scores Breakout Hit With “Ohnana”
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Five years after he debuted with the sultry “Humo,” rising Latin music star Kapo has secured an undeniable breakout hit in “Ohnana.
According to Luminate, “Ohnana” has posted a 125% increase in streams over the past four weeks, with the song pulling in over one million official on-demand U.S. streams in each of those weeks. Released June 6, the song ended that month with just under 700,000 streams during the period of June 21-27. On June 27, TikToker user @kendryoficiall posted a self-choreographed dance video that kicked off a larger trend on the app. To date, Kendry’s initial video – which featured several dancehall-informed moves – has garnered 4.1 million views, leading the official “Ohnana” sound to over 230,500 posts on the app.
On July 17, Grammy-nominated global superstar Maluma teased an upcoming remix of “Ohnana,” which garnered over 9.3 million views on his official Instagram alone. While the remix is still yet to be released, the tease helped “Ohana” earn one of its biggest week-over-week increases, jumping 35% in streaming activity from 1.7 million streams (July 12-18) to 2.3 million streams (July 19-25).
In addition to its TikTok virality, “Ohnana” has soundtracked nearly 150,000 Instagram Reels and its official music video has pulled in nearly 31 million views in just one month. Already a massive hit in his hometown of Colombia – the song reached a new peak of No. 3 on the Colombia Songs chart dated Aug. 3 — “Ohnana” also helped Kapo make his first appearance on the Billboard Global 200 (No. 112, chart dated Aug. 3). With the Maluma remix still on the way, Kapo could be making hisHot 100 debut next. – KD
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.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
This week: The nation-shaking news of President Joe Biden stepping down from the upcoming presidential race, presumably to be replaced on the Democratic ticket with Vice President Kamala Harris, has already led to a number of sizeable bumps for Harris-connected pop songs, while Tenacious D gets a bump from recent interest that they’d likely be happier without.
Kamala IS Brat — But Harris’ Ascent is Boosting More Artists Than Just Charli XCX
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When President Joe Biden announced on Sunday (July 21) that he was ending his 2024 re-election campaign and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee, the biggest news of the week in U.S. politics was seismic enough to naturally spread into the world of popular culture. Plenty of music stars quickly reacted to the announcement, and a handful have already endorsed Harris as their 2024 candidate — but a few music tie-ins are already reverberating on streaming platforms in the opening days of her candidacy.
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There is, of course, the role that Harris’ coronation plays in our ongoing Brat Summer. On Sunday night, Charli XCX posted on Twitter, “Kamala IS Brat,” and the Harris campaign responded in kind, swapping in the Brat lime green color and font on its official account; meanwhile, CNN aired a segment dissecting what exactly being “brat” signifies, in relationship to the British pop star’s hit new album. Thanks in part to the campaign’s co-sign, Brat is up 14% in official on-demand U.S. streams from last Monday and Tuesday (10.3 million streams over July 15-16, according to Luminate) to the same period this week (11.8 million streams over July 22-23).
Meanwhile, the Harris campaign used Chappell Roan’s opening track on The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, “Femininonenon,” in a TikTok video that criticized President Trump on Monday, boosting streams of the song by 19% from last Monday and Tuesday (1.22 million streams over July 15-16) to this Monday and Tuesday (1.46 million over July 22-23). And while both the Charli XCX and Chappell Roan albums are relatively recent projects still earning robust streams, the Harris campaign also revived “Freedom,” Beyoncé’s collaboration with Kendrick Lamar from her 2016 album Lemonade, which she has adopted as her official campaign theme (which Queen Bey’s approval), with it soundtracking her first campaign HQ entrance on Monday and her first campaign ad on Tuesday. Consequently, streams of “Freedom” leapt from 37,000 over July 15-16 to 232,000 over July 22-23 — a whopping 519% spike. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Tenacious D Up in Streams After Member’s Trump Assassination Comments Leads to Band Going on Hiatus
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This hasn’t been the best month for the Jack Black-fronted comedy-rockers Tenacious D, who found themselves in the eye of a controversy storm following an onstage comment made by co-founder Kyle Gass at the band’s July 14 gig in Sydney, Australia. During a birthday celebration in which he was presented with a birthday cake, Black asked Gass to make a birthday wish, to which he responded, “Don’t miss Trump next time.” The remark was, of course, in reference to the assassination attempt the night before on former president Donald Trump — and ultimately made for global news, as word of the comment spread over social media and ultimately drew heavy criticism.
In response to the backlash, Gass issued an apology (which has since been deleted) for his “severe lack of judgment” in his remarks about what he now deemed a “tragedy.” Shortly after, Black released his own statement, saying that he was “blindsided” by his bandmate’s remarks, and that he’d decided to cancel the rest of his and Gass’ 2024 tour and put the band on indefinite hiatus.
Perhaps the lone bit of good news for Tenacious D in all of this is that all the controversy has lead to a modest spike of streaming interest in the band’s music. Over the period of July 16-17 — the two days after news of Gass’ comment, the subsequent backlash and the band’s response to it really started to go viral — the band attracted 609,000 official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate, a gain of 14% over the 533,000 streams the band racked up the previous Tuesday-Wednesday. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Sevdaliza’s Culture-Bridging Global Smash Makes Some Stateside Headway
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What do you get when you combine a Dutch-Iranian artist (Sevadaliza), a Brazilian singer (Pabllo Vittar) and a French singer-songwriter (Yseult)? A global hit, of course.
“Alibi,” an infectious multilingual bop, has taken over the world thanks to its hypnotic melody and sample of colombian singer Totó la Momposina’s “Rosa” — which boasts a history that dates back to 1918.
According to Luminate, “Alibi” earned just under 1.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams during the period of June 28-July 4. The following seven-day period (July 5-11), those figures increased by 35% to 2.15 million streams. By the period of July 12-18, once the waist-isolating TikTok dance trend truly started to take off, streams for “Alibi” exploded by a further 121% to 4.7 million streams. In just two weeks, “Albi” was able to increase its streaming activity by a whopping 200%.
Officially released on June 28, “Alibi” arrived as an immediate viral sensation thanks to its months-long TikTok notoriety. Sevdaliza’s May 6 TikTok teasing the track currently boasts a stunning 18.5 million views, with the official “Alibi” sound playing in over 2.4 million unique posts on the app. A simple belly dance-inspired trend focusing on hip-rolling and waist-wining (depending on your skill level) is by far the most dominant “Alibi” trend on the app, while clips of people gawking at the muscle control or lamenting that they could never dance in that way making up a significant portion of posts as well. “Alibi” received another wind of virality after users started to share their opinions of a viral quinceañera video – which contained dance moves some thought were inappropriate for a 15-year-old to perform in front of family – as the song played in the background. On YouTube, the song’s official music video has amassed over 35 million views in just three weeks. The baile funk and Latin pop banger also soundtracks over 660,000 Reels on Instagram.
Already a Billboard hit – the song has reached No. 3 on World Digital Song Sales, No. 19 on the Global 200 and No. 8 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 — “Alibi” could be gearing up for a Hot 100 appearance, should its streams continue to rise. – KYLE DENIS
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: Only in 2024 could we use the phrase “post-assassination-attempt streaming bump” for a pair of hits — one new and one old — while the most recent albums from Megan Thee Stallion and Charli XCX both spin off new viral jams, and more.
Many Streams and Sales for 50 Cent Classic, New Tom McDonald Single Following Assassination Attempt on Former President Donald Trump
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On Saturday night (July 13), the world was rocked by news of an assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump during a campaign rally near Butler, PA. As folks tried to make sense of what had happened, they inevitably turned to contemporary culture’s most reliable source of comfort in helping to process world events: memes. One of the most common such templates compared Trump to the rapper 50 Cent, who famously rose to fame following an attack that left him shot nine times. 50 himself got in on the game, posting a photo of his iconic Get Rich or Die Tryin’ album cover with a photo of Trump’s head crudely pasted over his own, along with the shrugging caption, “Trump gets shot and now I’m trending.”
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It wasn’t just his image that was trending, though: Listeners also flocked to 50’s Get Rich staple “Many Men (Wish Death),” the most frequent soundtrack for TikTok videos related to the assassination attempt, due to 50’s history and its “Many men/ Wish death ‘pon me” chorus. (Naturally, 50 himself also shared and responded to one or two over social media – and promoted his own “Many Men” T-shirts.) The result of it all was a massive surge in streams and sales for the song, as it collected over 2.2 million U.S. on-demand audio streams from July 13-15 – up 250% from the previous Saturday-to-Monday period – while also rising from a negligible amount of sales to over 2,000, according to Luminate.
50 wasn’t the only artist to capitalize on the event and its public reaction: Conservative rapper Tom MacDonald, who has been a regular presence on the Billboard charts over the past few years for his right-leaning, anti-woke anthems, also seized the moment with the July 14 release of new single “You Missed.” The song begins with the lyrics “They burning the country down with they progressiveness/ It started with changing what gender is” and goes on to blame the “evil” woke left for the assassination attempt, ultimately taunting: “B–ch, you missed/ Thank god the left can’t aim!”
Predictably, the song has resonated with its intended audience: “You Missed” racked up 423,000 on-demand audio streams over its first two days of release, as well as nearly 10,000 in digital song sales. If those numbers – particularly the latter one – keep up through the rest of the week, “You Missed” will likely hit on next week’s Billboard Hot 100 (dated July 27). – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Charli XCX’s ‘Apple’ Makes for Delicious TikTok Fodder
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As Brat Summer continues, Charli XCX’s hit album has enjoyed plenty of viral moments — although “Apple,” the standout synth workout in the LP’s back half, has established itself as a fan favorite. As explained in the new Billboard cover story on Charli, “Apple” almost didn’t make the final cut of Brat — but now, the song has launched a multi-step dance routine on TikTok, which Charli performed herself alongside pals Troye Sivan and Terrence O’Connor.
Now, “Apple” is earning considerably more streams than it was a few weeks ago: during the week ending July 11, the track scored 2.71 million official on-demand U.S. streams, up 50 percent from its total two weeks prior (1.81 million), according to Luminate. In lieu of an official music video, Charli has been sharing fan performances of the “Apple” dance on social media, writing yesterday of the song, “It’s her world and we’re just living in it!” – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Megan Thee Stallion Eyes Bilingual Smash With Yuki Chiba Collab “Mamushi”
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After topping the Billboard Hot 100 and eviscerating the rap game earlier this year with her blazing diss track “Hiss,” Megan Thee Stallion now has her eyes on another potential hit from her recently released Megan album.
According to Luminate, “Mamushi” — which features Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba (KOHH) — earned 10.2 million official on-demand U.S. streams during the period of July 5-11. That’s a whopping 39.5% increase from the 7.33 million streams the Koshy-produced track pulled during the week prior (June 28-July 4), following the album’s debut. And it’s still going up: Over the past weekend (July 12-14), “Mamushi” posted an 18.3% increase to 4.8 million official on-demand U.S. streams from the 4.05 million streams it earned during the previous weekend (July 5-7).
The somewhat unlikely hit has been significantly boosted by a viral TikTok dance craze, which has already seen participation from actress Tia Mowry, WNBA powerhouse A’ja Wilson and Thee Stallion herself. Dancer and TikTok user @mona712_official originated the infectious dance combination on June 29 – just one day after the Megan album hit DSPs. In the time since then, her clip has garnered over 19.4 million views, which helped the official “Mamushi” sound own over half a million posts in just two and a half weeks. On Instagram, the smash collab soundtracks over 327,000 reels. “Mamushi” is also far and away the most viewed audio clip from Megan, with over nine million views.
Already a Hot 100 hit – the track reached a new peak of No. 45 on the chart dated July 20 — “Mamushi” looks poised to continue climbing the chart.
Yaelokre Hops Into Viral Success With “Harpy Hare”
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The folk revival continues with new artist Yaelokre and her song “Harpy Hare” which hit No. 1 on the Spotify Viral 50 Global and US charts this week. Yaelokre is unlike anyone else out there: The artist combines her folk songs with her hand-drawn woodland illustrations on all her artwork and lyric videos. Plus, when she performs live or to her TikTok audience (580.2K followers and counting), she wears a handmade animal mask. It’s almost as if Gorillaz existed in the same stylistic universe as the drawings of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, if that makes any sense.
While the visuals are certainly eye-catching, it seems that the music is what is turning TikTok scrollers in the true fans for Yaelokre. “Happy Hare” rose 577% in official on-demand U.S. streams from the week of June 14-20 to July 5-11 – and from last week to the first half of this week (July 12-14), it jumped again by 186%. – KRISTIN ROBINSON
Season’s Gainings: It’s Coming Home? Maybe Next Time
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You know it’s football tournament season – the soccer kind, not the gridiron kind – when you start to see the whispers of “It’s coming home” spreading through social media, expressing optimism for England’s chances of finally claiming the Euro Cup championship. (Even American pop star Katy Perry got into the action on Sunday.) And with it, of course: a surge in consumption for Baddiel, Skinner & Lightning Seeds’ “Three Lions,” which was written as the team’s anthem when England hosted the 1996 Euro Cup, and has been revived for its Cup pursuit essentially every three years since – including last Sunday (July 14), where it spiked 714% from the prior Sunday to 72,000 official on-demand streams in the U.S. alone. Unfortunately, England fell to Spain in the Sunday championship finals – the country has still yet to win the tournament in its 66-year history – but hey, there’s always 2027. – AU
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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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: Eddie Vedder, Trent Reznor and more Gen X stalwarts get a valuable boost from a hit dramedy’s new season, Dominic Fike scores a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it viral hit, GloRilla gets one of the most valuable cosigns imaginable and much more.
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‘The Bear’ Roars Back With Bumps for Eddie Vedder, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead & More
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For those who have spent the last year fretting over whether or not Carmy ever got out of that damn freezer, good news: The Bear has finally returned for its third season. The much-anticipated new 10-episode drop from one of TV’s most acclaimed dramedies arrived last Wednesday night (June 26) – and according to its home streaming service Hulu, it’s scored the show’s best opening viewership yet, with 5.4 million views over its first four days of release. And as in the first two seasons, the show comes replete with a variety of memorable needle drops, which have led to big streaming gains this week – particularly for a number of esteemed ‘90s alt-rock veterans.
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Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder is leading the way with the biggest Bear tune, albeit for a brand-new song. “Save It for Later,” his solo cover of the English Beat’s 1982 new wave staple, debuted along with the new season on Wednesday, and saw its official on-demand US streams nearly double from Thursday to Friday (39,000 to 73,000, according to Luminate) – as more people caught up with the season, in which it appears multiple times (though most prominently at the outset of episode two, “Next”). It totaled a combined 234,000 streams from Thursday to Sunday, while the Beat original (also featured in the Bear season) saw a notable bump as well, up 37% in streams over Friday to Sunday (116,000 total) from the same period the week before. (The English Beat version is also No. 1 on Billboard’s LyricFind U.S. chart after the release of Vedder’s cover – up 3,668% in lyric searches since the premiere.)
Nine Inch Nails also had several songs featured throughout the season, and the most notable – the instrumental “Together,” featured prominently in the season premiere “Tomorrow” – was up a staggering 1,477% in streams over that Friday to Sunday period, rising to 35,000 from just over 2,000 in the previous week’s equivalent period. Similar gains were seen over the same timeframe for featured songs by Radiohead (“(Nice Dream),” up 42% to 58,000) and Refused (recurring Bear staple “New Noise,” up 31% to 46,000). And it wasn’t just the ‘90s greats: Big Thief frontwoman Adrianne Lenker represented for the younger generation with a bump for her “No Machine,” which rose 73% to to 33,000. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Dominic Fike’s ‘Misses’ Hits on TikTok & Streaming
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“14 minutes of music that almost didn’t see the light of day”: that’s how Dominic Fike described 14 Minutes, a new EP that quickly followed last year’s Sunburn album, upon its May release. With a track list of eight self-produced songs that clock in between one and three minutes in length, 14 Minutes was unveiled as an odds-and-ends project for fans — but then one of its shortest tracks, the 74-second “Misses,” started to go viral, and is now logging seven-figure weekly streams.
While the jaunty soul-rock track has been used in TikTok posts by Kylie Jenner and The Kid LAROI in recent weeks, Fike has incorporated the song into his sets at festivals like Bonnaroo and Governors Ball. As a result, “Misses” spent all of June steadily growing on streaming services — earning 4.41 million official on-demand U.S. streams during the chart week ending June 27, according to Luminate, after earning 2.35 million streams during the week ending June 6, a nearly 88% spike in three weeks’ time. Fike earned his first Billboard Hot 100 entry as a lead artist last year with “Mona Lisa,” which peaked at No. 89; if “Misses” keeps growing, the track could become an unlikely follow-up hit. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Thank God It’s Rihanna: New GloRilla Single Blows Up After Pop Legend’s Viral Video
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It’s already been a hell of a 2024 for Memphis rapper GloRilla, who’s scored a pair of top 40 Hot 100 hits with “Yeah Glo!” and the Megan Thee Stallion teamup “Wanna Be.” Glo’s new single “TGIF” hasn’t quite joined them in that region yet – the weekend-celebrating anthem debuted at No. 46 on the Hot 100 last week. But it’s probably going to get there very shortly, after getting an instantly unforgettable co-sign from someone as familiar with the top of the chart as any artist this century: Rihanna.
On June 28, Rih shared a video of herself rapping along and dropping it low to the song, all in the face of her significant other A$AP Rocky – who observed her performance with his hands on his hips like a disapproving schoolteacher, before commenting “I’m too old for this” at video’s end (as Rihanna cackled in response). The couple’s delightful clip, captioned “happy friday,” caused the song to immediately explode: “TGIF” racked up nearly 4.5 million official on-demand U.S. streams combined over the following Saturday and Sunday after notching just 2.4 million the previous weekend (according to Luminate), a 74% gain. Good to know that while we’re waiting for her impossibly long-anticipated R9 album, Rihanna is still bringing new smash hits to the people, one way or the other. – AU
Could the Celine Dion Documentary Help a Former ‘AGT’ Contestant Become a Star?
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Last month, I Am: Celine Dion, a documentary capturing the life and career of the titular pop superstar (as well as her ongoing battle with stiff-person syndrome) enjoyed a limited theatrical run, before debuting on Amazon Prime Video. Its June 25 streaming bow allowed millions of viewers to marvel at Dion’s personal and professional achievements — as well as get introduced to “Who I Am,” an uplifting piano ballad from singer-songwriter Wyn Starks, which is showcased as an inspiring anthem in the doc.
Starks, a Minneapolis native, originally released “Who I Am” in 2020 and performed the song while competing on America’s Got Talent in 2022, the song’s emotion moving judge Sofia Vergara to tears. Now signed to Curb Records, Starks has landed another high-profile platform for “Who I Am,” and it’s paying off: the song earned 101,000 official on-demand U.S. streams from June 28-30, according to Luminate, after earning just a fraction of that (14,000 streams) during the same three-day period the previous week. Starks released a new single, “Run,” earlier this year, but the success of the documentary may have the singer-songwriter and his team pivoting back to another round of promo for “Who I Am.” – JL
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: It’s all things The Pop Out, as Kendrick Lamar and his many Friends see considerable gains following their All-Star Juneteenth concert.
Run It Back: Could “Not Like Us” Recapture No. 1 After Kendrick’s Epic Showcase?
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The main event at The Forum in Los Angeles last Wednesday (June 19) was, of course, the first live performance from Kendrick Lamar since his unofficial (though rather decisive) victory over Drake in the biggest hip-hop feud of the decade so far. Kendrick’s 18-track set, which featured guest appearances from his Black Hippy crewmates and his longtime industry mentor Dr. Dre and was streamed nationally over Amazon Prime, seemed to capture the entire country’s attention on Juneteenth — and unsurprisingly, has led to major catalog gains for Kendrick Lamar. The rap superstar posted nearly 61 million combined official on-demand U.S. streams over the following three-day period (June 20-22), a gain of 31% over the three-day period prior to Juneteenth (June 16-18).
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Of course, the most consequential bump was for Kendrick Lamar’s knockout blow in the Drake bout, the Mustard-produced, Billboard Hot 100-topping Song of the Summer contender “Not Like Us.” The song’s performance was the most anticipated part of the entire evening, and its landing as the show’s final song certainly did not disappoint — particularly because Lamar ran back its opening verse twice, performed the entire song three times, and even let the instrumental play as the closing credits rolled on the telecast. It apparently still wasn’t enough for his fans, as the song collected nearly 21 million combined streams over the three days following the concert, a 62% bump from the prior three-day period. (It should be mentioned that streams collected by a song over a normal Thursday-to-Saturday period usually are a little higher than those from Monday to Wednesday, just based on national streaming patterns.)
Could the bump be enough to send “Not Like Us,” currently the No. 6 song on the Hot 100, back to No. 1 for a second week? It will almost certainly climb back into the top five next week, and could even challenge to pass this week’s champ, Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please” — which is slipping a little in streams so far this week. But No. 1 could still be out of its reach, given the radio airplay disadvantage it has against Post Malone and Morgan Wallen’s “I Had Some Help,” which reigned for five weeks before being displaced by Carpenter and has remained steady in sales and streams. Still, Lamar has an extra weapon at his disposal: the much-anticipated official “Not Like Us” video, which he was seen filming over the weekend. If he unleashes that before the tracking week ends, the extra attention could be enough to put it over the top.
Black Hippy S–t: ScHoolboy Q, Jay Rock & Ab-Soul Also Up in Streams
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One of the most triumphant stretches of The Pop Out came when Kendrick Lamar was joined on stage by his former Top Dawg Entertainment labelmates ScHoolboy Q, Jay Rock and Ab-Soul for a Black Hippy crew reunion — their first appearance together since Lamar officially departed the label after 2022’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. Jay Rock joined first to perform his Lamar collaborations “Money Trees” and “Kings Dead” and his own “Win,” then Ab-Soul appeared to help Lamar on “6:16 in LA,” and finally ScHoolboy Q completed the set for “Collard Greens” and the Black Hippy remix of “That Part.” The trio then continued dancing onstage through Lamar’s performance of his own solo classic, “King Kunta.”
All three of the special guests were able to parlay their surprise appearances into major streaming gains in the days following the concert. Ab-Soul collected 291,000 total official on-demand U.S. streams over the three-day post-Juneteenth period (June 20-22), up 44% from the three days before the show (June 16-18), according to Luminate. Jay Rock was up 45% over the same period, to just over one million streams. And ScHoolboy Q saw a 31% bump, with over 4.3 million streams amassed. While the other big guest during Lamar’s set, West Coast godfather Dr. Dre, didn’t get as big a catalog percentage bump, his 1999 classic “Still D.R.E.” — which introduced his surprise appearance — was also up 19% over the same period, to over 1.2 million streams.
A Little Help From His Friends: Mustard, YG & More Openers See Gains of Their Own
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The Pop Out was a star-studded event before Kendrick ever even took the stage. Preceding him in the Forum spotlight was fellow L.A. legend Mustard — producer behind “Not Like Us,” as well as an innumerous number of West Coast classics over the past 15 years — who began by reminding the crowd of some of the eternal bangers he was responsible for (including Tyga’s “Rack City,” 2 Chainz’s “I’m Different” and Big Sean’s “I Don’t F–k With You.”) He then brought out a succession of local special guests, some of whom (like Dom Kennedy and Tyler, the Creator) performed songs he took no part in, and some of whom (namely set closers Roddy Ricch and YG) exclusively played songs he helmed.
Many of those artists saw big bumps from their appearances at the televised event over the three days following the event (June 20-22) from the three days prior (June 16-18), and many of the songs performed were particular beneficiaries. Tyler racked up gains for the two songs he performed, “Wusyaname” (up 48% to 657,000) and “Earfquake” (up 28% to 1.5 million), as did Dom Kennedy for his pair of picks, “When I Come Around” (up 142% to 102,000) and “My Type of Party” (up 127% to 69,000), according to Luminate. And YG, who finished off the Mustard set with a selection of classics, saw his entire catalog lift 35%, to nearly four million streams over the three-day period.
Mustard also saw a huge spike for the song that made for the emotional centerpiece of his set: “Perfect Ten,” his collab with the late Nipsey Hussle, whose presence still hung over the entire West Coast celebration. The song was up 127% to 123,000 streams over the three-day period.
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This week: Big winners at the Tonys see streaming bumps — as does perhaps the show’s biggest performer — while a couple TikTok-bumped artists go two-for-two and a Spotify exec talks Songs of the Summer predictions.
Tony Awards Spur Streaming Gains for Outsiders, Stereophonic & Jay-Z
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Last Sunday (June 16), Oscar winner Ariana DeBose hosted the Tony Awards for a third consecutive year as the Great White Way celebrated the best of the 2023-2024 theater season. Stereophonic – which features musical compositions written by former Arcade Fire member Will Butler – reigned as the night’s biggest winner with five awards, including best play, while the LaChanze and Angelina Jolie-produced Outsiders won best musical.
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In the two days following Stereophonic’s victory (June 17-18), the cast recording pulled 92,000 official on-demand U.S. streams, posting a whopping 152% increase from just 36,000 streams the Monday-Tuesday prior (June 10-11). Similarly, The Outsiders’ cast recording earned over 546,000 streams during the period of June 17-18, ballooning 90% from around 288,000 streams during the period of June 10-11.
While Jay-Z has yet to add a Tony to his seemingly endless collection of awards and accolades, the hip-hop legend made a surprise appearance at Sunday night’s telecast to perform “Empire State of Mind” alongside Alicia Keys, whose Hell’s Kitchen musical tied Stereophonic as the night’s most-nominated production (13), ultimately taking home two trophies. “Empire State of Mind” collected over 310,000 streams the day following the Tonys performance (June 17), an 8% boost from the 286,000 streams it earned the Monday prior (June 10).
Although he’s not outside as often as he used to be, the Tony telecast isn’t the only place the Brooklyn icon has surprised with a performance. Last Wednesday (June 12), Jay popped up for a surprise rendition of “Public Service Announcement” to open up Tom Brady’s Patriots Hall of Fame induction ceremony. In the three days immediately following the performance (June 13-15), the 2003 classic pulled in over 225,000 streams, marking a 65% increase from the 137,000 streams it earned the three days prior (June 10-12). – KYLE DENIS
No “Lie,” Tommy Richman Is About to Score Another Chart Hit
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Following up an out-of-nowhere smash is always a tall order — especially one as singular and immediately catchy as “Million Dollar Baby,” the falsetto-heavy rhythmic pop single from Virginia singer-rapper Tommy Richman. “Baby” crashed the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 following its April release, thanks in part to snippets of the song going viral on social media; as it stands, the song is the longest-running continuous No. 1 hit on the Billboard TikTok Top 50 chart, where it spends a fifth week in the top spot. “Baby” spends a seventh straight frame in the top 10 of the Hot 100 this week, falling two spots to No. 5 — but before “Baby” even turns two months old, Richman has already released its follow-up, and likely secured himself another Hot 100 entry.
“Devil Is a Lie,” a similarly funk-infused single unveiled last Friday (June 14), has been earning seven-figure streams each day: Over its first four days of release, the track scored 5.37 million U.S. on-demand streams, according to Luminate, as its daily streaming total has consistently notched a little over 1 million plays and is still growing as of Tuesday (June 18). That total is still a far cry from the red-hot start of “Baby” — which earned a whopping 16.6 million streams in its first four days of release. However, “Lie” should accrue enough chart points to notch a respectable Hot 100 debut next week, and quickly remove Richman from any one-hit-wonder chatter as “Baby” continues its top 10 run. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
310babii Nets Second Dance Hit With “Rock Your Hips”
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Mere months after securing his very first Hot 100 hit with “Soak City (Do It)” (No. 53), Inglewood rapper and recent high school graduate 310babii is eyeing another smash. Once again bolstered by an infectious dance trend, 310babii’s latest hit – which was released in early May, and features OhGeesy and BlueBucksClan — has steadily increased in streams for the past three weeks.
According to Luminate, “Rock Your Hips” earned over 1.1 million official on-demand U.S. streams during the week of June 6-13, marking a 29% increase from the 860,000 streams it collected the week prior (May 31-June 6). Just three weeks ago (May 17-23), “Rock Your Hips” was pulling just over 610,000 streams.
TikTok has been the biggest source of traction for the song, with the track’s official sound pulling over 54,600 posts – most of which are pegged to a CapCut template that lets users use AI to replicate the dance trend created by user @adoree_stook. On YouTube, the official lyric video has garnered over 300,000 views in less than a month. Between its steady rise and new boost of momentum thanks to Kendrick Lamar’s West Coast-glorifying Pop Out concert – which 310babii performed at — “Rock Your Hips” could end up following Crime Mob’s 2007 hit “Rock Yo Hips” onto the Hot 100 a couple decades later. – KD
Summer “Nights”: Kid LAROI Deep Cut Is Heating Up on Streaming
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While The Kid LAROI’s 2023 official debut album The First Time failed to match the chart impact of his breakout 2020 mixtape F*ck Love – peaking at No. 26 on the Billboard 200 and not spawning any singles the size of that set’s “Without You” or “Stay” – the album might not be done on the charts just yet. Deep cut “Nights Like This,” which at 1:27 feels closer to an interlude than a lead single, has been taking off on TikTok recently for its immersive cloud-rap production and hazy vocals, with many users deeming the song an unexpected sound for the singer-rapper.
In any event, listeners have clearly been falling under the spell of “Nights,” as the song has been rising rapidly on streaming the past month. For the tracking week ending May 23, the song pulled just under 425,000 official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate, but by the week ending June 13, it was up to over 3 million – a three-week gain of 617%. LAROI himself has gotten in on the TikTok fun, captioning a post of him looking stunned at the camera with the tongue-in-cheek caption “I can’t believe Kid Laroi made this song” – though he commented more sincerely underneath the clip, “grateful this song is being discovered genuinely one of my favs #thanks love you all.” – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Q&A: Talia Kraines, Senior Editor, US Pop at Spotify, on What’s Trending Up in Her World
Spotify recently unveiled its Songs of Summer predictions for 2024. How did that list of songs come together?
Our Songs of Summer predictions were built by our global music editors from many different genres all over the Northern Hemisphere. Our editors identify the songs we feel will excel in the warm, sunny weather, and we also analyze data that shows us our listeners are already loving these songs, and they have potential to grow even more. We also noticed that sounds beyond the Northern Hemisphere, including Afropop and amapiano, continue to make their way up and expand on a larger global scale for our summer, and we’re so excited to see the continued global growth of Tems and Tyla. Few things are more electrifying to a Spotify editor than loving a song and seeing the audience also love that song – that’s why you’ll find both big, obvious songs on the list, as well as some smaller artists that our editors are taking an early bet on.
A small group of editors then finalized the list down to the top 30 – we’ll be tracking throughout the summer and can’t wait to find out what song will win the crown!
What do you think is the most unexpected entry in this year’s shortlist?
I’m personally thrilled to include CYRIL’s “Stumblin’ In” in the list this year. It’s always fascinating when we see songs cross borders at different times and have an extensive lifespan; it’s such a great, holistic example of how editorial at Spotify works. CYRIL is Australian and made a new dance version of Suzi Quatro’s 1978 US & UK hit of the same name, which he released in November 2023. Our dance editors across the world loved the song and included it on local dance lists at the time, but I never would have guessed this song (or the music of Suzi Quatro!) would make this year’s Songs of Summer shortlist.
At the start of 2024, “Stumblin’ In” began to expand beyond Australia and experience global success, especially in Germany, France and the Netherlands. Our European dance editors brought the song back to the attention of the US & global dance team at the end of February, and we began to move the song on our global lists out of just dance, and into pop / hits spaces. Even though it really wasn’t on the radar of US listeners at all, we began testing it in US lists in March, and after seeing success on our platform, it’s grown into a huge hit, been signed to a US label and is now in Spotify’s Today’s Top Hits. It’s a great example of a song that’s had a whole life in Europe, and only now when the summer weather begins to orient US listening more towards dance music, it’s having its US adventure and is a hit all over the world. Definitely an unexpected song of Summer 2024!
Post Malone & Morgan Wallen’s “I Had Some Help” is the front-runner on Billboard’s own Song of the Summer chart, spending five weeks atop the Hot 100 to date. Why do you think that song has resonated so well at the beginning of summer?
When two huge superstars like Post Malone and Morgan Wallen come together, it’s almost guaranteed that you’re going to have a massive hit. We always see country music surging on Spotify in the summer, so Posty chose the perfect time for his pivot to country, and did it with a song that sounds warm, breezy and is the perfect soundtrack to rowdy summer nights around a bonfire or out on the town. Post Malone recently performed the song at Spotify House during CMA Fest, and let me tell you, the rest of the weekend was spent with everyone shouting the fun, backing vocal “help!” every two minutes. Utterly catchy and sounds good in almost any summertime situation, no wonder it’s a huge hit.
An extra element to this story is how it’s really cemented the global growth of country music outside of the U.S. While Australia, Canada and the UK have dipped their toes into country over the last few years, Post Malone, as well as fellow Songs of Summer nominees Shaboozey and Dasha, have seen unprecedented success in our Hot Hits flagships all over the world, including Norway, Italy and Brazil to name a few. Even the UK, often touted as an emerging country export market, has never really had country break through in a way it has this year.
Fill in the blank: the song featured on Spotify’s predictions list, that you think is going to be much bigger by the end of the summer than it is now, is _______.
“Nasty” by Tinashe – is the summer gonna match her freak? – JL
Season’s Gainings: Watch (and Listen to) the Thrones
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At long last, House of the Dragon has returned to HBO. For those of us who got hooked on the Game of Thrones-verse back in the early 2010s, a new season of the show’s prequel series (whose first season came and went a long two years ago) is cause for celebration – and perhaps some commemorative streaming. Composer Ramin Djawadi’s theme to the original Thrones series – which has also been used by Dragon for each of its first two seasons – racked up nearly 51,000 official on-demand U.S. streams combined over this Monday and Tuesday following Sunday’s season premiere, a gain of over 50% from the same period the week before, according to Luminate. Now, let the debates over the show’s revamped credits sequence begin. – AU