Trending Up

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: Sexyy Red follows her breakout hit with two more viral singles, Taylor Swift’s new-old smash sends listeners to an even older warm-weather perennial and Myke Towers launches a mid-summer bid for global ubiquity.

Summer 2023 Is Sexyy Red Season 

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Sexyy Red is officially one of the biggest breakout artists of summer 2023. The St. Louis rapper has been a social media fixture for years thanks to her vulgar raps and round-the-way personality, but she has now reached a new level of mainstream prominence and commercial success thanks to the virality of several tracks from her latest mixtape, Hood Hottest Princess. 

Back in January, Sexyy Red released “Pound Town,” a delightfully ratchet ode to the crudest edges of the sexual experience, which eventually received an equally ratchet remix from rap icon Nicki Minaj, titled “Pound Town 2” in May – helping the song debut at No. 66 on the Billboard Hot 100. Minaj’s remix also kickstarted a new phase of the song’s multi-platform appeal: According to Luminate, “Pound Town” collected 5.4 million official on-demand U.S. streams in the week ending July 6 – up 4% from the previous week – while on radio, “Pound Town” currently ranks at No. 14 on Rap Airplay and No. 21 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay for the charts dated July 15. After driving the culture for so many months — the love for her breakout song is so strong that Sexyy Red gave an impromptu performance of the track from her seat in the audience at the 2023 BET Awards — “Pound Town” now has legitimate commercial success to add to its accolades. 

“Pound Town” functioned as the de facto lead single for Hood Hottest Princess. Released on June 9, the mixtape did not debut on the Billboard 200 until this week’s chart (dated July 15), entering at No. 193 — a testament to the consistent growth of the tape’s streams. Two songs from the 11-track tape have emerged as the follow-ups to “Pound Town:” “Skee Yee,” a burgeoning summer anthem that garnered love on TikTok pre-release, collected 2.5 million official on-demand U.S. streams in the week ending July 6, a 22% increase from the week prior. Aided by a trend in which users aggressively whip their hair as Sexyy Red yells out her “skee yee” ad-lib, the most popular “Skee Yee” sound has over 237,000 clips on TikTok. Recently, Grammy-nominated rap star Travis Scott invited Sexyy Red to perform the song (along with “Pound Town”) during his headlining set at Wireless Festival in London — further proof that the rapper’s TikTok virality is translating into streams and support.  

Another song from her mixtape, “Looking for the H–s (Ain’t My Fault),” is currently going viral on TikTok. Users put their own voice over Sexyy Red’s as she raps, “You like my voice? It turn you on? / This ain’t nothin’, wait ’til you see it in a thong.” “H–s” earned 1.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams in the week ending July 6, a whopping 292% increase from the period prior. The official TikTok sound for the song soundtracks over 305,000 clips on the app. 

All in all, from the period of June 30-July 6, Sexyy Red’s catalog has received 11.1 million official on-demand U.S. streams, a 24.5% increase from the week prior. Between her audacious one-liners and knack for natural hooks, Sexyy Red has become one of the defining artists of the summer, one outrageously obscene song at a time. – KYLE DENIS

A Summer Twice as Cruel: Taylor Swift’s Smash Boosts Bananarama Streams  

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On this week’s Hot 100 chart, Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” completes its long-overdue climb into the top 10, as the former deep cut from her 2019 album Lover jumps from No. 13 to No. 7 after recently becoming promoted as an official single. “Summer” has benefited from prime placement in Swift’s Eras tour set list, renewed fan support on TikTok and social media as the summer heats up, and prime placement on playlists like Spotify’s Today’s Top Hits and top 40 radio blocks (it’s up to No. 20 on this week’s Radio Songs chart).  

Benefiting, in turn, from Swift’s “Cruel Summer”: Bananarama’s classic hit of the same name. The British trio’s “Cruel Summer” became a new wave crossover hit upon its 1983 release, climbing as high as No. 9 on the U.S. Hot 100. And while Swift’s song becomes the highest-peaking “Cruel Summer” in Hot 100 history this week, Bananarama’s track is riding the “Summer” wave to increased plays, four decades after its release. 

Weekly streams for Bananarama’s hit have increased for seven straight weeks: after earning 519,000 U.S. on-demand streams during the week ending May 25, according to Luminate, the original “Cruel Summer” is up to nearly 724,000 streams for the most recent tracking week (ending July 6), making for a 39% cumulative spike in weekly listens. Of course, streams for Swift’s “Cruel Summer” dwarf those numbers – the song enters the Streaming Songs top 10 with 14.4 million weekly streams for this week. But who knows? Maybe if there’s another hit “Cruel Summer” in the year 2063, Swift’s version will see an uptick then, too. – JASON LIPSHUTZ 

Myke Towers Turns TikTok Into ‘Lala’ Land

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Puerto Rican rapper-singer Myke Towers has been a fixture on Billboard’s Latin charts for most of the past half-decade, but he’s yet to score a major crossover onto the Billboard Hot 100. That may be coming soon with the sweet reggaetón jam “Lala,” which is the penultimate cut on his 23-track March album La Vida Es Una. The song has taken over TikTok in the past month with its addictive title hook, a super-sticky backing vocal that plays throughout most of the song. 

The song has come to soundtrack both a dance challenge and a series of CapCut videos, with over 1.4 million videos being made to the official sound. Consequently, the song has absolutely exploded on streaming, jumping from 206,000 U.S. official on-demand audio streams for the chart week ending June 22 to over 2.6 million for the week ending July 6 – a gain of 1,172% over the two-week span, according to Luminate.

With the song’s upward trajectory continuing this week – debuting at No. 26 on this week’s Billboard Global 200, and even rising to No. 1 on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs Global chart – “Lala” may be on pace to announce itself as a very late song of the summer contender. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.  This week: Olivia Rodrigo’s much-anticipated new single also spurs gains for her older songs (and for another singer-songwriter’s song on a similar subject), the second season of The Bear goes big with its classic alt soundtrack, TikTok produces a couple (near-literal) runaway hits and more.

Olivia Rodrigo’s Return Yields ‘Sour’ Bump – And Sweet Gains for Madison Beer 

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All eyes will be at the top of the Hot 100 chart next week, as Olivia Rodrigo’s massive new single “Vampire” will presumably try to dethrone Morgan Wallen’s country-pop juggernaut “Last Night” for the No. 1 spot. “Vampire,” the lead single from Rodrigo’s upcoming sophomore album GUTS, zoomed to a fast start at streaming, with 8.43 million U.S. on-demand streams on its opening day last Friday (June 30), according to Luminate. The long-awaited single got off to such a hot start that it buoyed the rest of Rodrigo’s studio output – as well as the older single from another pop star. 

Sour, Rodrigo’s 2021 debut full-length, benefited from the release of “Vampire” on streaming services: the album scored a 47% jump in daily streams last Friday to 4.66 million, then sustained its uptick over the weekend and hovering above 3.5 million daily streams. Meanwhile, the release of “Vampire” – an anthem about romantic betrayal, that has been rumored to be inspired by Rodrigo’s relationship with DJ/producer Zack Bia – coincided with streaming gains for “Selfish,” a 2020 song from Madison Beer, also believed to be about Bia. 

“Selfish” scored an 18.7% gain in daily streams to 43,000 from June 26 (the Monday before “Vampire”) to July 3 (the Monday after) – and Beer, who released the single “Home to Another One” last month, even acknowledged the spike on social media. In response to a fan account pointing out the “Selfish” resurgence, Beer posted in a since-deleted tweet, “thank u miss olivia.” – JASON LIPSHUTZ 

Listeners ‘Bear’ Down on New TV Season’s Rock Synchs

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The Bear has been one of the most acclaimed new TV shows of the decade, and now its second season – which debuted on Hulu in June – has made good on the promise of the first. Everything about the second season of the restaurant-set Chicago dramedy is bigger and more ambitious, and that includes the soundtrack, which features recurring themes, song callbacks to the first season, and artists as big as Trent Reznor, Eddie Vedder and even Taylor Swift making up the show’s musical universe. 

Several of those songs, of course, have seen big gains since the season’s June 22 premiere. Vedder & Neil Finn’s cover of Hunters & Collectors’ “Throw Your Arms Around Me,” which soundtracks the closing montage to the season’s emotional eighth episode, was up from under 5,000 official on-demand U.S. streams for the chart week ending June 22 to over 89,000 the week after – a gain of 1,806%, according to Luminate. Refused’s  “New Noise,” used multiple times in the season as now it’s on pump-up music, rose 123% to nearly 147,000 streams over that same period. 

The biggest gains, however, came for R.E.M.’s “Strange Currencies,” the shimmering mid-’90s ballad that serves as a sort of love theme for show protagonist Carmy and his now-grown childhood crush Claire. The song rose from 27,000 to nearly 283,000 streams over that period, a gain of 945% – showing that food isn’t the only thing The Bear is whetting appetites for this season. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Flyana Boss Sprints Towards Sizable Streaming Gains 

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In just under two weeks, Flyana Boss has gone from a virtual unknown to an inescapable social media phenomenon. Aided by videos in which they sprint through crowds of unsuspecting onlookers while they lip-sync to their latest single “You Wish,” the half-Detroit half-Dallas hip-hop duo have sneakily infiltrated the zeitgeist across social media platforms like TikTok and Twitter. 

According to Luminate, “You Wish” collected 1.3 million official on-demand U.S. streams during the period of June 16-22. The following week (June 23-29), that figure ballooned to 2.1 million streams, a 61.4% increase in streaming activity. As the duo’s profile continues to rise, expect these numbers to keep growing. During this year’s Essence Festival, Megan Thee Stallion invited them onstage to twerk alongside her during her headlining set. At the festival, Flyana Boss also performed at the Girls United kickback. The viral duo has seen a wave of recent industry support, including messages of affirmation from the likes of Missy Elliott, Keke Palmer, and Timbaland. 

On TikTok, “You Wish” has already been used in over 73,000 videos, most of which are users imitating the sprint-and-rap template of Flyana Boss’ original clip. More importantly, perhaps, “You Wish” appears to be connecting with audiences outside of the viral trend. The lyrics “I’m made of sugar, spice, Kanekalon, and cinnamon,” have launched scores of debates around race, hair politics, and what happens when lyrics steeped in Black cultural experiences crossover to the mainstream. “You Wish” is just getting started, and Flyana Boss could potentially run all the way to a surprise summer hit with the fast-growing track.  – KYLE DENIS

‘Titan’ Tragedy Results in ‘My Heart Will Go On’ Streams

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Last month, the implosion of the Titan submersible made global headlines, as an expedition to view the famed wreck of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean caused an international search and rescue operation, and ultimately claimed the lives of the five passengers aboard. As the news unfolded over multiple days beginning on June 18, when the submersible first lost communication, streams of “My Heart Will Go On,” Céline Dion’s smash single that doubled as the theme song to James Cameron’s world-conquering 1997 film Titanic, saw an uptick, as social media users posted both memes and tributes in kind. 

“Heart” rose 12.9% in weekly streams during the ending June 22 (the day that debris believed to be from the submersible was discovered), to 743,000 U.S. official on-demand streams, according to Luminate. The song topped 1 million streams the following week, spiking nearly 40 percent in streams for the week ending June 30. “Heart,” of course, became a Hot 100 chart-topper for Dion upon its release, and the Titanic soundtrack spent 16 straight weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart in 1998 on its way to becoming one of the biggest-selling albums of all time. – JL

DeJ Loaf Deep Cuts Are Running Through TikTok’s Mind 

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Although DeJ Loaf last hit the Billboard Hot 100 in 2018 with “At the Club,” a duet with R&B star Jacquees that reached No. 86, the Detroit rapper could make a grand return to the chart if this deep cut continues to make steady gains. “Running Through My Mind,” a track from her 2020 No Saint EP, is the soundtrack to one of the latest viral TikTok trends. Users film themselves running while flashing an indiscernible picture on their phone as a sped-up version of DeJ Loaf’s voice croons the song’s hook, “You been running through my mind all day.” The idea is that the user is cheekily revealing the person who they have a crush on without confirming their specific identity. 

The “Running Through My Mind” TikTok sound has been used in 128,000 videos and counting, and according to Luminate, “Running Through My Mind” has posted double-digit streaming gains for the past three weeks. During the tracking week ending June 8, the song collected 44,000 official on-demand U.S. streams, but as the TikTok trend continued to gain steam, that number rose to over 254,000 official on-demand U.S. streams for the week ending June 29, a 470% hike. With “Running Through My Mind” continuing to grow, DeJ Loaf may be looking at her biggest unaccompanied solo song since “No Fear” reached the Hot 100 back in 2017. – KD

Season’s Gainings: It’s Definitely a Fourth of July Party

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Our country’s 247th birthday was celebrated nationwide on July 4, and despite the holiday falling on a Tuesday in the middle of the workweek, it doesn’t seem to have stopped folks from cranking the patriotic (and/or bitterly ironic) tunes to commemorate the occasion. Zac Brown Band’s cookout-ready “Chicken Fried” rose from 796,000 to 1.6 million daily official on-demand U.S. streams from July 3 to July 4, according to Luminate, while Bruce Springsteen’s not-what-your-drunk-uncle-thinks-it’s-about anthem “Born in the U.S.A.” rose 333% to 2.1 million streams, and the entire catalog of American greats Creedence Clearwater Revival was up 33% to 4.8 million streams. And of course, the Fourth of July crown went to Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.,” up 137% to nearly 2.3 million, our country’s unofficial second national anthem for yet another year. – 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.  This week: The Spider-Verse stretches its way across streaming, a tri-state indie rock band launches an unlikely dance challenge and an alt-folk singer-songwriter enjoys his first real crossover success.

Miles Morales Spurs a Spider-Verse Takeover 

It’s been just over a week since the release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and Miles Morales and co. are already having a sizable musical impact that nicely complements the film’s box office success. Serving as the sequel to 2018’s Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the new film continues Miles’ journey, and boasts a star-studded soundtrack curated and produced by Billboard 200-topping hip-hop producer Metro Boomin. 

According to Luminate, the genre-spanning soundtrack (released on Boominati/Republic) garnered 83.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams during the week of June 2-8. In the same period, two songs emerged as the set’s strongest and most consistent performers. “Calling” (which is credited to Metro Boomin, Swae Lee & NAV feat. A Boogie wit da Hoodie) collected 10.7 million official on-demand U.S. streams, while “Annihilate” (credited to Metro Boomin, Swae Lee, Lil Wayne & Offset) garnered 10.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams. Both songs have been hanging around the upper regions of Spotify and Apple Music’s daily charts off the strength of their placement in the film, the allure of the performing artists, and, of course, the music itself. 

In a slight contrast to the success of these Spider-Verse posse cuts, Coi Leray’s solo Spider-Man track alongside Metro, “Self-Love,” has also emerged as one of the soundtrack’s biggest songs — and one that’s still growing. On June 2, the song earned over 920,000 official on-demand U.S. streams, and one week later (June 9), that tally increased by 35.8% to a total of 1.2 million official on-demand U.S. streams. Although that number dipped slightly to 1.16 million the following day, consistent love across social media looks to buoy the song as it continues its run. 

Of course, in 2018, the previous Spider-Verse soundtrack (for Spider-Man: Inside the Spider-Verse) spawned “Sunflower,” the inescapable Post Malone and Swae Lee duet that recently became the highest-certified single in the United States. The RIAA certified the song 18x platinum in recognition of over 18 million units sold. Since the release of Across the Spider-Verse, the already-stable streaming numbers for “Sunflower” have experienced a significant increase: During the week of June 2-8, the Billboard Hot 100-topping track received 8.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams, a 29.6% increase from its May 26-June 1 tally (6.9 million). 

On the Billboard 200 chart dated June 17, the Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack entered at No. 7, becoming Metro Boomin’s fourth consecutive top ten title. He previously topped the chart with 2018’s Not All Heroes Wear Capes, 2020’s Savage Mode II (with 21 Savage), and last year’s Heroes & Villains. – KYLE DENIS

Noah’s Arc: Kahan Climbs Toward Mainstream Stardom With “Dial Drunk” & Expanded Album

Over the past year, Noah Kahan’s brand of heartfelt folk-rock has amassed a sizable fan base thanks to both old-school road grinding and next-gen social media engagement. After the Vermont native teased “Stick Season,” a post-breakup song rife with COVID-era loneliness, to his fan base for months ahead of its July 2022 release, the song took off on TikTok as the singer-songwriter plowed through tour dates, eventually leading to a No. 14 debut for his Stick Season album on the Billboard 200 last October. 

Kahan hasn’t slowed down since – a North American tour that began last month will continue through October – and a recently released deluxe edition of his Stick Season album, combined with an already-viral new single, may speed up his ascent to household-name status. 

Last Friday (June 9), Kahan released Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever) via Mercury/Republic, which featured seven additional songs and sent his streams soaring. Kahan’s catalog rose over 300% in daily U.S. on-demand streams upon the release of the expanded album – from 3.11 million last Thursday to 12.83 million on Friday, according to Luminate – and hovered around 9 million daily streams through Monday, suggesting that far more than Kahan’s diehard supporters are playing his new tunes. 

Those songs are highlighted by “Dial Drunk,” a banjo-led story of an intoxicated man reaching out to an estranged contact as his emergency call from jail. Like “Stick Season,” “Dial Drunk” had been teased on TikTok by Kahan for a prolonged period – but now that the singer-songwriter boasts a larger fan base than last summer, the new track may mark his Hot 100 debut next week. “Dial Drunk” bowed with 1.81 million streams on Friday, then garnered seven-figure plays each day through Monday, while remaining fixtures of the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA and Apple Music charts. 

The success of “Dial Drunk,” along with Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever) potentially pushing into the top 10 of next week’s Billboard 200, would continue an already huge year for Kahan, who recently sold out New York’s Radio City Music Hall and led a substantial crowd at the Boston Calling festival. The crowds have exploded, and now may be the time for Kahan’s commercial breakthrough. – JASON LIPSHUTZ 

Indie Fans ‘Need 2’ Participate in “Pinegrove Shuffle”

The New Jersey indie-rockers of Pinegrove might not technically be the least-likely artist to ever benefit from a viral dance challenge, but they’re certainly much closer to the bottom than the top of that list. Nonetheless, that’s what’s been happening since last Friday, when a video from TikToker @garrettlee39 dancing to their 2014 Mixtape Two highlight “Need 2” — maybe more full-body thrusting than dancing, along with some arm-flailing — went viral over social media, leading to countless other users trying to recreate what’s since been dubbed the “Pinegrove Shuffle.”

Interest in the original song has now also shuffled over to streaming services. “Need 2” had already been swelling in official on-demand U.S. streams for the couple weeks prior — the self-released track was up from 220,000 for the chart week ending May 18 to 567,000 for the week ending June 8, according to Luminate — but those numbers have really spiked since the @garretlee39 video (which currently has 4.6 million views), raising from 99,000 daily streams on June 8 (the day before the video) to over 427,000 on June 11, a gain of 333%, according to Luminate.

If those numbers keep spiking, it might give the cult band the first true breakout hit of its decade-long career — just after it entered an informal hiatus period earlier this year, following the departure of drummer Zack Levine. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

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: Bonus cuts from Taylor Swift’s new Midnights reissue look to shake up the charts, a new Disney musical remake leads to big gains for its classic songs and another conservative anthem puts up big sales numbers.

Chart Supremacy’s a Relaxing Thought: Taylor Swift Eyes Major Moves With Til Dawn

How big will Midnights – The Til Dawn Edition be? Next week’s Billboard charts will reflect the full commercial response to Taylor Swift’s new edition of last year’s Midnights album, which was released last Friday (May 26) and included an Ice Spice-assisted remix of “Karma,” a “More Lana Del Rey” version of “Snow on the Beach” and the streaming debut of “Hits Different,” among other goodies for fans. Based on early streaming and sales figures, those tracks are predictably getting played by a huge audience, and could impact the Hot 100 chart in a major way if those numbers hold.

On the streaming side, “Karma” was the big winner on the Til Dawn release date, with the original version and the Ice Spice remix combining for 5.65 million U.S. official on-demand streams on Friday — a 395% uptick from the previous day, according to Luminate. “Karma” — which is up to No. 27 on the Hot 100 this week, in the chart frame prior to the release of the remix and its accompanying music video — dipped a bit over the holiday weekend, but was still raking in 2.34 million streams on Monday, which was more than double its daily average in the days leading up to the remix release. Combined with a big boost in downloads (7,400 in sales on Friday alone), “Karma” could be flexing like a gosh darn acrobat in the upper reaches of next week’s Hot 100.

Meanwhile, “Hits Different,” which was originally released on the Target-exclusive physical edition of Midnights in October, scored an even higher sales day on Friday than “Karma,” with 11,200 downloads to Swifties anxious to add the track to their digital collections. “Hits Different” also earned 3.27 million streams on Friday, with that daily number hovering a bit above 1 million streams each day over the holiday weekend. And “Snow on the Beach” kicked off the weekend with 3.76 million streams on Friday — a whopping 849% increase from the previous day — and 8,000 in sales, with its daily streams winding down to the same levels as “Hits Different” by Monday.

Although the numbers for “Hits Different” and “Snow on the Beach” are worth monitoring, all eyes are on “Karma,” which Swift performed with special guest Ice Spice at each of her MetLife Stadium shows in East Rutherford, N.J. this past weekend. In the coming weeks, “Karma” could become Swift’s second Hot 100 chart-topper from Midnights, following “Anti-Hero,” which became the superstar’s longest-running No. 1 single by logging eight weeks atop the chart. Meanwhile, Midnights could return to the top of the Billboard 200 chart, snapping the 12-week run at No. 1 of Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time. – JASON LIPSHUTZ

Little Mermaid Songs Swim to Big Gains

The new live-action Disney remake of the studio’s 1989 animated classic The Little Mermaid is off to a dynamite start at the U.S. box office, with nearly $120 million reportedly raked in over its first four days of release (May 26-29). Unsurprisingly, the movie’s early ubiquity has inspired people to return to some of the timeless songs remade in the new version on streaming services, both in their newer and original incarnations.

“Part of Your World,” the Little Mermaid ballad originally sung by voice actress Jodi Benson (which Billboard‘s staff recently named the best song in Disney history) and covered by star Halle Bailey in the 2023 version, rose 71% in daily on-demand official U.S. streams from 294,000 on May 25 (the day before its release) to 503,000 on May 27 (the day after), while the Benson original was up 18% to 210,000 over that same span, according to Luminate. Meanwhile, the Daveed Diggs-led “Under the Sea” from the new version was up 125% to 208,000, and Samuel E. Wright’s 1989 rendition gained 11% to 202,000.

Are any of the 2023 version’s new Lin-Manuel Miranda-penned songs on their way to a classic status of their own? Hard to tell so far, but “The Scuttlebutt” — led by the Awkwafina-voiced Scuttle, and also featuring Diggs — seems to be off to the strongest start, with the song climbing to over 200,000 daily on-demand U.S. audio streams this week, a number that may only continue to rise as more and more kids nationwide are re-infected with Mermaid-mania. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Neo-Con Rappers Put a “Target” on Store’s Pride Month Display With Homophobic and Transphobic New Best-Selling Single

The No. 1 song on iTunes’ real-time chart isn’t from Taylor Swift or The Little Mermaid — but rather conservative rappers Forgiato Blow and Jimmy Levy’s new single “Boycott Target,” also featuring Nick Nittoli and Stoney Dudebro. The reactionary song takes aim at the titular megastore for its recently debuted PRIDE Collection and takes open shots at the LQBTQ community with lyrics like “You know the LGBTQ done went too far/ You know they cuttin’ these kids, they leavin’ tr—ies with scars/ Why they push an agenda, promoting with sexual genders/ I’m only rockin’ with Bruce, don’t rock with no Caitlyn Jenner.” Meanwhile, the video features the artists parading around a Target’s PRIDE section, with several of them donning a cartoonish amount of pro-USA (and/or pro-Trump) clothing and paraphernalia, and singer Jimmy Levy positing, “Inside this store, Satan resides.”

As several other conservative anthems have done in recent years, from Aaron Lewis’ “Am I the Only One?” to multiple different songs named “Let’s Go Brandon,” the song has attracted thousands in sales due to word-of-mouth and exposure via FOX News. The song grew from just over 200 in daily sales on May 25 to nearly 2,900 on May 30, despite Blow’s claims to FOX that the song had been “shadow-banned” from searches on Apple Music, and daily streams have also started to pick up, though they still remain in the modest five digits. Regardless of whether or not the consumption will be enough for “Boycott Target” to match the top 40 debuts of those previously mentioned right-wing rallying cries, its success thus far strikes a sour note for the start of Pride month. — A.U.

Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.
This week: Beyoncé’s new tour (and new remix) gives her catalog a big boost, while Lana Del Rey becomes the latest artist to score with a new old-song, an American Idol winner shows early commercial promise, and much more.

A Streaming Renaissance: Beyoncé Scores Gains With New Tour & Remix 

The launch of Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour — the superstar’s first headlining run in seven years — has understandably caused plenty of social media chatter about set list inclusions, outfit choices and choreography highlights as viewed through fan videos. Since kicking off on May 10 in Stockholm and continuing across the U.K. and Europe over the past two weeks, the tour has also resulted in a healthy uptick in streams for Queen Bey’s catalog. 

Weekly U.S. on-demand streams for Beyoncé’s solo music totaled 52.1 million for the week ending May 11, a 9.2% increase from the prior week (47.7 million), according to Luminate. During the first full week of the Renaissance tour, that number jumped to 58.1 million streams for the week ending May 18 — and on the current Billboard 200 albums chart, last year’s Renaissance album benefited from those streams, jumping up 16 spots to No. 29. Considering that these millions of plays are exclusively coming from U.S. listeners, expect those streaming totals to stay healthy when the Renaissance tour touches down in North America on July 8.  

To provide the BeyHive with even more excitement, Beyoncé unveiled a new remix of Renaissance highlight “America Has a Problem,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, last Friday night (May 19). We’ll see next week exactly how much the remix impacts her overall streaming total — and how high the song, which originally peaked at No. 69 on the Billboard Hot 100, can climb in its new form — but early streaming returns are promising: “Problem” jumped from 564,000 daily streams on Friday to 1.77 million in its first full day of release on Saturday, a bump of 213%. – JASON LIPSHUTZ  

Fans “Say Yes” to New-Old Lana Del Rey Song 

Lana Del Rey has one of the year’s most acclaimed albums thus far with Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, which hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. But one achievement she doesn’t have from that project is a Hot 100 hit – in fact, the last one of those the alt-pop star scored as a solo lead artist was four albums ago, with her No. 59-peaking cover of Sublime’s “Doin’ Time,” from 2019’s Norman F—king Rockwell.  

That might change next week, thanks to the release of her new one-off “Say Yes to Heaven.” The song, which Del Rey wrote with frequent collaborator Rick Nowels in 2012, had become a fan favorite in the decade since as an unreleased leak, with sped-up versions of it also helping it go viral more recently on TikTok. Fan excitement over its official release helped it land nearly 1.9 million on-demand U.S. streams in its first full day of release last Friday (May 22), along with nearly 900 in digital song sales, according to Luminate.

Those numbers slipped a little the next couple days, but have still remained fairly strong, as the song is still hanging in the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA chart’s top 50 five days after its release. If they stay near that level, “Say Yes” will likely crack the Hot 100 last week – just the latest example of an artist’s newer work being no match for a newly celebrated older song of theirs on the Billboard charts in 2023. — ANDREW UNTERBERGER  

Bad Bunny’s ‘Goes’ Gets Going With Strong Streaming Start 

Does Bad Bunny have another summer hit on his hands? After ruling last year’s dog days thanks to the May release of his Un Verano Sin Ti album, he unveiled a club-ready single, “Where She Goes,” late last week, and initial streaming numbers suggest more ubiquity on the way for the record-setting star. The track earned 5.1 million U.S. on-demand streams on Friday (May 19) after hitting streaming services the previous day, and scored another 6.4 million combined streams over the course of the weekend. While “Where She Goes” may not be an immediate threat to top the Hot 100, Bad Bunny has yet to score a No. 1 single on the chart as a solo artist — and could very well try to check that feat off his professional list in the coming weeks. – JL 

Will We Finally “Be Seeing” This Year’s Idol Winner on the Charts? 

Two decades on from the show’s debut, the commercial impact of American Idol in 2023 is fairly muted compared to what it once was – with Nick Fradiani in 2015 being the last season winner to even notch a hit on the Hot 100. Time will tell if 18-year-old Iam Tongi, announced on Sunday (May 21) as Season 21’s winner, is going to be the one to break that trend. But based on the early returns, he’s off to a pretty good start.  

“I’ll Be Seeing You,” dedicated to Tongi’s late father and released as his first single last Friday, got off to a decently impressive start – with official on-demand U.S. streams around 50,000 and sales around 1,500 in its first day of release, according to Luminate. But those numbers have gone way up following his emotional performance of the song on Sunday’s finale, with daily streams rising to over 100,000 and sales now over 3,000, as the song topped the daily U.S. iTunes chart.  

And right below it on that chart? James Blunt’s “Monsters,” a 2019 single that also moved over 3,000 copies on Monday, with daily streams over 200,000, following a similarly powerful duet the two singers performed of the ballad on Sunday’s show (with country star Jelly Roll calling it “one of the most emotional things ever” in its YouTube comments). If Tongi can help get James Blunt back onto the Billboard charts, big things may indeed lie ahead for him. — AU 

Q&A: Harvey Cohen, President of Vibee, on What’s Trending Up in His World 

Why is now the right time for an immersive music trip organization like Vibee? 

During the pandemic, travel and in-person experiences – including live music & entertainment – came to a halt. When the world opened back up, we witnessed a renewed appreciation for community, exploration, and real-life music experiences, especially at a more boutique level. As a result, Vibee recognized there was an incredible opportunity to build out-of-this-world trips for music fans that intersect passions for travel, connection, and exceptional live entertainment, while bringing fans closer than they’ve ever been to their favorite artists. And here we are. 

Vibee has thus far offered both destination experiences, like “Lionel Richie’s Dancing on the Sand” in the Bahamas, and music festival integrations with fests, like Lollapalooza and ACL. How have these events been selected and curated to fit the Vibee brand? 

At Vibee we make it a point to offer elevated experiences for all types of music fans. We find the right locations and produce events in conjunction with, and which align with the lifestyles of, our partner artists. For example, Tiësto’s “Chasing Sunsets” is taking place in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico this November where attendees can enjoy boat parties, tequila tastings, and watersport excursions in addition to multiple incredible performances by Tiësto and some of his favorite artists. The “Honky-Tonk Homecoming” weekend in Nashville will include performances from ‘90s country legends, a special songwriters brunch, tours of renowned venues like the Grand Ole Opry, and more. This will be an all-encompassing Nashville weekend, where we will bring fans back to that amazing era in country music with theme parties, honky tonk crawls, coupled with concerts by the likes of Trace Adkins, Jo Dee Messina, Lonestar, and Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry. These are just a couple examples of what we have in the works.  

Can you describe Vibee’s partnership with Live Nation, and how you expect it to evolve in the near future? 

Vibee was founded by Live Nation to tap into the desire from fans to have experiences more deeply rooted in a love of music and travel. Vibee focuses on three main verticals: curated experiences, festival integrations and Las Vegas residencies. Through our Live Nation partnership we’re able to work with the industry’s most respected festival producers including C3 Presents, Country Nation, Founders Entertainment, and other Live Nation festival properties. Vibee is also proud to have signed an exclusive global partnership with Insomniac, to bring premium hospitality experiences to their events around the world. These include the recent Hotel EDC takeover at Resorts World in Las Vegas, and the sold out inaugural EDSea cruise this fall.  Fans can find more of what we’re working on at Vibee.com or by following us at @VibeePresents on social media. There are a lot of incredible things to come this year. 

What’s one goal that you’d like to see Vibee — and, to some extent, the immersive sector of the live industry — achieve in the next few years? 

We truly want to surpass fans’ expectations by creating the most memorable immersive music destination experiences, all over the world. We want people to find love and life-long friends at Vibee events. And in years to come when asked how they met, say, “We met while dancing to our favorite artist on an unbelievable trip that was curated by Vibee.” – J.L. 

Season’s Gainings: Streamers Show Their Mother’s Day Appreciation 

If you forgot to send your mom a card or give her a phone call two Sundays ago (May 14), it’s probably a little late now – but hopefully you were at least one of the many listeners who showed your gratitude by streaming some Mother’s Day classics on DSPs. 2Pac’s “Dear Mama,” likely also boosted recently by the Hulu doc series named after the 1995 classic about the rapper’s relationship with mother Afeni Shakur, was up 48% to over weekly 2.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams for the week ending May 18, while The Intruders’ Philly Soul perennial “I’ll Always Love My Mama” was up 335% to 154,000 streams, according to Luminate. Another more recent entry in the canon also benefitted: Meghan Trainor’s 2016 bonus cut “Mom,” which kicked off Spotify’s official Mother’s Day playlist and climbed 147% to 382,000 weekly streams. — 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.  This week: Kate Bush makes it two years in a row with big gains from a Netflix hit, while Loreen enjoys a Eurovision bump on both sides of the pond and a pair of hitmaking Asian girl groups make inroads on U.S. radio.

Happy Mother’s Day to Kate Bush

Is it happening again? If you’ve checked Shazam’s real-time U.S. chart in the past week, you’ll see a familiar older name jostling with Lil Durk and J. Cole’s new “All My Life” for the top position: Kate Bush, she of the biggest sync revitalization of the decade so far. It’s not “Running Up That Hill” or Stranger Things this time, though: It’s her similarly beloved (and oft-covered) “This Woman’s Work,” used to great effect towards the end of the new hit Netflix action drama, The Mother. 

“Work” has been used prominently in movies and TV shows for 35 years now – dating back to its original 1988 release on the She’s Having a Baby soundtrack – and The Mother, starring Jennifer Lopez and released last Friday (May 12, two days before Mother’s Day), uses the signature ballad over its closing sequence and end credits. The synch’s impact could be seen in the song’s streaming numbers – up from 21,000 daily official on-demand U.S. streams on May 11 to 55,000 by May 14, a 157% gain – along with digital song sales increasing from under 100 to over 500 over that period, all according to Luminate. 

Thus far, the song’s explosive growth is still modest compared to the runaway success of “Hill” post-Stranger Things — which made it not only the biggest newly viral catalog of hit of 2022, but one of the year’s biggest overall hits of any kind. If this one starts crossing over from Shazam to TikTok in the same way that song did, though, there might still be plenty of “Work” for the Bush staple to do on the Billboard charts. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Left, Right, Up: FIFTY FIFTY & XG Hits Make Inroads at U.S. Radio 

As Asian pop acts have established an increased presence in U.S. popular music over the past five years, one sector of the industry has long proven the most difficult to impact on a consistent level: pop radio. 

While BTS smashes like “Dynamite” and “Butter” stand as exceptions, top 40 stations have generally shied away from the latest offerings from Asian pop collectives, even as those groups rack up seven-figure streaming numbers and headline arenas in the States. BLACKPINK, for instance, has only notched one non-collaborative single on Billboard‘s Pop Airplay chart to date (“Pink Venom,” which peaked at No. 32 last year), while groups like TWICE, Loona and (G)I-dle have only been able to achieve fleeting appearances on the tally. 

Yet a pair of English-language singles from the relatively new collectives FIFTY FIFTY and XG are not only turning into profile-boosting breakthroughs for each – they’re receiving real, growing radio play as well.

For more info on this, check out our full article over at Billboard Pro.

“Tattoo” Looks to Ink Itself on the Charts

The winner at this month’s Eurovision song contest was the delectably dramatic Eurodance-pop banger “Tattoo” by Loreen, Sweden’s representative at this year’s competition. Loreen might already have been familiar to many watching as the singer behind 2012’s “Euphoria,” a single that topped charts throughout Europe and went to No. 3 on the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart – but “Tattoo” looks on track to do even better, currently ticketed for a top two debut on this week’s U.K. chart. 

The song is also beginning to take off stateside. Though it’s been available on DSPs since February, the song has steadily risen on streaming since it triumphed in its first semifinal on May 9, and exploded following its ultimate victory on May 13. In all, the song has risen from 58,000 daily official on-demand streams on May 8 to over 226,000 on May 16 – a gain of 28%, according to Luminate. It’s a great start for the winner in the hopes of it following in the footsteps of recent U.S. Eurovision success stories like Måneskin and Duncan Laurence, though time will tell if “Tattoo” leaves more of a temporary or permanent mark on U.S. pop culture. – 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.  This week: The pop smashes on both sides of a major copyright dispute see gains, Nate Smith makes his case as country’s next reliable hitmaker and Luke Combs’ cover of an ’80s alt-folk classic gives it a sales boost.

Listeners Making Their Own Judgments in Ed Sheeran-Marvin Gaye Copyright Trial

It’s been a long week for global pop star Ed Sheeran, as he defended himself against claims of copyright infringement from the heirs of Ed Townsend, co-writer of Marvin Gaye‘s 1973 soul classic “Let’s Get It On.” Sheeran was accused of plagiarizing “Let’s Get It On” with his own Grammy-winning 2014 smash “Thinking Out Loud” — a charge that he not only strenuously denied, but threatened to quit music altogether if he was found guilty of it. (Today, the jury returned a not guilty verdict, so presumably fans will not have to go directly from the release of Sheeran’s – (Subtract) album this Friday, May 5, into mourning for his career.)

It may be cold comfort for Sheeran, but a small silver lining to his recent legal battle is that it’s drawn enough attention in news headlines and over social media over the past week to direct listeners back to the songs in question. “Thinking Out Loud” rose 15% in weekly on-demand official U.S. streams, from under 2.7 million for the tracking week ending April 20 to over three million the following week, according to Luminate — while also nearly tripling in sales, from under 400 to almost 1,100. And the numbers have also gone up for “Let’s Get It On,” which has risen 11% in streams (to around 900,000) and 93% in sales (to nearly 400) over that same period.

Clearly, listeners are interested in drawing their own conclusions about the similarities (or lack thereof) between the two songs as the trial goes on — and with the official verdict now in, the number of those independent investigations may still continue to climb. — ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Nate Smith’s Country Fans ‘Ship ‘Wreckage’

Much like Zach Bryan and Bailey Zimmerman, Nate Smith is a new-school country singer-songwriter beloved by the TikTok set, and the California native has leaned into app engagement, regularly teasing songs and even posting “duets” with fans who are lip-synching along with his tracks. “Wreckage,” a track from Smith’s self-titled debut album that was released last Friday (Apr. 28) on Arista Nashville, has been out since November, but the tender love song (“Laying in this bed beside you, I don’t have to hide away / You see all the wreckage, and it wrecks me that you stay,” Smith growls) keeps rising in streams in part due to TikTok engagement, as well as some prime placement on major streaming playlists.

“Wreckage” leads both Amazon Music’s Country Heat playlist and Spotify’s Hot Country this week — especially impressive, considering competition like Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” and Luke Combs’ “Fast Car.” And although the song has been hovering around 3 million weekly U.S. on-demand streams since the beginning of April, last week, as Smith went into full album-promo mode, that weekly total rose 44% to 4.68 million streams, according to Luminate.

Although “Wreckage” has yet to hit the Billboard Hot 100 — Smith’s previous single, “Whiskey on You,” peaked at No. 43 last year — that could change next week, if streams continue to rise and country fans, including Smith’s 1.5 million TikTok followers, delve into his first full-length. – JASON LIPSHUTZ

Tracy Chapman’s Original “Fast Car” Speeding Up in Song Sales

Country superstar Luke Combs‘ cover of alt-folk hero Tracy Chapman‘s 1988 smash “Fast Car” is one of the surprise breakout hits of 2023, climbing all the way to No. 14 on the Hot 100 — now just eight spots away from matching the peak of the original — and becoming one of the spring’s best-selling songs, reaching No. 3 on Billboard‘s Digital Song Sales listing.

While the cover has not resulted in a pronounced streaming uptick for Chapman’s version, its sales impact has carried over: The original “Fast Car” jumped 148% in digital song sales the week of Combs’ Gettin’ Old release week (the album with his cover) to nearly 800 copies, and that weekly sales number has continued to climb to nearly 1,000. The numbers are still relatively small, but if they continue to climb — or simply steady at a higher weekly number than it was doing two months ago — it could add up to a nice little annual bonus for the artist behind what Combs has called his “first favorite song.” – 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.  This week: Tyler the Creator’s new material is overshadowed by an older favorite, TikTok goes “Narcissistic” and a contemporary Christian rock classic gets a boost from an unlikely corner.

“See You Again,” Again: Tyler, the Creator’s 2017 Single Back for a Hot 100 Run

While Tyler, the Creator recently charted a trio of new cuts from his Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale deluxe reissue on the Billboard Hot 100, this week his highest-peaking entry on the chart comes from several album eras earlier. “See You Again,” the Kali Uchis-featuring love song, originally appeared on Tyler’s 2017 Columbia album Flower Boy, and just missed Billboard’s marquee songs chart, peaking at No. 13 on the Bubbling Under listing. 

But the song has remained a steady streamer in the six years since its initial release, and in the past month, it’s crossed the threshold from “reliable catalog performer” to “legitimate new hit.” The song got a big boost from TikTok, of course, in particular via a trend of users lip syncing to, or commenting on, the section where Tyler’s “OK OK OK” and Uchis’ “La la la” hooks overlap, as well as a variety of other popular videos using the video over the last month. The star duo also gave the song a spotlight with a performance at weekend one of Coachella on April 16, with Tyler making a special appearance during Uchis’ set.

The combined result has been a surge over the past four weeks from 3.9 official on-demand U.S. streams (for the tracking week ending March 30) to nearly 8.3 million on the week ending April 20, according to Luminate – a gain of 112%. Consequently, the song debuts at No. 65 on the Hot 100 this week, belatedly making it the biggest hit on the chart from Flower Boy (passing the No. 87 peak of the A$AP Rocky-featuring “Who Dat Boy”), and also Uchis’ highest-charting entry since her breakout hit “Telepatía” hit No. 25 in summer 2021. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Odetari Opens Up & Scores an Unlikely Dance Hit

This week, rising producer Odetari scores his first-ever chart entry with “Narcissistic Personality Disorder,” which debuts at No. 11 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. “Lost for words,” the independent artist posted on Twitter upon finding out about the feat — but based on the weeks-long rise of the propulsive track, the dance chart debut is only the beginning for Odetari’s viral hit.

The Houston native has described the self-released song as “about me constantly being in battle with destructive habits and asking god/universe for forgiveness,” and has used his recent singles to document his multiple personality disorders. The frankness of the lyrics (“I’m so full of myself, I’m selfish / Everybody want some help, can’t help it”), paired with the unrelenting tempo of his production, has proven affecting to listeners, and “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” has blown up on TikTok, with positive reactions to Odetari’s own posts as well as clips using the song as a soundtrack to others’ personal issues.

As a result, the song has skyrocketed on streaming platforms since its Apr. 1 release: from 65,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during the week ending Apr. 6, to 1.33 million streams the following week, to 2.38 million the following week, according to Luminate. Considering its subject matter and under-two-minutes run time, “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” is an unlikely breakthrough hit — but the more listeners connecting with its powerful message, the higher it will climb. – JASON LIPSHUTZ

A Travis Scott Interlude Gets Its Due

With interludes an increasingly common fixture of major hip-hop and pop albums over the last couple decades, fans are always lobbying for their musical short kings to be given their due. In the streaming age, those songs are able to find their audiences like never before, with brief-but-captivating cuts like The Weeknd’s Lana Del Rey-featuring “Stargirl Interlude” and Paramore’s “Interlude: I’m Not Angry Anymore” becoming among the most-listened-to cuts on their respective full-lengths. 

In truth, Travis Scott’s “sdp interlude,” from 2016’s Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, isn’t even that short – over three minutes, practically prog rock by this era’s standards. But fans have still made the case for it being underrecognized on TikTok over the past few months, saluting the original and also sharing clips of an unreleased fuller version with more of Scott’s actual rapping on it. As a result, fans have returned to the proper McKnight version on streaming, with official on-demand U.S. plays of the song raising from 1.1 million for the week ending March 30 to nearly 2.0 million for the week ending April 20, according to Luminate – a gain of 81%. – AU

Hillsong’s ‘Oceans’ Becomes a Streaming Knockout

While boxing and worship music aren’t the most natural fit together, a much-ballyhooed heavyweight bout in Las Vegas last Saturday night (Apr. 22) caused a streaming uptick for one of the biggest Christian music hits of the past decade. Before taking the ring for his match against Gervonta “Tank” Davis, 24-year-old lightweight fighter Ryan Garcia used “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail),” the 2013 smash from Hillsong United, as his walkout music, causing an eruption of chatter about the decade-old song from fans surprised by the choice as well as unfamiliar listeners newly discovering the track.

Although Garcia ultimately lost the fight, “Oceans” won a healthy streaming gain: the song rose 56% in daily streams from Saturday to Sunday, up to 360,000 streams, according to Luminate. That’s a nice boost for the winner of the Top Christian Song prize at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards, which spent a record 61 nonconsecutive weeks atop the Hot Christian Songs chart. – JL

Q&A: Alex Tear, VP Music Programming at SiriusXM + Pandora, on What’s Trending Up in His World

What’s been the most interesting pop trend over the first four months of 2023, in your opinion?

As we rolled into 2023, David Guetta & Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good” sampled Eiffel 65’s “Blue,” and Metro Boomin with The Weeknd & 21 Savage have a chart-leading presence with “Creepin,” that’s maximizing Mario Winans’ 2004 hit [“I Don’t Wanna Know”]. We’ve now got several new sample-led entries at pop radio, from [songs that use] Haddaway’s “What Is Love” to La Bouche’s “Be My Lover” to Alice Deejay “Better Off Alone” to Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You.” What’s old is new, and we’ll keep close to audience reaction to amplify or minimize our latest artist/industry appreciation or short-cut for appeal to the masses.

We’re getting close to Song of the Summer territory. What are some tracks you’re keeping an eye on?

I feel we’re still a few rollercoaster clicks from reaching our song(s) of summer vision, but I do like the continued mass appeal movement with Pop Country artists finding their way at top 40. Although a remake, Luke Combs kills it with “Fast Car.” Kane & Katelyn Brown and Morgan Wallen continue to rise up the pop charts. No doubt, there’s more to be had! Let’s not forget Dan + Shay, who’ve had great success at mainstream pop and are currently climbing the chart with Charlie Puth [collaboration “That’s Not How This Works”]. We’re also embracing Avery Anna on HITS 1: her track “Self Love” is reacting well with our SiriusXM audience.   

We’ve seen multiple years-old songs, from The Weeknd’s “Die For You” to Lady Gaga’s “Bloody Mary” to Miguel’s “Sure Thing,” push toward the top of the charts in recent months. How has that trend affected how you consider your programming?

These are all welcome additions that are in the moment of pop culture for one reason or another. We’ll continue to track fatigue with our SiriusXM listeners who will tell us enough is enough.

– Fill in the blank: the artist I’m most interested to see how the rest of their year plays out is ______.

First: so proud of SZA’s continued breakthrough. She’s been a force, but 2023 feels to have solidified her dominance. I’m keeping close to the continued K-Pop movement. XG’s “Left Right” & FIFTY FIFTY’s “Cupid” are topping Shazam and streaming very well. NewJeans is lurking, Stray Kids are making noise, and of course Blackpink had a solid 2022 U.S. pop presence. Let’s also keep a close watch on BTS’s Jimin, coming off a recent No. 1, and Jin, who’s climbing the U.S. charts. – JL

Season’s Gainings: Up in Smoke & Up in Streams

Whether they were celebrating the annual stoner holiday or unwinding from the blue check purge on Twitter, listeners unsurprisingly flocked to a variety of smoking- and weed-themed anthems this past 4/20. Among the bigger gainers were Sublime’s “Smoke Two Joints” (up 114% to 161,000 in official on-demand U.S. streams from April 19-20, according to Luminate), Rick James’ “Mary Jane” (up 92% to 142,000), Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It” (up 149% to 49,000) and Afroman’s “Because I Got High” (up 164% to 250,000). But if you were more concerned with the blaze outside your home than the blazing inside, you might’ve instead turned to Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” – which, with temperatures spiking nationwide, rose 23% to nearly 7.1 million streams for the week ending April 20. – AU