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: Tracy Chapman’s Grammy performance spurs massive gains for her signature song, The Greatest Night in Pop revives a charity classic, and BossMan Dlow gets in the viral mix.
“Fast Car” Keeps on Driving After Grammys Performance
Though she hasn’t been nominated at the awards since 2010, Tracy Chapman was unquestionably one of the biggest winners from the Grammys on Sunday night (Feb. 4). She made a rare public appearance at the ceremonies to perform her signature 1988 smash “Fast Car” alongside country superstar Luke Combs, whose cover version brought the song back into the mainstream in 2023. The much-buzzed-about performance has led to days of celebration of Chapman’s at times under-recognized legacy — and, of course, a whole lot of “Fast Car” consumption.
“Fast Car” racked up 949,000 official on-demand U.S. streams on Monday (Feb. 5), the day following the Grammys — up 241% from the 278,000 it notched the prior Monday (Jan. 29). That’s a big gain, though it’s nothing compared to how the song exploded in digital song sales, soaring 38,400% from a negligible amount to nearly 14,000. The Combs version also saw some huge gains over the same period, rising 37% in streams to nearly 1.6 million and nearly 3,900% in sales to just over 6,000.
Could it be enough for Chapman’s “Fast Car,” which originally peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988 to return to the chart? It’s not impossible, though it will have to do well enough to make the top half of the chart to be eligible for a re-entrance, due to Billboard chart rules about catalog songs. If it keeps cruising through the week on its early momentum though, it may have a shot — and as of Wednesday, it was still No. 2 and No. 52 on the daily U.S. charts for iTunes and Spotify, respectively. — ANDREW UNTERBERGER
“We Are the World” Streams Expand Over 300% Thanks to Netflix Doc
On Jan. 29, the documentary The Greatest Night in Pop, which chronicled the 1985 creation of the all-star charity single “We Are the World,” was released on Netflix, and became instant fodder for music-history nerds. The doc combines new interviews with artists like Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen and Cyndi Lauper with dazzling archival footage — including Michael Jackson warbling the hook to himself in the studio, and Huey Lewis trying to reach his upper register in the wee hours of the morning — that shows the chaotic, communal creation of the No. 1 Hot 100 hit for humanitarian aid in Africa.
Naturally, the extended behind-the-scenes look at “We Are the World” has resulted in older fans revisiting the sing-along and new listeners checking it out on streaming services. In the three days preceding the release of The Greatest Night in Pop (Jan. 26-28), “We Are the World” earned 106,000 official U.S. on-demand streams, according to Luminate; during the following Friday-to-Monday tracking period (Feb. 2-4), that number jumped to 472,000 streams, an uptick of 342%. Meanwhile, digital song sales during that same three-day period exceeded 2,300, after earning a negligible amount the previous week.
Although those bumps will likely die down as more time elapses from the documentary release, who knows — maybe the renewed interest will spawn an all-star charity single for a new generation? (The song’s 40th anniversary is coming up next year.) – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Rick Ross-Adjacent Drama Helps Bossman Dlow Score a Viral Hit
Public drama between an artist’s family members can sometimes turn salacious enough to provoke new interest in that artist’s music — but in the case of Rick Ross and the warring factions of his inner circle, the squabbling has benefited another artist entirely.
Rick Ross’ ex-partner, Tia Kemp, has recently been going back and forth with the rapper’s 21-year-old daughter, Toie Roberts, about (among other things) the veracity of her education and high school diploma. During the social media showdown, “Get in With Me” by rising Florida rapper BossMan Dlow has turned into an unofficial anthem of the feud, after being used in a post by Kemp that has since been adopted as a TikTok meme at the end of January.
Now, “Get In With Me” is turning into a hit on his own — with some social media users suggesting that the rapper give Kemp a cut of his earnings from the crackling trap song. From Jan. 26-29, the track earned 1.93 million official U.S. on-demand streams; fast forward one week, and “Get In With Me” scored 4.26 million streams from Feb. 2-5, according to Luminate. Bossman Dlow may be on the verge of his first Hot 100 hit, and it’s largely thanks to some dirty laundry being aired online. – JL
