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: Taylor Swift’s latest Hot 100 No. 1 eyes new radio gains, Fuerza Regida & Marshmello’s “Harley Quinn” looks like a streaming standout, Mariah Carey’s “Christmas” gets a post-Halloween boost, and much more.
Taylor Swift’s Radio Reign is Far From “Over”
The release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), the fourth entry in Taylor Swift’s six-album re-recording endeavor, not only resulted in the biggest sales week of the superstar’s career as the album blasted in at the top of the Billboard 200, but in another No. 1 on the Hot 100 as well. “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version),” one of five “From the Vault” songs from the 1989 sessions revisited for Taylor’s Version, debuted atop this week’s chart, giving Swift her 11th career Hot 100 No. 1 – while also knocking her 10th No. 1, the resurgent “Cruel Summer,” out of the top spot for the time being.
Part of the reason why “Cruel Summer,” from the 2019 album Lover, sustained its viral moment in 2023 – and reached No. 1 after months in the top 10 of the Hot 100 – is due to its performance at radio. The song has spent 10 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Pop Airplay chart, and currently comes in at No. 2 on its 21st week on the tally. Meanwhile, “Is It Over Now?” – which debuted at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart, and No. 7 on Digital Song Sales – also starts at No. 38 on Pop Airplay, and scored 4.7 million in all-format audience impressions between Oct. 27 and Nov. 2, according to Luminate.
The long-term chart success of “Is It Over Now?” could depend upon the song’s performance at radio. Although the new “From the Vault” hit is still earning just a fraction of the daily plays of “Cruel Summer” across both U.S. terrestrial and satellite radio – from Nov. 3-6, “Is It Over Now?” averaged a little under 1,000 daily spins, while “Cruel Summer” averaged 5,027 daily spins over the same period, according to Luminate – as reported earlier this week, “Is It Over Now?” is actively being promoted as a single to radio. Perhaps as summer finally gives way to colder weather, the ecstatic “Cruel Summer” will start to give way to the more pensive “Is It Over Now?” as Swift’s dominant radio hit of the moment. – Jason Lipshutz
Fuerza Regida & Marshmello Score Super-Sized Streaming Gains With “Harley Quinn”
Although we won’t see Lady Gaga’s take on Harley Quinn for another few months, the iconic DC Comics character is the namesake of one of the fastest-growing Latin songs in the U.S. “Harley Quinn,” a new collaboration between Billboard chart-topping regional Mexican band Fuerza Regida and Grammy-nominated DJ Marshmello, has garnered ample traction across streaming services since its Oct. 20 release on the band’s Pa las Baby’s Y Belikeada album.
According to Luminate, “Harley Quinn” logged over 2.34 million on-demand U.S. streams during the period of Oct. 20-26. The following week (Oct. 27-Nov. 2), the EDM-meets-regional Mexican track earned 5.75 million streams, a whopping 145.3% increase. Although the song is just two weeks old, it has already emerged as a creator favorite on TikTok, with its official sound currently boasting over 458,000 posts on the app. There has yet to be a discernible trend soundtracked by the song; fans appear to simply be enjoying the music, particularly the beginning of the second verse where Jesús Ortíz Paz sings, “Fancy, ella es una fresa / Mueve su cadera, todos la desean.”
“Harley Quinn” also appears on Marshmello’s new Sugar Papi album, which was released in full last week. It is the first collaboration between the two acts, and it arrives several months after they performed alongside Peso Pluma at the 2023 EDC Mexico music festival on Feb. 25. With an official music video still on the horizon, “Harley Quinn” has barely scratched the surface of its true power. – Kyle Denis
Jay Hound Finds Surprise Streaming Hit in New “Ukraine” Single
No, Jay Hound doesn’t say anything overtly political in support of Ukraine on his new single – unless you count “Flock sum, might fly to Ukraine” – but “Ukraine” just might be the biggest Ukraine-minded song of the current moment. The rising drill New York drill rapper’s new track is pulling impressive numbers at streaming, particularly – and unsurprisingly – in his hometown. The brooding drill snares and Jay’s husky tone and languid flow differentiate “Ukraine” from the more pop-minded drill that has found crossover success this year.
According to Luminate, “Ukraine” collected just over 90,000 on-demand U.S. streams during the period of Oct. 20-26. That number exploded by 621% for a total of 657,000 streams the following week (Oct. 27-Nov. 2). Buoyed by a pre-release TikTok trend in which users built various scenarios and concepts out of Jay’s “Bro, hold on, let me talk” intro, the most popular “Ukraine” sound currently boasts over 13,300 posts on the app. On YouTube, the track’s official music video has clocked over 657,000 views. While much of the success of “Ukraine” is still relatively local to New York, the potency of the numbers could very well give way to even greater crossover commercial success. – K.D.
Darius Rucker Helps Dax “Man” Up With New Country Hit
“It’s amazing to see music for the PEOPLE, spread BY THE PEOPLE resonate like this,” Dax, the Nigerian-Canadian artist who toes several genre lines, wrote on social media earlier this week, following the viral explosion of the remix to his song “To Be a Man.” Dax originally issued a solo version of the piano-led country-rap track, which focuses on the complexities and expectations of the modern man, back in April. However, a remix with Darius Rucker released on Oct. 27 has given “To Be a Man” a much wider audience, with the lyrics resonating with country listeners as well as with social accounts like ‘Motivation is the Fuel.’
The remix release helped “To Be a Man” earn 3.79 million U.S. on-demand streams during the week of Oct. 27-Nov. 2 – a 350% increase from the previous week, according to Luminate. Those streams helped “To Be a Man” debut at No. 32 on this week’s Hot Country Songs chart, and we’ll see how high it can climb in the coming weeks as its messages spreads further. – J.L.
Season’s Gainings: Mariah Carey’s “Christmas” Starts Right After Halloween
If you keep an eye on daily streaming charts as the calendar flips from October to November, no doubt you’ll notice the Halloween-affiliated classics sliding away, and the first wave of Christmas tunes creeping back into our lives. Sure enough, Mariah Carey’s annual chart-topper “All I Want for Christmas Is You” – which is once again a regular presence on those aforementioned streaming charts, and debuts at No. 11 on this week’s TikTok Billboard Top 50 – also scored gangbuster streams on the first day of November, too. After “Christmas” earned 546,000 U.S. on-demand streams on Oct. 31, that number more than tripled the following day, to 1.75 million streams on Nov. 1, according to Luminate. Something tells us that, with two weeks to go before Thanksgiving and an even bigger explosion of holiday music coming soon, “Christmas” is just getting started. – J.L.
