Welcome to Billboard Pro's Upward trends column, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, oddities and trends that have caught the attention of the music industry. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all could become ubiquitous with the flash of a TikTok clip.
This week: Tracy Chapman's Grammy performance sparks huge earnings for her song, The Greatest Night in Pop revives a charity classic and BossMan Dlow enters the viral mix.
“Fast Car” continues to drive after Grammy performance
Although she hasn't been nominated at the awards since 2010, Tracy Chapman was arguably one of the biggest winners from the Grammys on Sunday night (February 4). She made a rare public appearance at the ceremonies to perform her signature 1988 hit “Fast Car” alongside country superstar Luke Combs, whose cover brought the song back into the mainstream in 2023. The much-talked-about performance led to days of celebration of Chapman's sometimes under-recognized heritage — and, of course, lots of “Fast Car” consumption.
“Fast Car” racked up 949,000 official US on-demand streams on Monday (Feb. 5), the day after the Grammys — up 241% from the 278,000 it posted the previous Monday (Jan. 29). That's a big gain, though it's nothing compared to how the song exploded in digital song sales, jumping 38,400% from a paltry sum to nearly 14,000. The Combs edition also saw huge gains over the same period, increasing 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 he'll have to do well enough to make the top half of the chart to be eligible for readmission, because Advertising sign chart rules for catalog songs. However, if it continues to cruise through the week with its early momentum, it could be in for a good run — and as of Wednesday, it was still No. 2 and No. 52 on the US daily charts for iTunes and Spotify, respectively. — ANDREW UNDERBERGER
'We Are the World' streams expand over 300% thanks to Netflix Doc
On January 29 the documentary The Greatest Night in Pop, which chronicled the making of the 1985 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 such as Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen and Cyndi Lauper with dazzling archival footage – including Michael Jackson jamming the hook on himself in the studio and Huey Lewis trying to reach his upper register on early morning hours – showing the chaotic, communal creation of the No. 1 Hot 100 for humanitarian aid in Africa.
Of course, the extensive behind-the-scenes look at “We Are the World” had older fans revisiting the song and new listeners catching up on streaming services. In the three days leading up to its release The Greatest Night in Pop (Jan. 26-28), “We Are the World” earned 106,000 official US on-demand streams, according to Luminate. during the next tracking period from Friday to Monday (February 2-4), that number jumped to 472,000 streams, a 342% increase. Meanwhile, digital song sales in the same three-day period topped 2,300, after gaining a negligible amount the previous week.
While those hits will likely fade as more time passes since the documentary's release, who knows – maybe the renewed interest will spark an all-star charity single for a new generation? (40 years since the song is coming 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 become flattering enough to spark renewed interest in that artist's music — but in the case of Rick Ross and the warring factions of his inner circle, the controversy has benefited someone else entirely artist.
Rick Ross' ex-partner Tia Kemp has been going back and forth with the rapper's 21-year-old daughter, Toie Roberts, over (among other things) the truth about her education and high school diploma. During the social media showdown, up-and-coming Florida rapper BossMan Dlow's “Get in With Me” became the feud's unofficial anthem after it was used in a Kemp post that has since been adopted as a TikTok meme in late January . .
Now, “Get In With Me” is turning into a hit in its own right — with some social media users suggesting the rapper should give Kemp a cut of his earnings from the crackling trap song. From January 26 to 29, the track earned 1.93 million official on-demand streams in the US. fast forward a 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 thanks in large part to some dirty laundry airing online. – JL
