Drake’s ‘Nokia’ Becomes His Midweek ‘$exy $ongs’ Breakout Hit, ‘Gimme a Hug’ Leads to Aaron Hall Gains
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: Drake’s new album with PartyNextDoor has a mid-week breakout hit, Charli XCX has a pre-Brat viral bump, Riley Green’s song (and video) for the lovers sees seasonal gains, and more.
Drake’s “Nokia” Is Buzzing, Aaron Hall Embraced on Streaming After “Gimme a Hug” Sample
In its first couple days of release, the early leader on streaming from PartyNextDoor & Drake’s new R&B collaborative album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U was Drake’s more rap-driven solo number “Gimme a Hug,” with the song topping the Apple Music real-time chart and reaching the top 10 on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA listing. But over the week, another song from even deeper in the 21-track album has taken over as its top performer: the pop hook-driven, two-part banger “Nokia.”
With backing vocals and a beat helmed by U.K. producer Elkan, “Nokia” – also credited solely to Drake – had the usual big streaming drop following its first day of release, but has been climbing throughout the week. On Tuesday, it posted 2.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to initial data provided by Luminate – its best streaming performance since that Friday of release, and its first time passing “Hug” as the set’s most-streamed song. Meanwhile, the song has also been one of the week’s best sellers, topping the iTunes real-time chart and moving a combined 13,000 copies over its first five days of availability.
Meanwhile, “Hug” continues to offer warmth on streaming to its original sample source. Aaron Hall’s “I Miss You,” which Drake heavily lifts from towards the end of his $exy $ongs ¢enterpiece, garnered over 700,000 streams during the first five days of this tracking week (Feb. 14-18), after combining for under 100,000 streams the equivalent period the prior week, a gain of 694% for the 1993 Billboard Hot 100 top 20 hit. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
‘How I’m Feeling Now’ Winter? An Old Charli XCX Track Is Going Viral
Charli XCX’s enormous 2024 — which included the critical and commercial success of her Brat album and its accompanying Sweat tour alongside Troye Sivan — has already pushed into 2025, thanks to a fruitful Grammys night and more arena headlining dates. Now, a song that’s years older than her comeback album is going viral: the tender, ethereal “Party 4 U,” from her 2020 lockdown album How I’m Feeling Now, has been exploding on TikTok in recent weeks, with a series of lip synch performances from longtime Charli fans ready to prove their pre-Brat bona fides.
A month ago, “Party 4 U” was earning 278,000 official on-demand U.S. streams (for the chart week ending Jan. 23), according to Luminate; that number more than doubled to 573,000 streams for the week ending Feb. 13, and will once again surpass that high-water mark after earning 830,000 streams from Feb. 14-18, according to initial Luminate reports. Charli herself acknowledged the viral explosion on Wednesday (Feb. 19): “it’s p crazy that this song is suddenly getting love in this kinda way,” she wrote. “I know this song means so much to so many angels. she’s a cutie <3” – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Riley Green’s “Worst Way” on Its Way to Best Week Following V-Day Video Bump
Eagle-eyed chartwatchers may have seen Riley Green’s “Worst Way” poke its head into the lower stretches of the Hot 100 for a week here and there from late last year to early this year, though in its first four times appearing on the chart, it had not gotten higher than No. 91. This week, the single hits a new peak of No. 87, and it should beat that pretty handily on the upcoming chart, following a smartly timed release of the song’s steamy music video.
“Worst Way,” already one of the sexier country ballads in recent years, was taken to the next level by the Shane C. Drake-directed clip, which dropped the Thursday just before Valentine’s Day. In the visual, Green and his significant other find themselves unable to resist getting down, both in public and at home – including one scene paying tribute to a kitchen love scene between Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon from classic 1988 baseball rom-com Bull Durham. The timely video electrified fans and the generally amorous, and shot to No. 1 on YouTube’s Trending chart.
Now, it should also significantly improve the song’s Hot 100 fortunes. In the five days following the video’s Feb. 13 premiere, it notched 5.5 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to initial reports provided by Luminate – a 61% gain from the equivalent period the prior week – while also selling nearly 2,000 copies, up 486% from the previous week. Radio has also been picking up for the song, as it climbs No. 45-40 on this week’s Country Airplay listing, and has continued to grow throughout this week.
After 2024’s Ella Langley duet “You Look Like You Love Me” brought Green to the Hot 100’s top 40 for the first time as a featured guest, it looks like “Worst Way” could soon lead to his best showing as a lead artist on the chart yet. – AU
Two-Year-Old Dance Trend Revives 12-Year-Old Wale Song Because Time Is a Flat Circle
Back in 2023, TikTok creator @spencetiktoklegend made a dance trend to Wale and Sam Dew’s “LoveHate Thing,” the second single from the D.C. rapper’s The Gifted LP. Originally released in 2013, “LoveHate Thing” peaked at No. 89 on the Billboard Hot 100 – and now it could potentially challenge that should it maintain its newfound streaming momentum.
According to Luminate, “LoveHate Thing” earned over 290,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during the week of Jan. 24-30. The following week (Jan. 31-Feb. 6), that figure leapt 93% to over 560,000 official streams. By the second week of February (Feb. 7-13), streams for “LoveHate Thing” jumped a further 175% to over 1.54 million official streams, marking a whopping 431% streaming boost over the past two weeks.
On Jan. 27, TikTok user @skyesdalimitt revived Spence’s dance with a bit of her own twist to the tune of over 542,000 views. Naturally, the clip kicked off a revival of the dance trend, with an unofficial “LoveHate Thing” TikTok sound now playing in over 352,000 posts. (The official “LoveHate Thing” TikTok sound boasts just under 1,500 clips.)
Blog Era rappers have been eating up the spotlight recently, and it looks like it’s Wale’s time to shine. — KYLE DENIS
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