By Kemet High, Vrinda Jagota, Colin Joyce, Leah Mandel, and Peter A. Berry of Third Bridge Creative.

This week’s Trending Tracks report examines the power of a Cardi B feature, Tracy Chapman’s enduring legacy, a soundtrack hit, a 2017 indie folk song going big on TikTok, and the Atlanta snap song that rose from the dead.

FendiDa Rappa with Cardi B: “Point Me 2”

Chartmetric Artist Rank: 10,045

Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap

Country: U.S.

Drill artist FendiDa Rappa released her debut project Str8 from Da Raq in 2021, though the Chicago-bred talent wouldn’t reach mainstream heights until the following year with her smash song, “Point Me To The Slut’s.” The track pairs Philly/Jersey Club-style production and quick-witted and sexual lyrics about being a player. Sonically, it impressed Cardi B, who hopped on an official remix in early July. With Cardi’s co-sign alongside a high-energy music video, “Point Me 2” has widened Fendi’s fanbase: Her Spotify monthly listeners count skyrocketed by over 450% in the last month. The new collaboration also became a big talking point among hip-hop fans, thanks to Cardi’s momentous run of working with rising talent.

Luke Combs: “Fast Car”

Chartmetric Artist Rank: 138

Genre: Country

Country: U.S.

Tracy Chapman’s 1988 folk rock debut single “Fast Car” was an instant classic thanks to its poignant mix of optimism and yearning. Country star Luke Combs performed the song live for six years, but in March released his official rendition, giving it a second life. Chapman’s version received critical acclaim: The song hit #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, and her self-titled album topped the Billboard 200. Combs’ single is performing even better. It peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is currently #1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, making Chapman the first Black woman to write a chart-topping country song. The song's original version is getting new listeners, too (though critics point out how race has made Combs’ performance more palatable to the masses).

Dominic Fike: “Mona Lisa”

Chartmetric Artist Rank: 455

Genre: Pop

Country: U.S.

Ever since 2018’s Don’t Forget About Me, Demos, Euphoria actor Dominic Fike has been a low-key star. Every song from his new album Sunburn, released July 7, has already passed the one million streaming mark on Spotify. But even with a Weezer feature on the single “Think Fast,” “Mona Lisa” is the album’s standout. A breezy song about a complicated relationship, it was originally released in early June as a featured track in the movie Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. “Mona Lisa” has 58.4 million views on TikTok, almost 330k Shazams, 2.2 million streams on Pandora, and a whopping 59.6 million streams on Spotify.

Faye Webster: “I Know You”

Chartmetric Artist Rank: 374

Genre: Indie Folk

Country: U.S.

Atlanta singer-songwriter Faye Webster came to fame as an outlier on the rap label Awful Records, uniting with their off-kilter perspective even though her sound—mannered indie pop and folk—was miles away from the label's usual releases. The 2017 self-titled album Faye Webster released from that partnership demonstrated her potential—and she’s continued to rise since, even landing on former president Barack Obama’s coveted list of the best songs of 2020. Strangely though, a song from that early release, "I Know You," has recently returned to the popular consciousness thanks to ongoing virality on shortform video. The pained ballad has been used in over 552.8k videos on TikTok, with an overwhelming majority being created in July. It’s since landed on major editorial playlists like big on the internet, Viral Hits, and Front Page Indie, powering her to 5.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

D4L: "Laffy Taffy"

Chartmetric Artist Rank: 7,496

Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap

Country: U.S.

With its minimalist beat, accompanying dance, and simple – yet memorable – chorus, D4L's No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single "Laffy Taffy" feels genetically engineered to be a TikTok hit, even if it first came out about 18 years ago. Thanks to a couple of internet personalities, it’s officially become one. Over the last two weeks, TikTokers have taken turns posting edits that include YouTuber Duke Dennis (a gamer who has 1.9 million YouTube subscribers), with at least two videos earning over 400k views on TikTok. Funneling more attention to the song was YouTuber Agent Zero (who has 738k YouTube subscribers), who posted a TikTok of himself with “Laffy Taffy” playing in the final seconds. Since those TikToks were posted, the artist’s Chartmetric rank has steadily risen, going from 17,037 to 7,496 in just the last two weeks.

Graphics by Nicki Camberg and cover image by Crasianne Tirado; data as of July 28, 2023.

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