Spotify’s Summer Songs Recap

Before summer is “officially” over, let’s take a look back at the Black artists who made the most waves on the Spotify list. Since his return to music, Gunna has made headlines with his hit single “fukumean” that topped the charts this summer. This track was Spotify’s most streamed rap song in the U.S. On top of that, Gunna’s ranked #4 on the overall “Spotify’s most-streamed songs of summer in the U.S.” SZA was ranked at #7 with “Kill Bill” and Tyler the Creator ranked at #8 with “See You Again ( featuring Kali Uchis)”. Also, Lil Durk and J. Cole ranked at #11 with “All My Life (featuring J. Cole)”.

After a massive Barbie billion summer, the hit soundtrack for the film was expected to be on Spotfiy’s most streamed songs of the summer list. Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice, and Aqua ranked at #14 with “Barbie World” (with Aqua) from Barbie the album. Ice Spice made the list again with PinkPantheress on her track “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2”. These artists have definitely made their presence known within the industry and have taken over the end of summer with their hottest tracks. It’s been almost impossible for someone to go anywhere or open TikTok without these tracks trending.

SZA has continuously dominated the charts for female artists within the industry over the past year with her album SOS which has landed her on Spotify’s Global Songs of Summer list. She’s ranked at #13 with her hit track “Kill Bill”. Another honorable mention from this global list is Rema’s groovy single “Calm Down (with Selena Gomez) which ranked at #20. Rema and Selena Gomez are fresh off a VMA win for their collaboration on the song that was awarded Best Afrobeats Video at the ceremony. Additionally, this record sat 45 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs Chart; thus becoming Rema’s first top 10 hit single in the U.S.

By Kori Barnes, University of Southern California

Instagram: @korixnicole

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