The dog days aren't far off, and we already have some contenders for the song of the summer. Here are the singles and artists we think you should watch.
Future, Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande
Designed by Lyanne Natividad
Last year on this day, the song of the summer of 2023 had already reached No. 1.
Morgan Wallen's “Last Night,” which was released in late January 2023 and topped the Hot 100 in March, turned into a juggernaut last summer, spending 16 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 last year and easily capturing its No. 1 spot Advertising signThe annual Songs of the Summer chart, which runs every year from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. Sometimes, the Song of the Summer race is an actual race, with multiple songs competing to define the summer season — and other times, we have a “Last Night” year, in which the competition is pretty much over by the Fourth of July. fireworks sound.
However, however the Song of the Summer race plays out, we've seen a consistent theme emerge over the years: the singles that dominate the beach season are often released when the weather is chilly. Past songs of the summer like Harry Styles' “As It Was,” Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus' “Old Town Road,” and Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's “Despacito” were released months before the start of summer. – sometimes even before their dominant calendar year. So, even though it's only early April, it's worth perusing today's field of song-of-the-summer contenders, because the grand champion could very well already be out.
Here's our annual, very early, Song of the Summer breakdown, with the current headliners, the outside shots who could make it to the top, and the superstar releases set to be just around the corner.
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Ariana Grande, “We Can't Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)”
Condition: Forward-Runner
Did “Yes, And?” walk this winter to run “We Can't Be Friends” this spring and summer? Both songs from Ariana Grande were recently released Eternal sunshine topped the Hot 100, but “We Can't Be Friends” seems to have the biggest legs in streaming (topping the Streaming Songs chart in its first two weeks of release) and radio is starting to kick in (No. 32 debut on Radio Songs this week). While “Yes, And?” might be more shocking, “We Can't Be Friends” has a midtempo synth-pop feel that works well in any streaming playlist or radio block – meaning it could be something like this year's “Flowers” and settle for a long graph path.
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Beyoncé, “Texas Hold 'Em”
Condition: Forward-Runner
Time will tell if otherwise Cowboy Carter The track is establishing itself as the album's standout single of the summer: early streaming returns are strong for Beyoncé's revamp of “Jolene,” the Miley Cyrus duet “II Most Wanted” and the glitzy jam “Bodyguard.” However, “Texas Hold 'Em” already has a top 40 spot (No. 7 on Radio Songs this week), as well as Hot 100 pedigree (becoming Bey's latest No. 1 hit in March) — yet and with 26 More songs around it on the tracklist, streaming listeners are still gravitating toward the country-pop group that released earlier this week. Beyoncé could move on to another single before summer arrives, but with its strong pedigree and continued performance, “Texas” has the inside track.
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Future & Metro Boomin feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Like That”
Condition: Forward-Runner
Yes, the hype surrounding Kendrick Lamar's explosive verse will die down in the coming weeks, and true, Future scored a No. 1 hit in the spring two years ago (“Wait For U,” featuring Drake and Tems) that just it topped the chart for a week and never threatened to become the song of the summer. But “Like That” is more than just its impressive guest spot — where “Wait For U” reveled in subtleties, the current No. 1 country song is a bona fide scorcher, with Future flying with gusto and Metro Boomin belting out “Everlasting Bass” before Kendrick even arrived. The second frame's streaming numbers suggest that “Like That” wasn't a one-week phenomenon, and regardless of how long it stays at No. 1 on the Hot 100, it'll be part of the upper echelon of the chart for a while.
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Benson Boone, “Beautiful Things”
Condition: Forward-Runner
The surprise viral hit has so far peaked at number two on the Hot 100, while reaching the top 10 on the Mainstream Top 40 and Adult Top 40 charts. Perhaps most encouragingly, “Beautiful Things” has spent multiple weeks atop the Global 200, with the entire world embracing Benson Boone's extreme anthem. A few weeks after unexpectedly crashing the Hot 100's top 10, “Beautiful Things” is now a legitimate, multi-quadrant smash and won't slide down the chart easily.
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Teddy Swims, “Lose Control”
Condition: Forward-Runner
A rhythmic pop single with rock elements and a sultry vocal version, “Lose Control” used its genre-defining approach to introduce Teddy Swims to an exponentially wider audience and reach the top of the Hot 100. The single continues to is possible in the top five during its 33rd week on the chart, and to capture Song of the Summer status, “Lose Control” needs to perform a bit like “Last Night” did last year – a solid presence for months on top chart tier, using his crossover sound to appeal to the masses.
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Hozier, “Too Sweet”
Condition: Outside shot
In the midst of a flurry of Top 10 Hot 100 debuts this week from Future and Metro Boomin's project We Don't Trust You it was “Too Sweet,” the soulful, slightly funky alt-rock single that Hozier teased on TikTok before unleashing on a rabid audience. The Hot 100's No. 5 was surprising coming from a singer-songwriter whose last top 10 hit, “Take Me to Church,” peaked a decade earlier, but Hozier's latest single seems to be riding the same alt-flow wave -rock that has helped artists like Boone and Noah Kahan recently, and “Too Sweet” should be taken seriously as an enduring hit.
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Djo, “End of Beginning”
Condition: Outside shot
Speaking of alt-rock crossovers, Joe Keery's music project Djo has become much more than Steve Harrington's sidekick in recent months, as “End of Beginning” has bucked TikTok's trend to become a streaming behemoth and creeps to the end. No. 11 on the Hot 100. “End of Beginning” features a killer hook and a cool story – could it end up aiming for the top of the Hot 100? Stranger Things to be happy – ok, sorry, sorry…
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Artemas, “I like the way you kiss me”
Condition: Outside shot
Artemas had been teasing “I Like the Way You Kiss Me” for weeks on TikTok before the springy, darkly promotional track hit full-length and earned the Anglo-Cypriot singer-songwriter his first entry on the Hot 100 with a No. 70 bow. The song has a long way to go to compete for a top 10 spot, but its streaming power is real and growing, and its hypnotic chorus sounds poised to cross over to mainstream platforms after soundtracking a slew of brooding music videos TikTok.
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Dasha, “Austin”
Condition: Outside shot
After “Austin” debuted at No. 74 on the Hot 100 two weeks ago, singer-songwriter Dasha has watched her viral country hit climb the chart, where it sits at No. 53 this week. The hand-clapping, dance-inducing single may be slightly off-putting and full of rhetorical questions, but Dasha has scored an instant hit that could begin to appeal to pop fans as much as country radio die-hards in the coming months.
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Sexyy Red, “Get It Sexyy”
Condition: Outside shot
After breaking out last year with “Pound Town” and “SkeeYee” and earning an enviable spot on Drake's crossover hit “Rich Baby Daddy,” Sexyy Red's raucous new single is the sound of a rising hip-hop star cashing in on new to her. belief in a great, undeniable crash. The song's No. 23 debut on the Hot 100 is Sexyy Red's highest debut as a top artist to date, and “Get It Sexyy” sounds like a monster summer single, with entire blocks screaming “I'm not» along with the rapper.
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Taylor Swift
Condition: TBD
This is it, hello: Department of Tormented Poets is just a few weeks away and almost guaranteed to score one of the biggest debut albums of 2024. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift's final album, 2022 Midnight, landed “Anti-Hero,” which became her longest-running Hot 100 No. 1 to date. We won't know what Poets can be heard (or what its likely success will be) until April 19, but considering the timing of the album's release and Swift's track record, you simply can't bet against her entering this year's Song of the Summer race.
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Dua Lipa
Condition: TBD
The advance singles from Radical Optimism haven't quite left the stratosphere yet, but Lipa remains one of the 40's surest things – just last summer Barbie The soundtrack single “Dance The Night” became ubiquitous. Perhaps upcoming single “Illusion” will burn even brighter than “Houdini” or “Training Season,” or something else from May's album could break through. Either way, Lipa is unlikely to go Houdini in this Song of the Summer showdown.
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Cardi B
Condition: TBD
The recent release and top 10 debut of “Enough (Miami)” proved two things: that Cardi B is back, and that she hasn't lost an ounce of her commercial appeal. The wait for it Breach of privacy The follow-up continues, but Cardi has been active in the studio as a featured artist and collaborator, and any kind of folk-leaning single she has lined up for the summer could make a lot of noise.
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SZA
Condition: TBD
WoolSZA's upcoming project originally pegged as one warning sign deluxe edition and has since evolved into a standalone, it still has no release date, but lead single “Saturn” debuted in the Top 10 on the Hot 100 upon its release in February. “Kill Bill” and “Snooze” proved that the R&B superstar has become a top hitmaker even if Wool arrives soon and contains a song on this level, SZA could rule the summer.
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Billie Eilish
Finally, Billie Eilish teases… album/” target=”_blank”>something… this suggests that a third album era could be coming sooner rather than later. In between all the Grammys and Oscars is an artist who hits the Hot 100 top 20 with seemingly every song released. Maybe we're about to find out, all these years later, that “You Should See Me in a Crown” is in the 2024 Song of the Summer race.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/lists/song-of-the-summer-2024-early-contenders/