Image by Tania Lili
Here at Genius, we’re in a unique position as a music lyrics site to discover rising artists while staying on top of the latest trends. Millions of fans come to Genius every day after using Google to find the lyrics for songs they truly love, whether they’re looking for their favorite buzzing artists or the most viral songs of the moment. Twice a month, we’re going to look at our data and pinpoint why fans have been searching for selected artists and songs, regardless of whether the music is old or new.
While our Top Songs charts already reflect what’s popular right now, this is a deeper dive into the data to find the hidden gems that aren’t as readily apparent. In addition to highlighting rising artists which keep showing up in our search reports, we’ll also identify why there’s renewed interest in classic acts and songs.
Pageviews so far: 24,649
Blueface has only been rapping for a year, but the School Yard Crip has been drawing buzz for his spontaneous high school performances and off-kilter, unorthodox flow. After scoring a local hit in early 2018 with “Dead Locs,” the LA native recently went viral with “Thotiana.” The strip club anthem, which is taken off Blueface’s Famous Cryp EP, has seen a steady increase in pageviews since its music video was released in July. Blueface’s more recent hit, “Respect My Crypn,’” has caught on even more quickly, racking up over 2 million Youtube views in one month.
Pageviews so far: 67,065
Singer-songwriter Conan Gray built up a loyal following through YouTube, where the 19-year-old has been posting vlogs since he was nine. Conan started uploading cover songs to his channel four years ago before recently moving into original music. After catching the attention of record labels with the viral hit “Idle Town,” he signed with Republic Records earlier this year and is scheduled to release his debut EP, Sunset Season, on November 16. The lead single from the project, “Generation Why,” has nearly 2.5 million Spotify streams to date.
Pageviews so far: 25,626
Blaatina’s rap name originates from her Latinx heritage and Blood affiliation, the latter of which she reps heavily in music videos that have collected millions of YouTube views. Hailing from Southside Atlanta, the young rapper frequently cites Chief Keef as one of her biggest inspirations. Blaatina’s breakthrough song, “I Can,” has picked up over 3.5 million YouTube views since being uploaded in late February. Her other viral hits are “No Rap Kap” and “Travel Ban Freestyle,” while her latest single, “Run Up,” is steadily picking up steam with over 300,000 YouTube views in less than two weeks.
Pageview spike: 364 percent
Britney Spears‘ 2009 single, “If U Seek Amy,” saw a 364 percent pageview spike between October 24 and October 25 thanks to the controversy surrounding NBC talk show host Megyn Kelly’s remarks about wearing blackface on Halloween. During the fallout, Buzzfeed and Yahoo published articles remembering Kelly’s segment on Fox News when she criticized the song for “essentially spelling out the F-word over and over.”
Kelly was referring to the chorus, when Britney sings:
But all of the boys and all of the girls
Are begging to if you seek Amy
Pageview spike: 234 percent
Justin Timberlake’s 2002 breakup song, “Cry Me a River,” which he incidentally wrote about Britney Spears, saw renewed interest in late October and early November for two reasons. On October 29, Halsey released the video for her Top 10 hit, “Without Me,” which interpolates “Cry Me a River.” It’s racked up 16 million YouTube views in two weeks, and currently sits at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Two days later, “Cry Me a River” was in the headlines after the pop singer revealed in his memoir that he wrote the song in two hours. “The feelings I had were so strong that I had to write it, and I translated my feelings into a form where people could listen and, hopefully, relate to it,” Timberlake explained. “People heard me and they understood it because we’ve all been there.”
Total pageviews of the song from October 30 through November 5 rose 234 percent compared to the week before.
