Image by Deron Millay
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. Every two weeks, 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: 77,437
Face-tatted Florida native Dominic Fike’s guitar-driven pop melodies draw comparisons to Post Malone, thanks to his upbringing on Jack Johnson, blink-182, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The 22-year-old artist caught the attention of label execs with his December 2017 demo tape, which he recorded while on house arrest for battery of a police officer. After signing a reported $4 million deal with Columbia, the EP was re-released in October 2018 as a project titled Don’t Forget About Me, spawning the breakout hit, “3 Nights.” Since its release, the track has been added to feeder playlists like Spotify’s Pop Rising, amassing more than 50 million streams on the platform.
Pageviews so far: 103,574
Not too much is known about Lil Nas X, who claimed in a post on the Genius forums that he just started rapping in June 2018. Regardless of his origin story, Lil Nas X is on the rise thanks to the country trap stylings of his viral hit, “Old Town Road.” The track’s ascent has largely been fueled by the video-sharing social media app TikTok, where clips tagged #oldtownroad have garnered well over 3 million total views to date, propelling it to No. 1 on both Apple Music’s Top Country Songs chart and Spotify’s Viral 50 charts. “Old Town Road” has entered the Top 10 of Genius’ Top Songs chart as well, sitting at No. 6 as of publishing.
Pageviews so far: 23,212
Shordie Shordie scored a breakout hit in 2017 as a member of Baltimore trio Peso Da Mafia with “Money Man.” Last December, the 22-year-old rapper dropped his solo project, Captain Hook. The 9-track effort features Shordie Shordie’s viral hit, “Bitchuary,” which has accrued more than 2 million YouTube views in two months. The song quickly picked up steam on Genius after being transcribed in late January, raking in over 20,000 pageviews in a little over one month.
Pageview spike: 1,033 percent
On February 19, rumors circulated about Tristan Thompson cheating on Khloe Kardashian with Jordyn Woods, a close friend of the Kardashian-Jenner clan. A few days later, Kim Kardashian appeared to address the situation on her Instagram Story by singing along to Nivea’s 2002 hit, “Don’t Mess With My Man.” The Jagged Edge-assisted track received a huge bump on Genius as fans caught up on its lyrics, experiencing a 1,033 percent surge in pageviews between February 20 and February 21.
Pageview spike: 43 percent
Queen’s 1977 rock anthem, “We Are the Champions,” received a major boost in Genius pageviews from the 2018 Freddie Mercury biopic of the same name before tailing off at the beginning of 2019. Thanks to the band’s Oscar-opening performance of the song, however, the track saw renewed interest as fans looked up its lyrics. During the week following the ceremony—where the film took home four awards—“We Are the Champions” saw a 43 percent increase in total pageviews compared to the week before. Queen’s signature hit, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” saw a similar post-Oscars bump, experiencing a 30 percent increase in total pageviews.
