Now, Jules Kounde is taking the aux for the latest edition of Barça Matchday on Spotify. Kounde’s playlist takes fans on a world tour of hip-hop—from New York’s JAY-Z to Paris’ Dinos to Manchester’s Nemzzz and LA’s Kendrick Lamar—with some chilled-out R&B mixed in for good measure. (JSYK: Kounde is also a certified Kendricksuperfan, with his 2024 Wrapped revealing him to be in the top 1% of K.Dot listeners worldwide.)
“Music is a huge passion of mine and my Matchday playlist on Spotify is an example of what I listen to when I need to motivate myself and to chill,” Kounde said. “I love hip-hop from around the world and I think my playlist shows it!”
Every summer, as people across the Northern Hemisphere seek out the perfect songs to soundtrack the season, Spotify is right there with them. The fun starts in early June with our annual Songs of Summer predictions featuring the red-hot hits our global team of editors thinks will pop off. This year, we even gave you our first-ever midsummer update with the top 15 songs from our original list, plus five new wild card additions.
Now, for the big end-of-summer reveal, we’re doing things a little differently. Instead of picking one winner based on streams alone, we’re presenting our Global Top 5 Songs of Summer to capture a more dynamic view of the sounds and moments that soundtracked the season. We also took a more holistic approach to our process, using Spotify streaming data, the expertise of our music editorial team, and cultural impact as criteria.
“Our editors are constantly watching culture evolve and seeing how the music landscape ebbs and flows during certain moments in time,” said Spotify’s Talia Kraines, Senior Editor, U.S. Pop. “The Songs of Summer we’ve chosen this year really reflect the wide variety of sounds our listeners were finding joy in throughout the season, and what resonated with them culturally. We looked beyond the charts—although they still played an important role—to see which songs became a staple in culture throughout the summer. These tracks really encapsulate the unique moods listeners have been leaning into.”
So without further ado, here are the five songs that defined summer 2024 for our listeners around the world—from female pop breakthroughs to country’s global surge to instant hip-hop classics, as featured on our official Songs of Summer playlist.
To close out the season, let’s unpack each track and the key trends that contributed to its undeniable popularity.
“BIRDS OF A FEATHER” – Billie Eilish
Billie had a refreshing return to tempo this summer with this breezy hit, which boasts more than 855 million streams on Spotify. One of the biggest tracks from her third studio album, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, the song reached a fever pitch after Billie’s unforgettable performance at the summer games closing ceremony on August 11. The following day, it was streamed more than 9 million times on Spotify, quickly rising to the top of our global chart.
“HOT TO GO!” – Chappell Roan
In many ways, it has been the summer of Chappell, with “HOT TO GO!” emerging as a 2024 festival favorite and becoming one of Spotify’s wild card picks in our midsummer update.
Globally on Spotify, the track saw its biggest spike of the summer on June 10, the day after Chappell’s showstopping Gov Ball set in New York City. A photo of the artist in her iconic Statue of Liberty costume became the cover of Spotify’s I Love NYC afterward, and the playlist grew by nearly 350% over the following week. Following her record-breaking Lollapalooza performance, Chappell was also featured on the cover of our Hot Pink playlist, which grew by nearly 145% in the week following.
“Not Like Us” – Kendrick Lamar
This razor-sharp track transcended the rap beef that brought it to life and became a worldwide summer anthem. It also drove massive boosts for Kendrick’s entire catalog on Spotify immediately following its release.
Both globally and in the U.S., “Not Like Us” saw its biggest surge on June 20, the day after Kendrick’s Juneteenth concert in Los Angeles. And after the music video dropped on July 4, the song spent 28 consecutive days at No. 1 on Spotify’s U.S. chart.
“Espresso” – Sabrina Carpenter
When “Espresso” first dropped in April, it instantly felt like the song of the summer—before the season had even started. With its beach-themed music video, catchy chorus, and idiosyncratic lyrics (“that’s that me espresso!”), this hit held on to its staying power all summer long.
Since June, the song has spent 20 days at No. 1 on Spotify’s global charts while also topping 25 regional charts in countries like Australia, Malaysia, Jordan, and Singapore.
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Shaboozey
With “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey secured an instant hit. Based on a familiar, nostalgic track from the early aughts—J-Kwon’s “Tipsy”—this infectious sing-along rendition crossed borders and topped charts around the world.
Since June, the song has hit No. 1 on Spotify’s charts in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden. It reached No. 1 on Spotify’s U.S. chart for the first time on July 4, solidifying its status as the perfect summer holiday anthem.
“The global success of Shaboozey really exemplifies a shift in the sound reaching new audiences globally—it’s been incredible to see the growth of country music outside of the U.S. over the last few years,” said Spotify’s Emma Vikström, Editorial Lead, Nordics. “Early spring, we saw ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ take off in the Nordics, and Shaboozey quickly reached his first-ever No. 1 in Sweden. Sweden was also the first country in the world that had him at the top of the charts, and he remained at the top throughout the entire summer. And Shaboozey is not alone—we’ve seen many other country stars have unprecedented success in our Hot Hits flagships all over the world. The country genre is breaking through this season like never before.”
The season’s not over yet, so there’s still plenty of time to queue up our Summer Hits 2024 playlist for your next gathering. And if you’re heading out on one last sunny vacation, check out our beach-themed podcast picks and audiobook selections.
Last month, Spotify’s annual Songs of Summer predictions made their return, and fans have rallied around the anthems they can’t get enough of. Some have been working late (…’cuz they’re a singer), while plenty have been feeling so Julia. Meanwhile, others have been looking for someone to match their freak.
Now, for the first time ever, we’re giving you a midsummer update that reveals the top 15 songs from our original list, along with five new “wild card” songs. These updated predictions reflect our final contenders for the Song of Summer as we approach the end of the season.
Backed by Spotify data and cultural buzz, and hand-picked by our global team of editors, our wild cards were either released after we made our initial predictions, or they’ve experienced a recent spike in global streams. Wild card track “360” by Charli xcx, for example, has experienced an 80% increase in U.S. streams in the past month, while streams of “HOT TO GO!” by Chappell Roan have spiked 110% globally on Spotify.
Spotify’s updated Songs of Summer list
(Listed alphabetically by artist first name; wild card picks in italics)
Over the last year, we’ve seen increased popularity of dance and Afro house globally, and summer is the perfect time for these songs to cross over into the mainstream.
“‘Move’ has been an undeniable hit this summer and an obvious choice for our editors as one of our wild card additions,” said Luisa Kristen, Senior Editor, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland at Spotify. “The song features the perfect recipe of beautiful Afro house production, earwormy melody, and pop lyricism—sounds that tend to thrive with listeners in warmer weather globally.”
Luisa also noted that in the last few weeks, the song has charted all around the world across many parts of Europe, the U.K., and the U.S. It drove record streams for the German group globally on its release day and was recently added to Today’s Top Hits—a monumental achievement for German artists and the Afro house genre overall.
“Stumblin’ In,” which was released in November 2023, is also a strong example of how a song can have an extensive lifespan, cross borders, and experience a cultural resurgence during different moments of the year. It highlights the power of Spotify—our editors have tested it in various playlists, and since its release, it has grown and reached new listeners around the world.
Tinashe’s “Nasty” also surged during the first two weeks of the Songs of Summer predictions reveal, both globally and in the U.S. Since then, the song has seen over a 110% increase in streams globally and in the U.S.
Celebrating 2024’s Songs of Summer
To continue the summer fun, we hosted our 2024 Songs of Summer event in Brooklyn this week,featuring electric performances from two of our contenders, Tinashe and Tommy Richman.
Streaming has transformed not only the way fans listen to music, but also the way artists release music to the world. And while music has become a more song-driven culture in recent years, that doesn’t mean albums have lost their impact. With the introduction of Spotify CLASSICS: Hip-Hop & RNB Albums of the Streaming Era, we’re celebrating the classic albums that have stood the test of time, no matter the era.
Available in North America, Spotify CLASSICS is our first-ever program to celebrate catalog music. For the first iteration, we’re looking at albums from the streaming era, 2015 to the present day. Through a selection process examining an album’s holistic impact, our North American editorial team has put a spotlight on the ones that helped define the streaming era.
After years of honing his craft in L.A.’s underground scene, Anderson .Paakfinally had a breakthrough with his second studio album, Malibu. A true hybrid, Anderson collages pieces of funk, R&B, dance, and rap into a cohesive puzzle. Released independently, the album earned a Grammy nomination and served as a springboard for AP to become one of music’s most multifaceted artists.
Beyoncé – Lemonade
Columbia, 2016
Beyoncé took the idea of the blockbuster album to new heights with her self-titled surprise in 2013, but less than three years later, she somehow managed to outdo herself on her sixth album, Lemonade. A reckoning with infidelity, the album is a visual and sonic tour de force that effectively lifted the star’s otherwise impenetrable veil through a stunning display of vulnerability and catharsis. From its melding of genres to its incorporation of visual and fashion cues to its marketing, Lemonade has become a multidisciplinary blueprint in its own right.
Beyoncé – RENAISSANCE
Columbia, 2022
Beyoncé’s ability to outdo herself was already unparalleled, but then RENAISSANCE arrived. The full scope of its impact can’t be known so soon, but already, it’s clear that this album is truly special. It’s conceptual like its predecessor, but beyond that, there’s little in her catalog to point to for reference; this is Bey like we’ve never heard her before. Atop a soundscape of Chicago house, Detroit techno, bounce, ballroom, and their numerous derivatives, she sings, raps, and sing-raps, mightily proclaiming that dance music is Black music—then, now, and forever.
Bryson Tiller – T R A P S O U L
RCA, 2015
A product of 2010s post–Drake R&B, Bryson Tiller’s T R A P S O U Lrepresented an evolutionary step in the merging of hip-hop and R&B. Stylistically, he covers the spectrum between rapping and singing, at times on the same verse. Combining vintage songwriting with futuristic production, T R A P S O U L offers up relatable love songs that strike a chord with a generation enamored by toxicity. While countless pop stars and R&B upstarts would go on to adopt Bryson’s blueprint, T R A P S O U L remains the standard.
Cleo Sol – Mother
FLO/Tunecore, 2021
Becoming a parent permanently alters a woman’s world, and when Cleo Sol arrived at that crossroads in her own life, she created a monument. Her aptly titled second album, Mother, is a beautiful and emotional project that reflects on her personal transformation and her complicated relationship with her own mom. There’s a profundity to the songs—many of them recorded with her newborn son in her arms—that still feels like a rare gift.
Daniel Caesar – Freudian
Golden Child, 2017
Daniel Caesar went against the grain as trap soul was becoming the norm. The Toronto balladeer merges his gospel, soul, pop, and indie sensibilities into Freudian, a 10-track masterpiece that’s unmistakably R&B. Released on the singer’s label, Golden Child Recordings, the album features hits like “Get You,” as well as the Grammy-winning “Best Part” with H.E.R., which has earned over 1 billion streams on Spotify to date. Freudian is a testament to R&B’s enduring appeal and the genre’s capacity to reference the past, present, and future in its purest form.
Freddie Gibbs and Madlib – Bandana
Keep Cool/RCA, 2019
Freddie Gibbsand Madlib released their first collaborative album, Piñata, in 2014 during a transitional time in music. By the time they delivered the 2019 follow-up, Bandana, streaming had become the world’s top medium for music discovery and melodies had all but replaced traditional rapping. Despite this, Bandana established the duo as leaders of a more vintage sound centered around lyricism and lo-fi beats—a counter-culture movement that’s still inching toward the mainstream today.
Frank Ocean – Blonde
Boys Don’t Cry, 2016
A critical darling since his 2011 breakout mixtape, Nostalgia, ULTRA, Frank Oceanstepped into a class all his own with his second album, Blonde.More sparse and atmospheric than previous releases, Blonde leans into his most endearing and enigmatic qualities. Emotions are high, but neatly contained narratives are few, which is fitting for an album that makes deconstruction—sonic and otherwise—its guiding principle.
Future – DS2
Epic, 2015
At the time of DS2’s release, Future had come off of a five-month, three-mixtape run that included Monster, Beast Mode, and 56 Nights. Still, questions remained about whether he could conjure the same magic on a proper album. DS2 quickly silenced doubters as the Atlanta rapper elevated his signature brooding to new levels. A refined and focused album, DS2 both cemented an iconic run from the artist and forged a new way for trap—and popular—music.
H.E.R. – H.E.R.
RCA, 2017
The 2010s were rife with artists incorporating mystery into their marketing, but H.E.R. made it central to her musical identity. Her self-titled compilation album—which combined her first two EPs along with a handful of new songs—used the faceless, nameless approach (especially rare for women) as a way of highlighting universal experiences with love and heartbreak. More than that, her anonymity allowed her striking voice and musicality to take center stage, laying the groundwork for the star she’s evolved into.
The Internet – Ego Death
Odd Future/Columbia, 2015
Once the in-crowd’s best kept secret, The Internet stepped out of Odd Future’s shadow and expanded its reach with Ego Death, proving that the group could no longer be confined to the alternative R&B label they carried at the beginning of their career. The streaming hit “Girl,” produced byKaytranada, was instrumental in creating the band’s pathway to more casual R&B listeners. The album serves as a coming out party for frontwoman Syd, revealing her talents as a formidable songwriter, and bandmate Steve Lacy, who would go on to blossom as a solo artist.
Jay-Z – 4:44
Roc Nation, 2017
Jay-Z built his career rapping about his hustler’s spirit. But Hov’s ability to deliver a message that resonates with millions who don’t share his background helped make him one of the most influential artists of all time. 4:44 is part confessional and part business manual. He addresses the transgressions that led to a controversial elevator ride with his wife Beyoncé and her sister Solange, and sprinkles food for thought through the album. 4:44 also showcases Jay-Z at his razor-sharp best, silencing any doubts that he could still deliver a compelling body of work 20 years after his classic debut.
Jazmine Sullivan – Heaux Tales
RCA, 2021
By the time Jazmine Sullivan’s Heaux Tales was released, it’d been nearly 13 years since her breakthrough single, “Need U Bad.” But even for longtime fans, this album felt like an arrival for one of modern R&B’s most stunning vocalists. Conceptually, it’s an exploration (and reclamation) of femininity, sexuality, and romance; sonically it’s a breathtaking display of range and tone that only further confirmed her prowess. The effort earned her her first, long-deserved Grammys: Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance.
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly
Top Dawg Entertainment/Interscope, 2015
Rap is arguably most impactful as protest music, but the genre had almost exclusively become party music, at least in the mainstream, by 2015. Kendrick Lamar offered rare social commentary months after the police killings of Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and Michael Brown. To Pimp A Butterfly’s jazz backdrop is a sharp contrast from the trap sound that had become ubiquitous, spawning the Pharrell Williams-produced “Alright”—one of the most important protest songs of the 21st Century, and one that pushes the idea of rap’s role as the “CNN of the ghetto.”
Kendrick Lamar – DAMN.
Top Dawg Entertainment/Interscope, 2017
Following up his previous two albums was never going to be an easy task for Kendrick Lamar, but on DAMN., the rapper proved he could deliver crossover hits without compromising a drop of his innovative spirit. The album has sold over 3 million album -equivalents to date, won multiple Grammy Awards, and earned a Pulitzer Prize—making K.Dot the first non-classical or jazz musician to win the honor. With DAMN., Lamar joined a short list of musicians who’ve released three classic albums in a row, and he cemented himself as the most critically acclaimed artist of his generation.
Lil Uzi Vert – Lil Uzi Vert vs. The World
Generation Now/Atlantic, 2016
Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World is a crystallization of the exact moment Lil Uzi Vert exploded into stardom. All of the qualities he would continue to warp, expand, and transform over the course of his career take shape on this mixtape: his irresistible melodicism, sharp-but-defiant cadences, and an experimental streak that pushes rap’s boundaries to some of its quirkiest limits. In the years since its 2016 release, the sonic seeds of Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World have been scattered across hip-hop, pop, and beyond.
Migos – Culture
Quality Control Music/300, 2017
At the height of their powers, Migos were half-jokingly, half-earnestly considered to be better than The Beatles, with signature triplet rhymes effectively resetting the sound of popular rap. Then the trio’s second album, Culture, arrived and promptly cemented their place in the zeitgeist. Riding the massive, viral wave of “Bad and Boujee,” which earned Migos (and Lil Uzi Vert) their first and only number one, Culture emphasizes all the things that made them impossible to resist: playful ad-libs, inventive cadences, earworm melodies, and savvy beat selection.
Nipsey Hussle – Victory Lap
All Money In/Atlantic, 2018
Many rappers tend to peak early, but Nipsey Hussle entered his creative prime 10 years after his breakthrough release. The L.A. native’s vision was always clear: As a self-made entrepreneur, Neighborhood Nip preached about economic empowerment. Nip perfected his formula on Victory Lap, and his lyrics had the ability to resonate with street disciples and ordinary people alike. The project brought Nipsey the acclaim and commercial reach he long deserved and, as has historically been the case, the album gained even more importance in the wake of his untimely death.
Playboi Carti – Die Lit
AWGE/Interscope, 2018
Playboi Carti’s appeal lies, in part, in his ability to do a lot with a little, and he used his debut album, Die Lit, to double down on his style. The beats are captivating and Carti’s melodic flow—punctuated by repetition and chirped ad-libs—leaves plenty of space to appreciate not just the production, but also the slippery minimalism of his flow. It’s a formula that has been praised and criticized in turns for being simplistic, but the Atlanta rapper is redeemed by the many imitators who repeatedly fail to recreate his singular magic.
Rihanna – Anti
Roc Nation/UMG, 2016
Rihanna’s ability to churn out a hit was well-established before the release of Anti. In fact, the decade leading up to its release saw Rihanna consistently topping the charts. But this album opened up a new chapter of her artistry, revealing the pop star in a new light. Anti culls inspiration from a wide range of genres, including psychedelic and pop-rock, but it’s the soulfulness of it all that sets it apart. And fans continue to keep this classic in heavy rotation, evidenced by three songs (“Work,” “Love On The Brain,” and “Needed Me”) that have surpassed a billion streams.
Roddy Ricch – Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial
Atlantic, 2019
After releasing a trilogy of acclaimed mixtapes, Roddy Ricch’s grind culminated in his blockbuster debut album,Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial. In an era of increasingly fragmented rap fandom, the project represents an inflection point as his chart-topping single “The Box” possibly exemplifies the last ubiquitous rap song. Roddy goes through a range of moods as he contextualizes why being a product of his environment has made him so rigid today.
Saba – CARE FOR ME
Saba Pivot, LLC, 2018
Following the murder of his cousin, Chicago rapperSaba surveyed his grief and responded with CARE FOR ME. On the album, his second, Saba allows his emotions to sharpen his craft, deftly capturing the depths of his sorrow and loneliness while still expressing the love he has for his fallen family member. Despite the weightiness of its concept, Saba emerges triumphant, not just as a rapper but as a person as well.
Solange – A Seat at the Table
Saint Records/Columbia, 2016
While Solange offered a glimpse at her potential on earlier releases, A Seat at the Table is where the singer found her identity and announced her arrival as a full-fledged creative. Revealing a new, mature point of view as a lyricist, and a new sound, A Seat At The Table is cool, substantive, and unapologetically Black. With Raphael Saadiq handling coproduction for most of the project and Master P narrating throughout, the album embodies qualities that had become disassociated with R&B amid pesky perceptions that the genre was dying. The album made Solange a favorite among tastemakers and positioned her as one of R&B’s most forward thinkers.
Summer Walker – Over It
LVRN/Interscope, 2019
When Summer Walker’s breakout single, “Girls Need Love,” emerged from the ether in 2018, it felt as though she had gifted a generation of women the language for expressing their sexual desires. Her debut album, Over It, further expanded that lexicon, with the singer-songwriter replacing archaic attitudes and feelings of shame—shame for wanting love, shame for wanting sex, shame for being too loud, shame for being imperfect—with a sense of pride. In a hypercritical era, Over It became a necessary meditation on how to embrace one’s own flaws.
SZA – Ctrl
RCA, 2017
Few albums have captured the complexities of modern love and lust like SZA’s debut, Ctrl. Upon its release in 2017, there was a near immediate recognition that Ctrl was special. The wounded vulnerability and raw candor of SZA’s lyrics made her listeners feel seen as she laid bare some of the hardest truths about romance in today’s world. She brilliantly transformed the messiness of her inner world into a masterpiece for all to see, and music—along with each person who heard it—was made a little better by her bravery.
Travis Scott – ASTROWORLD
Cactus Jack/Epic, 2018
Inspired by a now-defunct theme park in his native Houston, ASTROWORLD showcases Travis Scott’s ability to create fictional worlds his fans can inhabit. Before Astroworld’s release, Travis made fans wait two years for the album to drop, at a time when flooding the market was becoming a survival tactic for most artists. As the anticipation reached a fever pitch, he’d carefully whet his fans’ appetites with excellent cameos on SZA’s “Love Galore” and Drake’s “Portland.” Then, Travis delivered and ascended to a new stratosphere as one of hip-hop and pop’s biggest stars.
Tyler, The Creator – Flower Boy
Columbia, 2017
Tyler, The Creator reinvented himself into an artist’s artist on his fourth studio album, Flower Boy. The Los Angeles rapper peeled back layers and revealed a sophistication that was hidden behind the shock value and provocative behavior showcased in some of his earlier work. Over dreamy production, Tyler paints a portrait of a complex human, displaying his personal and artistic growth. Tyler’s evolution was also rewarded with a commercial leap, as Flower Boy gave the artist his first platinum certification. The album’s biggest single, “See You Again,” has gone viral twice in the years after its initial release and has now surpassed a billion streams on Spotify.
Tyler, The Creator – IGOR
Columbia, 2019
Tyler, The Creator has historically pulled from a boundless pool of musical influences, but with IGOR, he offers up an album that challenges genre classifications. There’s some rapping, but the album’s hip-hop DNA is less apparent. It’s soulful—Tyler sings for most of the album—but it’s not necessarily R&B or pop. Instead, T’s journey of personal and artistic maturation takes center stage as he reflects on past relationships. Speculation around the object of Tyler’s affections has given the album a mythological air. Despite being left of center, IGOR earned a Grammy for Best Rap Album and ironically pushed Tyler toward the center of rap’s cultural conversation.
Tyler The Creator – Call Me If You Get Lost
Columbia, 2021
For most of the 2000s and into the 2010s, a Gangsta Grillz mixtape represented a milestone moment for artists, both rising and established. In 2021, Tyler, The Creator restored the feeling with Call Me If You Get Lost, his very own Gangsta Grillz mixtape, hosted by DJ Drama himself. The acclaimed tape evokes the gritty rawness of the aughts and juxtaposes it with some of the rapper’s finest and most confident writing. In calling on the past, Tyler introduced the world to a new era of his artistry, clear-eyed and more fearless than ever.
XXXtentacion – 17
Bad Vibes Forever/EMPIRE, 2017
XXXtentacion’s 17 turned the Florida native into a streaming juggernaut. X managed to gain organic traction when manufactured virality was becoming standard. He hardly ever promoted his music. Instead, the persistent controversy that followed him seemed to fuel his momentum. Pulling heavily from emo influences, 17 showcases X’s ability to effortlessly move between styles, singing over acoustic guitars one moment and rapping over vocal samples the next. Touching on mental health and tapping into angst, 17 demonstrates the artistic qualities that made X a fan favorite among younger audiences, and four of the album’s 11 songs have surpassed a billion streams to date. Less than a year after 17’s release, X’s moment in the spotlight would be tragically cut short, and his death has left a void that’s yet to be filled.
Discover more of today’s future hip-hop classics on our flagship playlist, RapCaviar.
Spotify users start chattering on social media about Spotify Wrapped months before the experience is unveiled. The data dive turned cultural phenomenon, in which we unveil global top-listened-to songs, artists, albums, and podcasts, as well as fans’ personal listening trends, is as much of a learning experience for us as it is for our users. It’s an opportunity to see firsthand how much audio impacts our listeners’ lives, and the ways they turn to our platform to dive into this experience even more deeply.
So the Spotify marketing teams make efforts to leverage our unique abilities and insights for original interactive experiences throughout the entire year. From New Years–inspired Playlist In a Bottle to My Top Five artist experiences with Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, ROSALÍA, BTS, andTaylor Swift, these new campaigns delight our users, more deeply connecting them with the artists they love and with fellow fans.
“Wrapped really credentialed us in the marketplace in terms of marrying data with creativity and delivering it to users in an interesting way. And it gave us permission to think outside the box,” says LouisaFerguson, Head of Global Marketing Experience. “There’s a lot of cultural energy on Spotify, and it’s nice to carve out space for Spotify to be more experimental and to try things that we’re not sure if they’re going to work and we want to find out. Our users help us do that.”
Louisa notes that as the team developed ideas for interactive moments, they realized there were opportunities to illuminate new and different insights on our users’ listening behaviors.
“We want users to more consistently stumble upon these exciting, engaging moments throughout the year,” says ColetteMcIntyre, an Associate Creative Director at Spotify. “We see the younger generation, in particular, craving more interactivity and more personalization. They want to connect with the artists they love more, they want to connect with their own tastes more, and they want to connect with other fans more. And we wanted to facilitate that more regularly.”
Playlist in a Bottle is a notable example of a moment of surprise and delight when users aren’t expecting it. It also puts listening ownership in users’ hands by enabling them to create a playlist for their future self.
“Playlist in a Bottle is a lovely complement to Wrapped, which is a look back, in that it’s a look forward, a prediction of how your year is going to unfold,” said Louisa. The team was floored by the reception and is eyeing January 2024 as an opportunity to reintroduce the experience.
Our platform reflects the cultural zeitgeist
Though Playlist in a Bottle is one example that focuses on a topical moment, New Years, the team also prides itself on keeping abreast of unique trends and cultural conversations.
Social media is core to this. “We think social first, always,” says Colette. “Social conversation is inherent to these experiences. Part of why these are connecting with people is because they’re built on very real insights of fandom, of genre, of the ways our users or fans react. One of our interactive experiences, GetReadyWithMusic, was inspired by, yes, music’s long-standing relationship with fashion, but also the social phenomenon of ‘Get Ready With Me’ videos on social.”
“We are very, very focused on tapping into existing cultural conversation,” Louisa agrees. “It is really important that we enable these fans, who are already having this debate in various places, to come to the place where they actually listen to the music, engage with the experience, and then share it out to their friends and spark maybe a little bit of disagreement. We’re okay with that. We like that friction.”
Having those moments on our platform isn’t necessarily a given, and that’s where Johannes Vuorensola, Director for Tooling, Integrations, and Labs, comes in. Johannes oversees a back-end product that allows Spotify to create these playful experiences in our Android and iOS mobile apps, keeping listeners where they are to enjoy moments like SupergrouperorPet Playlists 2.0.
“We want to be able to provide a seamless experience for our users, rather than driving them to another destination on a microsite or web page,” says Johannes. “We know that our users love our app; they want to consume music and other content on our platform. And obviously it’s natural for us to be able to bring these playful elements into their everyday lives, right where they are.”
Johannes notes that it’s also a boon for the team to be able to develop and get feedback on these experiences across Spotify. “It helps us to take the product onto the next level by pushing it even further. This allows us to continue to innovate and build even more engaging products that truly create these playful and meaningful experiences and connections with our users and artists.”
Evolving data as the differentiator
While some interactive experiences are more general, others fall into niche fandoms or favorite genres. All of these are rooted in the habits of the listening communities we see on Spotify.
“You can’t escape the fact that genre is still a useful organizing principle for music, and it’s a way for fans to come together and convene over a passion and attract a bigger community,” says Louisa.
In Find Your Flow, listeners discovered which Latin music style best defined them by answering questions specific to their tastes. Then they received a listening persona based on their styles. “For an experience like Find Your Flow, all the details we used were hyper-specific to the reggaeton community, and all those data and listening insights came from a local level to us,” notes Louisa. “That is a real example of how Spotify’s broad reach is enabling us to dive deeper into a specific market, pull out insights, and share them globally.”
Our My Top 5 franchise focuses on highly visible artist fandoms and also pulls from the way fans naturally debate their fandoms. For the My Top 5 BTS experience, fans were encouraged to not only share their top songs, but to do so using a background that signified their favorite band members. The ease of sharing to social media naturally brought fans together and sparked new interactions.
We added Spotify data as another layer to our recent My Top 5: Taylor Swift’s Eras. After selecting their Top 5 Eras, fans received a share card, similar to past My Top 5 moments. But after self-identifying, “We’d come in with receipts, as only Spotify can,” says Colette. “Well actually, you’re more of a Reputation fan than you thought.”
Colette notes this opportunity as a beautiful melding of what we’ve become known for with Wrapped, now applied to the framework of the My Top 5 franchise.
“When I think of Spotify, I think of discovery, and I think of play,” explains Colette. “And I think these experiences are inherently playful, right? They’re fun. They’re light-hearted. They provide unique, surprising ways for fans to look at their own fandom or look at themselves. They capture the spirit of Spotify and what sets us apart and why our users trust us and love us. At the end of the day, music is personal. But it’s also meant to be shared. I can’t think of better ways to have both.”
As hip-hop turns 50, fans around the world are celebrating its golden anniversary. For a genre that started at a block party in the Bronx, this milestone is a testament to the massive impact and influence hip-hop has had in virtually every corner of the globe.
And today on Spotify, hip-hop is thriving, with artists and fans from around the world discovering and connecting with one another. In 2023, nearly a quarter of all streams on Spotify globally are hip-hop music, led by artists like Drake, Nicki Minaj, 21 Savage, Ice Spice, and Metro Boomin.
But it goes further than that . . .
Hip-hop is one of the most-listened-to genres globally on Spotify, and more than 400 million users around the world have streamed hip-hop music in 2023 so far.
RapCaviar ranks as the second most-followed playlist on Spotify.
Around the globe, there are over 53 million user-generated and Spotify-curated playlists on Spotify that mention hip-hop or rap in the title of the playlist, and over 2 billion playlists that contain at least one hip-hop song.
For the past three years, almost half of Spotify’s Top 50 most-streamed artists globally have been hip-hop or rap artists.
One of the most distinct aspects of hip-hop culture is its regionality, with the unique sounds coming out of local U.S. scenes like New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Miami helping one of the most dynamic genres in the world flourish.
That’s why we’re celebrating these iconic regions with a series of original murals created by Raj Dhunna.
Quando o Hip Hop completa 50 anos, fãs de todo o mundo comemoram suas bodas de ouro. Para um gênero que teve um começo inesperado em um parque do Bronx, este marco é uma prova do enorme impacto e influência que o Hip Hop teve em praticamente todos os cantos do globo.
E hoje no Spotify, o Hip Hop está mais forte do que nunca, com artistas e fãs de todo o mundo se descobrindo e se conectando. Em 2023, quase um quarto de todas os streams no Spotify globalmente foram para músicas de Hip Hop, lideradas por artistas como Drake, Nicki Minaj, 21 Savage, Ice Spice e Metro Boomin.
Mas, vai além disso…
O Hip Hop é o segundo gênero mais popular globalmente no Spotify, e mais de 400 milhões de usuários em todo o mundo escutaram música Hip Hop em 2023 até agora.
RapCaviar é a segunda playlist com maior número de seguidores no Spotify.
Em todo o mundo, existem mais de 53 milhões de playlists editoriais e geradas por usuários no Spotify que mencionam Hip Hop ou Rap no título, e mais de 2 bilhões de playlists que contêm pelo menos uma música de Hip Hop.
Nos últimos três anos, quase metade dos 50 artistas mais escutados no Spotify em todo o mundo são artistas de Hip Hop ou Rap.
Um dos aspectos mais distintos da cultura Hip Hop é sua regionalidade, com sons únicos vindos de cenas locais dos Estados Unidos, como Nova York, Atlanta, Los Angeles e Miami, ajudando um dos gêneros mais dinâmicos do mundo a florescer.
É por isso que celebramos essas regiões icônicas com uma série de murais originais criados por Raj Dhunna.
One year ago this week, Spanish superstarROSALÍA released her album MOTOMAMI to massive fanfare—and the accolades quickly followed. In 2022, ROSALÍA was the most-streamed Spanish artist globally, with streams of her tracks on Spotify growing by more than 110% year over year. And in Barcelona, she was also the most-streamed female artist on Spotify last year.
So when football fans around the world come together on Sunday to watch FC Barcelona take part in another epic El Clásico clash, we’re thrilled the club will be celebrating the first anniversary of her album. Players will step onto the Spotify Camp Nou pitch wearing a special Barcelona home shirt that features ROSALÍA’s MOTOMAMI album logo, much like they did when they commemorated Drake’s landmark achievement of 50 billion streams with a limited-edition OVO shirt.
When the Peacock original series Bel-Air debuted last year, it reimagined the original series in the truest sense. Where the original sitcom was more of a lighthearted, fish-out-of-water tale, Bel-Air arrived with a decidedly dramatic edge. And while Will may have still left West Philadelphia for the gated mansions of LA, he found himself reckoning with the conflicts, biases, and emotions of the world around him in a more serious way.
With a new season of Bel-Air returning, the show is raising the stakes. Will, Jazz, and the entire Banks family are all back to pick up where they left off and navigate the relationships that exist between them. And just like in Season 1, fans can expect all the dramatic plot twists to be backed by an iconic soundtrack, which will include tracks from Kendrick Lamar, Meek Mill and Tyler, The Creator.
The new season also sees the return of Will’s cousin Hillary Banks, who surprised fans in Season 1 when she struck up a relationship with Jazz. Hillary is played by the multi-talented Coco Jones, who, in addition to acting, made her major-label debut last year with the release of her EP What I Didn’t Tell You (Deluxe).
For the Record sat down with Coco, who dished on the new season of Bel-Air, what it’s like to juggle music and acting careers, and what makes her character, Hillary, tick.
With the new season of Bel-Air just around the corner, what can fans expect?
I think they can expect more jaw-dropping drama, because that’s what we do. But I’m really curious to see how they enjoy learning more about these characters and getting to see them operate in deeper ways. I feel at the start, they were introduced as these nostalgic characters with a new storyline. But now you know who these people are, what they’re going through. And I think it will be interesting for fans to see how that plays out.
Are there any ways that you drew inspiration from the original series when it comes to your character, Hillary?
Definitely, the OG Hillary has so much confidence and poise. I just love the feminine energy she exuded, and it makes her really captivating. I studied how she enters a room, and even the funnier sides of her. She was kind of quirky, and so I took some of that as well—not only to make Hillary feel really well-rounded, but also to have that nostalgic poise about her.
Given that Hillary is an aspiring influencer, are there any recent viral trends you think she’d be really into?
There are these viral recipe videos where people try the most random things, like Jolly Ranchers in their wine or frying something crazy. And Hillary really delves into cooking culture, so I think she would love to tap into that trend and make her own commentary type of TikTok channel.
Was there any music you and the cast really got into while you were filming?
I think what I really enjoy about my cast is that we all have similar passions, but different inspirations. So I think we put each other on to a lot of music. For example, Olly Sholotan (who plays Carlton) really loves The Weeknd, so he showed me songs that I’d never even heard before. Jabari Banks (who plays Will) is super into throwback and nostalgia. And Simone Joy Jones (who plays Lisa) is really into jazz and alt music. And you know I like R&B. So it was fun showing each other different styles and introducing each other to different music.
You also recently released a new EP and were named as one of Spotify’s Artists to Watch. What’s it like working on both aspects of your career at the same time?
I think it’s been an amazing and challenging blessing. Like, I’m not going to complain that both of the things that I love to do are heavily, heavily happening at the same time. I think it’s taught me a lot about my work ethic and how much passion I really have for these things to be able to go from one thing to the other and still find the energy to make sure that I give it everything I have.
Are there any songs from your EP that you think Hillary would enjoy?
Oh my gosh, yes! I think Hillary would love my single “Caliber.” It’s just the epitome of her. She has very high standards for herself and those around her. In the first season of Bel-Air, she’s literally leveling up Jazz. She’s like, “Let me put you on. You don’t even run a social media profile and you’re missing out on marketing. What are you doing?”
She’s very much an “I will level you up”–type of girl. I think she’s looking for that same ying to her yang in her life, and I think “Caliber” embodies that. But I think she’d love my whole EP, to be honest.
If you could play any character in a reboot of any movie or show, who would it be?
Wow. I have always said that I wanted to do a new version of Charlie’s Angels because there’s so much cool technology. We could really make this movie really visually impressive. I’m very athletic and I love a kickboxing class. I feel like I could really do that.
Is there anything you’d want to say to fans of your acting or fans of your music?
I definitely want to say thank you. And what I love to share and constantly remind anyone who’s a fan of me is that the journey that is yours is probably going to take a different route, or at least different timing, than you expected. So don’t let your heart believe that things won’t happen because they’re not going exactly to plan.
Would you give similar advice to aspiring artists or actors?
I feel like the main thing you need to be a successful singer, actor—or honestly anything—is you just need to not give up. Of course, there are going to be days where you’re not inspired or you’re hella discouraged. But do not give up on that day, and then go to the next day, and then do the same thing. If you stick with it, one day you’ll look up and great things will have happened.
Ready to discover more from Coco Jones? Check out her EP What I Didn’t Tell You (Deluxe) now.
Even months after the release of Mr. Morale, rap and hip-hop enthusiasts have kept the conversation about Kendrick and his work alive. And now Spotify is bringing this passion for debate to a new level with My Top 5: Kendrick Lamar Projects. This interactive in-app experience invites fans to select their five favorite Kendrick Lamar projects and then share them on social media with a customized visual.
Ready to get in on the conversation? Simply follow these steps:
Make sure you’re in one of the 23 marketswhere the experience is live.*
Ensure your Spotify mobile app is up to date with the latest version available in the App or Play Stores.
The experience will present a selection of Kendrick Lamar’s projects. Choose your five favorites. Then drag and reorder them in the visual display to create your top order.
Finally, share your order with your friends on social media with a personalized visual.
If you’re not sure which project is your favorite, there’s still plenty for you to take part in. Check out Spotify and The Ringer’s latest original podcast, Last Song Standing. The seven-episode series features cohosts ColeCuchna, host of Dissect, and CharlesHolmes, host of The Ringer Music Show, reviewing every project in Kendrick’s discography looking to answer the question, What is the greatest Kendrick Lamar song of all time? (Whether or not you have an answer, don’t @ us.)
Start your own conversation about the best Kendrick album: Visit https://spotify.com/top5 to create your Top 5 sharecard.
*The 23 markets include BR, FR, DE, MX, NG, U.K., U.S., CA, AU, NZ, IN, PH, AT, BE, CR, IE, IT, KE, NL, NO, SA, SE, and CH. The 12 languages available include Czech, Dutch, English-GB, English-U.S., French-CA, French-FR, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese-BR, Latin American Spanish-LATAM, and Swedish.
Last week, more than 75,000 people came together for VidCon 2022, one of the largest creator and consumer conferences in the U.S. Over the span of four days, Gen Z stars, industry leaders, and fans enjoyed talks, meet and greets, games, and live music performances. As an official sponsor, Spotify was there to make sure fans had an incredible experience.
Spotify had something for everyone: Creators gained wisdom from Spotify leaders like Jessica Angeles, Senior Partner Manager at Anchor, and Tracy Rivas, Creator Partner Manager, who explained why they should be including Spotify in their video content strategy. Fans, meanwhile, could receive an audio tarot reading based on their mood and music tastes, have their audio aura captured in a photo (which correlated with collaborative, aura-specific playlists), and collect exclusive Spotify swag.
When it comes to iconic duos, hip-hop and basketball are a match made in heaven—dedicated fans, unbridled passion, and unmatched competition bring these two worlds together. And while the playoffs have reached their thrilling conclusion, Spotify is just getting started with our third year of All-RapCaviar.
Our flagship RapCaviar playlist has attracted more than 14 million followers and featured over 13,000 artists since its launch in 2015, and the All-RapCaviar teams are our way to honor the standout performers. Just as pro basketball’s end-of-season awards are created to celebrate the best players in the league, we are picking the top 15 rappers in the game. We base this on their streaming performances on RapCaviar and other Spotify hip-hop–centered playlists throughout the duration of the basketball season (November 2021 to June 2022).
And the wait is over. Here are our 2022 All-RapCaviar picks.
The nominees for All-RapCaviar MVP and Rookie of the Year have been revealed on the RapCaviar Twitter account. Now, you and your fellow rap fans get to vote on the winners. Here are the nominees:
All-RapCaviar MVP Nominees
It’s time to choose the 2022 #AllRapCaviar MVP 🙌 Who's got your vote—K. Dot, Gunna, Future or Durk?
Following the MVP and Rookie of the Year awards, we’ll also announce our pick for the All-RapCaviar Coach of the Year on June 22. And as voting commences and the online debates unfold, we’ll be discussing our All-RapCaviar teams and nominees with hip-hop’s biggest influencers on “Inside RapCaviar,” a mini episode that you can watch on Instagram and Twitter.
“Every rapper wants to be a baller and every baller wants to be a rapper. We kicked off the All-RapCaviar franchise on social two years ago but after seeing such a positive response from fans online, we decided to bring it to life for real,” Carl Chery, Creative Director, Head of Urban Music at Spotify explained to For the Record. “This is a digital campaign that taps our audience to share who they think should win MVP & Rookie of The Year; allowing fans to really share their opinions and encourage a little friendly debate online. We look forward to creating these moments for our listeners and recognizing a wide array of artists that have been featured on our RapCaviar playlist.”
As the leading destination for hip-hop, conversation, and culture, Spotify and RapCaviar are thrilled to host this one-of-a-kind fan vote, and even more thrilled that fans will make their voices heard.
So who will take home hip-hop bragging rights? It’s time for you to make your voice heard.
Visit RapCaviar on Twitter to vote for All-RapCaviar MVP and Rookie of the Year. And as you wait for the results to roll in, stream the latest tracks from all of our picks and nominees on the RapCaviar playlist.
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