Shaboozey continues Nashville run on Spotify 'Song of the Summer 2024'
Country music's achieved back-to-back Spotify Songs of the Summer.
However, in a desire to reflect tastes broader than three chords and the truth in the Northern Hemisphere, Shaboozey's also top-selling song of 2024 joins "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish, "Hot To Go!" by Chappell Roan, "Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar and "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter as being hand-picked by Spotify's global music editorial team to represent what a press statement calls "the various sounds and moments that defined summer 2024 for listeners across the Northern Hemisphere."
2023 saw Morgan Wallen's "Last Night" claim the honor alone, highlighting a trend of 20 percent of Billboard's 2023 Hot 100 chart featuring country artists including Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves' "I Remember Everything," Oliver Anthony Music's "Rich Men North Of Richmond," Luke Combs' cover of Tracy Chapman's 1989 folk-rock anthem "Fast Car" and Jason Aldean's "Try That In A Small Town."
2024 has seen Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" soundtrack summer listening across the globe.
"The global success of Shaboozey really exemplifies a shift in the sound reaching new audiences globally," said Spotify's Emma Vikström, Editorial Lead, Nordics. "It's been incredible to see the growth of country music outside of the U.S. over the last few years."
'A Bar Song' behind the scenes, breaking records
The first time that chart-topping country and pop crossover star Shaboozey heard the melody for J-Kwon's 2004 hit "Tipsy," it could've been as one of his parents' 2000s-era cell phone ringtones.
In a recent MTV interview, the performer credits the whimsical nature of how pop was presented when the performer, 29, was heading into his teenage years — including songs like Lil' Bow Wow's 2004 Omarion duet "Let Me Hold You," Ja Rule and Jennifer Lopez's 2001 duets "Ain't It Funny" and "I'm Real," plus Usher's 25 million-plus singles sold (including pop smashes like Lil Jon and Ludacris duet "Yeah!," Alicia Keys collaboration "My Boo" and solo track "Caught Up") when he released his album "Confessions" in 2004 — as "a pretty big part" of his musical exposure.
"A Bar Song" continues to be played more than other country and Nashville-related Song of the Summer candidates, including Post Malone and Wallen's "I Had Some Help," as well as Taylor Swift's "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart."
The song has topped Billboard's all-genre Hot 100, remained in the Top 10 on Billboard's country radio charts, plus reached the Top 10 on Billboard's Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay and Rhythmic Airplay countdowns. The song has also landed No. 1 placements in Australia, Canada, Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom.
Shaboozey also succeeded in replacing Beyoncé at the top of Billboard's country singles sales chart. It marks the first time two Black artists have achieved the feat.
Summer highlights from the best of the rest
Insofar as Spotify's other summer successes, the platform offers the following notes:
“Birds Of A Feather” by Billie Eilish:
The song hit No. 1 on Spotify’s global charts with over 855M streams and counting — it hit a notable peak of 9 million streams in one day after she performed the track at the Summer Olympics on Aug. 11.
“Hot To Go!” by Chappell Roan:
Festival performances at Bonnaroo, Governor's Ball and Lollapalooza keyed a June boom for the upstart artist.
“Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar:
Lamar's rap beef-driven hip-hop instant classic drove massive surges in the California emcee's entire catalog. The most significant summer spike for July 2024's month-long Spotify chart-topper occurred on June 20 after the performer's highly-attended Juneteenth concert in Los Angeles.
“Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter:
Driven by a catchy chorus, since June, the song has spent 20 days at #1 on Spotify’s global charts — topping 25 regional charts in countries like Australia, Malaysia, Jordan and Singapore.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Song of the Summer 2024: Shaboozey continues Nashville run on Spotify
