Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.
This week: Hannah Montana’s anniversary special sends fans on a wave of nostalgia listening, the return of Verzuz bumps a couple R&B vets’ catalogs and one of 2024’s biggest rappers scores his most viral hit yet.
‘Hannah Montana’ 20th Anniversary Special Spurs Massive Gains for the Fictional Pop Star — And A New Single from Miley Cyrus Herself
Last month’s 20th Hannahversary celebration (March 24) found Miley Cyrus returning home to the iconic Disney set on which she changed pop culture forever. Alongside guest appearances by Selena Gomez and mom Tish Cyrus-Purcell, the hour-long special also featured a revelatory interview with Call Her Daddy’s Alex Cooper and a heart-melting read-through with dad Billy Ray Cyrus. Naturally, such a heartfelt dedication to a show that defined the lives of most late millennials and early Zoomers resulted in particularly large streaming gains.
In the seven-day period before the special hit Hulu and Disney+ (March 17-23), Hannah Montana’s catalog earned 4.63 million official on-demand U.S. streams. That figure exploded by 306% to over 18.8 million streams in the seven-day period following the special’s premiere (March 24-30), according to Luminate. Notably, three Hannah Montana albums appear on the April 4-dated Top Soundtracks chart: 2006’s Hannah Montana (No. 16), 2007’s Hannah Montana 2 (No. 20) and 2009’s Hannah Montana: The Movie (No. 22).
To coincide with the special and deliver a personal gift to fans, Cyrus shared a tender adult contemporary tune titled “Younger You.” The reflective song debuted with 1.12 million official on-demand streams on its first day of release (March 27), finishing with a four-day total of 2.63 million streams by March 30. — KYLE DENIS
Verzuz Battle Boosts Catalog Classics From Tank & Tyrese
Only magic happens when you put two big voices in the same room — especially when they’re attached to even bigger personalities. Last week (March 26), the two R&B crooners faced off for the latest edition of Verzuz on Apple Music, and the entertaining hour-and-a-half stream inspired fans to revisit both artists’ catalogs on streaming.
The weekend following the Verzuz battle (March 27-29), Tank’s catalog jumped 58% to over 2.88 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate, up from 1.81 million official streams during the weekend prior (March 20-22). “Please Don’t Go,” which peaked at No. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2007, leapt 90% to over 219,000 official streams during the weekend following the battle (March 27-29), while 2017’s steamy “When We” posted a 37% increase to 444,000 official streams during the same period.
Streaming activity for Tyrese’s catalog rose by nearly 50%, clearing 2.4 million official on-demand U.S. streams. The singer-actor also performed his signature Hot 100 smash “Sweet Lady” (No. 12), which leapt 25% to over 571,000 official streams following the livestream (March 27-29).
Although the ongoing DHS meltdown prevented their mutual groupmate Ginuwine from making an appearance, maybe this Verzuz momentum will inspire the proper return of TGT. — KYLE DENIS
Dormant U.K. Group Scores Viral Hit “Jane!” Thanks to Video Game and Anime Edits
London group The Long Faces released a number of singles in the late 2010s and early 2020s, and developed enough of a following to at least have its own subreddit — but since the release of 2023 single “Eisenhower,” has not dropped any music or even updated their social media accounts. But now, they have one of the most popular rock songs in the U.S., thanks to fan edits featuring the song blowing up across platforms.
The band’s 2018 spiky alt-rock blast “Jane!” has been growing on streaming all year, since an edit of the episodic adventure video game Dispatch featuring the song started going viral on TikTok. Now, the song is also being adopted by fans of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime series, with video edits featuring branding character Ryu Ishigori as “Jane Juliet,” thanks to their use of both the Long Faces song and L.A. band Clarion’s “Hello Juliet.”
Thanks to these edit boosts, “Jane” has been growing on streaming every week since the beginning of the year, rising from 590,000 official on-demand U.S. streams for the tracing week ending Jan. 8 to over 2.9 million for the week ending Mar. 26, according to Luminate. And the numbers are still going up: In the first four days of this current tracking week (Mar. 27-30), the song has amassed nearly 2.3 million plays, a 47% gain from the equivalent period the previous week.
No word yet on if the song’s newfound virality will re-activate The Long Faces — but in the meantime, the much more active Clarion, who is touring the U.S. this spring, has also started to see gains from the related exposure, up 205% from 396,000 plays the week ending Jan. 8 to over 1.2 million for the week ending Mar. 26. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Bossman Dlow Eyes New Hit With Fast-Rising ‘Motion Party’
In 2024, Bossman Dlow exploded onto the scene with several Hot 100 hits — “Get In With Me” (No. 49),” “Mr. Pot Scraper” (No. 93) and “PJ”(with Lil Baby, No. 86) — and a smattering of smaller street hits that minted him as one of Florida’s most exciting new rap voices.
Now, he’s back on the Hot 100 with “Motion Party,” a track that’s quickly taking over social media, already becoming his highest-peaking hit on the chart upon its debut (No. 45). Although the song officially hit streaming on March 13, its social media life began months prior. On Feb. 26, TikTok user @/mrflawdaaa posted a clip of a new dance challenge set to a snippet of “Motion Party,” which, at the time, only existed as an unofficial TikTok audio originally posted by Tymeout, Dlow’s manager, on Jan. 28. @/Mrflawdaaa is a popular TikTok creator who’s boosted hip-hop songs with viral dances, including Dlow’s own “Shake Dat A– (Twerk Song)” in 2024. Thanks to his reach (and barrage of clips promoting the challenge), the dance caught on, helping the sound reach tens of thousands of posts before the song’s official release.
Dlow tapped @/mrflawdaaa for a cameo in the song’s official music video, teasing the clip with behind-the-scenes TikToks as early as Feb. 18, eventually premiering the full video on YouTube on March 12. In its first week of release (March 13-19), “Motion Party” logged 7.79 million official on-demand streams, with that figure jumping 8.6% the following week (March 20-26) to 8.46 million streams. At press time, its official TikTok sound plays in over 218,000 clips, while Tymeout’s unofficial sound plays in an additional 108,000. Over on Instagram, the official “Motion Party” sound can be heard in over 31,000 Reels. The official music video has garnered nearly 4 million views on YouTube since its premiere.
With his new smash already becoming his first top 10 hit on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (No. 10), Bossman Dlow looks well positioned to rule the spring — and maybe even the summer — with “Motion Party.” — K.D.
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