streams

Russ Wants To Troll Fans & The Industry By Faking His Streams To Make A Point

by

To no one’s surprise, Russ has a bone to pick with the music industry and streaming- and that’s not a jab at him. Moreover, the SANTIAGO rapper has often been very outspoken about his thoughts on these institutions, and there’s certainly a lot to comment on and complain about. His latest target, focused on via Twitter, is the advent of fake streams to boost a song or album’s profile. Apparently, the 30-year-old is so sick of trying to beat them that he wants to join other artists in that crusade, at least jokingly. Not only that, but he thinks it would make a point and is just a tool to promote yourself at the end of the day, as heinous as it may sound.

“Real s**t I’m boutta start faking my streams like everyone else,” Russ tweeted on Thursday (September 14). “It’s marketing when you think about it. General person is a sheep.. if you see a song has let’s say 100m streams and you haven’t heard it, you think ‘damn I’m tripping I needa go peep.’ And then the fake streams get you real streams. Such a ridiculous game but f**k it, maybe I’ll film the whole process and drop a doc after.”

Read More: Russ Breaks Down How Spotify’s “Monthy Listeners” Is Misleading

Russ Can’t Beat Them, So He’ll Join Them

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A post shared by DJ Akademiks (@akademiks)

Another recent industry question that the Atlanta MC brought up recently concerns first week sales. These have to do specifically with Burna Boy’s latest album, I Told Them…, and how close-minded people are when considering these numbers. “Burna Boy is doin 21k (in America) and sellin out arenas in America as well. How come artists who sell more than that (in America) aren’t doing arenas (in America) ?” Russ inquired on Instagram. “Take a wild guess [crying-laughing emoji].”

Meanwhile, he also recently alleged that Billboard disqualified album sales of his own. “Billboard & Luminate took away ANOTHER 4,000 of my REAL sales over the weekend,” he wrote on Twitter. “Making that 10,000 sales total they took away from me. [They allow] major labels to fake their streams and sales and do monopolistic merch bundles. Only major labels are allowed to do merch bundles because the only approved vendor is a major label vendor. These numbers and charts are made up. The impact however is not. Shoutout to the fans.” We’ll see what else the artist targets when it comes to the music industry. Considering that, log back into HNHH for the latest news and updates on Russ.

Read More: Russ Recalls Getting Drunk Before Interviews, Flexes Dr. Dre Co-Sign

The post Russ Wants To Troll Fans & The Industry By Faking His Streams To Make A Point appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Nicki Minaj Reaches Historic Spotify Milestone

by

Nicki Minaj has become the first female rapper in history to have 75 songs surpass 100 million streams on Spotify. According to Hip Hop All Day, the next highest artist is Doja Cat with 39 overall. The feat comes after her Beam Me Up Scotty song, “Seeing Green,” featuring Drake and Lil Wayne cracked 100 million streams. Its success was fueled by a reissue of the 2009 mixtape by Minaj in 2021.

Minaj recently discussed the success of Beam Me Up Scotty on streaming services during a rant on Twitter, back in July. “Let’s not forget beam me up scotty doing 80K first week. A mixtape with 12 year old songs that were free to listen to on YouTube so glad Drizzy gave me that pep talk when he sent me #SeeingGreen so glad Weezy sent me a voice note rapping when I needed it.”

Read More: Nicki Minaj Shares Spotify Stats In Response To 50 Most Streamed Rap Albums Of All-Time List

Nicki Minaj With Drake & Lil Wayne

LAS VEGAS, NV – MAY 21: (L-R) Recording artists Lil Wayne. Nicki Minaj, and Drake attend the 2017 Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on May 21, 2017 in Las Vegas. Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/BBMA2017/Getty Images for dcp)

The continued dominance of Nicki Minaj comes ahead of the release of her next album, Pink Friday 2, which will be dropping later this year. She released a new single from the effort, “Last Time That I Saw You,” last Friday. While discussing the track with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe, she explained that she didn’t plan on releasing it as a single initially.

“This time when I heard the beat, the first thing I did was I wrote the hook. And when I wrote the hook, to me, it felt it was… The vibe of it was really talking about a loss, a real loss you know. But to not make the song feel only directed at one kind of loss. When I wrote the singing verse, I tried to expand it and think even about relationships,” she explained. “And then by the time I got to the rap, it was like I had included all relationships that I had lost before, because I mentioned even best friends and stuff like that. I just wanted the next song that I put out, Zane, to represent my growth, but not just as an artist, but as a human being. I’ve experienced so many things that I hadn’t experienced five years ago, and that’s just the truth.” Be on the lookout for the rest of Pink Friday 2 on November 17, 2023.

Read More: Cardi B Has The Most Streamed Album By Female Rapper On Spotify

[Via]

The post Nicki Minaj Reaches Historic Spotify Milestone appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Travis Scott’s “UTOPIA” Now Has Over 1 Billion Streams On Spotify Alone

by

Is anyone really surprised that Travis Scott’s long-awaited UTOPIA is among the most successful albums of the year so far? The project keeps amassing a lot of commercial milestones, the most recent one being that it surpassed a billion streams on Spotify alone. Moreover, this isn’t taking into account the avalanche of other platforms’ streams, physical sales, and bundles that propelled it into platinum-eligible status. Even vinyl sales records for hip-hop albums shattered with the Houston MC’s latest full-length. As such, it’s poised to be not just one of the most money-making moments of the year, but one of the most culturally impactful, in the sense that its hype and conversation has been incessant.

If you’re curious, the most streamed song from UTOPIA on Spotify (excluding the single “K-POP,” which has 123 million as of writing this article) is a no-brainer. Travis Scott and Drake’s reunion on “MELTDOWN” has over 101 million streams, and next up is the Playboi Carti collab “FE!N.” Other often-streamed tracks off it are “I KNOW ?,” “TELEKINESIS,” and “MY EYES.” The least streamed is, unsurprisingly, the interlude-like “PARASAIL” with 24 million streams, followed by the Westside Gunn and James Blake-assisted “LOST FOREVER” with 28 million (which is absolutely criminal).

Read More: Travis Scott Breaks His Own Record For Vinyl Sales

Travis Scott Keeps Amassing Wild Numbers For UTOPIA

With these numbers in mind, it’s no surprise that UTOPIA will likely go number one on the Billboard charts for a fourth consecutive week. However, there are still some standards to live up to when it comes to Travis Scott’s commercial success. For example, each of his past three studio albums amassed over 2 billion streams on the platform. It probably won’t be long until this new project reaches that mark as well, but only time will tell how the album continues to age.

As much money as it’s netting La Flame, UTOPIA has undoubtedly been his most divisive release so far. Amid fans’ own criticisms of the project, there’s his Astroworld controversy to account for, which many fans thought he didn’t do a compelling job of taking responsibility for on the album. Regardless, maybe a couple of more years will change this perception for better or worse. Stay posted on HNHH for the latest news and updates on Travis Scott.

Read More: Travis Scott “Utopia” Review

The post Travis Scott’s “UTOPIA” Now Has Over 1 Billion Streams On Spotify Alone appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Tyler, The Creator Celebrates “See You Again” Hitting One Billion Streams On Spotify

by

Tyler, The Creator thanked fans for their support after his Flower Boy song, “See You Again,” reached one billion streams on Spotify. In doing so, he shared the feat on his Instagram Story while writing, “Thank you to all ears.”

Tyler released “See You Again” as the fourth single from his album Flower Boy back in 2017. Kali Uchis is featured on the track. While it was successful at the time of its release, the song reached newfound popularity in 2023 after going viral on TikTok. It’s since reached as high as No. 43 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Read More: Tyler, The Creator Praises Robin Thicke’s Son For “See You Again” Cover

Tyler, The Creator Performs With Kali Uchis At Coachella

Kali Uchis and Tyler, the Creator perform onstage at the 2023 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival on April 16, 2023 in Indio, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images)

Despite his comments on “See You Again,” Tyler hasn’t spoken as positively about some of his other previous work. During a recent interview on the Rap Radar Podcast, he remarked that his debut album, Goblin, “is f*cking terrible.” “It’s an energy and an aura that it has,” he explained. “And hearing my wonky synths, and gross drums, and me not realizing I’m yelling on every song and saying the most wild shit is what got people there. It’s not about the music. If you were there, that energy and that aura and that air just cutting through what everyone else is doing is so important.”

Revisit Tyler, The Creator’s “See You Again”

He did admit that there are several songs on the album he still likes. “It’s still some ones on there,” he said. “I still think, ‘Yonkers,’ is awesome. ‘She’ is awesome. The first two versions of ‘Nightmare’ is ill, ‘Tron Cat’ is still awesome. ‘Analog’ is still cool, like there’s still a few things on there but people don’t know like, a lot of songs on that album were just like, random songs I recorded after Goblin that we kinda just, yeah here I got these songs.”

Read More: Tyler, The Creator Says His Debut Album Is “Terrible”

[Via]

The post Tyler, The Creator Celebrates “See You Again” Hitting One Billion Streams On Spotify appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Rihanna, Kanye West, & Paul McCartney’s “FourFiveSeconds” Reaches 1 Billion Spotify Streams

by

Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney’s 2015 single “FourFiveSeconds” has reached one billion streams on Spotify, according to Chart Data. It’s the latest achievement for the song, which already reached number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and has been certified four times platinum by the RIAA.

In addition to “FourFiveSeconds,” Kanye also worked with The Beatles legend on the tracks, “All Day” and “Only One.” McCartney once said that he “learned a lot” from working with West during that time.

Read More: Rihanna Feat. Kanye West & Paul McCartney “FourFiveSeconds” Video

Rihanna, Kanye West, & Paul McCartney At The Grammys

LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 08: Paul McCartney, Kanye West and Rihanna attend The 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards at STAPLES Center on February 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

Speaking with DIY, he recalled their studio sessions: “We ended up just talking a lot. I played a few little things and one of them ended up as ‘FourFiveSeconds’ with Rihanna. It’s more a question of me feeling lucky that these people are interested [in working with me] and think that I can bring something to it. For me, I feel great. I like diversity.”

“We had two or three afternoons where we just hung out together in a Beverly Hills hotel in the bungalows out the back, and he had his engineer and was set up with a couple of microphones in case anything happened,” he continued. “I was tootling around on guitar, and Kanye spent a lot of time just looking at pictures of Kim [Kardashian] on his computer. I’m thinking, ‘are we ever gonna get around to writing?!’

Rihanna, Kanye West, & Paul McCartney Team Up For “FourFiveSeconds”

In addition to the release of “FourFiveSeconds,” the trio dropped a black-and-white music video for the song. Rihanna said that Ye handled the fashion decisions for the shoot. “Kanye came up with the idea of just doing some real street, denim, all-American-type look,” she told Rolling Stone. “Denim never goes out of style. It’s classic, it’s iconic just like the f—ing Beatles.”

Read More: Kanye West Shares Post About Rihanna Considering Him As Super Bowl Halftime Guest

[Via]

The post Rihanna, Kanye West, & Paul McCartney’s “FourFiveSeconds” Reaches 1 Billion Spotify Streams appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

YNW Melly Gets Huge Streaming Boost During Trial

by

The double murder trial of YNW Melly, who stands accused of killing his associates YNW Juvy and YNW SakChaser, has the whole world watching. His rise to fame surged rapidly thanks to a few hit singles, which raked up a whole lot of streams thanks to this case’s high-profile nature. On Spotify alone, his biggest hits “Murder On My Mind,” “Suicidal,” “223’s” featuring 9lokknine, and “Mixed Personalities” featuring Kanye West garnered over 1,250,000 streams alone within 24 hours of court being in session, according to streaming data website kworb.net. The trial began on Monday (June 12) with opening statements, and in just two days we’ve seen many notable developments ahead of its next.

In total, the website data indicates that YNW Melly raked up over 2.6 million Spotify streams alone within that timeframe. It hasn’t been updated since, but we can assume that numbers have only continued to rise since then with impressive numbers. Given that he’s literally fighting for his life, with the possibility of the death penalty pursued by prosecutors in the jury’s hands, streams might only rise as the trial goes on. With prayers in the courtroom and displays of emotion, both positive and negative, many are morbidly captivated by the case. In fact, the Florida native gained ten platinum plaques and six gold ones from the RIAA since his arrest in 2019.

Read More: YNW Melly Net Worth 2023: What Is The Rapper Worth?

YNW Melly’s Streaming Data After Trial’s First Day

Screenshot via kworb.net on 6/14/2023

Another interesting element to this trial concerns another famous rapper. None other than Boosie Badazz went to court to show his support for YNW Melly on both days of the trial so far. While it’s unclear whether he will attend its third on Wednesday (June 14), it’s a divisive appearance. This is because the father of YNW Juvy blasted the Baton Rouge MC for showing up to trial.

“Y’all are b***hes, man,” Juvy’s father expressed. “Boosie down there supporting Melly- he flaw as f**k for that. He don’t even know that n***a Melly. He talking ’bout, ‘I want Melly free ’cause that n***a bought me snacks and a magazine at the airport.’ What? Man, go to Marlo Mike’s trial, n***a. F**k you at this n***a trial? Marlo Mike in that b***h fighting for his life, n***a. You got that man staying up the road doing all that God damn time, but you in there for Melly.” Furthermore, he told Boosie to go back home and leave their family in peace. For more news and updates concerning YNW Melly and his trial, come back to HNHH.

Read More: YNW Melly Murder Case: What We Know

[via]

The post YNW Melly Gets Huge Streaming Boost During Trial appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Juice WRLD, XXXTentacion, Drake Are Most-Streamed Rappers

by

Juice WRLD, XXXTentacion, and Drake have topped the list of rappers with the most streams per song. All three artists topped 200 million streams per song on Spotify. Even with Spotify’s well-known low payout, the artists are earning quite a bit from numbers like that. Rounding out the list with just under 200 million are Travis Scott, Pop Smoke, and Kendrick Lamar, who all have upwards of 150 million streams per song. It is worth noting that both Juice and X achieved this record-breaking moment several years after they passed.

Whether or not their untimely deaths have anything to do with their streaming numbers cannot be confirmed. However, it is clear that the high number of streams per song shows just how much both Juice and X were loved by their fans. The pair were both poised to be huge names in the industry, but their lives were tragically cut short. Still, their staying power shows what an incredible impact they had in the time that they spent making music.

Juice WRLD Continues To Break Records Posthumously

Despite passing away prematurely, Juice WRLD’s music career has continued to achieve significant milestones. Just a few weeks ago, it was revealed that the rapper had exceeded 30 billion streams on Spotify alone. This established him as one of the most streamed artists ever. When you consider other platforms, it is difficult to imagine how many streams Juice has accumulated. Recently, Cole Bennet, Juice’s close friend and collaborator, celebrated a personal achievement in their careers. He announced on Instagram that the first music video he had ever directed for Juice had reached 300 million views on YouTube.

Juice WRLD’s untimely death was a tremendous loss to the music industry and the community at large. He had emerged as one of the fastest-rising stars on the scene. Since his passing, the rapper’s music has only grown in popularity. In 2021, the RIAA announced that the rapper had received 50 new gold and platinum song certifications posthumously. His 2018 single “Lucid Dreams” has been certified 9x platinum. What do you think of Juice’s place atop the most streamed rappers? Is there someone else you think should be there? Let us know in the comments!

Lil Wayne Surpasses 25 Billion Streams On Spotify

by

There’s hardly a rapper like Lil Wayne who adapted and prospered through the evolution of the music industry in the past 30 years. When CDs were at the height of popularity, he was a member of the Hot Boyz, revving for his solo debut. Then, he shifted the mixtape game indefinitely during the mid-aughts. Still, he remains a giant on streaming platforms across the board, especially Spotify. New reports claim that Weezy F. Baby has officially passed 25 billion streams on Spotify across all credits. It’s an impressive feat that goes to show how timeless his catalog is.

Still, Lil Wayne has ways to go before he could become the highest-streaming rapper, a title that belongs to his protegé Drake. Lil Wayne’s reached some phenomenal milestones throughout the streaming era. Tha Carter III, for example, recently reached 1 billion streams on Spotify, contributing to Lil Wayne’s overall streaming success. The rapper currently has 32 million monthly listeners but his most streamed records are those that he features on. DJ Khaled’s “I’m The One” ft. Lil Wayne, Justin Bieber, Chance The Rapper, and Quavo sits at 1,172,372,958. Second to DJ Khaled’s hit record is “Sucker For Pain,” Lil Wayne’s collab with Wiz Khalifa and Imagine Dragons for the Suicide Squad soundtrack that currently has 1,025,032,852 streams. 

Lil Wayne’s Reaches New Streaming Heights

Wayne’s massive accomplishment arrives in the midst of his Welcome To Tha Carter tour. In the past month, Wayne’s embarked on a must-see tour in intimate settings where he provides day-one fans with a journey through his catalog. The rapper’s also brought through a series of guests including Drake, Cam’ron and NLE Choppa, who gifted Wayne a gorgeous new chain as a token of his gratitude. 

We could imagine that Lil Wayne will likely keep his Spotify momentum high, especially with a new album on the way. The rapper announced Tha Carter VI last summer and later, launched a pre-save link. Still, he hasn’t left fans empty handed. Along with collaborating with Swizz Beatz on “Kant Nobody” and most recently, “That Sh*t Right Here,” Lil Wayne celebrated his career with the I Am Music compilation project. 

[Via]

Juice WRLD Hits 30 Billion Streams On Spotify Alone

by

Juice WRLD just hit another huge milestone in his career, even years after his tragic passing. Moreover, it was recently revealed that the Chicago star recently surpassed 30 billion streams on Spotify alone across all credits. With that in mind, and not even considering his streams on platforms like Apple Music and YouTube, he stands as one of the most streamed artists of all time. Recently, close friend and collaborator Cole Bennet celebrated another achievement in each of their careers. Via Instagram, he revealed that the first Juice video he ever shot recently reached 300 million views on YouTube.

Said example is just one of many where you can see the 21-year-old’s legacy and impact continue to manifest. Another takes a much more personal and somber tone, and it comes from Polo G. Furthermore, the fellow Chicago MC expressed that he stopped taking Percocet because of Juice WRLD passing away far too soon. ““It made me look at a lot of s**t differently,” Polo stated. “That made me stop popping Percocets altogether, though. ‘Cause I know he wouldn’t want me on that s**t.”

Juice WRLD Achieves Massive Spotify Streams Milestone

Not only that, but the “Pop Out” artist’s decision even influenced his own father to follow in his footsteps. “Being able to see that and say, ‘Damn, my son can get it together’ — I need to [as well],” Taurus Bartlett Sr. said. Despite his deafening absence, fans still get plenty of music from Juice WRLD often thanks to his estate releasing posthumous tracks. While this practice isn’t favored by many out there, it at least gives fans some sense of what could’ve been. Moreover, the most recent offering from Juice comes from his recently released single, “The Light.“

However, those posthumous releases often come with baggage- and sometimes, they’re not treated with due respect. For example, fans expressed outrage when Juice’s name was removed from the cover art of a posthumous The Kid LAROI collab. “I had NOTHING to do with this & had no idea it was even a thing until now,” LAROI tweeted to clarify. “I’ve hit the label and asked them to change it back. I’m sorry & genuinely have no clue why [they changed it] without my permission. I would never approve of that. EVER.” Regardless of that unfortunate development, let us know your favorite album or songs from the late legend down below. Also, log back into HNHH for the latest news and updates on Juice WRLD.

Spotify Songs Are Being Ignored By The Millions

by

Spotify has been a game-changer in the music industry. The streaming platform has made it easier for big-name artists to connect with their fans. Additionally, many would argue that Spotify has democratized the industry. Gone are the days when budding artists were forced to sell mixtapes to passersby on the street. Furthermore, Spotify has lessened the need for artists to be noticed by big-name producers or record companies. Now, wannabe music stars can simply record their songs and upload them to the internet.

However, there is a downside to Spotify’s explosion in popularity. The amount of people on the platform has caused oversaturation. Subsequently, many of the songs are being ignored. Baller Alert took to Instagram to shed light on a new study that shows that much of the music being uploaded to Spotify is not being listened to. The study says that nearly a quarter of music uploaded to the platform received zero plays last year. Subsequently, that accounts for about 38 million songs. Additionally, the study also says that another 67 million songs on the platform received less than ten streams. That accounts for about half of the songs on Spotify.

Spotify Still Dominated By Big Names

Meanwhile, the study went on to place the number of total songs on Spotify at around 158 million. That means that about three-quarters of all of the music on the platform is largely going unheard, Furthermore, these numbers seem to suggest what most observers likely already knew. Spotify is dominated by big names. Artists like Eminem, NBA YoungBoy, and Miley Cyrus do massive numbers on the platform. Meanwhile, the majority of artists receive little to no play.

Obviously, music is a very difficult industry to break into. Most people who set out to become big-name musicians never meet their goals. Moreover, attracting an audience can be a difficult task. Indeed even highly talented artists will never will never taste stardom. However, one of the more perplexing things about the study is that people aren’t even listening to their songs. Moreover, it seems they are not promoting the music to their friends and family.

[Via]