“In My Feelings,” a song off of Drake’s most recent album “Scorpion” was Spotify’s most streamed song of the summer, aka the time between June 1 and Aug. 20. The track that inspired the widely popular “In My Feelings Challenge” was streamed a whopping 393 million times this summer, with the second most streamed song being Maroon 5 and Cardi B’s track “Girls Like You,” which netted 293 million streams. You read that correctly,
Drake’s summer hit not only topped Spotify’s list of most popular songs but beat the second place song by 100 million streams. Even more impressive, “In My Feelings” was released on July 10, which is halfway through the period of time that Spotify measured these statistics, making its number one title all the more significant.
I think everyone can agree that “In My Feelings” is nowhere near peak Drake material and does not even touch the level of lyrical expertise exhibited by other rappers who also released music this summer. Yes, you could say it’s catchy, but the verses are repetitive and the rote nature of the tune does not allow it turn into anything spectacular.
So why is this mediocre-at-best hip-hop track reaching undeserving levels of popularity on Spotify? The answer lies in social media and its knack for turning everything into a meme, challenge or some similar hyped up situation that involves mass posting on the internet.
The moment “Scorpion” dropped, #InMyFeelingsChallenge has become the dance trend of summer 2018. People around the globe posted videos of them jamming out to “In My Feelings,” whether it be in the popular alongside a car with an open door fashion or in another setting. The craze surrounding the accompanying dance challenge brought the song’s popularity to new levels and increased its streams on Spotify.
You win!😍 @MariahAmato pic.twitter.com/mAMQpGYSEL
— Heath Hussar (@HeathHussar) July 14, 2018
A meme was also born out of the first line of the song, “Kiki, do you love me.” Social media users had a field day appending different endings to the initial phrase “Kiki, do you … ,” crafting amusing and sometimes even cleverly informative, parodies of the line. These posts got thousands of shares, creating a meme that contributed to the rise of “In My Feelings.”
It would be unfair to pin the song’s popularity on social media without acknowledging the fact that Drake is an already prevalent artist, which was obviously a huge factor in its ascension on the charts. However, viewing the mass amounts of circulation this track received on social media shows that Twitter and Instagram certainly played a large role.
So it was social media that hyped up “In My Feelings.” Let’s move on to the song with the second most streams on Spotify, “Girls Like You,” by Maroon 5 and Cardi B. Why did this track get so popular?
To be honest, I’m not quite sure. It is objectively not even close to the best work either of those artists have produced (hello, “Songs About Jane”? Now THAT was an album). The collaboration did not inspire any meme-worthy material either. Maybe it was the thrill of the unlikely pairing, augmented by loyal Maroon 5 followers and Cardi’s new fanbase.
Whatever the reason may be, I know one thing for sure. The collective group of Spotify listeners failed to push the true, high-quality songs of the summer to the top of Spotify’s most streamed list. What was mine, you ask? Boo’d Up by Ella Mai. I constantly sang along to this boppin’ track off the breakout star’s EP in the car and jammed away in the sweltering summer heat as I drove home from work.
Here’s to the end of summer tunes, and the beginning of another season full of new music.
Happy streaming.
