Songs by James Brown, Public Enemy, Beyoncé and others see massive resurgence in streams amid protests
Following the death of George Floyd and those of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and others, protests across the United States continue to seek justice and in the bargain, people's music listening habits have also changed. Both old and new songs of protest have spiked in streaming activity as of late amid the unrest in the country, according to Billboard.
With regard to protest songs in hip-hop music, older tracks getting a resurgence in streams include Public Enemy’s 'Fight The Power' (off their 1988 LP 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back') which attained an 858 percent increase with its jump from 19,000 to 178,000 streams, and NWA's previously reported increase saw 'F**k Tha Police' go from 77,000 to 579,000 streams (a 655 percent increase) from May 26 to June 2.
Meanwhile, newer songs are Kendrick Lamar’s 'Alright' which had a 787 percent increase, skyrocketing from 131,000 to 1,162,000 streams in a week, and Childish Gambino’s 'This Is America', which went from 273,000 to 1,826,000 amid a 569.5 percent increase and getting the highest amount of streams in total. The most dramatic spike for any rap song, in terms of percentages, was Run The Jewels MC Killer Mike’s 'Don’t Die'. The track jumped from 2,000 to 547,000 streams in a 36,254 percent increase.
Other notable mentions in hip-hop music that saw an increase in sales from May 26 to June 2 include Vic Mensa’s '16 Shots' (with a 15,022 percent increase), YG’s 'FDT', which featured Nipsey Hussle (1,106 percent increase), The Game’s posse cut 'Don’t Shoot' (292 percent increase) and 2Pac’s 'Keep Ya Head Up' (292 percent increase).
For protest songs by James Brown (for his 1968 hit 'Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud'), Beyoncé '(for Freedom', featuring Kendrick Lamar), Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes ('Wake Up Everybody'), Sam Cooke, ('A Change Is Gonna Come'), Five Stairsteps, ('O-o-h Child'), and Solange ('Mad' featuring Lil Wayne), all saw an enormous resurgence in streams. Every track, including the previously mentioned songs from hip hop artistes, were featured on Spotify’s Black Lives Matter playlist, which was introduced in the midst of the #TheShowMustBePaused and #BlackOutTuesday movements.