Every year, as the summer winds down and we dig out the long sleeves to prepare for the cooler months, the “Song of the Summer” — all of the earworm-y tracks that became staples of your poolside hangs, your backyard cookouts, or your beach vacations — becomes a trendy topic online.
Maybe you enjoyed the neon-green hedonism of Charli XCX’s “360”, the lead single off of her summer-conquering album Brat. Perhaps you preferred the playful, chilled-out disco of Sabrina Carpenter’s viral hit “Espresso”. Whatever your personal preference, Summer 2024 had no shortage of contenders for the Song of the Summer championship belt.
That’s why we used the Meltwater Suite to find out which Song of the Summer candidate generated the most global buzz. Using a list of 10 of the most popular tunes from the last three months, we examined the online, social media, and news conversation from May 15 to August 15 to see which of them made the biggest impact.
Here are the 10 summer hits we analyzed:
- “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter
- “360” by Charli XCX
- “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar
- “Hot to Go” by Chappell Roan
- “Mamushi” by Megan Thee Stallion feat. Yuki Chiba
- “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish
- “TGIF” by Glorilla
- “Nasty” by Tinashe
- “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey
- “Million Dollar Baby” by Tommy Richman
Kendrick Lamar Generates the Most Buzz
Our data shows that Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” generated by far the most buzz of the summer. Stemming from Lamar’s ongoing feud with Canadian rap mogul Drake, the song was covered and discussed extensively by fans, critics, influencers, and traditional media. This is likely why “Not Like Us” generated almost 3 times the number of mentions as the next most popular track, Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso”.
Lamar also built on the initial buzz of the song throughout the summer, giving it staying power in the public discourse and the press from early May all the way through to early July, as you can see from the spikes in mentions of “Not Like Us” on News and Broadcast channels.
Peak 1: June 20, 2024 - This first spike in mention volume is due to Lamar's performance of his Drake diss track multiple times during a pop-out concert in his hometown of Los Angeles. The show (and the many performances of the track) sparked interest and speculation about their ongoing feud. The presence of high-profile celebrities like LeBron James and Russell Westbrook at the concert also contributed to the spike in coverage. This BBC news article was the top piece by reach, while the AP’s report from the show was the top post by engagement.
Peak 2: July 1, 2024 - The song spiked again in broadcast and news mentions during controversial and politically charged moments at the BET Awards involving Taraji P. Henson and Vice President Kamala Harris. As host of the awards, Henson opened the show with a parodied version of “Not Like Us” and proceeded to make a number of political statements over the course of the evening. On top of that, Harris appeared in a skit during the awards and even quoted the song, sparking discussion and criticism on social media, especially X. This article from the Daily Beast generated the most reach, while a broadcast from News18 India had the most engagement.
Peak 3: July 5, 2024 - “Not Like Us” recaptured the zeitgeist once again and caused a spike in mentions when Lamar released the music video for the track. The video features a number of celebrities and persons of interest in the feud, including Lamar’s fiancée Whitney Alford and NBA star DeMar Derozan, an LA native who started his career in Drake’s hometown of Toronto. The video’s release was covered extensively by the traditional and broadcast news, including this NBC News article that generated the most reach, and this Social News article that saw the most engagement.
Shaboozey Brings the Positive Sentiment
Although Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” may have generated the most buzz, our analysis shows that it did not enjoy the most positive sentiment. In fact, Shaboozey’s country hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” generated the most positive sentiment globally.
“Not Like Us” actually generated the most negative sentiment of any of the songs we analyzed. This may not be surprising, as the song is a targeted diss against one of the biggest pop stars in the world. It also generated negative press when other artists played it, like after a fight broke out when rapper Rick Ross dropped “Not Like Us” during a festival set in Vancouver.
Popularity by Region
It’s no surprise that “Not Like Us” garnered the most mentions in the United States, but it was also the most popular song in Brazil, South Africa, Canada, France, Nigeria, and India. Elsewhere, Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” was the most mentioned track in the UK and China. Finally, Megan Thee Stallion’s “Mamushi”, featuring Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba, was the most popular song in Japan.
Popularity by Social Platform
Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” generated the most discussion on Pinterest and broadcast news. It was also neck-and-neck with “Not Like Us” in terms of mentions on podcasts.
“Not Like Us” generated the most discussion on Reddit, and was also extremely popular in comments sections, news sites, and on X. In fact, from May 15 to August 15, “Not Like Us” was mentioned on social media 950,000 times.
Similar to the song’s spikes in broadcast and news mentions, its biggest spikes coincided with his LA pop-out concert on June 20 and the release of the song’s music video on July 4.
This year featured a strong slate of Song of the Summer candidates, and we already can’t wait for next year!
Want to see how the Meltwater Suite could help you do your own deep-dive online analysis? Request a demo today!
