Taylor Swift’s ‘Speak Now’ Tracks & The 1975’s Catalog Up in Streams – Billboard

In 2001, Ludacris and the late great Nate Dogg had the entire country memorizing countless three-digit numerals with their unforgettable map-traversing collab “Area Codes.” Two decades later, the song’s title and spirit have been revived – with a gender-flip twist – courtesy of the Atlantic-signed Georgia rapper Kali, who lays her freaky tales (and a matter-of-fact version of the original’s classic “I got hos/ In different area codes” hook) over the track’s knocking, stripped down beat. 

Helped by a fun, high school-set music video and – of course – explosive popularity as a sound for TikTok lip syncs, Kali’s “Area Codes” has begun to take off on streaming. The track has climbed steadily over the past four weeks, swelling from just over 2 million official on-demand U.S. streams for the tracking week ending April 13 to over 3.7 million the week ending May 4, an 81% gain, according to Luminate. It’s got a while to go before threatening the No. 24 peak of the original “Area Codes,” but if it keeps growing like this, it’ll be in the same district soon enough. – AU

Lil Mabu’s ‘Mathematical’ Streams are Adding Up to a Hit 

Matthew Deluca, better known as the teenage drill rapper Lil Mabu, ends his latest punchline-heavy single with the declaration, “I can’t take a break ‘til Mabu is a household name.” “Mathematical Disrespect” is helping him reach that high bar: the sub-two-minute freestyle has been taking off in streams over the past few days, thanks in part to an effects-laden music video posted to his YouTube page and its 824,000 subscribers last Thursday (May 4). 

Filmed in front of the Manhattan bridge, the clip finds Mabu accentuating his similes with colorful graphics and ultra-animated facial expressions; the video has reached a No. 2 peak on YouTube’s U.S. Trending Videos chart, and garnered 3.6 million views to date. Meanwhile, “Mathematical Disrespect” is quickly gaining in daily plays – from 80,000 U.S. on-demand streams upon its release last Thursday to over 900,000 streams on Sunday, according to Luminate.  

As a Manhattan prep school student, Lil Mabu doesn’t boast the type of street cred that has helped define this wave of drill – but if his numbers keep ticking up, he’s going to make rap fans take “Disrespect” seriously. – JL

Q&A: Julie Rene Tran, Co-Founder of Marketing Company ĐẶC BIỆT, on What’s Trending Up in Her World  

ĐẶC BIỆT has had a notable history of AAPI Heritage Month Initiatives. How did the company approach 2023? 

As a Vietnamese-American, first generation owned marketing company, it is ingrained in our ethos and identity to root for underrepresented artists. ĐẶC BIỆT pushes the boundaries and advocates for Asian artists every day. We see Asian American Heritage Month in May as an important time of the year to stand with our community and highlight the amazing AAPI artists we work with, as well as create more challenging, thoughtful dialogues around Asian American representation. AAPIHM is also a good time to assess the cultural climate and question, is there an abundance of opportunities? How receptive is the industry? It’s a meter to see how far we are progressing and how much further we need to go.  

One aspect we were especially adamant about this year was making sure that there is diversity in representation even within our own community. While Asian representation as a whole helps open doors overall, there are specific nuances around the Asian American experience. We want to make sure that there is an understanding of that and that we are educating the media, the industry, our communities, that there is a difference. We are also making sure that we’re championing a plethora of narratives, hearing from Southeast Asians, Pacific Islanders, queer voices and more, and celebrating how incredible, special and diverse our community is.  

We’ve had a hand in impactful AAPIHM initiatives in the past, such as NPR’s first AAPI Heritage Month Tiny Desk Concert last year. We’re continuing to set the stage for our artists, but accountability is also important in our approach, as we want to ensure that the partnership’s support is fruitful beyond the month of May and that this is something that can be built upon for the rest of the year. We also want to make sure the main reason why someone wants to support our artists is because they’re talented, because they’re making an impact within their own community, because they have incredible music, something incredible to say, and not simply because they’re Asian, or that they fit into the agenda of whatever that needed to be done for May.  

Why are these AAPIHM initiatives still critical within the music industry? 

It wasn’t long ago that Asians were seen as marketable to the American public and that has severely plagued many industries, especially music. I believe the percentage of Asian American artists signed to a major label is in the single digits. ĐẶC BIỆT has had great privilege to be part of many firsts, from working with Jay Park, who was the first Asian American signed to a major label, to 88rising, who is the first of their kind. We are now supporting keshi as he challenges the status quo and breaks even more new grounds. In the last five years, we have seen a lot of firsts, in music, Hollywood, literature, and while it’s wonderful to celebrate milestones, I do look forward to Asians not as outliers in these spaces. The hard reality is, all of this is new and there’s still a lot of convincing on why we matter. The general public is just starting to see and hear us outside of what they’ve been used to and some may have never seen us at all. These AAPIHM initiatives are integral to the larger, year-round efforts in generating more opportunities for Asian Americans.  

The representation of Asian artists within U.S. popular music has greatly expanded over the past half-decade. How have you experienced that shift, and what needs to be done in the coming years? 

When I was a publicity intern a decade ago, I assisted on the press campaign for L’arc-En-Ciel, who at the time, made history as the first Japanese act to headline Madison Square Garden. This moment showed me how important representation is, because until then, I didn’t even think working with Asian artists was possible. It would take another five years before I got to work with Asian artists again, and a few more to start a company that’s rooted in Asian representation. There has never been a point of reference, no blueprint, for our work, just a lot of figuring it out and a lot of convincing as to why Asian artists are worthy and why anyone should “take a risk” on us. 

We are now seeing the world more receptive to Asian artists, because the world has greatly changed in the last five years. Black Lives Matter happened, we experienced a pandemic. It’s led people to become more open-minded, listening to music outside of their native languages and cultural backgrounds. The work itself has not gotten easier, it is still an incredible challenge to push Asian American artists, but to work with an artist like keshi, who is also Vietnamese-American, is something I never fathomed would happen, ever. To watch him perform on late night TV, sell out two nights at Radio City Music Hall and the Greek Theater, is surreal. It is proof that we are here and we have to keep at it.  

Fill in the blank: through the end of 2023, the ĐẶC BIỆT team is excited to focus on _______. 

Our community. We are dedicated to creating new avenues for our artists and sharing our experience and resources, particularly around diversity and inclusion, not just within the music industry but to anyone who needs our expertise. We have over a decade of experience of breaking down doors and we are here to continue helping others cut through the noise.  – J.L.

Season’s Gainings: May the Streams Be With You