‘Wicked’ Broadway Album Way Up in Streams in Advance of Movie Premiere
Welcome to Billboard Pro‘s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.
This week: The original Wicked cast album gets a big bump in anticipation of the imminent film adaptation, Jake Paul uses a rock classic to (maybe) take a pre-fight musical swipe at Mike Tyson, a Grammy nominee enjoys a nice winning streak and more.
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‘Wicked’ Week Boosts Original Broadway Cast Album & Select Ariana Grande Tracks
After decades of development, Wicked is finally hitting the silver screen! On Friday (Nov. 2), the film adaptation of the beloved Tony-winning Broadway musical will open in theaters across the U.S. In the lead up to the film, which will star Grammy winners Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba) and Ariana Grande (Galinda), fans have been turning to the original Broadway cast album to hold them over.
According to Luminate, the 2003 Wicked cast recording has risen 60% in streaming activity from between the first two weeks of November. During Nov. 1-7, the album earned 4.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams, with that figure jumping to 7.8 million during Nov. 8-14. Led by musical theatre icons Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, the original Wicked cast recording features several songs that have earned significant streaming boosts as the film adaptation draws nearer.
“Defying Gravity,” which Erivo and Grande will perform to close the film, is up 47% streams from 909,000 official on-demand U.S. streams (Nov. 1-7) to 1.34 million (Nov. 8-14). Emmy nominee Jonathan Bailey will take on the role of Fiyero in the 2024 film, performing “Dancing Through Life,” which is up 62% in streams. The lengthy track, which was originally performed by Norbert Leo Butz, earned over 453,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during Nov. 8-14. “No One Mourns the Wicked,” the musical’s moving opening number, is also up 63% in streams, collecting over 417,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during Nov. 8-14.
The anticipation for Grande’s take on “Popular” has also spurred streaming gains for Chenoweth’s original. “Popular” is up 64% in streams from 562,000 official on-demand U.S. streams (Nov. 1-7) to 923,000 (Nov. 8-14). On her 2013 Billboard 200-topping debut album Yours Truly, Grande included a collaboration with MIKA titled “Popular Song” that interpolates elements of the Wicked classic. That duet is up 66% in streams from 113,000 official on-demand U.S. streams (Nov. 1-7) to 189,000 (Nov. 8-14).
Grande also covered “The Wizard and I” for 2019’s A Very Wicked Halloween 15-year anniversary special, and that version was tacked onto a commemorative re-release of the Wicked cast album. Grande’s rendition of the showstopper – which will be performed by Erivo in the film – pulled over 22,000 streams during Nov. 1-7. The following week (Nov. 8-14), that number jumped by a whipping 82% to over 40,000 streams. The original version of “The Wizard And I” is performed by Menzel and the late Carole Shelley, who originated the role of Madame Morrible that Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh will assume in the film. Their version jumped 64% in streaming activity from 294,000 official on-demand U.S. streams (Nov. 1-7) to 483,000 (Nov. 8-14).
As crowds flock to Wicked expect to see more gains for the original Broadway cast recording – and a notable debut for the film soundtrack, which will arrive on Nov. 22 through Republic and Verve. — KYLE DENIS
Well If You Told Me You Were Boxing: Jake Paul Lends a Hand to a Phil Collins Classic
It was one of the most surreal (and most watched) sporting events of the year: the 27-year-old influencer-turned-pugilist Jake Paul taking on 58-year-old all-time boxing legend Mike Tyson in a Netflix-streamed Friday night fight (Nov. 15). Though many watching wanted to see the former undisputed heavyweight champion give the YouTube superstar a spanking, Paul ended up winning the much-hyped bout in a unanimous decision. Another less-likely winner from the evening, however, was another legend even more veteran than Tyson: U.K. pop and rock great Phil Collins.
Collins ended up soundtracking part of the evening, as Paul used the Genesis frontman’s eternal 1981 solo debut single “In the Air Tonight” as his entrance music – likely a winking pre-ring jab at the champ, who sang (and drummed) along to the song in a famous scene from the 2009 comedy The Hangover. Whatever Paul’s intent, the music did its job: Not only did he win the fight, but “Tonight” totaled 779,000 official on-demand U.S. streams over the following Saturday and Sunday, up 47% from the equivalent period the prior week, according to Luminate. (Tyson’s own walkout song, “Murdergram” (by Jay-Z, DMX and Ja Rule, recording collectively as Murder Inc.), was up 185% to 9,000 streams.)
Another non-entrance song seeing related gains this week? DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince’s 1989 hit “I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson,” which racked up nearly 15,000 streams combined over Friday and Saturday, up from under 1,000 over the same period the prior week. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
PartyNextDoor Eyes Eleventh Hour 2024 Hit with a Nine-Year-Old Leak
With PartyNextDoor 4, PartyNextDoor became one of the select few artists to reach the Billboard 200’s top 10 with a newly released R&B album – but his latest hit isn’t even on that project.
“Dreamin” originally leaked alongside a slew of other PND tracks back in 2015, but thanks to a viral unofficial remix from rising artist Zayskii, the Grammy-nominated star uploaded the original track to DSPs two weeks ago (Nov. 3). During the first week of the month (Nov. 1-7), “Dreamin” earned 2.42 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate. By the following week (Nov. 8-14), that figure ballooned 100% to 4.85 million streams.
Zayskii (@onlyzayskii) first uploaded a snippet of his remix on Oct. 18, with a post captioned “Partynextdoor remix?” To date, the snippet has earned 6.3 million views and over 1.1 million likes; there are now over 61,000 posts soundtracked by that snippet.
With the original version finally on DSPs, “Dreamin” will likely continue to grow. Time will tell if that buzzy remix also gets an official release. — KD
Doechii Experiences the ‘Heal’ing Powers of Grammy Nominations & Live Moments
It’s been a great couple of weeks for Florida rapper-singer Doechii, whose Alligator Bites Never Heal mixtape was released to strong reviews but little commercial fanfare back in August. She’s belatedly getting her due for the set this month, however – particularly with the nominations she landed for next February’s Grammys: best rap album for Bites and best rap performance for its lead single “Nissan Altima.”
Those nominations, announced Nov. 8, have proven well-timed for Doechii, who has since wrapped her accompanying tour for the album and performed at the Tyler, the Creator-curated Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival (Nov. 16) – all of which has driven extra ears to her recent set and its lead single, which has also enjoyed some extra TikTok attention lately. The album drew 5.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams this past tracking week (ending Nov. 14), according to Luminate – a 40% gain from the prior week – while “Nissan Altima” was up 29% to over 1.7 million streams on its own.
The good momentum should just keep growing for Doechii through this Friday’s Musicians on Musicians event at New York’s Apollo Theater, which will see her speaking and performing alongside Brittany Howard, Busta Rhymes and GloRilla. — AU
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