50 Cent’s “Many Men” Streams Surge After Assassination Attempt on Trump

Welcome to a thorough look into the latest music industry trends that have captured widespread attention. As some musical influences emerge unexpectedly and others gradually rise to prominence, these trends are becoming ubiquitous faster than ever, especially with the power of platforms like TikTok.

This week, we’re witnessing unprecedented phenomena, including a bizarre “post-assassination-attempt streaming bump” related to former President Donald Trump, and new viral hits from prevalent artists such as Megan Thee Stallion and Charli XCX.

On a Saturday night, the nation was taken aback by an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, PA. As people tried to understand the situation, they turned to memes and comparisons to process the event. One frequent comparison was to rapper 50 Cent, who famously rose to fame after surviving a shooting incident. 50 Cent himself shared a meme of his “Get Rich or Die Tryin'” album cover with Trump’s head edited onto his own, humorously captioned, “Trump gets shot and now I’m trending.”

It wasn’t just his image that saw a resurgence. 50 Cent’s hit song “Many Men (Wish Death)” became a common soundtrack for TikTok videos related to the incident. This particular track resonates due to 50 Cent’s history and the song’s chorus, “Many men/ Wish death ‘pon me.” The buzz resulted in a substantial increase in streams and sales for the song. Over the period from July 13-15, the track collected over 2.2 million U.S. on-demand audio streams, a 250% surge from the previous period, and saw its sales jump to over 2,000.

In the midst of this cultural moment, conservative rapper Tom MacDonald released a new single titled “You Missed” on July 14. The lyrics start with, “They burning the country down with they progressiveness/ It started with changing what gender is,” and the song blames the “woke” left for the assassination attempt, ultimately mocking, “B–ch, you missed/ Thank God the left can’t aim!” The song has resonated with its target audience, garnering 423,000 on-demand audio streams and nearly 10,000 digital song sales within its first two days. If these numbers persist, “You Missed” could likely make it to the Billboard Hot 100.

As Brat Summer continues to thrive, Charli XCX’s hit album has had multiple viral moments. The standout track “Apple” nearly didn’t make the final cut of her album but has now become a favorite among fans. The song has inspired a multi-step dance routine on TikTok, which Charli herself performed alongside friends Troye Sivan and Terrence O’Connor. The track’s popularity is evident as it has seen a significant rise in streams, clocking 2.71 million official on-demand U.S. streams by the week ending July 11, up 50% from two weeks prior. Without an official music video, Charli has shared fan performances of the dance on social media, celebrating its viral success.

Megan Thee Stallion is eyeing another hit with “Mamushi,” a collaboration with Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba. The track has seen phenomenal success, largely fueled by a viral TikTok dance. The song earned 10.2 million official on-demand U.S. streams from July 5-11, a 39.5% increase from the previous week. Over the following weekend, “Mamushi” maintained its momentum with an 18.3% rise in streams. The dance craze, started by TikTok user @mona712_official, has been widely adopted and even featured performances by actress Tia Mowry and WNBA star A’ja Wilson. This viral buzz has helped “Mamushi” reach a new peak of No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The folk genre is seeing a revival thanks to new artist Yaelokre and her song “Harpy Hare.” The track hit No. 1 on the Spotify Viral 50 Global and US charts. Yaelokre offers a unique combination of folk music and hand-drawn illustrations, performing live and on TikTok with a handmade animal mask. The visuals and compelling music have turned TikTok users into fans, driving a 577% rise in official on-demand U.S. streams from mid-June to early July. The song saw another 186% increase from last week into the first half of this week.

Finally, with the Euro Cup in full swing, social media has been buzzing with anticipation that “It’s coming home” for England fans. This phrase led to a surge in popularity for the song “Three Lions” by Baddiel, Skinner & Lightning Seeds, originally written for the 1996 Euro Cup. Unfortunately, despite the enthusiasm, England’s dream was dashed as they lost to Spain in the finals. Nonetheless, the song experienced a 714% increase in streams on the Sunday of the final.

Source: Billboard