A few weeks ago, Spotify released another list of the top songs of the summer. It’s a great way to see the songs that people listened to. As the year rounds to a close, this chart showed the streaming data for the most streamed songs of the summer. The chart showed a surprising change in the listening habits of many of the app’s users that’s very different from the popular music of years past, and even quite distinct from data in 2017.

In My Feelings – Drake
Lucid Dreams – Juice WRLD
SAD! – XXXTENTACION
I Like It – Cardi B (feat. Bad Bunny, J Balvin)
Nice For What – Drake
Better Now – Post Malone
Taste – Tyga (feat. Offset)
Moonlight – XXXTENTACION
Nonstop – Drake
Yes Indeed – Lil Baby & Drake
Girls Like You – Maroon 5 (feat. Cardi B)
I’m Upset – Drake
God’s Plan – Drake
Psycho – Post Malone (feat. Ty Dolla $ign)
All Mine – Kanye West
Jocelyn Flores – XXXTENTACION
Don’t Matter To Me – Drake (with Michael Jackson)
All Girls Are The Same – Juice WRLD
Look Alive – BlocBoy JB (feat. Drake)
changes – XXXTENTACION

Of course, there are many mainstays of the pop industry among the summer hits chart. Drake, despite the decline of the critical reception of his music over the years, has obviously continued his titanic eight-year long run at the top of rap radio with a main artist or feature credit on seven out of the top 20 songs, including viral hits such as “in my feelings”  and “I’m upset”. He also assisted relative newcomers Lil Baby and Blocboy JB to the top of the charts on their tracks “Yes Indeed” and “Look Alive” respectively. What’s surprising is that many of his singles that were released in the winter and spring, such as “God’s Plan” and “Nice For What”, had massive staying power and stayed on top of the charts heading into September. On the non-drake portion of the charts, there are little to no established pop acts on top of the charts. Cardi B used her vibrant personality and her starring role on “Love and Hip Hop” to score a top 10 hit with Bad Bunny and J Balvin, while Post Malone experienced a sudden rise into stardom and saw his sophomore album, Beerbongs and Bentleys, climb to the top of the charts. The emergence of SoundCloud stars XXXTentacion and Juice WRLD can’t be ignored, either. XXX’s death in late June propelled him to the top of the charts while Juice WRLD’s relatable songs about relationship problems helped facilitate his rise through the ranks of the music industry.