The barriers to entry in music, and sometimes as a result, becoming a household name, have never been lesser. Yet on top of that democratization of the recording process, could we be seeing some additional breakdowns in longstanding traditions? Though January tends towards the quiet side on the release radar, all of a sudden our MD Tracks chart reflects a ton of new blood in the mix, with Harry Styles, Zara Larsson, and Don Toliver major names to watch.
Don Toliver’s star turn has been firmly in place for some time, but the release of his OCTANE only adds more fuel to the fire. It’s a claim our longtime readers will be familiar with, but the only thing preventing the Houston crooner from a full-blown takeover at the time of our rankings is latency. An incredible 20 songs with his credit appear on our charts, bolstering the full 18-song tracklist of OCTANE with two longer-timers in “3:00 AM” with LoeShimmy and “No Pole” from two albums ago.
The album cuts are all flirting with top 50 status across all streaming platforms, likely to be matched by more traditional channels next week and bearing out that across-the-board dominance we’re promising. Even for the moment, the numbers aren’t anything to sneeze at: “E85” at #18, “ATM” at #21, and “Body” at #26 showcase his solo bona fides, while a feature spree with Yeat, Rema, and Travis Scott places “Rendezvous,” “Secondhand,” and “Rosary” consecutively from #29 to #31.
Zara Larrson And Harry Styles Join Don Toliver
Our real longtimers will remember when Harry’s House felt like the only game in town. The “As It Was” project was inescapable on the airwaves and in our coverage in ’22, yet the One Direction alumnus has been in short supply in recent years. The Grammy Awards this past weekend allowed us to see Harry Styles’ renewed efforts, something we heard with the release of “Aperture” earlier in the month.
The electronic-tinged record bodes well for the Brit’s attempts to recapture or even surpass that 2022 moment. In its first week, the comeback record managed an ever-coveted Billboard #1. Though more recent material edges it a bit further down streaming rankings, solid social numbers indicate genuine staying power for the record, something that should keep Styles in the rotation as we near Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally at the top of March. With “I Just Might” already dropping five spots week over week, there’s a real chance he could be in the mix for pole position in the weeks between.
Finally, on the “main pop girl” beat, is there a chance that Zara Larsson is entering the conversation at long last? Though she’s been a favorite of the genre-crazed for over a decade now, linking up with PinkPantheress for “Stateside” in January provided a splashy capper on what had already been a resurgent few months. While that generational join-up alit social media fans upon release, the real story is that “Lush Life” has leapfrogged it (#25 and #19 this week, respectively).
As always, you can catch the music featured in this piece wherever you stream your music.
