(AllHipHop News) As part of its 2020 Mid-Year Report, Nielsen Music/MRC Data presented information about the change in streaming numbers for certain songs in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. Listeners gravitated towards several Hip Hop acts following the May 25 incident that left an unarmed Floyd dead at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
The average daily audio streams for Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” jumped 268.5% from May 28-June 6 as compared with the numbers for May 22-May 27. Kendrick Lamar’s #BlackLivesMatter anthem “Alright” saw an increase of 237.5% during that time period.
N.W.A’s classic 1988 record “F*ck tha Police” experienced a 302.7% growth in streams. 2Pac’s “Keep Ya Head Up” surged by 90.2% over the 10 days. Killer Mike made national news because of the emotional speech he delivered on May 29 as a response to an uprising in Atlanta. Streams for the Georgian’s “Don’t Die” skyrocketed by 7,616%.
J. Cole’s “Middle Child” (+8.9%), 21 Savage’s “A Lot” featuring J. Cole (+10.4%), Nipsey Hussle’s “Grinding All My Life” (+22.2% ), Ludacris’ “S.O.T.L. (Silence of the Lambs)” (+100%), John Legend & The Roots’ “Hang On in There” (+6,217.5%), and Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing in the Name” (+49%) also saw substantial rises.
“A Change Is Gonna Come” by Soul/R&B legend Sam Cooke became one of the unofficial hymns of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. It appears the classic tune also resonated with #BlackLivesMatter supporters too. Cooke’s signature song saw a 112.7% streaming hike in the days after MPD officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd.
