What does the summer of 2021 sound like? Well, Spotify has the answer and has released a playlist of the most streamed songs globally over the last three months. Full of moody belters courtesy of Olivia Rodrigo and The Weeknd, pop artistry from BTS, Doja Cat and Dua Lipa and unapologetic queer excellence from Lil Nas X, here’s how all our faves faired.
In what was meant to be our hot vax summer but ended up being chaotic and confusing, it’s no surprise we all turned to break-up anthem queen Olivia Rodrigo in an attempt to release our angsty feelings. The popstar du jour holds the title for the most streamed song of the season (a whopping 600 million streams on Spotify alone!) with “Good 4 U”. 2021 has seen the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series actor become a global sensation, and so naturally five other songs from her debut album Sour also appear in the top 25 played songs on Spotify this summer: “Traitor”, “Happier”, “Deja Vu”, “Favorite Crime” and of course, the song that started it all, “Drivers License”.
Actually, it was a good summer for pop-punk and rock aesthetics in general, as Eurovision 2021 winners Måneskin took the spot for second most streamed song globally with their cover of the 1967 song “Beggin’’ by The Four Seasons. The song, released in 2017, topped charts across Europe after the leathered-up band won the annual song contest in May, alongside their more recent horny, voyeuristic single “I Wanna Be Your Slave”, which is officially the 12th most streamed song.
Puerto-Rican rapper Rauw Alejandro’s 80s inspired synth pop song “Todo De Ti” took the third spot, followed by “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” aka the queer blasphemy anthem from Lil Nas X, then Doja Cat and SZA’s smoochy disco collab, “Kiss Me More”.
Other songs that accompanied the summer 2021 mood were Justin Bieber’s collaboration with Australian artist to watch, The Kid Laroi, on “Stay”, and his worldwide hit “Peaches”. Despite Megan Thee Stallion’s remix only getting a release this week after the rapper took her label to court, BTS’s “Butter” unsurprisingly slipped its way into the top 10. The version of The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears” featuring Ariana’s effortless vocals also made the list, alongside Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” and tracks from J Balvin, Bad Bunny and more.
Any guesses as to what the world’s AW21 listening habits will look like? Last week sunny, happy Lorde reminded us that summer is not entirely over, and as Olivia Rodrigo releases her grungy Y2K music video for “brutal” we can expect her to continue to dominate our lives and our wallets. There’ll also likely be a throwback to the summer of 2012 with the release of Red (Taylor’s Version) later this year. A simpler time.
You can check out the full Songs of Summer 2021 playlist below.