Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.
This week: Marriage rumors help make a Dave and Tems single take off in the U.S., while a mysterious cover of a Stromae song goes big and revives the original in the process, and a new artist makes waves as the rumored alias for a breakout TV star.
Possibly AI-Powered Cover of Stromae’s ‘Papaoutai’ Lights Up Streaming — And Revives the 2013 Original
13 years ago, Stromae earned a breakthrough global hit with “Papaoutai,” and now it’s back on the streaming charts — this time, without the Belgian multihyphenate’s voice.
Released on Dec. 20 and dubbed an “afro soul” rendition, the new version of “Papoutai” is credited to Unjaps (a faceless, seemingly AI-powered artist tied to recent trending sounds like a choral version of Sisqo’s “Thong Song”), Mikeeysmind (born Mikael Daghighi, a Swedish producer) and Chill77 (another apparently AI-powered artist).
Some listeners have gravitated towards the song’s “heightened emotion” (the new version strips Stromae’s dance beat for a more choral sound), and others have discovered it by way of its placement in trending clips from streamer iShowSpeed’s viral Africa tour. On Jan. 9, social media creator Arsène Mukendi posted a music video that found him lip-syncing to the AI-generated vocals, which he clarified as such in edited Instagram captions. The corresponding TikTok sound for the “afro soul” version of “Papaoutai” currently plays in over 235,000 posts.
According to Luminate, the AI-assisted version of “Papoutai” earned 263,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during the period of Jan. 9-12. A week later (Jan. 16-19), that figure leapt 170% to over 711,000 streams. From Jan. 9-12, Stromae’s original version of “Papaoutai” pulled just under 170,000 official streams, jumping 53% to over 264,000 official streams by the week of Jan. 16-19.
While original AI-assisted songs have appeared in this column before, this might be the most notable case yet of an AI-powered cover of an existing hit song gaining real traction on streaming. — KYLE DENIS
Rumored Wedding Bells Lift Dave & Tems’ ‘Raindance’
When Dave dropped The Boy Who Played the Harp, which landed on Billboard’s 2025 Best Rap Albums list, the Tems-assisted “Raindance” quickly emerged as its biggest potential hit. A few weeks later, the sweet Afroswing collaboration is still going strong.
“Raindance” sustained its momentum throughout the holiday season by riding the swirling romance rumors brewing between its recording artists. On Dec. 15, Tems dropped her “Mine” music video, which featured an appearance from Dave — and a few days prior, she posted a TikTok featuring the rapper with her song “Big Daddy” playing in the background. That same day, Dave posted a clip to his own TikTok account, with Tems and him vibing to “Raindance” while flashing what appeared to be matching rings. With fans tirelessly speculating about the pair’s relationship status, a buzzy new duet tied to an acclaimed new album was their natural landing point, at least as far as music streaming is concerned.
On Dec. 14, TikTok creator @zoebaptistee shared a new dance challenge set to the song’s bridge. That clip has since amassed over 13.4 million views and two million likes, helping the attached unofficial “Raindance” TikTok sound soar past 680,000 posts. The official “Raindance” sound plays in nearly 80,000 additional clips.
During the week of Dec. 19-25, “Raindance” pulled over 1.01 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate. Two weeks later (Jan. 1-7), just before the release of its buzzy music video (seemingly set at a wedding reception!) on Jan. 9, that figure ballooned 136% to over 2.39 million official streams.
Dave has yet to enter the Billboard Hot 100, and “Raindance” just might be his strongest chance yet. — K.D.
Theory Involving ‘Heated Rivalry’ Star Hudson Williams Launches Nascent Band Out of Obscurity
At the top of the year, an enigmatic music outfit named Tide Ritual appeared across streaming platforms with two new singles: “Titanic” and “Stay.”
Next to nothing is known about the band, and their two lone Instagram posts don’t give any helpful clues regarding their origin or formation. Naturally, Tide Ritual’s journey from absolute obscurity and streaming breakout was jumpstarted by the current buzziest piece of media: Heated Rivalry. Since the songs popped up on streaming, fans have circulated theories pegging series star Hudson Williams as the voice behind the mystery act. Doctored screenshots of allegedly deleted Instagram DMs and Stories were shared as “proof,” and many fans, eager to pounce on anything even tangentially related to Williams or co-star Connor Storrie, believed them. Some even went as far as alleging Willaims was purposely keeping the band private to avoid conflicting with his new CAA contract.
At press time, Williams has not confirmed (or even acknowledged) the Tide Ritual rumors, but that didn’t stop “Titanic” and “Stay” from receiving a notable streaming boom in light of the speculation. On its first full day of release (Jan. 12), “Titanic” pulled in aroudn 5,000 official on-demand U.S. streams, and that number jumped 283% by Jan. 20 to over 18,000 official streams. Similarly, “Stay” logged just under 1,000 official on-demand U.S. streams on its first full day of release (Jan. 16), with that figure rising 541% to over 3,700 official streams.
In the event that Hudson confirms he is not involved with Tide Ritual (or if the whole thing turns out to be some sort of scam), Heated Rivalry fans can still enjoy the official score soundtrack for season one, which debuted a pair of tracks (“It’s You” and “Rivalry”) on the all-genre Jan. 24-dated Digital Song Sales chart. — K.D.
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