As hip-hop strikes additional away from an period when feminine rappers seemingly should be affiliated with a crew of males to safe legitimacy and launch their very own careers, the style’s reigning queens are serving to a rising class of feminine rappers attain new ranges of economic success.
Whereas there may be advantage to the argument that remixes are getting much less creatively bold, they nonetheless have a sure gravity about them — particularly when a longtime artist is becoming a member of forces with a burgeoning star. Maybe probably the most tangible type of a co-sign, the remix has cemented itself as a savvy manner for rappers with regional hits to carry these songs to the forefront of the nationwide, and worldwide, consciousness, whereas much less established artists can show that their hits have a life exterior of TikTok traits and challenges.
After all, there may be additionally a profit for the extra established stars on this equation. Artists who’ve already cemented themselves in hip-hop’s present pantheon can attain younger and extra area of interest followers via these remixes, whereas additionally retaining their title afloat within the streets and on the charts, relying on the character of the tune. Remixes have additionally grow to be a part of the promotional marketing campaign for imminent album releases from distinguished artists; in anticipation for his or her correct lead singles, artists will hop on sizzling songs to maintain their title within the dialog and set the stage for their very own takeover. In Nicki’s case, her latest wave of remix goals to put the inspiration for her forthcoming Pink Friday 2 album cycle. For Cardi, whereas particulars on her sophomore file stay scarce, her string of remixes has allowed her to stay within the musical dialog regardless of not releasing a single of her personal since final yr’s “Hot S—t” (with Kanye West & Lil Durk).
However for these rising artists, being stamped by both confirmed hitmaker brings with it the eye of huge, devoted fanbases and A-list star energy. Actually, Nicki/Cardi remixes are a mirrored image of the extremely collaborative nature of up to date feminine rap. From Monaleo and Flo Milli’s “We Not Humping (Remix)” to Gloss Up, Ok Carbon, Slimeroni, Aleza, & Lola Brooke’s “Shabooya,” feminine rap is flourishing thanks largely to the abundance of such crossover collaborations.
Under, Billboard breaks down the numbers behind these latest remixes, and examines the impact Nicki Minaj and Cardi B have on songs that they lend their voices and pens to:
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“Whole Lotta Money” (BIA & Nicki Minaj)
Earlier than “Whole Lotta Money” turned her signature hit, BIA was grinding simply left of rap’s mainstream. In 2016, she earned her first main hit together with her featured activate J Balvin’s “Safari,” however didn’t enter the Billboard Sizzling 100 till the discharge of 2020’s “Best on Earth” (with Russ). That yr noticed the discharge of For Sure, her sophomore EP, which didn’t yield a Sizzling 100 entry till sixth single “Whole Lotta Money,” nonetheless, because of the tune’s quick-rising TikTok virality — which resulted in a nine-week run on the Effervescent Underneath Sizzling 100. Throughout that interval, the tune pulled a mean of 4 million official on-demand U.S. streams per week, based on Luminate. Ultimately peaking at No. 3 on the Effervescent Underneath Sizzling 100, “Whole Lotta Money” entered the Sizzling 100 at No. 16 on the chart dated July 24, 2021, because of an “Itty Bitty Piggy”-interpolating Nicki Minaj remix.
In its first week of availability, the Minaj remix of “Whole Lotta Money” pulled 11.2 million official on-demand U.S. streams — the perfect streaming week of the tune’s complete run. Minaj’s model of “Whole Lotta Money” has out-streamed BIA’s unique each week since its launch. The tune spent 17 weeks on the Sizzling 100 and reached the highest ten on Streaming Songs (No. 9), Digital Track Gross sales (No. 6) and Sizzling R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (No. 6) — BIA’s first look in that area on any of these charts.
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“Tomorrow 2” (GloRilla & Cardi B)
Previous to the “Tomorrow 2” takeover, Memphis rapper GloRilla had each the streets and the summer season on lock with “F.N.F.” — the gloriously raucous Hitkidd-produced kiss-off anthem that might earn GloRilla her first Sizzling 100 entry (No. 42) and first Grammy nomination (finest rap efficiency). A sequence of singles adopted, together with the unique solo model of “Tomorrow” and “Blessed,” however none made a lot of a business affect — partly because of the sustained momentum of “F.N.F.” Within the weeks previous Cardi B’s seismic remix, “Tomorrow” pulled a mean of two million official on-demand U.S. streams, based on Luminate, crossing the three million mark simply as soon as.
On September 23, 2022, just some weeks earlier than the discharge of her In any case, Life’s Nice… EP, GloRilla unveiled the retitled and Cardi B-assisted “Tomorrow 2.” In its first full week of availability, “Tomorrow 2” collected 17 million official on-demand U.S. streams — the tune’s finest streaming week ever. The Cardi remix of “Tomorrow 2” shortly turned probably the most dominant model of the tune, each commercially and culturally. “Tomorrow 2” averaged over ten million official on-demand U.S. streams for eleven consecutive weeks, and Cardi’s verse concurrently turned the most well liked celebration anthem of the season and the brand new blueprint for Instagram captions. The remix debuted and peaked at No. 9 on the Sizzling 100, changing into GloRilla’s first prime ten entry on the chart and her highest peak up to now. The Cardi remix additionally helped the tune attain the highest 5 on Streaming Songs (No. 3), Digital Track Gross sales (No. 2), and Sizzling R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (No. 3) — GloRilla’s highest peaks on every of these tallies.
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“Princess Diana” (Ice Spice & Nicki Minaj)
It merely can’t be overstated how fast Ice Spice’s rise to mainstream dominance has been. From the discharge of her breakout single “Munch” in August 2022, the Bronx rapper has risen via the ranks of each hip-hop and pop stardom with spectacular ease. She kicked off 2023 with the discharge of her Like..? EP, which housed her first unaccompanied Sizzling 100 entry in “In Ha Mood” (No. 58), and of the yr’s earliest smash hits: “Boy’s A Liar, Pt. 2” a Jersey membership/U.Ok. storage fusion with Brit singer-songwriter PinkPantheress. Upon launch as part of the Like..? EP, “Princess Diana” pulled 3.1 million official on-demand U.S. streams in its first week of availability. That quantity dwindled steadily week after week, slipping to 1.3 million the week earlier than Ice enlisted Minaj for the tune’s remix.
In its first week of launch, the reworked Minaj-featuring “Princess Diana” earned a whopping 20.5 million official on-demand U.S. streams, whereas the unique pilled 1.6 million. Minaj’s model of the tune boosted the monitor to a lofty No. 4 debut on the Sizzling 100, serving to Ice return to the area for the primary time since “Boy’s A Liar, Pt. 2.” Three weeks into the remix’s lifespan, the unique model of “Princess Diana” dropped under a million streams per week, whereas the remix has remained above 4 million each subsequent week. “Princess Diana” has gone on to grow to be Ice’s best-performing tune from her personal catalog on Streaming Songs (No. 6), Radio Songs (No. 31), and Digital Track Gross sales (No. 1).
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“Pound Town 2” (Sexyy Crimson, Tay Keith & Nicki Minaj)
“Pound Town,” 2023’s outrageously vulgar and undeniably hilarious unofficial tune of the summer season, was already dominating the streets earlier than a remix entered the image. Similar to her previous viral hits “Ah Thousand Jugs” and the Sukihana-assisted “Born by the River,” Sexyy Crimson’s brash persona and savvy quick-wittedness drove “Pound Town” to TikTok dominance. Upon its January 27 launch, “Pound Town” debuted with a bit of over 37,000 official on-demand U.S. streams. Because the tune’s profile grew, that numbered ballooned to 2.4 million streams within the week previous the discharge of Minaj’s remix.
In its first week of availability, the newly minted “Pound Town 2” collected 4.5 million official on-demand U.S. streams, a determine that is still the tune’s greatest streaming week of all time. The success of the remix helped “Pound Town 2” debut on the Sizzling 100, changing into the primary entry on the chart for each Sexyy Crimson and Tay Keith. Since its Might 26 launch, the up to date model of “Pound Town” has averaged round 3 million weekly streams. Stunningly, the unique model of the tune has remained regular, barely growing to a bit of over 2 million weekly streams. By means of a mixture of the tune’s irresistibility, Sexyy Crimson’s magnetic character and nuanced understanding of social media, and Minaj’s star energy, “Pound Town” has grown right into a phenomenon that has bolstered the performances of each variations of the tune. “Pound Town 2” is now Sexyy Crimson’s highest-charting tune entry on Digital Track Gross sales (No. 1), Sizzling R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (No. 21) and Rap Airplay (No. 12).
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“Put It On Da Floor Again” (Latto & Cardi B)
Final yr, after years of toiling exterior of rap’s mainstream, Latto lastly broke via with the large Grammy-nominated hit single “Big Energy,” which flew to No. 3 on the Sizzling 100 and have become Latto’s signature tune. Within the months following the multi-format success of “Big Energy,” Latto struggled to ship a correct follow-up hit. All of her subsequent 777 singles, standalone songs, and collaborations (save for her activate Megan Thee Stallion’s “Budget”) didn’t enter the Sizzling 100. Nonetheless, by the start of 2023, Latto returned to the Sizzling 100 together with her Lu Kala-assisted “Lottery” (No. 83) and her and Yung Miami’s remix of Lola Brooke’s “Don’t Play With It” (No. 69). Though “Put It On Da Floor” didn’t enter the Sizzling 100 upon its April 21 launch, the tune was already making cultural waves: Latto debuted the tune dwell throughout her Teyana Taylor-helmed Coachella set, and between the tune’s sly disses and the meme based mostly on its opening line — followers have been actually ripping themselves out of plastic each on-line and within the membership — “Put It On Da Floor” shortly turned an indeniable road hit.
Within the weeks previous Cardi B’s remix, “Put It On Da Floor” pulled a mean of three million official on-demand U.S. weekly streams. As soon as the retitled “Put It On Da Floor Again” arrived, the tune collected 14.6 million streams. Cardi’s remix helped the tune enter the Sizzling 100 for the primary time, peaking at No. 13 — Latto’s highest peak on the chart since “Big Energy.” Each week since its launch, “Put It On Da Floor Again” has averaged over 7 million weekly streams, whereas streams for the unique have fluctuated between 1.7 million and 4.3 million. Because of Cardi’s endlessly quotable verse (“N—a, cry for what? / B—h these are Denim Tears/ I’m sexy dancin’ in the house, I feel like Britney Spears”), “Put It On Da Floor Again” has grown into Latto’s most dominant hit since “Big Enegy” — particularly from a cultural standpoint.
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“Point Me 2” (FendiDa Rappa & Cardi B)
Chicago drill rapper FendiDa Rappa launched her debut album Str8 From Da Raq in 2021, and two years later her ominous “Point Me to the Slut’s” started to point out indicators of a possible crossover from a regional hit to legit nationwide prominence. In its first month of availability, “Point Me To The Slut’s” collected underneath 1,000 official on-demand U.S. streams per week. Because the tune’s refrain continued to achieve traction on TikTok, that determine reached a peak of 943,000 streams within the week ending Might 11, and dipped to 734,000 streams within the week previous Cardi’s remix.
The Cardi B-minted “Point Me 2” is the youngest remix on this wave, nevertheless it has already emerged as one of the crucial profitable tracks of the bunch. In its first week of launch (July 7-13), “Point Me 2” earned 6.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams — simply the tune’s greatest streaming week. “Point Me 2” is now FendiDa Rappa’s first look on any Billboard chart, together with the Sizzling 100 (No. 82), Sizzling Rap Songs (No. 14), and Sizzling R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (No. 20).