What ‘Song of the Summer’ and ‘Face of the NBA’ Have in Common

What ‘Song of the Summer’ and ‘Face of the NBA’ Have in Common

Now that Labor Day has passed, the annual influx of 'Song of the Summer' articles is here. There are plenty of takeaways, from the mixed response to the popularity of Alex Warren's "Ordinary," the longing for pop music that dominated 2024, the perception of Morgan Wallen, and the bubbles we each live in that make these discussions so subjective.

Lately, the song of the summer discussion reminds me of the "face of the NBA" debate. As LeBron James and Steph Curry are in their twilight years in the league, talking heads love to discuss who's next up to be the most popular player that is pushed in commercials, endorsements, and celebrity arenas. The debates often turn into critiques about whether Jayson Tatum "has that dog in him," the American marketability of Nikola Jokic, or the role model qualities of Anthony Edwards. Sigh.

Both questions are nostalgia plays for monoculture. They are longing for the days when cultural consensus was more achievable. Deep down, people want shared moments in music, sports, and other parts of culture.

I didn't need a list to know the 2002 song of the summer. Whether I went outside or turned on the TV, I knew I would eventually hear Nelly's "Hot in Herre." Same with the NBA, where Los Angeles Lakers teammates Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were marketed to me nonstop through the highs and lows of their relationship.

In music, today's songs of the summer lists and debates highlight what other people's mainstream looks like. Each platform's data challenges the bubbles we live in. The chill, Spotify core nature of "Ordinary," which stayed at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for nine consecutive weeks and counting, may have dominated streaming charts, but will it register as high on a meme-driven platform like TikTok, where MOLIY's "Shake It To The Max (FLY)" has been quite popular? And according to the Wall Street Journal, Goo Goo Doll’s 1998 hit “Iris” is the song of the summer.

These streaming-era "mainstream to me" bubbles feel stronger than ever. But it would be a mistake to assume that these bubbles didn't exist before, even in the time that people are nostalgic for.

In the pre-social media world of the 2000s NBA, the best bottom-up proxy for popularity was All-Star Game votes. They were the ultimate popularity contest. But in 2005 and 2006, the top vote-getter wasn't Shaq, Kobe, or LeBron James. It was Yao Ming. For a large part of the NBA's global audience, Yao was their face of the NBA, especially as the league had aggressively expanded into China. The numbers proved it.

And despite Nelly's 2002 dominance in the U.S., the top song that summer across most of Europe and Australia was Las Ketchup's "The Ketchup Song (Asereje)." Sure, it is remembered as more of a novelty hit than Nelly's Neptunes-produced anthem, but Las Ketchup's song still charted higher than "Hot in Herre" in over twenty countries.

We have always been a fragmented culture. It's just more noticeable now than ever. Maybe the real song of the summer, much like the face of the NBA, is the debates we had along the way.

Chartmetric Stat of the Week

The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” recently surpassed 5 billion streams on Spotify. We discussed its dominance in last week’s memo, but I didn’t spend much time talking about Hurry Up Tomorrow, his 2025 album. The album has yet to produce a “song of the summer” level hit, but its biggest value add may be keeping “Blinding Lights” and his other top songs on the charts.

Streaming algorithms can be similar to SEO. Most websites have a few pages that attract most pageviews, but releasing more content tells search engines that the page is still active, which continues to boost its rankings. In music, new music often elevates streams for the artist’s back catalog as well.