UPDATE: The ubiquitous theme to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ historic win is officially one of the most popular songs in the country. According to Chartdata, “FDT” has entered the US iTunes chart’s Top 10, following a week-long surge in streams.
“FDT” plays soared more than 300% on Election Day alone.
It’s hard to know if YG was fully aware of how “FDT,” his searing anti-Trump anthem featuring the late Nipsey Hussle, would bookend arguably the darkest chapter in modern American political history. But here we are with the end of the Trump presidency officially in plain sight. And “FDT” is still scoring the resistance. In fact, on Election Day alone, Billboard reports streams of the song jumped from 240,000 to 1,050,000 plays, a 338% single-day surge.
Initially dropped as a standalone single well ahead of the 2016 election, “FDT” started its rise to era-defining screed as a politically-charged loosie posted to YG’s Soundcloud page. The track was officially released later that year on YG’s Still Brazyin a slightly censored form after getting flagged by the Secret Service for being “dangerous.”It topped out at No. 50 on Billboard‘s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and No. 30 on the Rap Digital Song Sales chart. But the song gained steam as sentiments towards the administration crystallized, joining the pantheon of protest anthems that have scored Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country throughout Trump’s term in office. And now that it’s become the theme to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ historic win, there’s a good chance it’ll be headed back to the charts in the week ahead.
.@YG and Nipsey Hussle’s “FDT” has entered the top 10 on US iTunes.
— chart data (@chartdata) November 7, 2020
You can keep those “FDT” numbers running below.