The jury's still out on the Song of the Summer title, but the numbers point to "In My Feelings," Drake's declaration of love for Kiki, K.B., J.T., and Bresha. Billboard has named the song the winning track via its Songs of the Summer chart, which tracks the success of songs from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Cardi B's song "I Like It" came in second, and Maroon 5's "Girls Like You" — which features Cardi B — came in third. Overall, though, this is a win for Drake, who also conquered the airwaves with "Nice For What" earlier this summer. ("Nice For What" took the top spot on Billboard's Songs of the Summer chart for four consecutive weeks.) "In My Feelings" also happens to be Spotify's Song of the Summer, leading the list with 393 million streams between June 1 and August 20.
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"In My Feelings" received a generous boost from Instagram comedian Shiggy, who created a dance challenge to the song that went very, very viral. The challenge, which involved a set of dance moves done in front of a moving car, made its way around the world, reaching heights like Will Smith's Instagram, Ciara, and the cast of Queer Eye. The original video now has over 7 million views.
Previous songs of the summer haven't received viral help — "Despacito," which ruled the streaming world for all fourteen weeks of summer 2017, was just a collaboration between Justin Bieber and Luis Fonsi. In 2016, it was Drake with the title again, this time for "One Dance," which also didn't have a viral challenge. The only other song in recent memory to accompany a viral challenge would be "Black Beatles" with Rae Sremmurd and Gucci Mane. Which, actually, if it had landed in the summer, might have claimed the title of "song of the summer." In 2016, the Mannequin Challenge, set to the song "Black Beatles," went viral — Blac Chyna did the challenge in the delivery room following the birth of Dream Kardashian, remember? The song enjoyed the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 list for seven nonconsecutive weeks. The song came out in September, though, just shy of the summer cutoff.
"In My Feelings" got a boost from its viral clout, but it's likely that Drake would have wormed his way onto the charts without it. Scorpion, his latest album, sent six singles to the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including the previous song of the summer contender "Nice For What." "God's Plan" also reached the top spot on the Hot 100 list in February, where is stayed for 11 weeks. Virality is forceful, but there are few forces as undeniable as Drake.