Throughout the week, REVOLT took a look at all the songs that made an impact on Summer ’16. Some of them were songs that could have been dubbed anthems but, due to their ill-timed release, either #PeakedTooEarly (Kanye’s “Famous,” Flume “Never Be Like You”) and #Didn’tStandAChance (DJ Khaled’s “I Got the Keys,” Justin Timberlake “Can’t Stop the Feeling”). A couple others happened to be hits that were #LateBloomers (Tory Lanez “Luv”) and #UndeniableFaves (Rihanna’s “Work,” Desiigner “Panda”). But today (August 26), we reveal the record that held a tight grasp around Summer ’16 and yes, it’s Drake’s “One Dance.”
Drake feat. WizKid and Kyla “One Dance”
The FIFA World Cup isn’t for another two years, but Drake sure made it feel like it was around the corner thanks to the undeniable cultural smash that is “One Dance.”
Bringing forth a soca pulse spilled over the infectious piano house sample of Crazy Cousinz’s 2008 remix of Kyla’s “Do You Mind,” the tropical thumper took the country by storm and seized the summer altogether. Within weeks of its surprise drop online back in the spring, “One Dance” quickly transformed Drake from superstar to pop giant and granted the rapper his first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — a feat he’d been eyeing since “Hotline Bling” last year. For 10 nonconsecutive weeks, “One Dance” basked in the sunny side of the Hot 100 top spot and, as of this writing, continues to maintain a 12-week run atop the Songs of the Summer chart. How fitting.
Drake’s ‘Views’: First Thoughts
All things considered, the single was everywhere this summer. Whether it was from viral clips featuring the POTUS, its live debut on Saturday Night Live, or the stage of the Red Bull Culture Clash, “One Dance” was as ubiquitous as it could get and may very well continue its run through the rest of the year.
The success behind the Views smash isn’t just a measure of soca and Afrobeats’ extended influence onto new world pop, but also a testament to the hold Toronto’s resident 6 God has on the pulse of pop culture. Besides “One Dance,” his name is attached to eight other records on the Hot 100 chart that have impacted the summer much similar to the aforesaid single. Four of these charted records (“Too Good,” “For Free,” “Controlla,” and “Work”) appear in the Top 50 and can soon infiltrate the Top 10. Simply put, just like how its its been the past three years, the perpetual Drake daze continues.