In our weekly feature “THE WEEKLY,” music critic Seo Seongdeok takes stock of the biggest developments in the music industry each week. Catch up on the latest stories in music, from major artist moves to notable new releases, “Billboard” chart highlights, and more.
Dominic Fike scores his first Top 10 hit with “Babydoll” eight years after release
Dominic Fike’s song “Babydoll” climbed from No. 13 to No. 10 on the Hot 100, giving the singer his very first Top 10 hit. The song, from his 2018 debut EP “Don’t Forget About Me, Demos,” reached the milestone eight years after it was first released. The resurgence began back in February, initially on TikTok. In “Babydoll,” Fike sings about missing an old flame with self-deprecating lyrics. Add in the guitar and beat behind the words, and the song found its way into videos of every kind. As more people discovered the song, “Babydoll” debuted at No. 97 on the Hot 100 dated February 21.
Fike didn’t miss the opportunity in front of him. On February 27, he rereleased “Babydoll” as a single alongside a newer song, “White Keys.” A music video followed on March 5, with Fike playing guitar in a car rolling through a car wash. “Babydoll” entered the Top 40 at No. 33 on the chart dated March 14, then broke into the Top 20 at No. 19 on March 28. By then it had also climbed to No. 1 on Spotify’s global chart. On the “Billboard” Global 200 dated April 18, it sat at No. 2. Alongside everything else, “Babydoll” began slowly doing numbers on the airwaves. It debuted at No. 48 on the Radio Songs chart dated July 4 and has reached No. 5 as of this week.
“Babydoll” was part of a six-song demo Fike recorded while under house arrest on charges of assaulting a police officer. After he was jailed, his then-manager released the song in December 2017, setting off a bidding war among the labels. When Fike got out the following year, he signed a $4 million recording deal with Columbia Records. He used part of the money to hire a lawyer for his mother, who’d been in and out of jail over drug addiction. What Fike says about his parents in “Babydoll” is straight autobiography.
Dominic Fike overcame adversity through sheer talent, and the opportunities kept coming, including a role on the HBO series “Euphoria” that launched his acting career. “Babydoll” hit the chart eight years after it came out and made it into the Top 10 eight months after that. While it did enjoy a surge in trendiness, its real rise came from the quality of the music itself. Fike’s third album, “How To Quit Smoking,” comes out October 30. More people than ever will be waiting to hear it the second it drops.
Ashe cracks the Top 40 for the first time with “Stop The Wedding!”
Ashe’s single “Stop The Wedding!” jumped from No. 48 to No. 34 on the “Billboard” Hot 100, the singer’s first Top 40 hit. The song also gave Ashe her first Top 10 on both the Global 200 and the Global Excl. US charts, at No. 10 and No. 6, respectively. She spent a 52nd week on the Emerging Artists chart, where she hit a new peak of No. 3. The chart is for rising stars who have never placed in the Top 25 on the “Billboard” 200 or on the Hot 100. She’s only the second artist this year, after Ty Myers, to reach the Top 3 after spending more than a year as an Emerging Artist.
Ashe’s first big break was with “Moral of the Story,” released in 2019. After the song appeared in the 2020 Netflix film “To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You,” it rose to No. 2 on the Spotify Viral Chart and became Ashe’s first Hot 100 entry. She went on to release three studio albums, but they failed to elicit that much of a response. Last year, though, “The Dream”—an album she made under the name the Favors with FINNEAS, who produced “Moral of the Story”—set her off in a new direction.
The Favors’ album was praised for its 1970s-inspired blend of pop and rock that plays like the soundtrack to a romance movie. Ashe’s sound has shifted to orchestral pop along the lines of ABBA and Carpenters, but she hasn’t lost her knack for dramatic arrangements full of swelling emotion. “Stop The Wedding!” is a perfect example of that approach, with its mid-song shift in tempo and mood. The song took off on TikTok as background music for short videos signaling relationship red flags serious enough to call off a wedding.
On October 16, Ashe released her new album, “The Girl Of Your Dreams,” which includes “Stop The Wedding!” The release isn’t reflected on this week’s “Billboard” charts, but it’s off to a good start, debuting at No. 85 in the UK, Ashe’s first time on the UK Albums Chart. Here’s hoping she graduates from the Emerging Artists chart soon.
The Victoria’s Secret Show shakes up the chart
The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, held October 18 in Los Angeles, proved its persuasive power not just on the runway but on the charts too. The show, canceled in 2019 for no longer fitting with changing times, ended up being revived three years ago. It’s no longer broadcast on TV like it used to be, but the viewership for this year’s livestream grew about 33% from last year, topping three million online viewers for the first time.
Tate McRae took to the runway to sing her 2025 song “Sports car” and the newer “Housewife,” and clips of the choreography and the walk hit social media right away. Daily US streams of “Sports car” rose 36%, from 446,000 on the day of the show to 607,000 the next. “Housewife” jumped 43%, from 2.8 million to around 3.3 million. “Housewife” is the pivotal single kicking off the era of McRae’s fourth album. It came out October 15 and is expected to debut on next week’s chart. With the fashion show streaming four days before the end of the chart’s tracking period, could the event’s influence on streaming give a boost to McRae’s debut position next week? It’s an important question to ask, as next week’s chart is expected to see a ton of big releases at the top, including a remix of Olivia Rodrigo’s “expectations” featuring Chappell Roan, and “Lies,” a new song from Zach Bryan and featuring Lana Del Rey.
JADE’s 2024 debut solo single, “Angel Of My Dreams,” enjoyed a boost as well, despite the singer not actually performing it onstage. Played during Kylie Jenner’s Fantasy Bra walk, streams of the song surged 1,434%, from about 18,000 on the day of the show to more than 284,000 afterward. On October 21, it entered Spotify’s US daily chart for the first time, at No. 197—two years and three months after it was released. As if to announce this year’s Angel, out poured ethereal vocals for a dreamy entrance and a dance beat accompaniment to that strut. All of that was the song in its original form, not a special remix for the occasion. Sometimes a song’s ahead of its time and doesn’t have its moment until much later on.