Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention.

This week: Gruesome headlines lead to rising streams for alt-pop hitmaker D4vd, while performers at the Charlie Kirk memorial service and songs featured in a much-anticipated Amazon Prime series finale see gains.

D4vd Streams More Than Double After Dead Body in Car Identified

Following a quick rise and a handful of viral hits, D4vd has been featured in disturbing headlines in recent weeks following the discovery of a dead body in a car reportedly registered to the singer-songwriter. The human remains were uncovered inside an impounded Tesla on Sept. 8, and last Wednesday (Sept. 17), the body was identified as Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a 15-year-old girl who had previously been reported missing and, as Internet sleuths pointed out, had multiple connections to D4vd prior to her disappearance. Although no charges have been brought against the 20-year-old singer, D4vd canceled multiple tour dates without explanation in the following days.

Following the reports, D4vd’s overall streams have experienced significant gains — including the viral hit that helped deliver him to the mainstream. From Sept. 18-22, D4vd’s catalog earned 30.3 million official on-demand U.S. streams, more than double the total from the previous five-day tracking period (13.8 million streams from Sept. 12-16), according to Luminate. Within that total, “Romantic Homicide,” which reached No. 33 on the Hot 100 after going viral in 2022, was among the greatest gainers. From Sept. 12-15, the track earned 2.9 million streams; one week later, that total was 9.4 million (up 224%). “Romantic Homicide” and other D4vd tracks have popped up on the Spotify daily top 50 chart as this tragic story has developed. – JASON LIPSHUTZ

Contemporary Worship Performers at Charlie Kirk Memorial Service See Catalog Gains

On Sunday (Sept. 21), a memorial service for the assassinated conservative media figure and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was held at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Az. — with over 90,000 in attendance, and speakers who included both President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, as well as Kirk’s widow Erika. As Kirk had been outspoken in his Christian faith, contemporary Christian music featured prominently in the proceedings — including performances from some of the biggest names in contemporary worship music, paying tribute to Kirk.

Several of those performers experienced notable catalog gains following their performances. Brandon Lake, perhaps currently the biggest name in contemporary Christian music following his crossover breakthrough this year with the Hot 100 top 40 hit “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” collected over 4.3 million official on-demand U.S. streams on Monday (Sept. 22), the day after the service, according to Luminate. That was up 29% from the 3.4 million he drew the Monday before, and included a 76% gain for “Gratitude,” the 2020 song he performed at the ceremony, to 909,000 streams.

Similar catalog gains were posted by service performers Cody Carnes (up 7% to 717,000), Kari Jobe (up 27% to 296,000) and Chris Tomlin (up 30% to just over 2 million) on that Monday — while Lee Greenwood’s perennial “God Bless the U.S.A.” was up nearly 13% to 59,000 streams. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Yes, Cardi B Is the ‘Drama’! New Album Spurs Streaming Gains for Rapper’s Debut LP & Sampled Tracks 

After seven years, Cardi B’s long-awaited sophomore album Am I the Drama?,is finally here — and it’s already having quite the impact on streaming. Released on Sept. 19, Drama has earned 78.3 million official on-demand U.S. streams in its first three days of release, according to Luminate. Of that three-day total, the album pulled 35.8 million streams on Sept. 19, 25.4 million on Sept. 20 and another 17 million streams on Sept. 21. The new album also spurred notable gains for the Bronx MC’s Grammy-winning debut album, Invasion of Privacy. That set earned 4.15 million official on-demand U.S. streams during Drama’s release weekend (Sept. 19-21), marking a 31% increase from the 3.17 million streams it collected the previous weekend (Sept. 12-14). 

Drama is filled with nifty samples, but two particular flips have boosted their original tracks: On the Lizzo-assisted “What’s Going On,” Cardi sources 4 Non Blonde’s “What’s Up,” helped the 1993 track pull over 981,00 official on-demand U.S. streams during Drama’s release weekend (Sept. 19-21). That marks a 7% lift from the 914,000 streams the track earned the previous weekend (Sept. 12-14). Placed near the end of the album, “Principal” calls upon Janet Jackson’s “The Pleasure Principle,” which reaped 52,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during Drama’s release weekend (Sept. 19-21), marking a 30% leap from the 40,2000 streams it pulled the previous weekend (Sept. 12-14). — KYLE DENIS 

Fans Turn to DSPs to Say Goodbye to ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’

Over three seasons, Amazon Prime’s romantic coming-of-age drama series The Summer I Turned Pretty proved itself not only one of the biggest shows of the decade, but one of the most prominent users of music synchs in recent TV history — with synch-tracking website Tunefind listing 104 songs used in its third season alone. That third and final season came to an end last Wednesday (Sept. 17) with 11 synchs used the season finale — all of which of course saw major bumps on streaming following their usage.

With much of the finale taking place in Paris, multiple French songs were used in the episode, with the biggest gains going to Belgian artist Angele’s “Ta Reine” — which was up a whopping 1,130% in official on-demand U.S. streams (to 130,000) over the five days following the episode premiere (Sept. 18-22) compared to the five-day period before (Sept. 12-16), according to Luminate. More in the show’s typical musical wheelhouse were synchs from Noah Kahan (“Everwhere, Everything,” also featuring Gracie Abrams) and Phoebe Bridgers (“Scott Street”), with the songs rising 45% and 79% to 1.9 million and 1.5 million streams over the same period, respectively.

But of course, the biggest bumps overall were reserved for the artist who’s served as the show’s musical north star for essentially its entire run: Taylor Swift. The Taylor’s Version of 1989 fan favorite “Out of the Woods” was used during a climactic Paris scene in the episode, and saw a 184% gain to 961,000 streams over that five-day period after. And even more impressively, Swift’s Reputation highlight “Dress” saw gains of 666% after being used in a dramatic finale makeout scene, rising to 436,000 to 3.4 total million streams over the same period.

And in case your hearts and/or Spotify playlists are hurting following the show’s series finale, fret not: it was announced during the finale’s red carpet celebration that The Summer I Turned Pretty would be returning for a franchise-concluding feature-length film, at a date to be determined. – AU