Djo’s ‘End of Beginning’ Is the Latest TikTok Billboard Top 50 No. 1
A week after scoring a splashy debut at No. 11 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart, Djo’s “End of Beginning” vaults to No. 1 on the March 2-dated survey.
The TikTok Billboard Top 50 is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs on TikTok in the United States based on creations, video views and user engagement. The latest chart reflects activity Feb. 19-25. Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard charts except for the TikTok Billboard Top 50. Titles that are part of Universal Music Group’s catalog are currently unavailable on TikTok.
The AWAL-released “End of Beginning,” as previously reported, encompasses a TikTok trend that largely centers on Chicago, which is mentioned prominently in the 2022 song’s lyrics. The line “And when I’m back in Chicago, I feel it/ Another version of me, I was in it” soundtracks footage of the city, people discussing their time there or even users pining for similar experiences in other cities.
A more recent trend featuring “End of Beginning” is a photo montage with the prompt “If I won the lottery I wouldn’t tell anyone, but there’d be signs,” showing off how their life would change after winning the cash. While the Chicago-specific trend kicked off the song’s TikTok rise, the latest theme helped drive the track to an explosion on the platform – and subsequently on audio and video streaming services – that begets its jump to No. 1.
Concurrently, “End of Beginning” becomes Djo’s (real name Joe Keery, known also as an actor on Stranger Things, Fargo and more) first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100, bowing at No. 51. It accumulated 8.4 million official U.S. streams Feb. 16-22, a 194% jump, according to Luminate. Those streams also drive it to No. 2 on Alternative Streaming Songs.
“End of Beginning” takes over No. 1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 from Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do for Love,” which falls to No. 2 after one week atop the tally. The trend for the 1978 song, which peaked at No. 9 on the Hot 100 in its time, continues, though; as noted toward the Feb. 24 ranking, creators are most often using the song to supplement footage of different food items and dishes, including chocolate-covered strawberries, while others zoom in on pets or significant others. The song jumped another 15% in official U.S. streams Feb. 16-22 to 1.8 million.
The week’s top debut is one spot below at No. 3: Glee cast’s version of “Rose’s Turn,” a song originally written for the musical Gypsy. The tune’s opening line “All that work and what did it get me? Why did I do it?” is used as creators lament trying hard to accomplish something, only for it to be all for naught.
Beyonce’s “Texas Hold ‘Em,” concurrently the week’s No. 1 song on the Hot 100, continues its ascent on the TikTok Billboard Top 50, leaping from No. 13 to No. 4, while one of its closest competitors on the Hot 100, Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Carnival,” starts at No. 5.
While uploads for “Texas Hold ‘Em” remain largely rooted in a dance trend to the country tune, “Carnival” is being used in a variety of ways, from usages in general viral clips to creators reacting to the track, considered to be the runaway hit from Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s No. 1 album Vultures 1.
Both “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “Carnival” rise in official U.S. streams Feb. 16-22, the former up 51% to 29 million streams and the latter jumping 5% to 24.6 million.
Cat Janice‘s “Dance You Outta My Head” ranks at No. 6; the chart’s latest tracking week came prior to the 31-year-old singer’s Feb. 28 death from sarcoma; she debuted the song while in hospice as her final release.
One other song debuts in the TikTok Billboard Top 50’s top 10: Armando Trovajoli’s “L’amore Dice Ciao,” the “slow take” version of which bows at No. 8. The instrumental track from the Italian pianist and composer is mostly utilized in a trend soundtracking animation to the prompt “Do you think you would be my [fill in the blank] in every universe?” – often friend, mother, sibling, etc. – with the response “I hope we are,” showing the users in multiple forms.
See the full TikTok Billboard Top 50 here. You can also tune in each Friday to SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio (channel 4) to hear the premiere of the chart’s top 10 countdown at 3 p.m. ET, with reruns heard throughout the week.
Kevin Rutherford
Billboard
