Rap's Streamer-to-Streaming Pipeline, Another Iconic Fergie Sample, and Country's New Class of Teen Idols

This is a condensed version of Sound Signal, an emerging music newsletter produced by Third Bridge Creative. Sign up here to get the full edition of Sound Signal in your inbox every other week for data-driven insights on music's hottest rising artists.

ICYMI: Sound Signal's State of Trending Music Report is live! Our free, interactive report breaks down the music and trends that shaped last year’s biggest cultural moments, and what’s ahead in 2025. Click here to dive in.

Sound Signal is back with our first issue of 2025! After so many historic wins at the Grammys, we're pumped to dive back into artists we believe are the sound of tomorrow. This week, we're looking at how streamers contribute to rap's ecosystem, London's latest NSFW drill track, and country music's take on the teen idol. ?

TRENDING ARTISTS

Saga Faye

Genre: Pop

TBC Score: 84

Within the span of two months, Stockholm artist Saga Faye has amassed nearly three million Spotify streams on her only released track, “Who are you?” A wistful, melancholic, self-released single, the existential song has landed high on Spotify’s “Pop Rising” and “Lorem” playlists, in addition to 16 other official playlists. With over 401K posts on TikTok, the song—which laments the dissolution of a friendship—has cracked the TikTok 50, chronicling anything from questions about high school teachers to something called the “cute trend.” Oddly enough, it was Saga Faye herself who prompted the latter use of her song, asking for posts from users who have “gone through two complete opposite aesthetics/styles” to show their different phases. Soliciting aside, Saga’s chorus is resonating, evoking questions of self-presentation and identity: Who am I?

PlaqueBoyMax

Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap

TBC Score: 76

When it comes to rap, streamers are the next tastemakers of the genre. Even as an adolescent, New Jersey native PlaqueBoyMax has been skillful at building a community online. In 2024, he signed to FaZe Clan, an entertainment brand, which boosted his platform, adding credence to his Twitch channel. The personality, producer, rapper, and engineer launched his Song Wars franchise, a platform where undiscovered artists showcase new music. His In The Booth series also allows artists to record music in real time. Spotify standouts from the latter include “Cooln” with BabyChiefDoIt and Nino Paid (3.6M streams, “Laced max” with Lazer Dim 700 (35.3M streams) and the viral “Pink Dreads” with DDG (13.7M streams). In the last month, his monthly listener count on the streaming platform has gone up 178%, taking him to 2.35M total and counting.

TRENDING TRACKS

"Paper Planes"

M.I.A.

Short Form Sensation | Rewind | Charting | Editorial Playlisting

Sixteen years after it hit #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, M.I.A.’s infectious track “Paper Planes” is charting again. On December 28, it reached #1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 thanks to a TikTok dance trend. It is currently at #13, 8 weeks after it entered the chart. “Paper Planes” has been used in 239K videos on the platform, and the track’s Chartmetric score went up by 12% in the past month. In response to the renewed interest in the song, M.I.A. tweeted, “TIKTOK CHART IS THE ONLY CHART THAT MATTERS THE CHART OF THE PEOPLE.” Diplo, who co-produced and co-wrote the track, thinks it’s impressive that “Paper Planes” continues to have staying power. Indeed, the song has incredible staying power for a few reasons: the hook is catchy, the sample of The Clash is simultaneously familiar yet novel, and, most importantly, M.I.A.’s sense of pride in her experience as an immigrant and a refugee is palpable.

"PEGGY"

CEECHYNAA

Short Form Sensation | Charting | Editorial Playlisting

British rapper Ceechynaa flaunts her dominatrix appeal on her viral single “Peggy,” released in December. The UK drill artist delivers shocking NSFW lyrics in a seductive manner on the saucy and boisterous track, flipping gender norms through rhyme. With verses like “These men wanna act like a beast, so I put these men in a cage,” Ceechyna shows that she could care less about respectability politics. “Peggy,” which follows Ceechyna’s equally salacious single “Last Laugh,” has gained online buzz with support from fellow Brits Charli XCX and Ellie Goulding, racking up 31M streams on Spotify and placements on “Feelin' Myself”?and “Global Hip-Hop.”

TREND OF THE WEEK

Your New Country Crush

by Leah Mandel

In the past couple of years, a legion of young male country singers have been using social media — TikTok and Instagram specifically — to attract audiences and become breakout stars. There’s Tucker Wetmore and Max McNown, and the previously Sound Signal-featured Austin Williams and Dylan Gossett. They’ve taken over Spotify’s “homegrown” playlist, a collection of singer-songwriters whose bios refer to their humble, working class roots. These artists’ target demographics seem to be fellow young men, semaphored by way of hunting photos, and videos with acoustic guitars, typically somewhere rural. Often they make their Christianity clear — McNown, for instance, has “Matthew 8:8” at the top of his Instagram bio, and part of Williams’ reads “Jesus is Lord.”?

But where this cohort is bro-centric, another subset has become particularly popular with young women. (Women reportedly make up 52% of country listeners.) At the forefront is newcomer Ty Myers, along with Hudson Westbrook (also featured on Sound Signal in 2024) and Vincent Mason.

Special thanks to TBC contributors and staff Andrew Marcogliese, Brandon Ousley, Kemet High, Leah Mandel, Vrinda Jagota, Colin Joyce, Jaelani Turner-Williams, Hannah Elliott, Sydney Salk, and Kristin Corry.

This is a shorter version of Sound Signal, a bi-weekly cheat sheet for the music industry produced by Third Bridge Creative.

Sign up here to get the full edition of Sound Signal in your inbox every other week.

And don't forget to access our State of Trending Music Report right here.