‘Streets’ Is Poised To Become Doja Cat’s Next Smash Hit

Doja Cat is having a stellar week on the Billboard Hot 100, teaming up with Ariana Grande and Megan Thee Stallion to launch a remix of Grande’s “34+35” to a new peak of No. 2. But even the success of “34+35” may soon pale in comparison to Doja Cat’s latest viral smash in the making, “Streets.”

The sultry R&B jam failed to make a dent on the Hot 100 upon its November 2019 release as part of Doja Cat’s second studio album, Hot Pink. But more than a year after its release, “Streets” made its Hot 100 debut earlier this month after it became the soundtrack to TikTok’s massively popular “Silhouette Challenge.”

The Silhouette Challenge videos typically begin with users dressed in casual clothes and posing in a doorway as Paul Anka’s “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” plays. The beat then drops and transitions to “Streets,” as users strike a sexy pose in red mood lighting, wearing tight clothing—or sometimes no clothing at all—to accentuate their silhouetted figures.

The “Put Your Head on My Shoulder”/”Streets” edit, made by Giulia Di Nicolantonio, has already been used in roughly 120,000 videos at the time of this writing, and videos under the #silhouette hashtag have earned more than 410 million views (while videos tagged #silhouettechallenge have cumulatively surpassed 165 million views).  

“Streets” has subsequently surged on streaming services, peaking at No. 3 on the U.S. Spotify chart today with 980,637 streams and No. 12 on the global chart with 2.519 million streams. It’s still got a long way to go before it reaches the heights of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Driver’s License,” which has dominated Spotify for weeks now (earning 8.556 million global streams today), but it’s making substantial gains every day as the Silhouette Challenge continues to swell in popularity.

This viral streaming boost has rocketed “Streets” up the Hot 100 as well. The song entered the Hot 100 last week at No. 91 and bounded to No. 39 this week. The Silhouette Challenge exploded during the current tracking week, which is still being tabulated, and when the Hot 100 refreshes on Tuesday, “Streets” could very well pierce the Top 20.

TikTok has helped mint several Hot 100 smashes over the past year. Roddy Ricch’s inescapable “The Box” spent 11 weeks at No. 1 in early 2020 thanks to a viral TikTok challenge, while Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” also reached the summit thanks in part to its TikTok virality. Doja Cat’s own “Say So” spawned a massively popular dance trend on the social media app that also helped launch it to top spot, granting Doja Cat her first No. 1 hit on the Hot 100.

It’s too early to tell how high “Streets” will climb on the Hot 100, but when a song goes viral on TikTok and becomes a streaming juggernaut, the potential is limitless. For now, the song’s momentum shows no signs of slowing, and it’s not unreasonable to bet on Doja Cat earning her second Top 10 single—and maybe even a chart-topping companion to “Say So.”