YG and Nipsey Hussle’s ‘FDT’ Triples in Sales, Quadruples in Streams on Election Day

2020-11-06T23:08:53+00:00November 6th, 2020|

While it took three extra days to become anything close to official, it now appears almost certain that the American people have voted Donald Trump out of office — and on Election Day, many voiced their opinion on his tenure with their music consumption as well as their ballot.

YG’s virulent anti-Trump anthem “FDT,” featuring the late Nipsey Hussle, saw huge spikes in both sales and streams on Tuesday (Nov. 3). The song grew from a negligible amount of sales the day before to 1,000 on Election Day, an overall gain of 221%, while it leapt from 240,000 to 1,050,000 in on-demand streams over the same period, a 338% rise, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data.

“FDT” was originally released by YG and Nipsey Hussle before the 2016 presidential election — originally uploaded as a standalone track to his SoundCloud page, and then included in a lightly censored version (after the Secret Service intervened) on his Still Brazy album. It peaked at No. 50 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in November 2016, as well as No. 30 on Rap Digital Song Sales — a chart the song should return to on next week’s listing.

In late 2019, Billboard named “FDT” as one of the 100 songs that defined the 2010s. “Their potent rebuke of so-called ‘civility’ endures,” Billboard wrote of the rap duo’s potent collab. “Wherever he goes, the president is often greeted by a three-word, YG-penned script.”

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