WEBVTT
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Callaroga Shark Media. I'm Garrett Fisher and this is the
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Hit Maker Chronicles. This is it the final episode of
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our Song of the Summer twenty twenty sixth series. Over
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the past five weeks, we've examined the top contenders for
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the most coveted unofficial title in music. Ella Langley's Choos
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in Texas the Country Ballot with ten non consecutive weeks
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at number one, Pink Pantheris and Zara Larson Stateside, the Olympics,
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Boost and international collaboration, Harry Styles Aperture, the disco funk
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comeback with stadium tour infrastructure, Noah Kahan's porch Light, the
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grassroots folk movement, Bruno Mars's I just might pure feel
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good excellence. Today, we're looking at the artist who wasn't
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even on the radar when we started this series six
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weeks ago. The dark horse who surged at exactly the
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right moment, The artist who proved that in the Song
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of the Summer race, timing matters as much as quality.
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Olivia Rodrigo and Drop Dead, the song that hit number
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one just a few weeks ago, knocked Ella Langley off
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the top spot and is asking whether a late surge
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can overcome months of dominance by other contenders? Can Olivia
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Rodrigo win Song of the Summer with momentum instead of longevity?
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Does a recent number one matter more than sustained chart presence?
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And what happens when one of the biggest young stars
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in music decides she wants to own the summer. Let's
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start with where Olivia is in her career, because context matters.
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She's twenty three years old. She exploded in twenty twenty
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one with Sour, an album that turned teenage heartbreak into
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one of the biggest pop phenomena of the decade. Driver's License,
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good for You, Deja Vu. Those songs weren't just hits,
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they were cultural moments. Slivia became the voice of gen
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Z heartbreak, the artist who made being sad and angry
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and messy feel not just acceptable but cool. Then came
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Guts in twenty twenty three, another massive album, Vampire Get
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Him Back, All American Bitch, more hits, more cultural impact,
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more proof that Olivia wasn't a one album wonder, but
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a genuine superstar with staying power. And then she went
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relatively quiet for a while. No album in twenty twenty four,
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or early twenty twenty five, some touring, some appearances, but
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no new music. People started wondering what's next. Where does
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Olivia go after two albums that captured such specific moments
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in time. The answer came in late twenty twenty five,
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when she started teasing new music. No album announcement, no
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big rollout, just cryptic social media posts and snippets of
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songs that sounded darker, more mature, more confrontational than anything
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she'd done before. Drop Dead was released as a standalone
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single in April twenty twenty six, and from the opening
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notes you knew this was different. The production was heavier
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than her previous work, distorted guitars, pounding drums, a bassline
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that felt almost aggressive, and Olivia's vocal was raw, unpolished
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in places like she was barely containing her rage. The
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song is about someone who heard her and the fantasy
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of watching them suffer for it. It's not subtle, it's
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not metaphorical. The chorus literally repeats drop Dead over and
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over while the production builds to this cathartic explosion. It's
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angry in a way that feels almost dangerous, and people
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responded immediately. Drop Dead debuted at number four on the
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Billboard Hot one hundred. Within two weeks, it hit number two,
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and three weeks ago in late June, it knocked Ella
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Langley's Choosing Texas off the number one spot for the
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first time in weeks. That number one debut was significant,
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not just because it ended Ella's run, but because it
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proved Olivia could still command the culture. After being relatively
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quiet for over a year, she could drop a single
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and immediately dominate. That's star power. Since hitting number one,
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drop Dead has stayed in the top five. It's been
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trading the top spot with Ella and occasionally Harry Styles.
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Radio has embraced it, though not as universally as some
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other contenders. The aggressive production and angry lyrics make it
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harder to program in every day part, but on streaming
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its massive over four hundred million streams on Spotify in
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just three months TikTok has been crucial to its success.
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The song has been used in over two million videos,
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many of them people lip syncing to the Drop Dead
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chorus in increasingly creative and cathartic ways. It's become a
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venting mechanism, a way for people to express anger and
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frustration in a socially acceptable format, and that raises an
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interesting question, is drop Dead actually a summer song. Summer
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is supposed to be about joy, celebration, good vibes. Drop
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Dead is about rage and revenge fantasies. It's dark, it's heavy.
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It's the opposite of what we traditionally think of as
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summer energy. But maybe that's exactly why it could win,
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because Summer twenty twenty six isn't just pool parties and
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beach trips. It's also people dealing with breakups, processing anger,
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working through difficult emotions. While everyone else seems to be
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having the time of their lives. Drop Dead gives voice
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to that shadow side of summer that other contenders don't address.
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Let's talk about Olivia's advantages first. She has one of
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the most devoted fan bases in music. Her fans don't
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just like her, they identify with her. They see their
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own experiences in her lyrics. When Olivia releases music, it's
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not just entertainment for them, it's personal. That intensity of
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cane matters for Song of the Summer. It's not just
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about casual listeners. It's about people for whom the song
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becomes the soundtrack to their actual summer experiences, and drop
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Dead is definitely that kind of song for Olivia's fans. Second,
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she has momentum. While Ella Langley has been number one
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on and off since February, while Harry Styles has been
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building since March, drop Dead is still in its peak phase.
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It's still climbing on some formats. It's still generating new
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TikTok trends. It feels fresh in a way that songs
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from four or five months ago might not. Third, Olivia
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is touring festivals throughout July and August. She's one of
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the biggest draws at Lollapalooza outside Lands Governor's Ball. Tens
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of thousands of people will see her perform drop Dead
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live over the next six weeks. Those performances will generate
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social media content, keep the song in conversation, create new
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viral moments. And Fourth, she has the age demographic that
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drives streaming. Core audience is sixteen to twenty five year olds.
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That's the group that streams most actively, that creates TikTok trends,
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that shapes what music feels current. If that demographic decides
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drop Dead is their summer anthem, the metrics will reflect it.
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We'll be right back. But Drop Dead also has significant challenges.
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The biggest is that it only hit number one three
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weeks ago. Song of the Summer is calculated from Memorial
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Day through Labor Day. That's a fourteen week tracking period.
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Ella Langley has been charting since December, has been number
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one since February. Harry Styles has been in the top
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ten since March. Drop Dead has only been around since
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April and only hit its peak in late June. Can
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three months of availability compete with six or seven months? Historically,
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Long of the Summer tends to go to songs that
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were strong throughout the entire tracking period, not just songs
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that peaked late. The other challenge is versatility. Choos in
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Texas works in multiple contexts, driving, reflecting late nights, aperture,
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works at parties, weddings, anywhere you need joy, I Just
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Might is universal summer energy. Drop Dead works when you're angry,
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when you need catharsis when you want to scream along
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to something aggressive that's powerful, but it's also limiting. How
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many times can you listen to an anger song before
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it either loses its power or becomes exhausting. Olivia's fans
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will stream it endlessly but will casual listeners keep returning
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to it throughout the summer. There's also the question of
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what comes next for Olivia. Is drop Dead a standalone
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single or the lead from a new album. If it's standalone,
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that limits its longevity. If it's leading an album that
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drops soon, that could give it a boost. But right
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now we don't know, and that uncertainty might hurt it.
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So where does Dropdead actually rank in the Song of
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the Summer race? And more importantly, after six weeks of
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analyzing contenders, who's actually going to win? Let me lay
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out the final standings as I see them. Ella Langley's
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Choosing Texas is still the front runner, ten non consecutive
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weeks at number one, sustain presence since February, country to
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pop crossover success, the Morgan Wallen precedent of early Peaks
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winning Song of the Summer radio support across multiple formats.
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It has everything you'd want from a Song of the
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Summer except one thing. It's a ballad about heartbreak, and
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people might be ready for something else. By August, Harry
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Styles's aperture is the wild card, strong chart performance stadium tour,
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creating constant visibility. Disco funk that works everywhere. The challenge
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is whether retro sounds can define a contemporary summer and
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whether a March release can sustain through September. Bruno Mars's
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I Just Might is the excellence play, impeccable production, proven
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hit maker, radio love, universal appeal. The challenge is lack
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of narrative and whether pure fun is enough. In twenty
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twenty six, Pink Pantheress and Zara Larsen's Stateside had a
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moment with the Olympics, but has been fading. Still in
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the top ten but losing momentum. Unless something changes dramatically,
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it's not winning. Noah Kahan's Porch Light is the heart
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candidate that might not win on metrics but will win
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in memory for his devoted fan base. It's building slowly
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and could peak in late August when others fade, but
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it's probably two niche for mainstream song of the summer.
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Victory and Olivia Rodrigo's Drop Dead is the late surge,
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recent number one, passionate fan base, festival presence, demographic advantage.
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The challenge is timing and weather. Three months can beat
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six if I had to predict right now in mid July,
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say the races between Ella Langley and Harry Styles, with
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Olivia Rodrigo as a legitimate spoiler threat if she can
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maintain momentum through August. Ella has longevity, Harry has infrastructure
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and star power. Olivia has recency and intensity. Any of
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them could win, and honestly, the answer might be different
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depending on who you ask. For country fans, Ella already won.
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For Harry's fans, hitting stadium shows all summer, Aperture is
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obviously song of the Summer. For Olivia's fans streaming Drop
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Dead on repeat, nothing else even comes close. That's what
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makes Song of the Summer both important and ultimately arbitrary.
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There's an official Billboard chart that will crown a winner
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based on specific metrics, but there are also millions of
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individual experiences where different songs soundtrack different summers. What I
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can tell you is this, These six songs represent the
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full spectrum of what summer twenty twenty six sounds like.
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The heartbreak of choosing Texas, the joy of Stateside, the
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celebration of aperture, the introspection of porch light, the fun
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of I Just Might, the catharsis of Drop Dead. Summer
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isn't just one thing. It's all of these things at
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different moments. And maybe the real answer is that twenty
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twenty six doesn't have one Song of the Summer. It
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has six. But if you're making me choose, if you're
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asking me right now, what song I think will be
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officially crowned song of the Summer twenty twenty six when
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the tracking period ends on Labor Day, I'm going with
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Ella Langley's choos in Texas. The longevity is too strong,
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the Morgan Wallen precedent is too relevant, the chart performance
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is too dominant. But I wouldn't bet money on it.
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Because Olivia Rodrigo is surging, Harry Styles has a stadium tour,
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Bruno Mars knows how to make summer hits. And sometimes
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the song everyone thinks will win doesn't because summer has
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its own logic that charts can't fully cap. Sure, we'll
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find out in seven weeks when the official Songs of
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the Summer chart debuts after Labor Day. Until then, all
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six of these songs are in the race, All six
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have a case. All six are soundtracking Someone's Summer twenty
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twenty six. This is Garrett Fisher and this is the
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hit maker Chronicles. Thank you for joining us for our
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Song of the Summer twenty twenty six series. Whatever song
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wins the official title, the real victory is that we're
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living through a summer with this much great music competing
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for our attention. How's that for a final episode? By
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the way, follow Hitmaker Chronicles on Spotify and turn on
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notifications so you never miss an episode. And while you're there,
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leave us a comment on Spotify and let us know
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what you think about today's song. We're also trying to
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spread the words, so if you like the show, please
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tell a friend or even better, share an episode with
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that