The Song of the Summer Is in Chaos

Harry Styles has arguably mounted the most traditional campaign for song of the summer with “Watermelon Sugar,” a now-surging single off his December nostalgia-rock album. With a trembling vocal performance and lyrics comparing a lover to “the end of June,” the song is so airy and wistful that it threatens to waft away. The music video, portraying a cuddle party on the beach, is “dedicated to touching.” But the more telling thing is that the song has inspired a meme in which people act completely zonked on THC.

The song’s stoned vibe is similar to that of Justin Bieber’s “Intentions,” which has a gorgeous, lilting melody that’s only slightly ruined by lyrics portraying Bieber’s marriage as a corporate merger. Bieber recently Instagrammed himself rapping over a more surprising song-of-the-summer contender, “Whats Poppin,” by Jack Harlow, which is currently at No. 3 on the Hot 100. Harlow is a fratty new rapper from Louisville, Kentucky, and on “Whats Poppin,” his dexterous performance pulls the listener along as if through a crowded party. “I’ma spend this holiday locked in / My body got rid of them toxins,” Harlow boasts, giving what sounds like an optimistic spin on shutdown summer. In a sign that the music industry is betting on the suddenly famous Harlow, the rappers Tory Lanez, Lil Wayne, and DaBaby had already remixed the track before Bieber hopped on it.

None of these songs yet feels like the undeniable juggernaut one associates with the song-of-the-summer title. It’s hard to pick apart whether that’s because of the songs themselves or a cultural moment in which social fractures feel especially insurmountable. In country-listening enclaves, Luke Bryan’s “One Margarita” may be the slam-dunk song of the season. Bad Bunny’s “Yo Perreo Sola,” a Spanish-language rap track about dancing alone, is shaking other quarantine bubbles. Here at my house, the hits are Arca’s sound sculptures, Haim’s jauntily depressed new album, Women in Music Pt. III, and the part of Chromatica when Lady Gaga says, “Buh, buh, babble on!” Hopefully we can all get together next summer and sing.

Spencer Kornhaber is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he covers pop culture and music.