Bobby Caldwell Rides Food Trend to No. 1 on TikTok Billboard Top 50

Kevin Rutherford
·4 min read

Bobby Caldwell’s classic “What You Won’t Do for Love” zooms in at No. 1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart dated Feb. 24 following a new, largely food-based trend on the platform.

The TikTok Billboard Top 50 is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs on TikTok in the United States based on creations, video views and user engagement. The latest chart reflects activity Feb. 12-18. Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard charts except for the TikTok Billboard Top 50. As previously noted, titles that are part of Universal Music Group’s catalog are currently unavailable on TikTok.

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“What You Won’t Do for Love,” Caldwell’s breakout hit and a No. 9-peaking track on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979, debuts atop the TikTok Billboard Top 50 thanks to a trend wherein users film food items they love set to the song’s horn riff.

Other creators have taken the trend a step further, replacing footage of food with pets or significant others.

The latest Billboard chart tracking week (Feb. 9-15) saw “What You Won’t Do for Love” lift 8% in on-demand official U.S. streams to 1.3 million in all, according to Luminate.

Caldwell reigns over Cat Janice’s “Dance You Outta My Head,” the previous week’s No. 1, which falls to No. 2, one spot ahead of Usher’s “Yeah!” featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris.

“Yeah!,” which debuted at No. 30 on the previous survey (Feb. 17), vaults into the top three thanks in large part to renewed attention on the song – and Usher’s catalog as a whole – after his Super Bowl Halftime Show performance on Feb. 11. One of the top-performing uploads, from social media personality Katie Feeney, was a supercut of different celebrities who attended the Super Bowl. Other videos referenced the R&B star’s performance or the game as a whole, which was won by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Usher appears on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 dated Feb. 24 three times in all. Chris Brown’s “New Flame,” on which Usher is featured alongside Rick Ross, debuts at No. 20, while Usher’s own “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home),” featuring Plies, re-enters the ranking at No. 48.

Rounding out the chart’s top five, Rich Amiri’s “One Call” drops from No. 3 to No. 4, while He Is We’s “I Wouldn’t Mind” returns to the top five at No. 5, rising from No. 7.

Djo’s “End of Beginning” is the second-biggest debut of the week after “What You Won’t Do for Love,” bowing at No. 11. A snippet of the song, originally released in 2022 via AWAL, has gone viral on TikTok after creators began using the track’s “And when I’m back in Chicago, I feel it” line to soundtrack footage of Chicago or other posts about the Windy City.

Djo himself – real name Joe Keery, best known as an actor whose credits include Stranger Things, Fargo and more – got in on the action with an upload of him riding the subway while referencing the song’s sudden surge in popularity.

Concurrently, “End of Beginning” debuts at No. 28 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart via 2.9 million official U.S. streams, a boost of 191%.

Beyonce’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” boasts the third-biggest TikTok Billboard Top 50 debut, starting at No. 13. Released during the Super Bowl on Feb. 11, the country tune has already inspired a variety of dance clips on TikTok, as well as users reacting to Beyonce’s country turn (she released a second song in the genre, “16 Carriages,” the same day).

“Texas Hold ‘Em” debuts at No. 2 on the Hot 100 (and No. 1 on Hot Country Songs) while “16 Carriages” starts at No. 38 (and No. 9), as previously reported.

See the full TikTok Billboard Top 50 here. You can also tune in each Friday to SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio (channel 4) to hear the premiere of the chart’s top 10 countdown at 3 p.m. ET, with reruns heard throughout the week.

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