Tame Impala & Steve Lacy Hits Surge Thanks to Spider-Man – But Why is One Bigger Than the Other Abroad?

Spider-Man: Brand New Day has grossed more than $2 billion worldwide since its July 31 premiere, lifting an already-strong summer box office to new heights. But it’s also boosting entries on the Billboard charts, as Tame Impala’s “Loser” and Steve Lacy’s “Oh Yeah?,” featured during a party scene in the film and over its closing credits, respectively, surge across several rankings. So far, one of them has the upper hand domestically, but the other is leading the charge overseas.

On the Aug. 22-dated Billboard Hot 100 (which is based on streams, radio airplay sales in the United States), “Oh Yeah?” bounds 54-20, leapfrogging “Loser,” which follows close behind, up 46-22. On Streaming Songs, the tracks’ success is more pronounced, with the former up to No. 7 and the latter climbing to No. 10. Narrowed by genre, “Oh Yeah?” climbs to No. 2 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, followed by “Loser” at No. 4 (both blocked by Tame Impala’s own “Dracula” at No. 1).

On the Billboard Global 200, their chart fortunes are more distinct but reversed, with “Loser” leaping 51-5 and “Oh Yeah?” 158-23. On the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. tally, with domestic data removed from the equation, “Loser” is No. 6 (up from No. 66), while “Oh Yeah?” debuts all the way down at No. 69. “Loser” drew 30.1 million streams worldwide in the tracking week and “Oh Yeah,” 20.5 million, according to Luminate. Minus the U.S., those totals are 20 million and 9.9 million, respectively.

Even if Lacy is lagging globally, both songs are soaring sparked by Spider-Man, up more than 60% in week-to-week streams for a second consecutive frame, domestically and abroad. “Oh Yeah?” is closing its geographic gap, with non-U.S. streams growing from 34% of its global total in the week ending July 23 to north of 50% the week ending Aug. 13. But why is Tame Impala so far ahead internationally – 69% of global streams from “Loser” are from international markets – when streams are relatively equal, and even slightly favor Lacy’s song in the U.S. (10.6 million vs. 10.4 million)?

Though this is their first direct head-to-head, chart history for each act may help explain such discrepancies. “Loser” debuted on Global Excl. U.S. a week earlier as Tame Impala’s fifth chart entry. Most prominently, it follows “Dracula” — featuring JENNIE, whose group BLACKPINK has topped the Global Excl. US chart four times — which has spent the last four months lodged in the list’s top 10, including two weeks at No. 2. For Lacy, “Oh Yeah?” is just his second song to hit this list, after “Bad Habit,” which topped out at No. 22 in 2022, despite hitting No. 1 the same month on the U.S.-based Hot 100.

Tame Impala’s stronger history on the global charts is backed by 15 years of international touring for the Kevin Parker-fronted act, ranging from sold-out clubs in Germany on the Innerspeaker Tour in 2010 to likewise sold-out arenas across Europe on this year’s Deadbeat Tour (plus, a schedule of multiple nights in arenas across several cities in the act’s native Australia ahead this fall). Lacy’s overseas footprint is significantly smaller, having played festivals on several continents, but fewer solo headline shows.

Among Billboard’s 48 territory-specific Hits of the World charts dated Aug. 22, “Loser” appears on 11. Dotted in Asia (Singapore, No. 16), Oceania (Australia, No. 13; New Zealand, No. 24) and South America (Bolivia, No. 18), the song is primarily an international hit across Europe, including chart appearances in Austria, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland, among others.  

In sharp contrast, “Oh Yeah?” is absent from all rankings in Europe, Oceania and South America. Its only Hits of the World entries are concentrated in Asia, at No. 18 on Malaysia Songs (where “Loser” does not chart) and No. 5 on Singapore Songs (“Loser” is No. 16). Plus, despite not making either country’s chart, it counts Philippines and South Korea rank among its top international markets.

The success of “Oh Yeah?” across Asia also, at least in part, traces back to TikTok. Ranked by total users, more than half of TikTok’s top 10 countries are in Asia, with more than 460 million users in Southeast Asia alone. Lacy’s track is No. 1 on the official in-app global TikTok Top 50, just ahead of Post Malone and Swae Lee’s “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)” at No. 2; that collab was featured in the franchise’s 2018 animated film and likewise benefits from momentum of Brand New Day despite not being featured or referenced in the new release.