Key Takeaways This is a ranking of the contenders for 2026's song of the summer. The list features new rap and pop records like Drake's "Janice STFU," Yung Miami's "Spend Dat," Don Toliver's "E85," BTS' "Swim," and more. Also included are older catalog smashes like Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj's "Beauty and a Beat," reflecting how streaming and syncs keep vintage hits in the summer conversation. Summer is here. Weather is nice. Days are long — and so are the nights. And most importantly, the tunes are on. Traditionally, the song of the summer has been a rap song—literally, in 2024, Kendrick Lamar’s " Not Like Us " ruled everything—but the genre has struggled recently. Now we're back. This is mainly due to Drake's three-headed monster release of Iceman , Maid of Honour , and Habibti , which has come and injected some energy into the game. The Drake stimulus is still real, and this time it's lifting up the genre.…