Doechii’s Double Dose of ‘Anxiety’: Her Solo Version Debuts, Joining Sleepy Hallow’s on Hot 100
She is among a select group of acts who have charted two takes on a song simultaneously.
Doechii
First released in 2019, Doechii’s “Anxiety” blasts onto the Billboard Hot 100 (dated March 22) at No. 13, thanks to its wide release at last, sparked by a 2023 reworking of the song and a new viral surge (with an assist by Will Smith and Tatyana Ali). [The song is also at No. 15 on the Canadian Hot 100 – Billboard Canada.]
The song by the rapper-singer — who is set to receive the 2025 Woman of the Year award at the annual Billboard Women in Music celebration March 29 — enters with 20.6 million official U.S. streams, a 289% vault week-over-week, March 7-13, according to Luminate. Her highest charting Hot 100 hit also becomes her first top 10 on Streaming Songs (No. 5 debut), the Billboard Global 200 (No. 6) and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. (No. 7). It drew 56.9 million streams and sold 9,000 worldwide in the tracking week.
With “Anxiety” then available only on YouTube, Brooklyn rapper Sleepy Hallow co-opted its hook for the chorus of his own “A N X I E T Y.” Billed to Sleepy Hallow featuring Doechii, the 2023 release has experienced a TikTok-led surge in recent weeks, as users have soundtracked the “A N X I E T Y” chorus to a scene of Smith and Ali dancing in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the Smith-led sitcom that aired on NBC in 1990-96. “A N X I E T Y” debuted on the March 15-dated Hot 100 at No. 45 and ranks at No. 59 in its second week with 8.7 million streams. It also garnered 29.6 million streams worldwide March 7-13. [The Sleepy Hallow version is at No. 31 this week on the Canadian Hot 100 – Billboard Canada.]
The new attention for “A N X I E T Y” sent fans to Doechii’s solo, YouTube-only version, prompting the rapper-singer to release her original “Anxiety” wide on DSPs and digital retailers on March 4, triggering its arrival on March 22-dated charts following the first full week of its greater availability.
Notably, “Anxiety” and “A N X I E T Y” prominently sample Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” (featuring Kimbra), the smash that topped the Hot 100 for eight weeks in 2012 and went on to win two Grammy Awards, including record of the year. That hit jumped by 20% to 16.5 million global streams in the week ending March 13. It also makes the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart at No. 9 with 5.1 million U.S. streams (up 17%). Still in rotation at multiple radio formats, it additionally logged 3.9 million in airplay audience (up 16%).
Meanwhile, Doechii accomplishes the rare double of appearing on the Hot 100 with two versions of a song simultaneously. (Generally, mixes of a current release roll up into one entry for chart purposes, although in certain cases, such as an act being billed as a lead on one version and a featured artist on another, they remain separate.) In 2009, for example, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind” ruled the Hot 100 for five weeks. Amid its 30-week run, her solo ballad version — “Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down” — spent a week on the chart, at No. 55, in January 2010.
Further back, in 1990, the Righteous Brothers charted concurrent versions of their classic “Unchained Melody,” originally a No. 4 hit in 1965. Its synch in the blockbuster film Ghost scared up new love for the ballad, sending the original version back to a No. 13 high. With that single available at the time only on vinyl, the duo released a new recording of it (on a different label) as a cassette single, which hit No. 19.
