Canadian Hot 100 First-Timers: Montreal's Zeina Hits The Charts with 2000s-Referencing 'Hooked'
No. 88 on this week's chart, the catchy single interpolates a Y2K classic by Canadian singer Shawn Desman, while Karan Aujla also has a new entry on the charts this week with 'Goin' Off.'
Zeina
On this week's Billboard Canadian Hot 100, a rising singer makes her chart debut with a throwback to classic Canadian pop.
Montreal's Zeina went viral on social media and picked up steam on radio earlier this year with "Hooked." Now, the track has landed at No. 88 on the chart, following the April release of LP Eastend Confessions.
The song's recipe for success lies in its interpolation of Shawn Desman's 2002 earworm "Shook." Zeina, who is of Lebanese and Egyptian background, borrows that song's hook and harmonies, but trades Desman's acoustic guitar riff for strings and flips the genders as she sings about dark brown eyes and a magnetic smile.
The song has been gaining traction online and on the radio, and received a co-sign from Desman who duetted it with Zeina at a Montreal show in February.
@mikechaar Zeina and Shawn Desman perform the Montreal-based singers hit ‘Hooked’ sampling Desman’s 2002 single ‘Shook’ in Montreal 😍 #zeina #zeinamates #hooked #shook #shawndesman #montreal #mtl #mtltiktok #montrealtiktok #clubsoda #music #fyp #foryou @Shawn Desman @ZEINA
Desman has been undergoing his own resurgence — following a bumpy ride, the singer is back with a new energy and building radio momentum with "Heels on the Ground."
There's another Canadian debut this week, though this artist is no stranger to the charts. Karan Aujla and Mxrci arrive at No. 50 with the ominous, self-assured "Goin' Off," which has amassed 18 million views in less than two weeks. The song follows Aujla's Juno win earlier this year, and comes ahead of his first Canadian tour, which will bring him to arenas in Toronto, Vancouver and Edmonton this August.
Elsewhere on the chart, "I Had Some Help" by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen debuts in the top spot, pushing Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" to No. 2. English singer Myles Smith debuts "Stargazing" at No. 17, while Gunna's "One of Wun" arrives at No. 49, the highest of his four songs on the chart.
Meanwhile, Macklemore's protest song in support of the student encampment movement for Palestine, "Hind's Hall," is at No. 61.
Check out the full chart here.
