The Beatles’ ‘Day Tripper’ Influenced a No. 1 Song From the 2010s
The Beatles‘ “Day Tripper” was a hit in the 1960s. Subsequently, the song inspired a No. 1 hit from the 2010s. Notably, the No. 1 song in question has a title that pays tribute to the Fab Four.
A 2010s group wanted to be the Black version of The Beatles
Rae Sremmurd is a duo known for making trap music, a subgenre of rap music influenced by electronica. Their most famous song is called “Black Beatles.” During a 2016 interview with Teen Vogue, Rae Sremmurd’s Swae Lee explained what being a Black Beatle meant to him.
“You’re just a cool person, you live life to the fullest,” Lee said. “You’re crowd surfing, you’re just lit. When I say’ Black Beatles’ in my verse, I’m like, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m a f****** Black Beatle.'”
Lee said more and more fans want to be Black Beatles. “The concept [of the song] was like, ‘This song is a crowd-pleaser,'” he said. “When I first started, it was a crowd-pleaser. Then, that ‘Black Beatles’ part became huge, so I took that and took off with it. Now everybody wants to be like, a member of the band, you know what I’m saying?”
The song references a line from ‘Day Tripper’
Subsequently, Lee discussed his feelings on the Fab four. “Yeah, I just love them all to death, just how they get down,” he said. “Know what I’m saying? They just definitely … They just rip, you know what I’m saying? I feel like that’s who I am.”
Rae Sremmurd’s Slim Jxmmi explained how “Day Tripper” influenced his verse on the song. “My favorite lyric is ‘she’s a big teaser,'” he said. “When I thought of my verse on ‘Black Beatles,’ I started it off with those lines because it’s my favorite Beatles song. It’s called ‘Day Tripper.'”
The way the world reacted to ‘Day Tripper’ and ‘Black Beatles’
“Day Tripper” and “Black Beatles” both became hits, but one of them was far more popular in the United States. “Day Tripper” peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, spending 10 weeks on the chart. “Day Tripper” appeared on the album Yesterday and Today. Yesterday and Today was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for five of its 32 weeks on the chart.
“Black Beatles” became even more popular. It was No. 1 for seven of its 27 weeks on the chart. So far, it’s the only Rae Sremmurd song to reach the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. Rae Sremmurd released the track on the album SremmLife 2. SremmLife 2 hit No. 4 on the Billboard 200, remaining on the chart for 64 weeks.
“Black Beatles” became one of the most famous trap songs of the 2010s — and it wouldn’t be the same without “Day Tripper.”
