Streams of N.W.A.’s “Fuck Tha Police” Skyrocketed As Protests Began

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As protests against brutality sprung up around the country, listens of “Fuck Tha Police” skyrocketed. Before, N.W.A.’s 1988 protest song had averaged about 387 listens a day, according to data from music site last.fm, which collects users’ listening logs from places like iTunes and Spotify. On June 1, it peaked at 5,653 listens—more than 14 times the song’s normal popularity. (Neither Spotify nor Apple Music responded to requests for listening data.)