GENER8ION Earns First Hot 100 Hit With Yung Lean Collab Storm II, Thanks to VMAs Bump

GENER8ION and Yung Lean’s “Storm II” debuts at No. 93 on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Oct. 17), powered by streaming gains following their viral performance at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 27.

Released in April via Iconoclast Music, the song drew 3.1 million chart-eligible U.S. streams in the Oct. 2-8 tracking week, according to Luminate, up 30% from the previous week. That follows an even bigger jump after the VMAs: It surged 369% from 508,000 Sept. 18-24 to 2.4 million Sept. 25-Oct. 1.

Weekly U.S. Streams for “Storm II”
Aug. 28-Sept. 3: 173,000
Sept. 4-10: 215,000
Sept. 11-17: 373,000
Sept. 18-24: 508,000
Sept. 25-Oct. 1: 2.4 million
Oct. 2-8: 3.1 million

The performance, which closed out the awards show, recreated the track’s seven-minute music video. Set at a British boarding school in 2034, the clip casts Yung Lean as a bully alongside dozens of classmates whose synchronized movements, choreographed by Damien Jalet, form a mesmerizing human tidal wave.

The video went viral following its April release and garnered four VMA nominations: video of the year, best choreography, best direction and best long-form video.

“Storm II” marks the first career Hot 100 entry for French producer GENER8ION, who also records as Surkin. He previously released official remixes of Hot 100 hits including Usher’s “Scream” in 2012 and Charli XCX’s “Boom Clap” in 2014. He has also released remixes of tracks by M.I.A., Justice and Klaxons. “Storm II” became GENER8ION’s first Billboard chart entry overall in May. It also rises to a new No. 2 high on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart in its fourth total week.

For Yung Lean, the song marks his second Hot 100 title and first in a lead role. The rapper previously charted as a featured artist — with Dave Chappelle — on Travis Scott’s “Parasail,” which reached No. 53 in 2023. Yung Lean broke through on Billboard’s charts in 2022 with his viral hit “Ginseng Strip 2002,” which made the top 50 of the Billboard Global 200.