New York City has not stopped celebrating since the Knicks ended a 53-year championship drought, and the party has, at times, threatened to get a little out of hand.
Whatever the excess, there is no doubt the run has lifted spirits across all five boroughs, with pride in the city sitting at an all-time high after a generation of near-misses and periods of hopelessness.
Nowhere is that mood easier to measure than on Spotify, where a wave of classic New York hip-hop anthems has surged in the days since Jalen Brunson and company got the job done — and the streaming numbers are frankly ridiculous.
Jay-Z and Fat Joe among artists to see Knicks-themed boost on Spotify
The biggest jump belongs to Skyzoo, whose “Blue and Orange Everything” — named for the Knicks’ colors — exploded by a barely believable 35,210%, according to KurrCo’s streaming figures posted to X.
From there the list reads like a roll call of New York royalty. Fat Joe, Ja Rule and Jadakiss’s “New York” climbed 3,695%, with “Welcome to New York (Dipset)” by Cam’ron, Jay-Z and Juelz Santana close behind at 3,485%.
Jay-Z features again with “Heart of the City,” up 715%, while Fat Joe’s “All the Way Up” rose 630% and the Jay-Z and Alicia Keys staple “Empire State of Mind” added 615%.
DMX’s “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” jumped 380%, Nas’s “NY State of Mind” 350%, Terror Squad’s “Lean Back” — featuring Fat Joe and Remy Ma — 291%, and Jim Jones rounded things out with “We Fly High (Ballin’)” up 119%.
Taken together, it is a snapshot of a city reaching for its own soundtrack in a moment of collective joy.
The figures capture just a single day, June 14, measured against each track’s average before the Finals tipped off.
That snapshot may fade in a week or two, but with a first NBA championship in over half a century to savor, championship fever looks certain to run rampant across New York all summer long.
