Young Black & Rich
| "Young Black & Rich" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Melly Mike | ||||
| from the EP Selfish Nightmares | ||||
| Released | June 1, 2024 | |||
| Genre | Hip-hop | |||
| Length | 2:35 | |||
| Label | Self-released | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Michael Hunter | |||
| Producer(s) | Rollie | |||
| Melly Mike singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Young Black & Rich" on YouTube | ||||
"Young Black & Rich" is a song by American rapper Melly Mike, released on June 1, 2024 as the lead single from his EP Selfish Nightmares (2025).[1] It became a sleeper hit in mid-2025, as well as his breakout song after gaining traction on the video-sharing platform TikTok.
Background
In an interview with Complex, Melly Mike described that at the time of creating the song, he was living through a difficult period and striving toward improvement. He said:
I was at the lowest point in my life and wanted it to change. I would wake up at 5 AM and run for miles, take cold showers, and listen to self-help audiobooks. It became my new lifestyle, and I wanted the music to reflect that. To make my song an affirmation.[2]
TikTok virality
In January 2025, a video of 11-year-old boy Rayyan Arkan Dhika dancing on the bow of a boat at the Indonesian Pacu Jalur was posted on TikTok.[2][3] It slowly gained attention for months[2] and went viral when users began pairing it with the song in the background. This created the concept of "aura farming",[2][3] a Gen Alpha term referring to repetitively doing an action to appear cool or aligned with a specific aesthetic.[3] People began recreating Dhika's dance to "Young Black & Rich" in TikTok clips,[2][3] including the Paris Saint-Germain FC and AC Milan football clubs, some Formula One team and drivers, Travis Kelce, KSI[3] and IShowSpeed.[2]
Commercial performance
According to Luminate, the song earned over 200,000 official on-demand streams in the United States during the week of June 20-26. It increased to over 920,000 streams in the following week (June 27-July 4), which was contributed by the song's success on TikTok. By the week of July 12-18, it had amassed over 2.73 million official on-demand U.S. streams as the "aura farming" trend increased in popularity.[3] "Young Black & Rich" became Melly Mike's first song to chart, debuting at number 50 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.[2]
Charts
| Chart (2025) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[4] | 50 |
References
- ^ "Young Black & Rich - Single". Apple Music. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Melly Mike's song "Young Black & Rich" is going viral, thanks to the "aura farming" trend". Instagram. July 18, 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f Denis, Kyle; Unterberger, Andrew (July 23, 2025). "'The Summer I Turned Pretty' Season Three Debut Leads to Big Gains for Justin Timberlake, Olivia Rodrigo & More". Billboard. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
- ^ "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: Week of July 19, 2025". Billboard. Retrieved August 14, 2025.