Kevin Gates is Back on the Billboard Charts, Thanks to Steven Barbosa’s Viral TikTok Moment

Congrats to Kevin Gates who’s found himself on the Billboard charts again because of TikTok creator Steven Barbosa who turned into a viral star after a candid video of him casually vibing to Kevin Gates and Juicy J’s 2013 song, “Thinking With My D***” (513K+ creations) surfaced on the platform.

Originally posted by creator John Weatherall III, the video shows Barbosa dancing and singing along to the song while celebrating Mardi Gras in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Boasting over 52.7M+ video views and 8.4M likes to date, Barbosa’s infectious Mardi Gras vibes inspired creators to reenact the feel-good moment as they recite the lyrics while cooking, chilling on a yacht, and hanging out with friends at a restaurant. The trend also captured the attention of Kevin Gates, who interacted with the song on his own TikTok page and performed it during one of his live shows.

Barbosa has also enjoyed his newfound celebrity, garnering over 406K followers on TikTok and making club appearances in his hometown.

Barbosa and Weatherall’s viral TikTok moment resulted in a major Billboard moment for Kevin Gates this week. Nearly a decade after its release, the song reached no. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart – becoming Gates’ second song to chart in the top 40 since his 2017 hit, “2 Phones.” As with “Dreams,” “Careless Whisper,” and “It’s Tricky,” TikTok continues to find new ways to breathe new life and context into previous hits.

@johneweatherall #MardiGras #Louisiana #CarnivalSeason ♬ original sound – John Weatherall III

You can catch Kevin Gates out on tour this year starting April 16th in Morrisson, CO and culminating at Rolling Loud Miami July 22-24 at Hard Rock Stadium. For more dates and ticket info head on over to Tickemaster

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Tags: Billboard, Kevin Gates, Steven Barbosa, tiktok

About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.