Rising R&B artist Fousheé had herself a breakout hit last summer when “Deep End” gained traction on TikTok, and since then, the single has been making its way up the Billboard charts. Now, the recent RCA Records signee’s breakout hit has put her in the history books.
On the latest Billboard Alternative Airplay chart (dated March 27), “Deep End” has achieved a new peak at No. 10 in its sixteenth week on the chart. The top 10 spots of that particular chart aren’t often occupied by Black women: As Fousheé notes in a video shared yesterday, this is the first time a song by a Black female artist has been in the top 10 of the Alternative Airplay chart in 32 years. The last time it happened was when Tracy Chapman’s “Crossroads” was top-10 in 1989.
Fousheé wrote alongside the video, “HISTORY WAS MADE! thank u from the bottom of my [heart].”
HISTORY WAS MADE!
thank u from the bottom of my ❤️ pic.twitter.com/NwQIVJQp8M— Fousheé (@FousheeLive) March 24, 2021
Fousheé previously explained the song’s origins, writing on Twitter, “I wrote Deep End when protests were just beginning. Minnesota was up in flames. When i picked the pen up that’s all I could think about. that’s how the earlier version of the song came about. […] I ended up writing a new version because I wanted the song to feel like victory instead of defeat & people were tired of being sad.”
https://t.co/lVo5kVJ5ib pic.twitter.com/t2jqtw5Tyz
— Fousheé (@FousheeLive) August 16, 2020
Watch the “Deep End” video below.