THE "BEGINNING" OF A DJO BLASTOFF?

AWAL's Djo—aka Steve Harrington from Netflix's Stranger Things, aka Joe Keery, who just delivered a bravura turn as Gator Tillman on FX's Fargo—has a song exploding on Spotify. "End of Beginning" soared into the global Top 40 in just six days. On the Spot's U.S. chart, it's now at a new peak of #12. The record was released in September 2022 on Djo's second studio album, Decide.

The action on "End of Beginning" has been immediate, with TikTokers using it since the beginning of the year. But the song didn't chart on Spotify until 2/14. Djo—pronounced "Joe"—responded by posting his own TikTok with the track, which now has nearly 7m views.

While Stranger Things' fan base has shown the ability to move the needle, as viewers famously did with Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill," "End of Beginning," is not connected to the show.

AWAL's new digital boss, Dale Connone, tells HITS, "This is one of the stranger things I've ever encountered." CEO Lonny Olinick added, "This one could be a monster."

Djo, who's repped by Nick Stern at Stern Management, was spotted at Electric Lady Studios last year recording new music. Keery will be filming the upcoming season of Stranger Things for most of 2024.