Monica’s 13-year-old single “So Gone” saw a spike in plays since the #SoGoneChallenge emerged. The singer welcomed the social media trend, which sees celebrities and Twitter users rapping their own lyrics over the track.
The challenge went viral earlier this month thanks to Chance The Rapper. Since he shared his spin on the 2003 song – an ode to his pregnant girlfriend – the clip has earned nearly 250,000 retweets.
I made my girl film my #sogonechallenge pic.twitter.com/hWaznUgs2q
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) August 10, 2016
“It’s a humbling experience to have a generation of kids — some weren’t born when the original came out — [listen] to the song now and creating their own feeling toward it,” the Vh1 Hip Hop Honors performer told the Associated Press.
Monica recorded her own #SoGoneChallenge after the original song’s producer Missy Elliot told her about the trend. Elliot helped the 34-year-old singer craft her lyrics in the studio.
In studio with @missyelliott and decided to join my own challenge #SoGoneChallenge you all continue to inspire me❤️ pic.twitter.com/IGaG28nYYH
— Monica (@MonicaDenise) August 16, 2016
“I told her I wanted to take a moment and say, ‘The same girl that I used to be, I’m her still, I just grew,” Monica said of the recording. “I grew as a person.”
Monica – who is recording new music – said the original version detailing infidelity was based on a phone conversation with Elliott. The song was the first single from the star’s third album, After The Storm. In 2003, it peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. And, it reached the top spot on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart.
Celebrities like Dwayne Wade, Keke Palmer and Kevin Hart have also shared their own versions online.
Wade posted two clips, including one about his wife Gabrielle Union.
While Palmer plugged her show “Scream Queens.”
#SoGoneChallenge #RespectMyVote #ThatsTheGag pic.twitter.com/Dr6oNrvK9d
— Keke Palmer (@KekePalmer) August 18, 2016
And Hart made a humorous dedication to potato chips.
Apple Music said streaming for “So Gone” has increased by 233 percent, and sales grew 407 percent since Chance The Rapper posted his video Aug. 10. Spotify’s streaming has doubled by 129 percent, according to Forbes.
Monica explained to the AP she wanted the song to inspire others when they hear it.
” ‘So Gone’ is a record that’s really special to me and always has been,” she told the news outlet. “My real hope is that … it does make somebody feel like how I felt when I was making it. I felt hopeful, I was refocused, and I was realizing that my test would eventually be my testimony and that I was here for a reason.”
