Topline
Singer D4vd’s music is getting a huge streaming boost on Spotify as his song “Romantic Homicide” hits the top ten for the first time in years, weeks after police found a decomposing body in a car registered under his name.
“Romantic Homicide,” D4vd’s biggest hit that went viral on TikTok in 2022, hit No. 8 on Spotify’s U.S. daily songs chart Monday, the song’s highest peak in years.
“Romantic Homicide” was nowhere to be found on the Spotify charts before police found a body in a car belonging to the singer earlier this month, and the song has consistently risen since then, hitting the top ten this weekend.
D4vd’s other songs have also gotten a boost, including “Feel It,” which ranks No. 38 on the Spotify chart, and “Here With Me,” which is No. 39 as of Monday.
D4vd hit a new all-time high on the Spotify artists chart Monday, reaching No. 42, rising seven spots from the day prior.
The singer ranked much lower on the daily artists chart weeks ago, ranking No. 121 on Sept. 7, the day before investigators found a body in his car.
D4vd also made gains on YouTube, where “Romantic Homicide” ranked No. 5 on the music videos chart Saturday, and Apple Music, where “Romantic Homicide” ranks No. 46 on the U.S. chart.
In “Romantic Homicide,” D4vd sings about the end of a relationship, comparing the feeling of forgetting about his previous lover to them figuratively dying in his mind. He sings: “In the back of my mind, I killed you / And I didn't even regret it / I can't believe I said it, but it's true / I hate you.” The singer explained the lyrics in an interview with Genius, stating the song builds up to “the big moment where she died in the back of my mind. I didn’t kill her physically, but in the back of my mind, she died.” D4vd released the song in July 2022, and after going viral on TikTok, it became his first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 33 in October 2022.
Police found a body in an impounded car in a Los Angeles tow lot on Sept. 8, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to Forbes. Multiple news outlets reported the car was registered under D4vd’s real name, David Anthony Burke, though police told Forbes a suspect has not been identified, and Burke has not been accused of wrongdoing. Last week, police conducted a search of a home reportedly belonging to Burke in Los Angeles, where they retrieved multiple items to be analyzed as evidence, though police declined to comment on what these items were. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office identified the body as that of Celeste Rivas, a 15-year-old girl who was reported missing from Lake Elsinore, California, in April 2024. The medical examiner said in a statement her body was found “severely decomposed” and “appears to have been deceased inside the vehicle for an extended period of time before being found,” and the Los Angeles Times reported Rivas and Burke appeared to have similar tattoos, with “Shhh…” printed on their fingers. Burke has not commented since the body was found in his car, though he canceled the remaining dates on his U.S. tour, nixing performances in San Francisco and Los Angeles. He also balked on an album release scheduled for last Friday.
Singer D4vd Cancels U.S. Tour—What We Know About Investigation Into Dead Body Found In Singer’s Car (Forbes)