Luci Gang's "HEADLOCK" goes viral abroad, Spotify monthly listeners up 45% in four weeks

A 1:58 track picking up serious numbers

On September 20, a music video posted to Threads stopped people mid-scroll. The clip was for HEADLOCK, a track by Korean rapper Luci Gang (이은선). The person who posted it called it "the biggest viral hit in Asia" and "incredibly addictive." The video had actually been out since late July—it just took a couple of months to find its audience overseas.

HEADLOCK comes from 무한궤도 (Rolling Stone), Luci Gang's third full-length album, released in July. The track runs 1 minute 58 seconds. LIFTED reviewed it in August as a dance-oriented track influenced by house music. HipHopHeadz picked it up at the end of August.

The numbers behind the buzz

By September 19, Luci Gang's Spotify monthly listener count had hit 181,300. That's roughly 45% up from 124,994 four weeks earlier. HEADLOCK sits at #1 on her Spotify popularity chart and has cleared 700,000 plays. The track landed in rotation on Spotify's Asian music playlist .ORG.

On the Korean YouTube weekly song chart, HEADLOCK ranked 73rd. It climbed 8 positions from the prior week on 453,980 views in a single week.

Kyoto in September, Tokyo in November

Luci Gang (real name Lee Eun-seon) started independent activities in 2020 with the EP Luci vs Gang and appeared on Mnet's 랩:퍼블릭 in 2024. She has performances scheduled in Kyoto this September and Tokyo in November—dates that now carry a bit more weight.