BubbaGotBeatz, Brandz, Luh Kel + More Songwriter Royalties

In late 2016, producer BubbaGotBeatz released “Ten Toes” and launched the “Ten Toes Down Challenge,” a social media dare to rap your own story over the instrumental. By December 2016, rappers as far away as Nagaland in northeast India were taking it on. Nearly a decade later the challenge is back, and so is the song: “Ten Toes” posted its highest-earning quarter on record in 4Q25 and earned $10,819 over the last twelve months, more than seven times the year before.

That revival nearly doubled the catalog, lifting last-twelve-month earnings to $16,722 from $8,547 the year before. Two proven earners sit behind it. “Wrong,” Luh Kel’s Platinum-certified 2019 breakout produced by BubbaGotBeatz, have earned more than $46,000 since release, and “Intro (Real Love),” Brandz and Zion Foster’s Silver-certified UK hit, draws 94% of its income from outside the US.

Every dollar here is a BMI performance royalty, and 98.7% of it comes from streaming. The audience is global: 64.4% of earnings come from outside the US, across 183 countries, led by the UK at 17.3% and Germany at 7.6%. In the US, YouTube is the largest source at 21.4%, with Spotify and Apple Music adding 11.8% between them.

“Ten Toes” now earns 64.7% of the catalog, and its new income comes from video, where trends move quickly. US YouTube royalties on the song peaked at $1,146 in 3Q25 and eased to $613 by 1Q26, while its international income held near $3,250 in each of the last two quarters. “Wrong” is softening about 12% and “Intro (Real Love)” about 29% against the prior twelve months. 

What sets this catalog apart is a beat creators keep returning to: “Ten Toes” earned $13,151 in its first year, faded, and has found a second wave nearly a decade on, with a Platinum hit and an international favorite alongside it.

"Ten Toes" is a BubbaGotBeatz instrumental released through Republic Records on December 30, 2016. It circulated widely among rappers writing their own verses over it, and remains in use on short-form video today. Ali Gatie built "Remedy" on that instrumental in July 2018. Gatie is the Iraqi Canadian artist who won the 2020 JUNO Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year. Both works are in this catalog and both pay.

"Wrong" is the April 2019 debut single from St. Louis singer Luh Kel. A TikTok dance challenge carried it to No. 1 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 and No. 37 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and it was certified platinum. It leads his debut album Mixed Emotions. The April 2020 remix with Lil Tjay appears here as a separate work, and Kel's January 2025 release "Memories Of You" is also included.

"Intro (Real Love)" is the 2019 single from North London artist Brandz featuring Zion Foster, carrying a BRIT Certified Silver award. Brandz came up as half of the duo Tizzy x Brandz.

Lil Tjay's "Ready for War," from December 2018, rounds out the charting names. The remaining titles are BubbaGotBeatz instrumentals and smaller collaborations from the same stretch.

Earnings Note. The 4Q22 spike of approximately $13,000 is from international performance royalties on “Intro Real Love,” the song’s first international distribution through BMI. Any similar payments in the future will be payable to the buyer.

Earnings Note. 3Q25, 4Q25 and 1Q26 contain increased online performance royalties on “Ten Toes”, led by YouTube and international online services, coinciding with the 2025 revival of the “Ten Toes Down Challenge,” a social media trend of rapping over the song’s instrumental. Any similar payments in the future will be payable to the buyer.