Singer and rapper Jelly Roll rises to No. 1 on Billboard‘s Emerging Artists chart (dated Aug. 20), leading as the top emerging act in the U.S. for the first time thanks to his new album, Ballads of the Broken.
The LP, released via Bailee & Buddy/Broken Bow/BMG/BBMG, debuts at No. 166 on the Billboard 200 with 8,000 equivalent album units earned in the Aug. 5-11 tracking week, according to Luminate. It’s his third entry on the chart, after A Beautiful Disaster (No. 97 peak) and Self Medicated (No. 110), both in 2020.
The Nashville native became a Hot 100 First-Timer in July thanks to his single “Son of a Sinner.” The track jumps 58-51 in its sixth week on the chart and rises 8-6 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, holds at its No. 12 high on Hot Country Songs and places at No. 22 on Country Airplay.
Among other Emerging Artists moves, The Interrupters re-enter at No. 2, a new best, as their new set In the Wild opens at No. 7 on Top Album Sales, No. 10 on Vinyl Albums, No. 14 on Top Alternative Albums and No. 145 on the Billboard 200 (8,000 units, the bulk from album sales).
Plus, Drake Milligan re-enters Emerging Artists at No. 5, reaching the top 10 for the first time, as his self-titled EP debuts at No. 7 on Heatseekers Albums (4,000 units). Milligan is currently competing on NBC’s America’s Got Talent.
The Emerging Artists chart ranks the most popular developing artists of the week, using the same formula as the all-encompassing Billboard Artist 100, which measures artist activity across multiple Billboard charts, including the Hot 100, Billboard 200 and the Social 50. (The Artist 100 lists the most popular acts, overall, each week.) However, the Emerging Artists chart excludes acts that have notched a top 25 entry on either the Hot 100 or Billboard 200, as well as artists that have achieved two or more top 10s on Billboard‘s “Hot” song genre charts and/or consumption-based “Top” album genre rankings.
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