Billboard has more than 200 different weekly charts in its menu, encompassing numerous genres and formats.
While established artists often compete for a spot on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and Billboard 200 albums ranking, which track the most popular songs and albums of the week, respectively, up-and-coming talents typically start off on genre-specific lists.
Here’s a look at 15 acts who appear on surveys for the first time on the May 20-dated charts.
Wunderhorse
Wunderhorse, the pseudonym of British artist Jacob Slater, debuts “Purple” at No. 36 on the Adult Alternative Airplay chart (up 38% in plays), marking his first-ever chart entry. He released the song in October on his debut LP Cub, on Communion Records/Mick Music. Before performing as Wunderhorse, Slater was the frontman of post-punk trio Dead Pretties. Outside of music, Slater stars in the FX mini-series Pistol, a biographical drama centered around the Sex Pistols, in which he portrays the band’s drummer, Paul Cook. Earlier this year, Slater supported the Pixies on tour, and he’ll next open for Fontaines D.C. In between, he’s slated to perform at multiple festivals, including Austin City Limits, Glastonbury and Ohana.
Jim-E Stack
The indie-pop musician, 31, scores his first chart appearance as a recording artist thanks to his new collaboration with Flume, “Chalk 1.3.3 (2017 Export.WAV).” The song, released May 3 on Flume’s mixtape Arrived Anxious, Left Bored through Future Classic Records, debuts at No. 44 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with 420,000 official streams in the U.S. May 5-11, according to Luminate. Stack has written and produced songs with an array of acts including Gracie Abrams, Bon Iver, Charli XCX, Dominic Fike, Empress Of and Caroline Polachek. Bon Iver’s “PDLIF (Please Don’t Live in Fear),” which Stack co-produced with Justin Vernon and BJ Burton, reached No. 36 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs in 2020. He also co-produced Diplo’s “New Shapes” (featuring Octavian), which hit No. 48 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs in 2019. Stack has self-released two solo LPs: Tell Me I Belong, in 2014, and Ephemera, in 2020.
Lil Mabu
The 18-year-old New York City native (real name Matthew DeLuca) scores his first chart hit with breakthrough track “Mathematical Disrespect.” The song, which he self-released May 4, debuts at No. 90 on the Hot 100, as well as No. 17 on Hot Rap Songs and No. 27 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, with 7.2 million streams. Lil Mabu has released all his music, including his debut 2022 debut mixtape Double M’s, while attending the Collegiate School, a private prep school in Manhattan. He also arrives at No. 19 on the Emerging Artists chart.
Kid Joi
The Detroit-based Nigerian singer-songwriter (real name Julia Igwe), 19, makes her first chart appearance with her new collaboration with Gryffin, “Oceans.” The track, released May 3 through Darkroom/Interscope Records, debuts at No. 29 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with 577,000 streams in its first full week of tracking.
Pretty Porcelain
The Miami-based rapper tallies her first chart hit with “Stop Playing With Me.” The song, released in December via Supa T Records, debuts at No. 39 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (up 45% in plays). Pretty Porcelain (real name Sheterria Heaven Elliott) has released one additional song on streaming services, “Sushi Sushi,” with Osmani Garcia, on May 11.
Enisa
Enisa arrives on Billboard’s charts thanks to her featured appearance on Galantis and JVKE’s “Fool 4 U.” The song, released May 4 on Big Beat/Atlantic Records, begins at No. 31 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with 554,000 streams. The Albanian singer-songwriter and Brooklyn native (full name Enisa Nikaj) signed to Atlantic in 2019 before competing on NBC’s American Song Contest, representing New York, in 2022. Also last year, she released her debut EP, Fake Love, via Atlantic.
Billy Woods & Kenny Segal
The two artists each earn their first chart entry with their new collaborative album, Maps. The set, released May 5 via Backwoodz Studios, debuts at No. 8 on Heatseekers Albums, No. 24 on Top Current Album Sales and No. 31 on Top Album Sales (4,000 copies sold). With 3,000 from vinyl sales, it also starts at No. 14 on the Vinyl Albums chart. Woods and Segal are both veteran musicians. Woods, a New York City-based underground rapper, is a member of the hip-hop groups Armand Hammer, Super Chron Flight Brothers and the Reavers. He has released more than a dozen albums and mixtapes in his career, dating to the early 2000s. Segal, a Los Angeles-based producer and DJ, has also released several albums. He’s half of hip-hop duo the Kleenrz and has also collaborated with Hemlocke Ernst and Serengeti. Woods and Segal previously teamed up in 2019 for the album Hiding Places.
Los Vendavales de Adan Melendez
The Mexican group enters Billboard’s charts with its single “El Colesterol.” The song, released in January on the group’s latest LP, Las Aguitas, on Azteca Records, debuts at No. 28 on Regional Mexican Airplay (up 645% in airplay audience). TikTok has been a big contributor in the song’s growing profile, as a portion of it has been used in over 390,000 clips on the platform.
DRAIN
The Santa Cruz, Calif.-based hardcore punk group charts for the first time with its second LP, Living Proof, released May 5 on Epitaph Records. The set debuts on Heatseekers Albums (No. 18), Top Current Album Sales (No. 28) and Top Album Sales (No. 43) with 3,000 copies sold in its opening week. The group, which also debuts at No. 15 on Emerging Artists, comprises Sammy Ciaramitaro (lead vocals), Cody Chavez (guitar) and Tim Flegal (drums). After releasing its debut LP, California Cursed, in 2020 through Revelation Records, the group signed to Epitaph in 2021.
Zafem
The Haitian duo arrives with its debut studio album, Las. Released May 5 via Dener Ceide Productions, the set opens at No. 25 on Heatseekers Albums, No. 50 on Top Current Album Sales and No. 87 on Top Album Sales (1,500 sold). The sum also helps the duo enter at No. 36 on Emerging Artists. Zafem consists of Dener Ceide (vocals, guitar) and Reginald Cange (vocals).
SQÜRL
SQÜRL, the New York City-based avant-garde rock duo comprising Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan, lands on Billboard’s charts for the first time thanks to its new album, Silver Haze. The set, which the pair released May 5 on Naked Kiss Records/Sacred Bones Records, debuts at No. 100 on Top Current Album Sales chart with 1,000 sold. The album is the act’s first studio LP, following a series of EPs, soundtracks and film scores. Notably, Jarmusch is an influential film director, screenwriter and producer (The Dead Don’t Die, Paterson, Broken Flowers, Dead Man, Only Lovers Left Alive, Stranger Than Paradise), while Logan has produced several of Jarmusch’s films. The act formed in 2009 to create original music for Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control.
Josh Ross
Ross makes his U.S. chart debut, thanks to his single “Trouble.” The song, released in January through The Core Entertainment/Universal Music Canada, debuts at No. 20 on Country Digital Song Sales and No. 39 on Digital Song Sales with 2,000 downloads sold. Ross, from Burlington, Ontario, has already broken through in Canada. His hit “First Taste of Gone” reached No. 5 on the Canada Country airplay chart in July 2022 and “On a Different Night” hit No. 4 this February. After opening for Chase Rice on his Way Down Yonder Tour through May 20, Ross is set to open for Nickelback in June-August.
María Dueñas
The 20-year-old Spanish violinist and composer achieves her first chart appearance with her debut album, Beethoven and Beyond, with the Wiener Symphoniker and Manfred Honeck. The set, released via Deutsche Grammophone/VLG and recorded live at Vienna’s Musikverein, debuts at No. 6 on the Traditional Classical Albums chart.
Blaqbonez
The Nigerian rapper debuts thanks to his featured appearance on CKay’s “Hallelujah.” The song, released May 5 through Warner Music Africa, opens at No. 26 on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart. Blaqbonez (real name Emeka Akumefule) has released two studio albums: Sex Over Love in 2021, and Young Preacher in 2022, both on Chocolate City Music.
Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem
Fresh off the premiere of the new Disney+ comedy musical series The Muppets Mayhem on May 10, Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem are now, officially, Billboard-charting artists – nearly a half-century after their on-screen debut. The group enters the Kid Albums chart at No. 13 with the series’ companion soundtrack, The Muppets Mayhem: Music From the Disney+ Original Series, which also arrived May 10, on Disney+/Walt Disney Records. The 22-track set includes 17 songs credited to Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem, plus five scores by Mick Giacchino. While some songs are original compositions for the series, others are covers of classics by The Beach Boys, Cyndi Lauper, Simon & Garfunkel, The Who and more. Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem, which made their first televised appearance in the pilot of The Muppet Show in 1975 (and recently dished to Billboard about “the frog,” Miss Piggy and more), comprises Dr. Teeth (performed, originally, by Jim Henson and now by Bill Barretta), Animal (Frank Oz, now Eric Jacobson), Floyd Pepper (Jerry Nelson, now Matt Vogel), Janice (Richard Hunt, now David Rudman), Zoot (Dave Goelz) and Lips (Steve Whitmire, now Peter Linz).
