RS Charts: Tyla Yaweh, Phoebe Bridgers and Curtis Waters Lead June’s Breakthrough 25 Chart

While life as we know it may be on pause, in music, things are moving faster than ever, with high turnover in the upper ranks of the Top 100 Songs Chart and a new artist rising on TikTok seemingly ever week. The up-and-comers on the  latest Breakthrough 25 chart, which ranks the fastest-rising new artists of the month, run the gamut from TikTok stars to emo-folk darlings. 

Orlando rapper and singer Tyla Yaweh leads this month’s class, gaining over 16 million streams in June thanks to the Post Malone-featuring “Tommy Lee,” an ode to the Mötley Crüe drummer that reached the top 40 of the RS 100. And it wasn’t just “Tommy Lee” that streamed well: Yaweh’s 2019 album Heart Full of Rage also saw a 17 percent increase in streams last month. 

Coming in at Number Two is emo-folk singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers, who made the Artists 500 Chart for the first time in her career in June thanks to the release of her critically beloved sophomore album, Punisher. Curtis Waters, the proudly independent artist behind the Tik Tok smash “Stunnin,” takes third, pulling in 6.6. million more streams in June than he did in May.

The Rolling Stone Breakthrough 25 chart ranks the artists who are seeing the greatest gains each month in audio streams. It does not include passive listening, such as terrestrial radio or digital radio. Because the chart focuses on newer music, eligible artists must have not reached the upper ranks of the charts before. Each month, Rolling Stone publishes an official version of the Breakthrough 25 chart, covering the four-week period ending with the previous Thursday.

Two artists from the soundtrack to 365 Days, Netflix’s 50 Shades of Grey-esque erotic drama, debut on the chart: Michele Morrone, who also stars in the film, takes fourth after growing his streams by nearly 6 million in June, while Texas rock duo Everybody Loves an Outlaw take sixth.

Philadelphia rapper KBFR debuts at Number Five after his song “Hood Baby” became the anthem to TikTok’s latest dance challenge. And while Chicago rapper Noname won over critics back in 2016 with her debut Telefone,  it was “Song 33” — a song that addresses the killings of George Floyd and Oluwatoyin Salau and responds to J Cole’s “Snow on tha Bluff” in just over a minute — that helped her reach the top 1,000 streamed artists, with more than 6.5 million on-demand audio streams in June. She debuts at Number 15 on the chart. 

See the full Breakthrough 25 Chart here.