Big Scarr, Cico P and Lakeyah Lead Breakthrough 25 Chart

Just a year ago, Big Scarr was seeing a few thousand on-demand audio streams per month. Now, after the Memphis rapper signed to Gucci Mane’s 1017 label and dropped his debut album, Big Grim Reaper, that number has ballooned to tens of millions per week. 

Big Scarr rises to Number One on this month’s Breakthrough 25 Chart, which ranks the fastest-rising new artists. The release of Big Grim Reaper in April helped him see 30 million more on-demand audio streams in March, which is all the more impressive when you consider that in March, he saw 7 million more streams than he did in February. Big Grim Reaper made an impressive debut on the RS 200 last week at Number 26, with over 22 million first-week streams. 

Last month’s leader, “Astronaut in the Ocean” rapper Masked Wolf, falls to Number Two. Debuting at Number Three is Cico P, the rapper behind “Tampa,” which started picking up streams in March and debuted last week at Number 66 on the RS 100. Quality Control rapper Lakeyah enters close behind at Number Four, adding nearly 7 million streams in April with the release of In Due Time. Regional Mexican group Grup Diez 4tro rise tten spots this month, rounding out the top five.  

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 not 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.

Other notable debuts this month include Quality Control rapper Bankroll Freddie (Number Eight), Detroit rapper Icewear Vezzo (Number Nine), “Good Without” singer Mimi Webb (Number 11) and Chloe George (Number 18), who had a TikTok hit with “Ghost Town (Voice Memo).” 

See the full Breakthrough 25 Chart here.