RS Charts: StaySolidRocky, Sheff G Top Breakthrough 25 Chart

StaySolidRocky, the San Antonio singer and rapper who sent TikTok into a frenzy with his song “Party Girl,” tops this month’s Breakthrough 25 Chart, which ranks the fastest-rising emerging artists of the month. 

In a matter of weeks, StaySolidRocky’s weekly streams went from four-digits to the multi-millions after “Party Girl,” with a reference to Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” became the backdrop to a number of TikTok dances and led to his signing with Columbia Records. Time will tell if he can build off the momentum —“Party Girl” accounts for 98.5 percent of his streams, and he’s only released two other singles — but for now, he’s in a pretty good spot, pulling in over 40 million on-demand audio streams in May.

Coming in second is Brooklyn drill rapper Sheff G, who’s been flirting with the top of the charts since the release of his debut LP, The Unluccy Luccy Kid. But it was his latest album, One and Only, that launched him to new heights on streaming, reaching Number 155 on the Artists 500 chart in May. BTS’s Agust D follows at Number Three after releasing his solo project D-2, followed by Sacramento R&B singer MarMar Oso, who’s reaping the rewards of his new album, Love Don’t Cost a Thing. Kota the Friend, an independent Brooklyn rapper, rounds out the top five, out-streaming himself by nearly 8 million in May with his new release, EVERYTHING.

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 released their debut single or album within the past five years and 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 standouts on the chart include Kosovan DJ Regard (Number Five), whose remix of Jay Sean’s “Ride It” brought the 2007 hit back onto the charts at Number 98; YouTuber-turned-rapper Ksi (Number Seven), whose latest album, Dissimulation, features big names including Offset, Lil Baby, Rick Ross and Trippie Redd;  and Texas country singer Zach Bryan, whose latest album, Elisabeth, helped him crack the top 1,000 artist by streams in May. Giveon, who was widely mistaken for Sampha as the featured vocalist on Drake’s “Chicago Freestyle,” comes in at Number 14, while Breland, who re-calibrated the country-trap formula of “Old Town Road” into his own with “My Truck,” comes in at Number 25. 

See the full Breakthrough 25 chart here.