Meet the First-Timers On Our Charts This Week
An R&B singer, a rapper and a cellist/beatboxer all reach new milestones across Billboard's charts.
This week (on charts dated May 24), Jane Handcock debuts for the first time as her single “Stingy” enter the Adult R&B Airplay chart at no. 29, thanks to a 43% surge in weekly spins.
Released via Death Row Records/gamma, the track is a breakthrough moment for the Oakland-born artist, who built her career behind the scenes as a songwriter for major artists like Kelly Rowland, Dr. Dre, Rick Ross, Tyrese and Keke Palmer before delving into her solo work. Her work as a songwriter caught the attention of Grammy-winner producer Raphael Saadiq, who produced two of her early projects: Truth Be Told in 2016 and Raphael Saadiq Presents: Jane Handcock “Truth Explains A Lot” in 2017.
Handcock has released several solo studio albums in her career, most recently with World of Women in 2023. The album includes six collaborations with Snoop Dogg and standout track with October London.
Handcock isn’t the only artist to chart for the first time this week. Take a look at some of the other First-Timers across other charts below:
Wifiskeleton & i wanna be a jack-o-lantern: Both artists earn their first ever Billboard Hot 100 entries with their viral collaboration “Nope Your Too Late I Already Died.” Released in November via 9th St./Hallwood Recordings, the song debuts at No. 91 thanks entirely to its streaming sum: 6.5 million official U.S. streams (up 47%) in the May 9-15 tracking week, according to Luminate. The song’s momentum has largely come from TikTok, where it’s been used in over 100,000 videos and recently cracked the top 10 of the platform’s Viral 50 ranking.
But the song’s rise has been shadowed by tragedy. On May 5, reports began to surface among fans online that wifiskeleton died from a suspected overdose. Hallwood Recordings and 9th St. Records appeared to confirm the news of his death on May 7 with the following statement on Instagram:
“We’re still trying to process the loss of Wifiskeleton — a rare soul whose art, energy and presence moved so many. He poured so much of himself into everything he created and left behind a legacy that continues to resonate. We’re holding his loved ones and fans close in our hearts. Thank you for everything, Skel — your spirit lives on in all of us.”
Wifiskeleton (real name: Jeremiah Simms), 21, had released five albums on DSPs since 2023, most recently Pony on April 18. “Nope Your Too Late I Already Died” appeared on his October project suburban daredevil, which he released in October.
Kevin Olusola: The singer-songwriter, cellist and beatboxer, best known as a member of the Grammy-winning a cappella group Pentatonix, earns his first solo appearance on Billboard’s charts this week with his debut solo album, Dawn of a Misfit. Released May 9 on Masterworks/Sony Masterworks, the genre-blending album launches at No. 12 on the Classical Crossover Albums chart and No. 15 on Classical Albums with 1,000 units earned in its opening week.
As the beatboxer for Pentatonix, Olusola helped drive the group’s impressive chart history: 17 charting albums on the Billboard 200 (including two No. 1s, Pentatonix and Pentatonix Christmas), five Hot 100 entries (all holiday hits) and 18 charting songs on our annual Holiday 100, including the No. 1s “Little Drummer Boy” and “Mary, Did You Know?” In addition to singing and beatboxing, he’s also an accomplished cellist and creator of “celloboxing” — his performance style that blends live cello and beatboxing in real time. —Xander Zellner
For more on the Billboard charts, click here. And take a look at last week’s First-Timers here.