10 First-Timers on Billboard’s Charts This Week: The Castellows, Jordana, HOL!, TWS & More

Xander Zellner
·9 min read

Billboard has more than 200 different weekly charts, 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.

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Here’s a look at 10 titles by artists who appear on surveys for the first time on the Feb. 24-dated charts.

The Castellows

The siblings are officially Billboard-charting artists for the first time, thanks to their debut seven-track EP, A Little Goes a Long Way. The set, released Feb. 9 via Henry-Dixon Line/Warner Records/Warner Music Nashville/WMN, debuts at No. 48 on the Top Current Album Sales chart with 2,000 copies sold in the U.S. in its opening week (through Feb. 15), according to Luminate. The group also enters at No. 28 on the Emerging Artists chart.

The Castellows are comprised of sisters Ellie (lead guitar), Lily (vocals), and Powell Balkcom (banjo), who hail from Georgetown, Ga., and are now based in Nashville. The group signed with Warner Music Nashville and Warner Records in October, along with Make Wake Artists for management and WME for global representation. “From the moment we met The Castellows, we knew they were the real deal,” Warner Records’ co-chairman/CEO, Aaron Bay-Schuck said in a press release. “Not only was their talent and star power immediately apparent, but they were also unapologetically themselves. The personality that Ellie, Lily and Powell display with their social posts and the stories they tell with their music are consistent with who they are in real life, and it’s this authenticity along with their determination and drive to be truly great that will make them an unstoppable force.”

The trio is currently on the road on a string of tour dates that runs through June. The act is also slated to perform at several upcoming festivals, including Tortuga Music Festival, Boston Calling, Under the Big Sky and Bourbon & Beyond. Last month, CMT featured the group in its 11th annual Next Women of Country franchise.

Jordana

The singer-songwriter (full name Jordana Nye) debuts on Billboard’s charts thanks to her nearly three-year-old album with TV Girl, Summer’s Over. Released in October 2021 on Grand Jury Music, the seven-track set debuts at No. 2 on the Tastemakers Albums chart (which ranks the week’s top-selling albums at independent and small chain record stores). The album’s latest gains can be attributed to a new vinyl variants released, one being a Rough Trade exclusive vinyl pressing of the album, released Feb. 9. The set’s standard black vinyl pressing will also be released April 5.

In addition to releasing Summer’s Over with the group, the bedroom-pop musician has also served as a touring act with the band, performing bass and backing vocals. Separately, Jordana has released three solo LPs in her career: Classical Notions of Happiness (which she self-recorded and self-released in 2019), Something to Say to You (2020) and Face the Wall (2022). Her most recent release is a collaboration with Yot Club, “Safe House,” released in September.

HOL!

The French DJ nets his first career Billboard chart hit thanks to his team-up with Marshmello, “Movement.” The song, released Feb. 9 on Joytime Collective, debuts at No. 30 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart with 719,000 U.S. streams earned in its opening week.

HOL! has been releasing music on streaming services since 2020. While he’s already a familiar face in France, he broke through in the U.S. with his viral 2022 dubstep track “Country Riddim,” which Fred Again.., Four Tet and Skrillex played during their set at Coachella last year. The song combines riddim elements with classic country sounds — a genre rarely seen in the dance/dubstep community. HOL! released his debut full-length album, Black Hole Final Chapter, in 2021.

TWS: 24/7:WITH:US

The South Korean boy band arrived on Billboard’s charts for the first time last week (charts dated Feb. 17), thanks to its debut EP TWS: Sparkling Blue. Released Jan. 22 on Pledis Entertainment/Geffen/IGA, the five-track project debuted at No. 6 on World Albums and No. 8 on Heatseekers Albums (5,000 units) and No. 10 on Top Current Album Sales and No. 16 on Top Album Sales (4,000 albums sold). The set ranks on all four charts for a second consecutive week at, respectively, Nos. 11, 17, 24 and 36.

The act also debuted at No. 2 on the Feb. 17-dated Emerging Artists chart and ranks at No. 9 on the latest list. TWS: 24/7:WITH:US comprises members Dohoon, Hanjin, Jihoon, Kyungmin, Shinyu and Youngjae.

Wyatt Ellis

The 14-year-old bluegrass artist scored his first career Billboard chart entry thanks to his debut album Happy Valley. The 12-track set, released Feb. 2 on Knee High Records, debuted at No. 5 on the Feb. 17-dated Bluegrass Albums chart, and ranks at No. 6 on the latest list.

“Billboard is the gold standard of music charting and I am extremely happy that my first album debuted at number five on the Bluegrass chart,” he told Billboard upon hearing of the debut. “Hopefully it gets to hang out there for some time!”

Ellis, from Maryville, Tenn., is a self-taught mandolin player who has already cemented himself as one of bluegrass’ biggest up-and-comers. He’s shared the stage with Dierks Bentley, Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle, among others, and made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry in November. On the new album, Ellis collaborated with several bluegrass mainstays, including Mike Compton, Sierra Hull, Bobby Osborne and Marty Stuart.

Maleek Berry

The Nigerian singer-songwriter/producer reaches Billboard’s lists for the first time as a recording artist thanks to his solo track “Kontrol.” The song, released in May 2016, debuts at No. 49 on the latest Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart, powered by AfroNation. Despite its age, the song debuts on the strength of its steady streaming presence over the past several years. TikTok has also been a contributing factor to the song’s growing profile. A portion of the song’s audio has soundtracked over 160,000 clips on the platform to date.

Berry (full name Okunola Abdul Maleek Anu-Oluwapo Shoyebi) has been releasing music for more than a decade. In 2016, he dropped his debut EP Last Daze of Summer (which includes a version of “Kontrol”) and followed it up with his First Daze of Winter EP in 2018. In 2020, he released his debut full-length Isolation Room, which includes a collaboration with the prominent Afrobeats singer-songwriter Tiwa Savage (“Balance”). He has also collaborated with Adekunle Gold, GoldLink, Raye, Rudimental, Wizkid and Ycee. Outside of his work as a recording artist, he’s also an in-demand producer in the Afrobeats space, having produced songs for many artists, including Wande Coal, Davido and Wizkid.

Daniel Allan & Lyrah

Both artists arrive on Billboard’s charts for the first time with their collaboration “I Just Need.” Released in August 2023 on Family Affair, the song debuted at No. 37 on the Feb. 17-dated Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart and rises to No. 34 on the latest list (up 8% in plays).

Allan has been releasing music since 2019, with three studio LPs to his name since then: Glass House (released in 2022), Criteria with Reo Cragun (May 2023) and Duality (November 2023). Allan was one of the first breakout musical talents in the Web3 space in 2022. He sold a collection of 1,000 music NFTs, named Glass House, in less than 24 hours. “It was one of the most emotional moments I’ve had,” he told Billboard at the time. “It was the last thing I saw coming, genuinely.” He has three headlining shows on the calendar, all within the next month, in Denver, Los Angeles and New York City’s Brooklyn.

As for Lyrah (real name: Kathleen Warner), the L.A.-based singer-songwriter also reaches Billboard’s charts for the first time. She has released more than a dozen songs on streaming services, all since 2018, including two EPs: Chemicals in 2019 and Drain My Bank Account in June 2023. In December 2022, her song “Taken (Autograf Remix)” was featured in the HBO series The Sex Lives of College Girls. Before beginning her career as a recording artist, she was a product designer at Meta.

Z3LLA

The DJ duo lands its first career Billboard chart hit as “Why Should I?” debuts at No. 31 on Dance/Mix Show Airplay (up 80% in spins). Before that, the duo released six other songs on streaming services, including collaborations with Glass Petals, Koastle, Klo, Lash, Mondry and Piques. Z3LLA comprises Julia Seeley and Kiana Tebyani.

Angelina Mango

The Italian singer-songwriter, from Maratea, Basilicata, achieves her first Billboard chart hit with “La Noia.” Released Feb. 7 on Warner Music Italy, the song (which translates to “The Boredom” in English) debuts at No. 51 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart and No. 110 on the Billboard Global 200 with 18.3 million streams.

The song was Mango’s winning entry in the 74th annual Sanremo Music Festival, which concluded Feb. 10. As Mango won, she’s now set to represent Italy in the Eurovison Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden. Since Italy is a member of the “Big Five” (along with France, Germany, Spain and the U.K.), Mango is automatically qualified to compete in the finals. Mango is the first female artist to win Sanremo in 10 years. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect anything of what happened,” Mango said in a press conference on Feb. 11, after the finals. “I was able to live every moment without too much pressure. I received a lot of strength from people and I had the best week of my life.”

Outside of “La Noia,” Mango has released two solo EPs: Monolocale in 2020 and Voglia di vivere in May 2023.

Geolier

The Italian rapper, from Naples, reaches Billboard’s charts for the first time with his international hit “I P’ Me, Tu P’ Te.” The title translates to “Me for Myself, You for Yourself.” Released Feb. 7 on Warner Music Italy, the song debuts at No. 33 on the Global Excl. U.S. chart and No. 91 on the Global 200 with 23.1 million streams worldwide.

Geolier competed in the 2024 Sanremo Music Festival, performing “I P’ Me, Tu P’ Te,” and ultimately placed second behind Angelina Mango.

Geolier has released numerous songs on streaming services, all since 2018, along with two full-length albums: Emanuele in 2019 and Il coraggio dei bambini in January 2023. He has also collaborated with many other Italian rappers, including Sfera Ebbasta, Guè, Lazza and Marracash.

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