10 First-Timers on Billboard’s Charts This Week: BOYNEXTDOOR, Khamari, Royel Otis, Nick Shoulders & More

Xander Zellner
·6 min read

Billboard has more than 200 different weekly charts in its menu, 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 Sept. 23-dated charts.

BOYNEXTDOOR

The South Korean boy band makes an impressive arrival on Billboard’s charts thanks to its new EP, Why.. The six-track set, released Sept. 4 via KOZ Entertainment/Geffen Records, debuts at No. 1 on Heatseekers Albums, No. 3 on World Albums and No. 162 on the Billboard 200 with 8,000 equivalent album units earned in its opening week (Sept. 8-14), according to Luminate. Nearly all of those units were in traditional album sales, helping the set also starts at No. 10 on Top Album Sales. The EP also sparks the group’s No. 1 debut on the Emerging Artists chart and No. 64 entrance on the Billboard Artist 100. KOZ Entertainment, a subsidiary of HYBE Corporation, formed BOYNEXTDOOR earlier this year. The group comprises Jaehyun, Leehan, Riwoo, Sungho, Taesan and Woonhak.

Khamari

The singer-songwriter, from Dorchester, Mass., and now based in Los Angeles, lands on Billboard’s charts for the first time with his breakout single, “These Four Walls.” The song, released in May via RCA Records on his debut studio album A Brief Nirvana, debuts at No. 27 on Adult R&B Airplay (up 115% in plays), aided by a COLORSxSTUDIOS performance of the song released in June. Khamari has released one additional collection: his debut six-track EP Eldorado, in 2019.

Royel Otis

The Australian duo, from Sydney, scores its first Billboard chart entry, thanks to its wryly-titled single “Sofa King.” The song, released in March via Ourness, debuts at No. 36 on Alternative Airplay (up 184% in plays). The song appears on the pair’s debut seven-track album Sofa Kings, released in March. Before that, the twosome released three EPs: Campus in 2021, Bar & Grill in 2022 and Going Kokomo earlier this year. The duo’s name is a combination of the two members’ first names: Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic. The act is currently on the North American leg of its Sofa Kings Tour.

Nick Shoulders

The singer-songwriter, from Fayetteville, Ark., notches his first chart appearance, thanks to his new studio album, All Bad. The set, released Sept. 8 on Gar Hole Records, debuts at No. 58 on the Top Current Album Sales chart with 1,000 copies sold in its opening week. He also bows at No. 38 on the Emerging Artists chart. Shoulders has released three additional albums: Lonely Like Me in 2018, Okay, Crawdad (2019) and Home on the Range (2021). Shoulders is also an illustrator, having designed the covers of each of his LPs, as well as tour and other posters.

BOI WHAT

The artist (real name: Eli Strobeck), who writes, records, and produces music inspired by the Nickelodeon show Spongebob Squarepants with the help of AI, lands on Billboard’s charts for the first time with “Plan Z.” The song, released Sept. 8 on Hallwood Recordings, debuts at No. 14 on the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart with 710,000 official streams earned in its opening week. “Plan Z” uses an AI-filtering technology to make the artist’s voice sound like the Spongebob character Plankton (voiced in the series by Mr. Lawrence) about learning the Krabby Patty Secret Formula—a recurring gag in the series. BOI WHAT has released four other Spongebob-inspired songs: “Make a Wish (Squiddy),” “Dear Magic Conch Shell,” “Wish I Woulda Known” and “Just a Pineapple” (which has tallied over 4.5 million official streams since its Sept. 1 release). The tracks, which contain country, hip-hop and pop elements, also use AI to help BOI WHAT mimic vocals from the Spongebob, Squidward, Patrick Star and Sandy Cheeks characters, voiced by Tom Kenny, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke and Carolyn Lawrence, respectively. “Dear Magic Conch Shell,” notably, draws from Morgan Wallen’s “Cowgirls,” featuring ERNEST. Strobeck also records music under the name Mathue.

Bobbi Storm

The singer, dancer and writer, from Detroit, is officially a Billboard-charting artist, thanks to her song “We Can’t Forget Him.” The track debuts at No. 36 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and No. 50 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (1.6 million radio airplay audience impressions Sept. 8-14), ahead of its wide release Friday (Sept. 22) through TRIBL Records. Storm has released eight other songs, from 2017’s “Poor Dat” through “Lazy Love” in July 2022.

Cryptopsy

The Canadian technical death metal band claims its first Billboard chart entry, thanks to its new album As Gomorrah Burns. The set, released Sept. 8 on Nuclear Blast Records, debuts at No. 60 on Top Current Album Sales with 1,000 copies sold in its opening week. Cryptopsy has been releasing music since the late 1980s. Before As Gomorrah Burns, the band’s first studio album in 11 years, the act released seven additional studio LPs: Blasphemy in 1994, None So Vile (1996), Whisper Supremacy (1998), …And Then You’ll Beg (2000), Once Was Not (2005), The Unspoken King (2008) and Cryptopsy (2012). The current lineup of the group is Christian Donaldson, Matt McGachy, Flo Mounier and Olivier Pinard.

Ang3lina & Feranbanks

Both artists arrive on Billboard’s charts for the first time thanks to their collaboration “Tempted 2 Touch.” The song, released in February on No Grind No Shine, debuts at No. 7 on the World Digital Song Sales chart and was boosted by a new Jersey Club remix, released Sept. 1. Ang3lina is based in the U.K. Feranbanks, from Akoko, Ondo, Nigeria, released his debut studio album Better Days Ahead in September 2022.

Dark Divine

The Orlando, Fla.-based hard rock band arrives on Billboard’s charts with its sophomore LP, Deadly Fun. Released Sept. 8 on Thriller Records, the collection debuts at No. 100 on Top Current Album Sales with 1,000 copies sold. The group released its debut studio album Halloweentown in September 2022. Dark Divine comprises Anthony Martinez (vocals), Robby Lynch, Jason Thomas Mueller (both on guitar), Jarret Robinson (bass) and Triston Blaize (drums).

Capri Everitt, Setou & Senyo & B Martin

All three acts reach Billboard’s charts for the first time thanks to their collaboration, “Arcade.” The song, self-released Sept. 8, debuts at No. 17 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart. Everitt, from Vancouver and now based in Los Angeles, has been releasing songs since 2018. In 2015, when she was 11 years old, she broke the Guinness World Record for the most national anthems sung in their host countries in a single year: 76. (She sung her final anthem that year at a Washington Nationals baseball game.) Setou & Senyo are twin brothers from Ottawa who release house/EDM music inspired by R&B, hip-hop, disco and jazz. B Martin is a New York-born, Los Angeles-based dance artist who has opened for the likes of Steve Aoki, Big Sean and J. Cole.

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