Hot 100 First-Timers: Punk-Rap Duo $uicideboy$ Debut With ‘Us Vs. Them’

Xander Zellner
·2 min read

New Orleans punk-rap duo $uicideboy$ scores its first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated May 4) thanks to its new single, “Us Vs. Them.”

Released March 29 on G*59 Records, the track debuts at No. 96 almost entirely from streaming: 6.4 million official U.S. clicks (up 32%) in the April 19-25 tracking week, according to Luminate. It also begins on Hot Rap Songs at No. 22 and re-enters Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at a new No. 26 high. On the latter list, it’s the act’s highest rank among eight entries to date.

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“Us Vs. Them” is the lead single from the act’s upcoming fourth full-length, New World Depression, due June 14.

$uicideboy$ is comprised of cousins $crim (real name Scott Arceneaux Jr.) and Ruby da Cherry (real name Aristos Petrou), who hail from Marrero and Metairie, La., in the New Orleans metropolitan area, respectively. The duo grew its following on SoundCloud after first posting recordings on the streaming service in 2014. The $uicideboy$ name allegedly stems from a suicide pact, where if their joint musical venture didn’t work out, there would be nothing left to live for.

The pair has hit Billboard’s charts for nearly a decade, including six charted albums on the Billboard 200. Here’s a recap:

  • I Want to Die in New Orleans, No. 9 peak, 2018

  • Stop Staring at the Shadows, No. 30, 2020

  • Long Term Effects of Suffering, No. 7, 2021

  • Sing Me a Lullaby, My Sweet Temptation, No. 7, 2022

  • DirtiestNastiest$uicide, with Germ, No. 54, 2022

  • Shameless $uicide (EP), with Shakewell, No. 50, 2023

Sing Me a Lullaby, My Sweet Temptation hit No. 1 on the Top Rap Albums chart in 2022, earning the duo its first leader on a multimetric Billboard chart. The twosome has also released numerous EPs and mixtapes since 2014.

The duo launched its own independent label collective, G*59 Records, in 2017, and have been distributed by The Orchard since 2020. The label also features Chetta, Germ, Nightlovell, Rvimrxz and Shakewell on its roster.

“When we first started, we wanted to do the exact opposite of what everybody in rap was doing,” Ruby da Cherry told Billboard in 2021. “We didn’t have nice cars or gold chains, so we just flexed that we were losers, and mixed in some shock-rap and stuff about our mental health issues. We’re just trying to catch people’s attention.”

The pair has also been a strong touring act. It finished at No. 4 on Billboard’s Highest Grossing Rap Tours of 2023 recap, with $20.2 million earned and 214,000 tickets sold across 23 shows, according to Billboard Boxscore. $uicideboy$ kick off their North American Greyday Tour in August. It’s set to run through October, with support from Denzel Curry.

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