Hot 100 First-Timers: Yung Lean, Westside Gunn & Rob49 Arrive, Thanks to Travis Scott Features

Xander Zellner
·4 min read
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Yung Lean, Westside Gunn and Rob49 all score their first entries on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Aug. 12), thanks to their featured appearances on Travis Scott’s new LP Utopia.

The set launches in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 496,000 equivalent album units earned – the largest week for any R&B/hip-hop or rap release this year. Scott notches his third leader, after 2016’s Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight and 2018’s ASTROWORLD. It’s also just the second rap album to hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2023, after Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape last month. Pink Tape ended a rare seven-month drought for the genre.

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Yung Lean scores his first Hot 100 entry via his featured credit on Scott’s “Parasail,” also featuring famed comedian Dave Chappelle (who likewise makes his first appearance on the chart). The song debuts at No. 53 with 10.5 million official U.S. streams earned in its opening week (July 28-Aug. 3), according to Luminate.

Yung Lean (real name: Jonatan Aron Leandoer Håstad), from Stockholm, Sweden, first appeared on a Billboard chart in 2014 with his debut studio album, Unknown Memory. The set reached No. 22 on the Top Rap Albums chart and No. 36 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

Last year, Yung Lean returned to Billboard’s charts for the first time in eight years with his track “Ginseng Strip 2002.” Although he released the song in January 2013, it resurged on TikTok and went viral, helping it debut on multiple charts. It reached No. 47 on the Billboard Global 200 and No. 54 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart. Billboard reported last year that it became TikTok’s most popular song on the platform in 2022, thanks to a trend of users singing along for about 10 seconds and then kissing at the end.

This March, Yung Lean also scored his first entry on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, his collaboration with Skrillex and Bladee, “Ceremony.” The track reached No. 22.

Yung Lean has released four studio LPs: Unknown Memory (2014), Warlord (2016), Stranger (2017) and Starz (2020). He has also released four mixtapes: Unknown Death 2002 (2013), Frost God (2016), Poison Ivy (2018) and Stardust (2022).

Westside Gunn (real name: Alvin Lamar Worthy), from Buffalo, N.Y., reaches the Hot 100 for the first time thanks to his featured turn on Scott’s “Lost Forever” at No. 46. The song debuts with 11.5 million streams.

The rapper first appeared on a Billboard chart in July 2018 with his sophomore album Supreme Blientele. The set reached No. 7 on Heatseekers Albums. Since then, three of his releases have debuted on the Billboard 200: his third LP, Pray for Paris (No. 67, 2020); mixtape Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Side B (No. 196, 2021); and his most recent mixtape, 10 (No. 183, November 2022).

Westside Gunn has released four LPs: 2016’s Flygod, Supreme Blientele, Pray for Paris and 2020’s Who Made the Sunshine.

New Orleans-based rapper Rob49 likewise achieves his first Hot 100 entry, as featured on Travis Scott’s “Topia Twins,” also featuring 21 Savage. It starts at No. 17 with 19.1 million streams.

Rob49 is brand new to Billboard’s tallies. He posted his first charted title in January, thanks to his collaboration with DJ Drama and French Montana, “Igloo.” It hit No. 12 on Rap Digital Song Sales and No. 18 on R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales.

He came close to reaching the Hot 100 in June as featured on Lil Durk’s “Same Side.” The track, from Lil Durk’s set Almost Healed, hit No. 1 on the Hot 100’s Bubbling Under ranking, and reached No. 40 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

Outside of working with Travis Scott and Lil Durk, Rob49 has collaborated with Curren$y, Fredo Bang, Lil Baby, NoCap and Trippie Redd, among others. He has also released six albums: 4our the World, Vulture, Krazy Man (all in 2020), 4GOD (2021), Welcome to Vulture Island (2022) and 4GOD II (this June).

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