Loza Alexander debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart (dated Oct. 30), becoming the top emerging act in the U.S. for the first time thanks to his new song “Lets Go Brandon.”
The song debuts at No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it’s his first entry, with 1.2 million U.S. streams and 35,200 downloads sold in its first full tracking week, ending Oct. 21, according to MRC Data.
The song originated when NASCAR driver Brandon Brown won a race at the Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 2. During his post-interview with an NBC Sports reporter, fans could be heard in the background shouting a profane anti-President Joe Biden chant. The reporter suggested that the crowd was instead chanting, “Let’s go, Brandon,” to celebrate his win. The track includes snippets of the clip, which has since circulated on YouTube and in right-wing conservative circles.
“Lets Go Brandon” concurrently tops R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales and Rap Digital Song Sales and jumps to No. 2 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart. It also debuts at Nos. 10 and 12, respectively, on the multi-metric Hot Rap Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.
Among other Emerging Artists chart moves, the U.K.’s Lovejoy re-enters at No. 6, a new peak, as its new LP Pebble Brain opens at No. 20 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums with 8,000 equivalent album units, while all seven of its cuts debut on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs.
Plus, Finneas re-enters Emerging Artists at No. 7, powered by his debut LP Optimist. The set arrives at No. 9 on Alternative Albums (10,000 units). Finneas, the principal producer and co-songwriter for his sister, Billie Eilish, first charted his debut EP Blood Harmony, which yielded the top 20 Alternative Airplay hit “Let’s Fall in Love for the Night” in April 2020.
The Emerging Artists chart measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity. The chart excludes acts that have notched a top 25 entry on either the Hot 100 or Billboard 200, as well as artists that have achieved two or more top 10s on Billboard’s “Hot” song genre charts and/or consumption-based “Top” album genre rankings.
