RS Charts: Burna Boy, Money Man and Victoria Monet Lead the Breakthrough 25 Chart

At the top of the charts, the month of August was the month of “WAP”‘s raunchy reign and the month of Folklore’s record-setting dominance. But if you venture outside the top ranks and onto Rolling Stone‘s Breakthrough 25 Chart, August was the month many up-and-coming artists had their breakout moment via long-awaited debut albums, TikTok hits and big-name features.

Burna Boy takes Number One on the latest Breakthrough 25, which ranks the fastest rising artist of the month by growth in on-demand audio streams.The Nigerian star reached new streaming heights in the United States after the release of Twice as Tall, his fifth studio album that was executive produced by P. Diddy. Compared to July, Burna Boy saw 13.4 million more on-demand audio streams in the U.S. in August.

Second place goes to Atlanta raper Money Man, who’s been steadily on the rise since 2016, but reached Number 55 on the Artists 500 in August when he released a remix of his song “24” featuring Lil Baby that Rolling Stone called “one of the purest examples of a flow that has dominated the past year.” Money Man added over 9 million streams August, and his March project Epidemic has seen a second life, reaching Number 29 on this week’s RS 200. And after opening on tour and penning songs for the likes of Fifth Harmony and Ariana Grande, Victoria Monet makes her breakthrough at Number Three following the release of her debut album, Jaguar, which helped her gain over 6 million on-demand audio streams in August.

Rounding out the Top Five is Dallas R&B singer Kaash Paige, who recently delivered her debut album Teenage Fever and country singer-songwriter Priscilla Block, who saw viral TikTok success with her ballad “Just About Over You.”

The Rolling Stone Breakthrough 25 chart ranks the artists who are seeing the greatest gains each month in on-demand audio streams in the United States. It does not include passive listening, such as terrestrial radio or digital radio. Because the chart focuses on newer music, eligible artists must have not reached the upper ranks of the charts before. Each month, Rolling Stone publishes an official version of the Breakthrough 25 chart, covering the four-week period ending with the previous Thursday.

Other standouts on the chart include ppcocaine (Number Six), the rapper and self-proclaimed brat formerly known as Trap Bunny Bubbles, and indie-pop singer Claire Rosinkranz (Number Seven), both of whom had songs go viral on TikTok with “3 Musketeers” and “Backyard Boy.” Coming in at Number Nine is Alabama native Chika, who’s one of two female rappers to be included in XXL’s 2020 Freshman Class.

See the full Breakthrough 25 chart here.