Nate Smith Tops Emerging Artists Chart, Thanks to ‘Whiskey on You’ – Billboard

Nate Smith re-enters Billboard‘s Emerging Artists chart (dated May 21) at No. 1 to become the top emerging act in the U.S. for the first time, powered by his new single “Whiskey on You.” The coronation marks his first on any Billboard chart.

The track, released on Arista Nashville, debuts at No. 84 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it’s his first entry, with 5.8 million official U.S. streams and 13,800 downloads sold in the May 6-12 tracking week, according to Luminate. It also arrives as his first charted title on Hot Country Songs, at No. 14.

The California-born, Nashville-based Smith, who boasts 1.1 million followers on TikTok, charted one prior entry, as “I Don’t Wanna Go to Heaven” reached No. 12 on Country Digital Song Sales and No. 40 on Digital Song Sales in December. “Whiskey” opens at Nos. 2 and 4 on the respective rankings. (The new single is also receiving early airplay on SiriusXM’s The Highway.)

Elsewhere on Emerging Artists, Australian pop-punk group Stand Atlantic debuts at No. 5 on the strength of its new LP, F.E.A.R. The set starts at No. 19 on Top Album Sales (3,800 copies sold) and No. 9 on Vinyl Albums (3,200 sold on vinyl) in its opening week.

Plus, BoyWithUke jumps 21-7 on Emerging Artists, reaching the top 10 for the first time, sparked by his new album Serotonin Dreams. The set from the largely mysterious, Massachusetts-based masked singer debuts at No. 7 on Alternative Albums and No. 72 on the Billboard 200 (12,000 units) and generates four entries on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs: “IDGAF,” with blackbear (No. 12); “Toxic” (No. 15); “Understand” (No. 21) and “Long Drives” (No. 43).

The Emerging Artists chart ranks the most popular developing artists of the week, using the same formula as the all-encompassing Billboard Artist 100, which measures artist activity across multiple Billboard charts, including the Hot 100, Billboard 200 and the Social 50. (The Artist 100 lists the most popular acts, overall, each week.) However, the Emerging Artists 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.

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