Armani White earns his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated Sept. 17) thanks to his breakthrough single “Billie Eilish.”
The ode to the superstar singer-songwriter, released in May via Legendbound/Def Jam Recordings, debuts at No. 99 with 4.4 million U.S. streams (up 19%), 4.1 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 40%) and 1,000 downloads sold (up 5%) in the Sept. 2-8 tracking week, according to Luminate.
In addition to its Eilish shout-out, the song boasts familiarity via its sample of N.O.R.E.’s “Nothin’,” which reached No. 10 on the Hot 100 in 2002.
White’s first song to reach a Billboard chart is building at multiple radio formats. It rises 24-23 on Rap Airplay and 29-26 on Rhythmic Airplay and holds at its No. 34 high on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. It concurrently jumps 43-23 and 44-28 on the multi-metric Hot Rap Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts, respectively.
The song’s profile has also surged thanks to TikTok, where the track has been used in over 1.1 million clips. The song led the platform’s U.S. Top Tracks tally for the weeks of Aug. 22 and 29, while White has amassed over 634,000 followers on the app.
“I tested ‘Billie Eilish’ everywhere at first, but TikTok was where it really found its footing and took off, so I doubled down,” White recently told Billboard.
White signed with Def Jam Recordings in July after the song caught on virally. Def Jam chairman and CEO Tunji Balogun praised White as “a dynamic artist who’s been bubbling underground for a while now and has caught lightning in a bottle with ‘Billie Eilish.’ We’re all excited to help him develop, connect with a wider audience and become the star he’s shown he can be.”
