Hot 100 First-Timers: Kenya Grace Arrives With Viral Hit ‘Strangers’

Two weeks after making her first-ever Billboard chart appearance, Kenya Grace achieves another first, as she debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated Sept. 30) for the first time.

The singer-songwriter, born in South African and raised in the U.K., debuts with her breakthrough hit “Strangers,” released Sept. 1 via Major Recordings/Warner Records. The song enters at No. 88 with 6.4 million U.S. streams (up 42%), 41,000 in early airplay audience and 1,000 downloads sold (up 12%) in the Sept. 15-21 tracking week, according to Luminate. It also holds at its No. 2 high on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs and vaults 21-4 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart and 35-12 on the Billboard Global 200.

TikTok has been a major factor in the song’s growing profile, as a portion of its audio has been used in more than 570,000 clips on the platform to date. One such video, on Grace’s profile, has logged more than 35 million views. (Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard‘s charts except for the newly launched TikTok Billboard Top 50.)

The song has also been boosted by a new remix with Sam Shredder, released Sept. 22. In a Sept. 15 TikTok, Grace teased a new “slower and sadder” version of the song.

Elsewhere, the track earns Grace her first No. 1 among surveys in Billboard‘s international charts menu, as it rises to the top of the latest Austria Songs chart. On the Official UK Singles Chart, it jumps 12-3, and is challenging for the top spot on next week’s list. “Strangers” became her first Billboard No. 1 overall a week earlier when it topped Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs, where it reigns for a second week.

Grace has released five other songs: “Oranges”; “Someone Else” with 3STRANGE; and “Venus” with Homebodi (all in 2022); and “Afterparty Lover” and “Meteor” (this February and May, respectively).