Hot 100 First-Timers: Toosii Arrives With a New ‘Favorite Song’

Toosii has maintained a steady presence on Billboard’s charts over the past three years, but now he’s officially a Billboard Hot 100 hitmaker, as “Favorite Song” debuts on the latest list (dated March 4) at No. 51.

The track, released Feb. 17 via SouthCoast/Capitol Records, arrives driven by 9.7 million U.S. streams in the Feb. 17-23 tracking week, according to Luminate. It concurrently debuts at No. 8 on Hot Rap Songs, marking Toosii’s first entry, and No. 17 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, where it’s his highest-charting hit.

TikTok has been instrumental in the song’s growing profile, as a sped-up version has been used in over 300,000 clips on the platform to-date. A portion of the original recording has been used in over 100,000 clips. (TikTok does not contribute to Billboard’s charts.)

The rapper (real name: Nau’Jour Grainger), from Syracuse, N.Y., first appeared on a Billboard chart in February 2020, when his set Platinum Heart debuted at No. 3 on Heatseekers Albums, before reaching No. 1 seven months later. The set hit No. 196 on the Billboard 200 that June, marking his first entry on the ranking.

Since then, Toosii has charted two additional albums on the Billboard 200: Poetic Pain (No. 17, October 2020) and Thank You for Believing (No. 25, May 2021). The latter includes collaborations with DaBaby, Fivio Foreign, Key Glock and Latto.

“Truth Be Told” became Toosii’s first charting song in September 2020, when it debuted and peaked at No. 38 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. He’s since charted three more songs at the format since then: “Love Cycle,” with Summer Walker (No. 9 peak, 2021), “5’5,” featuring Latto (No. 34, 2021), and “Love Is…” (No. 36, 2022). “Love Cycle” and “Love Is…” also reached Nos. 44 and 33 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, respectively.

Toosii further grew his audience as the supporting act, alongside Mariah the Scientist, on Rod Wave’s Beautiful Mind Tour in 2022.

Related Images: