Omar Apollo Tops Emerging Artists Chart Thanks to Vinyl Release of ‘Ivory’

Singer-songwriter Omar Apollo hits No. 1 on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart (dated April 8), leading for the first time thanks to his debut studio album, Ivory.

Originally released in April 2022 via Warner Records, the set re-enters the Billboard 200 chart at No. 74 with 13,000 equivalent album units earned (up 265%) March 24-30, according to Luminate, exceeding its original No. 128 peak. The album’s vinyl edition arrived March 24, sparking 9,000 sold on vinyl in the tracking week.

Ivory concurrently debuts at No. 3 on the Vinyl Albums chart, and re-enters Top Album Sales at No. 12, a new best.

The set contains Apollo’s breakout single “Evergreen,” which reached No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October (becoming his first career entry), as well as No. 6 on Adult Alternative Airplay and No. 33 on Pop Airplay.

Elsewhere on Emerging Artists, South Korean group NMIXX debuts at No. 2 thanks to its debut EP Expergo. The set debuts at No. 122 on the Billboard 200 (10,000 units), plus No. 5 on World Albums and No. 13 on Top Album Sales.

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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