Bubbling Under: Alexa Ray Joel Covers Dad Billy's 'Just The Way You Are'

Each Friday, Billboard presents "Bubbling Under," a weekly look at new and noteworthy acts making their way toward Billboard chart success. Up this week: Alexa Ray Joel, Bebe Rexha, Ty Dolla Sign and Billy Rivers & the Angelic Voices of Faith
 
 
ALEXA RAY JOEL



Alexa Ray Joel's cover of her dad Billy's "Just the Way You Are" (ARJ) makes its way to radio, as Sirius XM's the Blend becomes the first Nielsen BDS-monitored outlet to play it (22 spins in the Oct. 14-20 tracking week). Her father took the original version to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978. Alexa Ray's remake is featured in the Gap's current ad campaign. Music fans have likely long known her name: Billy's "The Downeaster 'Alexa'," about the difficulties of the modern-day fishing industry and named after his daughter, spent two months on the Hot 100 in 1990 (when she was four years old).

BEBE REXHA



New York's Bebe Rexha is breaking through as an artist, as she's featured on Cash Cash's "Take Me Home" (RRP), at No. 4 on Dance/Mix Show Airplay. She previously wrote a song on Selena Gomez's album "Stars Dance" and co-wrote Nikki Williams' No. 3 Dance Club Songs hit "Glowing." Next up for Rexha: a co-write on "The Monster," featuring Rihanna, on Eminem's forthcoming "The Marshall Mathers LP 2."

TY DOLLA SIGN
(*Language in video may not be appropriate for all viewers)



Los Angeles rapper, singer, writer and producer Ty Dolla Sign nears his first chart appearance as an artist, as "Paranoid," featuring B.o.B (RRP), closes in on Rhythmic. KBOS Fresno led with 66 spins for the track last week. As a writer, Ty Dolla Sign is credited with three hits at the format: YG's "Toot It and Boot It" (which reached No. 12 in 2010), Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa's "Young, Wild & Free" (No. 1, three weeks, last year) and B.o.B's "HeadBand" (up 18-16 this week).

BILLY RIVERS & THE ANGELIC VOICES OF FAITH



Memphis-based Billy Rivers & the Angelic Voices of Faith gain traction beneath Gospel Songs with "Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone," the lead track from the choir's self-titled EP (Rivers of Praise). Although the group has been together for more than 30 years, it's yet to grace Gospel Songs. It reached No. 29 on Gospel Albums in 1993 with "A Gift to You."
 
 
Reporting by Keith Caulfield, Wade Jessen, Rauly Ramirez and Gary Trust of the Billboard charts department