For the third week in a row, Southern California rapper Traphik tops Billboard Uncharted, our weekly ranking of emerging artists who have yet to appear on a major Billboard chart but are mapping new territory in online fan engagement.
During the chart week, Traphik, known for his clever lyrics and videos, earned more than one million YouTube page views and 14,000 new channel subscribers. He also gained more than 2,600 Facebook fans and almost 1,900 new Twitter followers.
Rocketing from No. 12 last week to No. 2 this week is Jamie Lynn Noon, a Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter who earned more than 182,000 MySpace Music song plays during the chart week, thanks to attention around the digital release of her EP “Angels Spoke” on Jan. 24. The Bay-Area native’s dreamy, heartfelt pop tunes have been streaming steadily on MySpace Music, also earning her a No. 25 spot on the Billboard Social 50 chart in December as her new holiday single “Silent Night” was featured on the iTunes store in its Holiday New Releases section.
A notable Uncharted debut this week is DJ/producer Girl Talk (given name Gregg Gillis), who enters the tally at No. 21 as his North American tour began to wind through the U.S. and Canada. Girl Talk’s most recent release, “All Day,” was given away as a free download back in November and mashes up hundreds of different songs and artists. While Girl Talk’s creative mashups are well-known, his free downloads aren’t tracked by Nielsen Soundscan and don’t get radio play–hence his absence from Billboard’s sales and airplay charts, and his eligibility for Uncharted. Girl Talk’s tour continues through March 25 at the glitzy new Cosmopolitan hotel in Las Vegas.
Also debuting this week is Your Favorite Enemies at No. 17, a Quebec band who have built up a strong following with the internet and street teams rather than traditional label promotion. Climbing from No. 31 to No. 16 is Dash Berlin, a DJ from the Hague, who earned more than 14,000 new Facebook fans and 2,600 Last.fm fans after the release the single “Disarm Yourself” featuring Emma Hewitt.
To discover new music and get a head start on following the careers of these emerging artists, find the rest of this week’s chart on Billboard.com or in Billboard Magazine, and check in with Uncharted Territory every week for more.