His self-distributed single "Rich Men North of Richmond" debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, largely from traction on social media. It made him the first artist to debut on top of the chart without any previous songs having charted. He also became only the third unsigned artist to have a No. 1 hit, after
Lisa Loeb with "Stay (I Missed You)" in 1994 and
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with "Can't Hold Us" and "Thrift Shop" in 2011-12.
