# R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay

R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (previously known as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay) is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks the top R&B and hip hop songs in the United States, based on audience impressions from a panel of radio stations monitored by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems. It was also used in sister publication R&R, which listed the chart as Urban National Airplay. The chart is not the R&B/hip-hop subset of the Hot 100 Airplay chart, but rather uses a separate panel of R&B stations in urban and urban adult contemporary markets. It was the primary airplay component chart of the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart until the issue dated October 20, 2012, when Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs was revamped to include digital sales, streaming, and airplay from all radio formats. The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart encompasses two separate airplay charts, both of which are based on radio spins rather than audience impressions: Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop and Adult R&B Airplay, which measure airplay on urban contemporary and urban adult contemporary stations respectively.

## Chart criteria

There are fifty positions on the chart, which is solely based on radio airplay. 77 R&B and hip-hop radio stations are electronically monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems. Songs are ranked by a calculation of the total number of spins per week with its audience impression, which is based upon exact times of airplay and each station's Arbitron listener data.
Songs receiving the greatest growth will receive a "bullet", although there are tracks that will also get bullets if the loss in detections does not exceed the percentage of downtime from a monitored station. "Airpower" awards are issued to songs that appear on the top 20 of both the airplay and audience chart for the first time, while the "greatest gainer" award is given to song with the largest increase in detections. A song with six or more spins in its first week is awarded an "airplay add". If a song is tied for the most spins in the same week, the one with the biggest increase that previous week will rank higher, but if both songs show the same amount of spins regardless of detection the song that is being played at more stations is ranked higher. Songs that fall below the top 20 and have been on the chart after 26 weeks are removed and go to recurrent status.

## Artist achievements
### Most number-ones

Seven number-ones or more :
| Position | Artist name | Tally of number-ones | Ref. |
| 1 | Drake | 27 | |
| 2 | Usher | 16 | |
| 3 | Chris Brown | 11 | |
| 4 | Beyoncé | 10 | |
| 5 | R. Kelly | 8 | [5] [6] |
| 5 | Alicia Keys | 8 | [5] [6] |
| 5 | Lil Wayne | 8 | [5] [6] |

### Artists with the most consecutive weeks at number one

* 29 weeks: Chris Brown and Young Thug – "Go Crazy"
* 27 weeks: Chris Brown and Drake – "No Guidance"
* 27 weeks: Wizkid, Tems and Justin Bieber — "Essence"
* 22 weeks: Miguel — "Adorn"
* 20 weeks: Cardi B — "Money" (9 weeks) → "Please Me" (Cardi B and Bruno Mars) (11 weeks)
* 18 weeks: Lil Wayne — "Motivation" (Kelly Rowland featuring Lil Wayne) (7 weeks) → "I'm On One" (DJ Khaled featuring Drake, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne) (11 weeks)
* 17 weeks: Alicia Keys — "No One" (10 weeks) → Like You'll Never See Me Again" (7 weeks)
Source:

### Most top-ten hits

* 76, Drake
* 57, Chris Brown
* 48, Lil Wayne
* 35, Jay-Z
* 34, Beyoncé
* 32, R. Kelly
* 36, Nicki Minaj
* 30, Usher
* 30, Mary J. Blige
* 28, Ludacris
Source:

## Song achievements
### Most weeks at number one

* 37 weeks
    "Snooze" – SZA (2023-24)
* 29 weeks
    "Go Crazy" – Chris Brown & Young Thug (2020-21)
* 27 weeks
    "No Guidance" – Chris Brown featuring Drake (2019-20)
    "Essence" – Wizkid featuring Justin Bieber and Tems (2021-22)
* 23 weeks
    "Adorn" – Miguel (2012–13)
* 22 weeks
    "Free Mind" – Tems (2022-23)
* 18 weeks
    "Leave the Door Open" – Silk Sonic (2021)
* 16 weeks
    "Boo'd Up" – Ella Mai (2018)
    "TGIF" – GloRilla (2024-25)
* 15 weeks
    "Be Without You" – Mary J. Blige (2005-06)
    "Hotline Bling" – Drake (2015)
    "Not Like Us" – Kendrick Lamar (2024)
* 14 weeks
    "We Belong Together" – Mariah Carey (2005)
    "Blame It" – Jamie Foxx featuring T-Pain (2009)
    "Pretty Wings" – Maxwell (2009)
    "Hold On, We're Going Home" – Drake featuring Majid Jordan (2013)
* 13 weeks
    "You're Makin' Me High" – Toni Braxton (1996)
    "Can't Be Friends" – Trey Songz (2010)
    "Earned It" – The Weeknd (2015)
    "Trip" – Ella Mai (2018)
    ”Wait for U” – Future featuring Drake and Tems (2022)
* 12 weeks
    "End of the Road" – Boyz II Men (1992)
    "You Make Me Wanna..." – Usher (1997)
    "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" – Beyoncé (2008)
    "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" – Alicia Keys (2010)
    "Blurred Lines" – Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams (2013)
    "That's What I Like" – Bruno Mars (2017)
    "The Box" – Roddy Ricch (2020)
* 11 weeks
    "Lost Without U" – Robin Thicke (2006-07)
    "I'm On One" – DJ Khaled featuring Drake, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne (2011)
    "Climax" – Usher (2012)
    "Please Me" – Cardi B and Bruno Mars (2019)

### Shortest climbs to number one

* 5th week
    "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" – D'Angelo (2000)
    "Irreplaceable" – Beyoncé (2006)
    "God's Plan" – Drake (2018)
* 6th week
    "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" – Beyoncé (2008)
    "Blame It" – Jamie Foxx featuring T-Pain (2009)
    "Drunk in Love" – Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z (2014)
    "Work" – Rihanna featuring Drake (2016)
    "Black Beatles" – Rae Sremmurd featuring Gucci Mane (2016)
    "Nice For What" – Drake (2018)
    "Break My Soul" – Beyoncé (2022)

### Longest climbs to number one

* 35th week "Step in the Name of Love" – R. Kelly (2003)
* 33rd week "Free Mind" - Tems (2022)
* 31st week "You" – Lloyd featuring Lil Wayne (2007)
* 29th week "Snap Yo Fingers" – Lil Jon (2005) & "There Goes My Baby" – Usher (2010)
* 23rd week "If I Ain't Got You" – Alicia Keys (2004)
* 25th week "Needed Me" – Rihanna (2016)
* 24th week "Planez" – Jeremih featuring J. Cole (2015)
* 21st week "Spotlight" – Jennifer Hudson (2008)
* 20th week "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)" – Erykah Badu featuring Common (2002) & "Love On Top" – Beyoncé (2012)
Note: Above two lists only considers songs that charted from the year 2000 onwards.

## Other records and notable achievements

* "Adorn" by Miguel was the first song to spend at least 20 weeks atop the chart. Billboard reported that the track was able to do so because the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart reporting panel is composed of a variety of mainstream and adult R&B radio stations. Skip Dillard, the operations manager at adult R&B WBLS New York, stated that Miguel appeals to listeners in both the 25-34 and 35-54 age groups, thus maximizing the reach of his audience. "Adorn" went on to spend a total of 23 weeks at number-one, which was, at that point, a record.
* Beyoncé holds the record for the most number-ones among female acts, with ten. Alicia Keys follows with eight, Brandy follows with five, and Aaliyah, Erykah Badu and Mariah Carey, all three of whom have attained four.
* The 1993 single "That's the Way Love Goes" by American singer Janet Jackson holds the record for being the only song in the history of the chart to debut at number one, which did so in May 1993.