Chris Brown bags a milestone 20th No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart with “Residuals.” The single crowns the list dated Dec. 7 and was the most-played song on U.S. monitored mainstream R&B/hip-hop radio stations in the tracking week of Nov. 22 – 28, according to Luminate.
“Residuals” ascends from the runner-up spot after a 4% gain in weekly plays. As the track rises, it knocks GloRilla’s “TGIF” to No. 2 after the latter completed a 10-week nonconsecutive reign, including the last nine straight frames. The new champ is Brown’s second chart-topper on the radio ranking in 2024, after “Sensational,” featuring Davido and Lojay, ruled for one week in March.
With a 20th No. 1, Brown matches Lil Wayne’s career count for the second-most among all acts since the chart began in 1992. The pair trail only Drake, who sits in first place with 46 leaders. Here’s a recap of the artists with the most No. 1s on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay:
46, Drake
20, Chris Brown
20, Lil Wayne
17, Usher
13, Beyoncé
“Residuals” appears on the deluxe edition of Brown’s latest studio album, 11:11, and became a fan favorite, with many clips shared of Brown performing the track during spring and summer tour stops. Rising attention sparked its debut on the multi-metric Hot R&B Songs chart in April before its official push to radio began in mid-August. The single received a Grammy Award nomination for the upcoming ceremony for best R&B performance.
Brown first topped Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay when he and Johnta Austin featured on Bow Wow’s “Shortie Like Mine” on the Dec. 9, 2006, chart. His first champ in a lead role came exactly a year later – on the Dec. 8, 2007, ranking – when “Kiss Kiss,” featuring T-Pain, captured the summit.
Here’s a full review of Brown’s No. 1 collection on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay:
Song Title, Artist (if other than Chris Brown), Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1
“Shortie Like Mine,” Bow Wow featuring Chris Brown & Johnta Austin, two, Dec. 9, 2006
“Kiss Kiss,” featuring T-Pain, two, Dec. 8, 2007
“With You,” one, March 22, 2008
“Deuces,” featuring Tyga & Kevin McCall, 10, Sept. 4, 2010
“No BS” two, Feb. 5, 2011
“Look at Me Now,” featuring Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes, seven, April 4, 2011
“Strip,” featuring Kevin “K-Mac” McCall, two, March 31, 2012
“Birthday Cake,” Rihanna featuring Chris Brown, three, May 19, 2012
“It Won’t Stop,” Sevyn Streeter featuring Chris Brown, eight, Nov. 30, 2013
“Loyal,” featuring Lil Wayne & French Montana or Too $hort or Tyga, nine, May 17, 2014
“New Flame,” featuring Usher & Rick Ross, Oct. 18, 2014
“Hold You Down,” DJ Khaled featuring Chris Brown, August Alsina, Future & Jeremih, three, Nov. 15, 2014
“Only,” Nicki Minaj featuring Drake, Lil Wayne & Chris Brown, four, Jan. 10, 2015
“Post to Be,” Omarion featuring Chris Brown & Jhene Aiko, six, May 23, 2015
“All Eyes on You,” Meek Mill featuring Chris Brown & Nicki Minaj, three, Sept. 19, 2015
“No Guidance,” featuring Drake, 10, Aug. 10, 2019
“Go Crazy,” with Young Thug, six, July 18, 2020
“Under the Influence,” eight, March 11, 2023
“Sensational,” featuring Davido & Lojay, one, March 16, 2024
“Residuals,” one (to date), Dec. 7, 2024
Elsewhere, “Residuals” holds at No. 2 for a third consecutive week on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which ranks songs by combined audience on monitored adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop stations. There, it climbed to 15.6 million in weekly audience, up 6% from the previous period. It also inches 28-27 on Adult R&B Airplay, thanks to a 9% pickup in plays.
