Happy P Hits No. 1 on R&B Producers Chart Thanks to Miguel’s ‘Sure Thing’
Written by djfrosty on May 18, 2023
Happy P (real name Nathan Perez) jumps to No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B Producers chart (dated May 20), leading for the first time thanks to his production on Miguel’s “Sure Thing.”
The song — which returned to Billboard’s charts beginning in late 2022 over a decade after its initial chart run — holds at its No. 4 high on the Hot R&B Songs chart with 51.6 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 6%), 10.6 million official streams (up 1%) and 2,000 downloads sold in the United States in the May 5-11 tracking week, according to Luminate.
The track, released in 2010, resurged thanks to newfound attention on TikTok, where a sped-up version has soundtracked more than 4 million videos. While activity TikTok does not directly contribute to Billboard’s charts, many of the app’s most popular songs have seen corresponding gains on streaming services that factor into Billboard chart rankings. RCA Records also re-serviced the song to radio as its profile was renewed.
The song forged a historic comeback, breaking the record for the most weeks spent on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart with a whopping 78 (through the latest, May 20-dated survey).
“Sure Thing” also rises 15-14 on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching a new best — as well as a new career high for Miguel, outpacing the No. 15 peak of Mariah Carey’s “#Beautiful,” on which he’s featured, in 2013. (“Sure Thing” originally hit No. 36 on the Hot 100 in 2011.)
Happy P is just the third creative to rule the R&B Producers chart this year so far. He succeeds Rob Bisel, who led for one week thanks to SZA’s “Kill Bill.” Before Bisel, Carter Lang reigned for the preceding 18 weeks (after two weeks at the end of 2022), also thanks to his work with SZA.
Billboard launched the Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts, as well as genre-specific rankings for country, rock & alternative, R&B/hip-hop, R&B, rap, Latin, Christian, gospel and dance/electronic, in June 2019, while alternative and hard rock joined in 2020, along with seasonal holiday rankings in 2022. The charts are based on total points accrued by a songwriter and producer, respectively, for each attributed song that appears on the Hot 100. The genre-based songwriter and producer charts follow the same methodology based on corresponding “Hot”-named genre charts. As with Billboard’s yearly recaps, multiple writers or producers split points for each song equally (and the dividing of points will lead to occasional ties on rankings).