SZA’s ‘Snooze’ Rules Rhythmic Radio, Hits No. 2 on Hot R&B Songs Chart
Written by djfrosty on July 11, 2023
SZA achieves her fourth No. 1 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Airplay chart as “Snooze” ascends from the runner-up rank to lead the list dated July 15. Despite a 1% decline in plays for the last tracking week (June 30 – July 6), the single became the week’s most played song on U.S. monitored rhythmic radio stations, according to Luminate.
“Snooze” dethrones Lil Durk’s “All My Life,” featuring J. Cole, which falls to No. 2 (down 4% in plays) after two weeks on top. Ironically, and cementing just how strong the two songs at radio, the pair conduct a reverse switch on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, where “All My Life” advances to No. 1 and replaces “Snooze” after the latter’s two-week stay. (The Rhythmic Airplay chart measures the most-played songs on the rhythmic radio format, an effective middle ground between pop and R&B/hip-hop genres, while the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart ranks the most-played songs at R&B/hip-hop stations.)
With “Snooze,” SZA logs her fourth Rhythmic Airplay No. 1. She first reigned through a featured role on Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More,” a two-week champ in 2021, and notched her second and third leaders with “I Hate U” (one week, 2022) and “Kill Bill” (three weeks, 2023).
Elsewhere, “Snooze” wins a third week atop the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which ranks songs by combined audience totals from both adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop radio stations. There, it remains in command despite a 9% slide to 17.9 million in audience. On Pop Airplay, “Snooze” retreats 15-16 but improved 6% in plays at mainstream top-40 stations in the latest tracking week. With strong support from the rhythmic and R&B/hip-hop formats, and progress at pop radio, “Snooze” holds at its No. 8 peak thus far on the all-genre Radio Songs chart, although it shed 4% in radio audience to reach 52.5 million.
Radio gains, in turn, help “Snooze” climb to a No. 2 best rank on the Hot R&B Songs chart, which blends radio airplay with sales and streaming data for its calculations. As the song advances from No. 3, SZA occupies the chart’s top two slots. Above “Snooze,” the singer-songwriter’s juggernaut hit “Kill Bill” dominates for a 29th week.