GELO Nets First Radio Chart No. 1 With ‘Tweaker’ on Rhythmic Airplay
Written by djfrosty on March 24, 2025
Basketball player-turned-rapper GELO earns his first No. 1 on a Billboard radio chart as “Tweaker” shoots from No. 3 to rule the Rhythmic Airplay list dated March 29. The track, released on Born to Ball/Def Jam and promoted by REPUBLIC, extends the musical breakthrough season for the rapper, born LiAngelo Ball.
The 26-year-old traveled an unusual route to Billboard’s charts, having first generated attention through with his brothers, Lonzo and LaMelo, for their on-court ability in high school. After graduating, LiAngelo played in international divisions and the NBA’s G-League and Summer League series; his siblings are active players in the NBA.
Back to his current gig – “Tweaker” takes over Rhythmic Airplay as the most-played song on U.S. panel-contributing rhythmic radio stations in the tracking week of March 14-20, according to Luminate. The single enjoyed a 7% increase in plays during the tracking week compared with the week prior. Knoxville, Tenn.’s WKHT-FM registered the most plays in the period, with Honolulu’s KPHW-FM and Greenville, S.C.’s WHZT-FM landing in second and third place, respectively.
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As “Tweaker” rises, GELO wraps, perhaps temporarily, a dominant stretch for Kendrick Lamar at the Rhythmic Airplay summit. Lamar ruled for the last seven weeks through a combination of three songs – “TV Off,” featuring Lefty Gunplay, for four frames, and two SZA collaborations: “Luther” (one week) and “30 for 30” (two weeks).
The debut single for GELO, “Tweaker” began generating attention in late December of 2024 after the rapper previewed a snippet on a livestream hosted by N3on. The single was officially released on Jan. 3 and erupted into a viral sensation, with several rappers praising the track while athletes and sports teams adopted it as a soundtrack for locker room anthems and other celebratory posts across social media. Thanks to the attention, the song clocked 12.4 million official U.S. streams in its first week and debuted at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100. (It ranks at No. 62 on the latest published chart, dated March 22).
Elsewhere, “Tweaker” holds at No. 7 on the plays-based Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, where it reached a No. 6 best, after a 3% loss in plays for the tracking week. It likewise repeats at its No. 7 peak on the audience-based R&B/Hip-Airplay chart for a third consecutive week, despite slipping to 9.3 million in audience impressions, down 3%.
Meanwhile, GELO’s follow-up single, “Can You Please?,” with GloRilla, is showing favorable momentum as it seeks its first radio charts. Although it remains below the cutoffs for this week’s Rhythmic Airplay and Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, the new cut soars 112% in plays and 75% in plays at the respective formats in the latest tracking week.
All charts dated March 29 will update on Billboard.com on Tuesday, March 25.