R&B/Hip-Hop

Sure, SZA’s album is the one called SOS, but it’s everyone else’s projects that need help.

The singer-songwriter’s titan returns to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart (dated July 29) to capture a 21st week at the summit. With its latest chart-topping frame, SOS sails into further historic territory, breaking from a tie with Pop Smoke’s Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon as the chart’s longest-leading No. 1 of the 21st century thus far, and the album with the most weeks atop the list since 1990.

SOS rebounds from No. 2 through 43,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending July 20, according to Luminate, down 1% from the prior week. The set had weathered the arrival of several heavyweight albums – Lil Durk’s Almost Healed, the Metro Boomin-helmed Metro Boomin Presents: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack, Gunna’s A Gift & a Curse, Young Thug’s Business Is Business and Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape – in the seven weeks since it last ruled.

As SOS collects a 21st leading frame, it breaks from a tie with Pop Smoke’s Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon for the most weeks at No. 1 for any album since M.C. Hammer locked up 29 weeks at the top with Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em in 1990. In addition to passing Pop Smoke’s posthumous LP and its 20-week run at No. 1, SOS also climbs above two other 20-week champs – Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life and Rick James’ Street Songs – for sole possession of fifth place on the overall leaderboard.

Here’s a look at the albums with the most weeks at No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums since the list began in 1965:

Weeks at No. 1, Album, Artist, Date First Reached No. 1

Plus, SOS extends its record for the longest-running No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums by a female artist, adding another frame between it and the second-place title, Aretha Franklin’s Aretha Now, which ruled for 17 weeks in 1968.

SOS traces its historic feats both to feverish anticipation in the project’s lead-up and executing a consistent string of hits before and after its arrival. The album, released in December 2022, came five years after SZA’s Ctrl, which arrived in June 2017 to critical acclaim and industry praise, including five Grammy nominations, and commercial success, having remained on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart every week since its release.

Three pre-release singles also found strong reception on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, “Good Days” (No. 3), “I Hate U” (No. 1) and “Shirt” (No. 4), with the foremost pair also reaching the top 10 of the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. Upon the album’s arrival, instant fan-favorite “Kill Bill” exploded into the biggest hit of SZA’s career, topping both the Hot 100 and setting a new record – 21 weeks – at No. 1 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Seven months after its release, the album is still spinning off hits: Current single “Snooze” hits No. 3 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs this week and is just outside the Hot 100’s top tier, sitting at No. 12.

Gunna’s “Fukumean” leads Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart for the first time, jumping 4-1 on the July 29-dated list.

In the July 14-20 tracking week, “Fukumean” earned 27.4 million official U.S. streams, according to Luminate, up 16%.

The song leads in its fifth week on the chart. It debuted at No. 5 on the July 1-dated survey (15.2 million streams) and has increased in streams each week since.

“Fukumean” is the first song to rise to No. 1 rather than debuting there since Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Sola,” which spent its first of two weeks atop the list on the May 6 ranking.

Gunna now boasts two Streaming Songs rulers. The rapper first led in 2018 as a co-lead on “Drip Too Hard” with Lil Baby, making “Fukumean” Gunna’s first fully solo No. 1.

Since “Drip Too Hard,” his best had been a pair of No. 2 peaks: “Lemonade,” a co-lead with Internet Money (2020) and “Pushin P,” a co-lead with Future (2022).

“Fukumean” spends its fourth week at No. 1 on R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs and Rap Streaming Songs, now his longest leader on both.

Concurrently, “Fukumean” lifts 7-6, a new peak, on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100. Gunna’s all-time best, “Drip Too Hard,” peaked at No. 4. On Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs, he’s No. 1 for a second week.

The song has begun to receive radio airplay, peaking so far at Nos. 17, 25, 32 and 34 on Rap Airplay, Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Rhythmic Airplay, respectively.

“Fukumean” is from A Gift & a Curse, Gunna’s fourth studio album. It debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 dated July 1 and concurrently ranks at No. 9 on the July 29 tally with 40,000 equivalent album units earned to add to its all-time total of 277,000 units.

SZA reaffirms that she’s in a league of her own in the R&B world as the hitmaking singer-songwriter replaces herself at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart as “Snooze” ousts her own “Kill Bill” on the list dated July 29.

With “Snooze,” SZA captures her fourth Hot R&B Songs No. 1. She first led with “The Weekend,” a one-week champ in 2018, and followed with another single-week leader, “I Hate U” in 2021, and “Kill Bill,” which dominated for 30 weeks in 2022-23. Thanks to that juggernaut’s reign, SZA has ruled the Hot R&B Songs chart all but one week in 2023 thus far, when The Weeknd and Ariana Grande’s “Die for You” remix release pushed the track to the summit for the list dated March 11.

“Snooze” ascends to No. 1 as radio airplay continues to grow for the song. In the latest tracking week, July 14 – 20, “Snooze” registered 58.8 million in total audience impressions across all formats, up 4% from the prior week, according to Luminate. Thanks to the boost, the single climbs 7-6 on the all-genre Radio Songs chart. (All radio airplay, regardless of format origin, contributes to a song’s rank on the Hot R&B Songs chart.) The track is still tops on its home format, as it logs a fifth week at No. 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart and, at 19.4 million impressions, remains essentially even with the prior week’s total.

In addition to the radio strength, “Snooze” registered 10.4 million official U.S. streams, a 2% rise from the previous week, and enough to retain its No. 2 rank on R&B Streaming Songs. For song sales, the track sold another 1,000 downloads, a 3% slide from the prior frame; it holds at No. 5 on R&B Digital Song Sales, after having previously reached a No. 4 best.

In addition to SZA, “Snooze” also brings another R&B luminary to the summit – Babyface. The legend is one of five co-writer and four co-producers on the new chart-topper: He, Khristopher van Riddick-Tynes, Leon Thomas III and Blair Ferguson all contributed in both roles, while SZA also shares writing credit. With the new champ, Babyface earns his first writing and producer No. 1s on the Hot R&B Songs chart, which began in 2012. Prior to the chart’s launch, Babyface had a hand in dozens of R&B classics, including hits such as Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road” and Whitney Houston’s “Exhale (Shoop Shoop).”

Elsewhere, “Snooze” advances 4-3 to a new peak on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and repeats at No. 12 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, having previously made it to No. 11.