Chris Brown Scores 18th Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay No. 1

Chris Brown earns his 18th No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, as “Under the Influence” lifts 2-1 on the March 11-dated list.

“Influence” becomes Brown’s first leader since “Go Crazy,” a co-billed track with Young Thug, led for six weeks in 2020.

With 18 No. 1s, Brown maintains the third-most rulers in chart history since the list launched in 1993. Drake leads all acts with 44 toppers.

Most No. 1s, Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay:

  • 44, Drake
  • 20, Lil Wayne
  • 18, Chris Brown
  • 16, Usher
  • 12, Beyonce
  • 11, R. Kelly
  • 10, Cardi B
  • 10, Jay-Z
  • 10, Rihanna

Brown first led the survey in 2006 as a featured artist on Bow Wow’s “Shortie Like Mine” alongside Johnta Austin. He earned his first as a lead act the next year with “Kiss Kiss,” featuring T-Pain.

The reign of “Influence” on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay follows a lead for the song on Rhythmic Airplay for six weeks beginning last year.

“Influence” concurrently rises 4-2 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, 15-13 on Pop Airplay and debuts at No. 28 on Adult R&B Airplay.

On the all-format Radio Songs tally, “Influence” jumps back into the top 10 (11-9) with 53.1 million audience impressions, according to Luminate.

“Influence” bullets at No. 18, after rising as high as No. 12 in January, on the multi-metric Billboard Hot 100 while also appearing at No. 5 on Hot R&B Songs and at No. 7 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 10 million official U.S. streams and 1,000 downloads in the Feb. 24-March 2 tracking week.

Originally released in 2019 via Brown’s album Indigo, “Influence” caught a second wind in 2022 thanks to virality on shortform video platforms such as TikTok, leading to the song being worked to radio formats for the first time.

Parent album Indigo has earned 2.7 million equivalent album units since its release.

Kevin Rutherford

Billboard