Chris Brown moves into a tie for the third-most No. 1s on Billboard’s Rhythmic Airplay chart as “Under the Influence” crowns the list dated Dec. 3. The single climbs from the runner-up spot after a 6% increase in plays made it the most-played song the week at U.S. monitored rhythmic radio formats in the week ending Nov. 27, according to Luminate.
As “Under” tops the chart, Brown logs his 13th career No. 1 on Rhythmic Airplay. With the new leader, he equals Bruno Mars’ total for the bronze medal among all acts since the list began in 1992. The pair trail only Drake, who holds the gold with 36 No. 1s (23 of which bill him as a lead artist) and Rihanna, who is runner-up with 17 champs.
“Influence” returns Brown to the Rhythmic Airplay summit for the first time in almost two-and-a-half years, since his and Young Thug’s “Go Crazy” earned a week in charge in August 2020. Plus, as his first champ, “Run It!,” captured the crown in November 2005, he extends his span of Rhythmic Airplay leaders to 17 years and two weeks.
Here’s a rundown of Brown’s 13 No. 1s on the radio ranking:
Song Title, Artist (if other than Chris Brown), Weeks at No. 1, Peak Date
“Run It!,” seven, Nov. 19, 2005
“Kiss Kiss,” featuring T-Pain, five, Nov. 17, 2007
“With You,” six, March 1, 2008
“Get Like Me,” David Banner featuring Chris Brown, two, Aug. 2, 2008
“Look at Me Now,” featuring Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes, one, May 7, 2011
“Show Me,” Kid Ink featuring Chris Brown, three, Feb. 8, 2014
“Loyal,” featuring Lil Wayne & French Montana, Too $hort or Tyga, two, May 10, 2014
“New Flame,” featuring Usher & Rick Ross, one, Nov. 15, 2014
“Post to Be,” Omarion featuring Chris Brown & Jhene Aiko, one, July 4, 2015
“No Guidance,” featuring Drake, four, Aug. 3, 2019
“Heat,” featuring Gunna, one, Nov. 23, 2019
“Go Crazy,” with Young Thug, one, Aug. 1, 2020
“Under the Infleunce,” one (to date), Dec. 3, 2022
“Influence” caps an unusual journey to the top of rhythmic radio, as it was first released on the extended version of Brown’s 2019 LP, Indigo, but never promoted as a single. Its resurgence began earlier this year thanks to TikTok, where it went viral and soundtracked hundreds of clips on the social media app. As it leapt from TikTok to streaming services, the song climbed onto the Streaming Songs chart in early September, and given renewed fan interest, was serviced to rhythmic radio in early October. The song’s dual threat on both streaming and radio has made it a significant hit in Brown’s catalog. The track has reached No. 3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and, this week, achieves a new No. 14 high on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.
In addition to its success at the rhythmic format, “Influence” maintains steady progress in both the R&B/hip-hop and pop arenas. On the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay list, it pushes 23-19 after a 16% weekly boost to 6.6 million in audience, while it holds at No. 30 on the Pop Airplay chart, though with a 7% improvement in weekly plays.
