SZA’s SOS era keeps unlocking achievements for the hitmaking singer-songwriter, who captures her first No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart as “Shirt” tops the tally dated Feb. 18.
The single pushes from No. 5 after a strong 19% jump in weekly plays that made it the most-played song on U.S. monitored R&B/hip-hop radio stations in the week ending Feb. 9, according to Luminate. Its sizable week-over-week improvement earned the track the weekly Greatest Gainer honor for the biggest play count increase among the chart’s 40 songs. KNDA-FM in Corpus Christi, Texas, led the way with the most plays this week, followed by KHTE-FM in Little Rock, Ark. as the second-biggest supporter and KBDS-FM in Bakersfield, Calif. in third.
With “Shirt,” SZA finally finds the right fit for a No. 1 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay after seven previous top 10 efforts. She first broke the barrier in 2017 with her breakthrough hit, “Love Galore,” featuring Travis Scott, which reached No. 4, and became a staple at the format thanks to six more top 10s from her next 10 chart appearances. Here’s a full recap of SZA’s top 10 collection on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay:
Song Title, Artist (if other than SZA), Peak Date, Peak Position
“Love Galore,” featuring Travis Scott, No. 4, Sept. 2, 2017
“The Weekend,” No. 4, Dec. 9, 2017
“All the Stars,” with Kendrick Lamar, No. 9, March 31, 2018
“Broken Clocks,” No. 8, May 12, 2018
“Hit Different,” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, No. 10, Dec. 12, 2020
“I Hate U,” No. 2, March 12, 2022
“No Love,” with Summer Walker, No. 5, June 4, 2022
“Shirt,” No. 1 (one week to date), Feb. 18, 2023
The count could grow in the very near future, as SZA’s latest hit, “Kill Bill,” repeats at No. 13. At just five weeks on the chart, it’s the youngest title in the top 15. And, despite the non-movement in rank, it improved 4% in plays in the latest tracking week.
Back to the current champ: In addition to securing SZA’s first chart-topper on the radio ranking, it returns one of the track’s co-writers and co-producers, Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, to the summit for the first time in 23 years. The hitmaker last reigned for his songwriting and production contributions with Destiny’s Child “Say My Name,” a three-week champ in 2000.
Elsewhere, “Shirt” rallies 7-3 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which ranks songs based on combined audience totals from adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop radio stations. There, the song reached 19 million in audience, a 22% from its prior week’s total. Plus, “Shirt” climbs 4-3 on Rhythmic Airplay (up 10%) and flies 28-18 on the all-genre Radio Songs chart (up 21% to 34.2 million in total audience).
