Chris Brown becomes only the fifth artist to reach 10 No. 1s on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart as “Under the Influence” captures the crown of the list dated March 25. The coronation caps a journey for the sleeper hit, which first appeared as a track on the deluxe edition of Brown’s 2019 Indigo album and blew up on TikTok in 2022 to ignite a successful radio campaign.
“Influence” climbs from No. 2 to rule R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. The song is the most-heard song on U.S. monitored R&B/hip-hop and adult R&B radio stations, with 21.7 million in audience impressions in the week ending March 16, a 2% increase from the prior week.
With “Influence,” Brown nabs his 10th No. 1 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and is the fifth artist to cross the double-digit barrier since the chart launched in 1992. Drake leads all acts, with 29 champs, followed by Usher (15), Lil Wayne (12) and Brown and Beyoncé (10 each).
Here’s a full recap of Brown’s 10 leaders:
Song Title, Artist (if other than Chris Brown), Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1
“Say Goodbye, six, Oct. 14, 2006
“Deuces,” featuring Tyga & Kevin McCall, nine, Sept. 11, 2010
“Look at Me Now,” featuring Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes, eight, April 2, 2011
“Loyal,” featuring Lil Wayne & French Montana or Too $hort or Tyga, eight, June 7, 2014
“New Flame,” featuring Usher & Rick Ross, four, Oct. 25, 2014
“Hold You Down,” DJ Khaled featuring Chris Brown, August Alsina, Future & Jeremih, five, Nov. 15, 2014
“All Eyes on You,” Meek Mill featuring Chris Brown & Nicki Minaj, one, Sept. 26, 2015
“No Guidance,” featuring Drake, 27, Aug. 24, 2019
“Go Crazy,” with Young Thug, 29, Aug. 22, 2020
“Under the Influence,” one (to date), March 25, 2023
Among Brown’s 10 No. 1s, “Influence” wraps the longest journey to the top spot. It enters the summit in its 21st week on the list, passing the 20-week trek that “Loyal” needed to its reign in 2014.
Notably, the new champ also secures a milestone achievement for co-writer Davido, who captures his first No. 1 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay as a songwriter. The Afrobeats star, as an artist, earned his career best rank with a No. 13 high for “Fall” in 2019.
Elsewhere, “Influence” wins a third term at No. 1 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which measures the most-played songs on U.S. monitored R&B/hip-hop radio stations, despite a 2% weekly drop in plays. It also enters the top 10 on Pop Airplay with a 12-10 rise with essentially a net movement in plays in latest tracking week. It’s his second top 10 on Pop Airplay in a little over two years, since “Go Crazy,” with Young Thug, capped a 14-week run in the top 10 on March 27, 2021. “Crazy” was his first Pop Airplay top 10 since “Don’t Wake Me Up” hit No. 6 in 2012.
Thanks to its standing at R&B/hip-hop and pop radio, “Influence” holds at its No. 6 peak thus far on the all-genre Radio Songs chart. There, it registered 55.4 million in total audience for the week, essentially even with its performance in the previous frame.
