Ella Mai has officially laid claim to her first No. 1 track on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart as her breakout “Boo’d Up” single rises from its previous slot of No. 2 to the top spot after experiencing a 6 percent jump in impressions in the week ending with June 17.
The track reeled in an audience of 34 million, making it the first R&B track to top this particular chart in all of 2018 with rap songs ruling at No. 1 for 39 consecutive weeks. The last time an R&B selection held the distinction was when DJ Khaled, Rihanna and Bryson Tiller’s “Wild Thoughts” reigned for five weeks in August and September of last year.
This marks the first No. 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart by a solo female R&B artist since Rihanna’s “Needed Me” sat at No. 1 for two weeks in October of 2016, and also becomes the first time a female act’s major debut single has occupied No. 1 since Jhene Aiko’s “The Worst” did so in 2014. The last major debut by any R&B act to hit No. 1 was Tory Lanez’s “Say It.”
Previously Drake was sitting at No. 1 for 16 consecutive weeks with three different songs: “God’s Plan,” Blocboy JB’s “Look Alive” and “Nice For What.” This latest feat marked the first time any artist sat at No. 1 for that long since his “One Dance” and “Controlla” singles did the same in 2016.
At the moment, Miguel’s “Adorn” still holds the record for the longest streak in the penthouse suite on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart with his “Adorn” having been No. 1 for 23 consecutive weeks in 2012-2013.
