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TheRhythmic Airplay chart (previously namedRhythmic Songs,Rhythmic Top 40 andCHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly byBillboard magazine.
The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on USrhythmic radio stations, whose playlist includes mostly hit-driven R&B/hip-hop, rhythmic pop, and some dance tracks.Nielsen Audio sometimes refers to the format asrhythmic contemporary hit radio.
Billboard magazine first took notice of the newly emerged genre on February 27, 1987, when it launched the firstcrossover chart,Hot Crossover 30.[1] It originally consisted of thirty titles and was based on reporting by eighteen stations, five of which were considered aspure rhythmic. The chart featured a mix ofurban contemporary,top 40 anddance hits. In September 1989,Billboard split the Hot Crossover 30 chart in two: Top 40/Dance and Top 40/Rock, the latter of which focused onrock titles which crossed over. By December 1990,Billboard eliminated the chart because moretop 40 and R&B stations were becoming identical with the rhythmic-heavy playlist being played at the crossover stations at the time.
Billboard revived the chart in October 1992 asTop 40/Rhythm-Crossover, with the first number one being "End of the Road" byBoyz II Men. On June 25, 1997, it was renamed to Rhythmic Top 40 as a way to distinguish stations that continued to play a broad based rhythmic mix from those whose mix leaned heavily toward R&B and hip-hop. It was changed to Rhythmic Airplay in the February 7, 2004, issue and shortened to Rhythmic on July 12, 2008.As of the week of November 29, 2025, the current number-one song on the chart is "Sugar on My Tongue" byTyler, the Creator.[2]
There are forty positions on this chart and it is solely based on radio airplay. 66 rhythmic radio stations are electronically monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week byNielsen Broadcast Data Systems. Songs are ranked based on the number of plays that each song received during that week.
Songs receiving the greatest growth will receive a "bullet", although there are tracks that will also get bullets if the loss in detections doesn't exceed the percentage of downtime from a monitored station. "Airpower" awards are issued to songs that appear on the top 20 of both the airplay and audience chart for the first time, while the "greatest gainer" award is given to song with the largest increase in detections. A song with six or more spins in its first week is awarded an "airplay add". If a song is tied for the most spins in the same week, the one with the biggest increase that previous week will rank higher, but if both songs show the same amount of spins regardless of detection the song that is being played at more stations is ranked higher. Songs that fall below the top 15 and have been on the chart after 20 weeks are removed.[3]
| Number of weeks | Song | Artist(s) | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | "No Scrubs" | TLC | 1999 |
| 14 | "Twisted" | Keith Sweat | 1996 |
| 13 | "Freak Me" | Silk | 1993 |
| "You Make Me Wanna..." | Usher | 1997–98 | |
| 12 | "I'll Make Love to You" | Boyz II Men | 1994 |
| "Fantasy" | Mariah Carey | 1995 | |
| "Lollipop" | Lil Wayne featuringStatic Major | 2008 | |
| "Not Like Us" | Kendrick Lamar | 2024 | |
| 11 | "Shoop" | Salt-n-Pepa | 1993–94 |
| "Dilemma" | Nelly featuringKelly Rowland | 2002 |
| No. 1s | Artist | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 43 | Drake | [4] |
| 17 | Rihanna | [5] |
| 16 | The Weeknd | [6] |
| 15 | Chris Brown | [7] |
| 13 | Usher | [8] |
| Bruno Mars | [9] | |
| Lil Wayne | [10] | |
| 12 | Beyoncé | [11] |
| Nicki Minaj | [12] | |
| Doja Cat | [13] |
| Entries | Artist | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 135 | Drake | [14] |
| 125 | Chris Brown | [15] |
| 109 | Lil Wayne | [16] |
| 97 | Nicki Minaj | [17] |
| 62 | Kanye West | [18] |
| 61 | Future | [19] |
| 59 | Jay-Z | [20] |
| 56 | Rihanna | [21] |
| 55 | Snoop Dogg | [22] |
| 55 | Pitbull | [23] |
| Entries | Artist | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 78 | Drake | [24] |
| 57 | Chris Brown | [25] |
| 44 | Lil Wayne | [26] |
| 41 | Nicki Minaj | [27] |
| 39 | Rihanna | [28] |
| 33 | Future | [29] |
| 29 | Usher | [30] |
| 28 | Kanye West | [31] |
| 27 | The Weeknd | [32] |
| 26 | Ludacris | [33] |
