Chris Brown’s ‘Sensational’ Rises to No. 1 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay Chart

Chris Brown banks his 19th No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart as “Sensational,” featuring Davido and Lojay, rules the list dated March 16. The collaboration jumps from No. 3 following a 14% boost in weekly plays that made it the most-played song U.S. monitored mainstream R&B/hip-hop radio stations in the week ending March 7, according to Luminate.

The Afrobeats-inspired “Sensational,” released on CBE/RCA Records, replaces Offset and Don Toliver’s “Worth It” after the latter’s one week in charge. Last week’s champ slides to No. 5 after a 7% dive in plays during the tracking week.

With “Sensational,” Brown achieves his 19th leader on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. While he remains in third place for the most among all acts since the chart launched in 1993, but inches closer to runner-up Lil Wayne, who has 20 No. 1s. Drake is far and away the titleholder, with 45 visits to the summit.

As “Sensational” joins the club, let’s review Brown’s No. 1s on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart:

Song Title, Artist (if other than Chris Brown), Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1
“Shortie Like Mine,” Bow Wow featuring Chris Brown & Johnta Austin, two, Dec. 9, 2006
“Kiss Kiss,” featuring T-Pain, two, Dec. 8, 2007
“With You,” one, March 22, 2008
“Deuces,” featuring Tyga & Kevin McCall, 10, Sept. 4, 2010
“No BS” two, Feb. 5, 2011
“Look at Me Now,” featuring Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes, seven, April 4, 2011
“Strip,” featuring Kevin “K-Mac” McCall, two, March 31, 2012
“Birthday Cake,” Rihanna featuring Chris Brown, three, May 19, 2012
“It Won’t Stop,” Sevyn Streeter featuring Chris Brown, eight, Nov. 30, 2013
“Loyal,” featuring Lil Wayne & French Montana or Too $hort or Tyga, nine, May 17, 2014
“New Flame,” featuring Usher & Rick Ross, Oct. 18, 2014
“Hold You Down,” DJ Khaled featuring Chris Brown, August Alsina, Future & Jeremih, three, Nov. 15, 2014
“Only,” Nicki Minaj featuring Drake, Lil Wayne & Chris Brown, four, Jan. 10, 2015
“Post to Be,” Omarion featuring Chris Brown & Jhene Aiko, six, May 23, 2015
“All Eyes on You,” Meek Mill featuring Chris Brown & Nicki Minaj, three, Sept. 19, 2015
“No Guidance,” featuring Drake, 10, Aug. 10, 2019
“Go Crazy,” with Young Thug, six, July 18, 2020
“Under the Influence,” eight, March 11, 2023
“Sensational,” featuring Davido & Lojay, one (to date), March 16, 2024

For featured artists Davido and Lojay, “Sensational” becomes each performer’s first No. 1 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. The former previously attained a No. 14 best, with “Fall” in 2019, while the latter’s sole prior appearance came through his and Jess Glynne’s featured spots on French Montana and Swae Lee’s “Wish U Well,” which reached No. 37 last October.

Elsewhere, “Sensational” repeats at its No. 7 high on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which ranks songs by combined audience totals from mainstream R&B/hip-hop and adult R&B radio stations. There, despite no change in position, the song added 14% in audience to reach 14.1 million in the tracking week, spurred both by its increase on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay as well as a 29-25 rebound on Adult R&B Airplay (up 10% in plays). With the jump, “Sensational” returns to its best showing on the latter chart, first achieved six weeks ago.

Plus, “Sensational” climbs 8-5 on Rhythmic Airplay through a 13% surge in plays.