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Cardi B Earns 18th Straight Week Atop R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay Chart, A Record Among Women
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Cardi B attends the 2019 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 1, 2019 in Las Vegas.
The rapper passes Alicia Keys’ 17 weeks & is within four of the all-time mark.
As Cardi B’s latest collaboration with Bruno Mars, “Please Me,” rules the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart (dated June 1) for a ninth straight week, the rapper rewrites the record for the longest uninterrupted streak at No. 1 among women since the chart began in 1993.
“Please,” which directly followed Cardi B’s “Money” after its own nine-week No. 1 stint, extends the New York native’s stay to 18 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the chart. She surpasses Alicia Keys' 17-week haul from 2007-08 that the singer-songwriter achieved with “No One” (10 weeks) and “Like You’ll Never See Me Again” (seven).
Among all acts, Cardi B ties Lil Wayne’s 18-week stretch from two featured appearances in 2011. That year, the rapper guested on Kelly Rowland’s “Motivation,” which led for six weeks before it ceded the top rank to DJ Khaled’s “I’m on One,” featuring Drake, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne. “Motivation” rebounded for a seventh and final week in charge, before “One” reigned for the next 10 frames.
Cardi B and Lil Wayne both trail the all-time leader, Miguel, whose “Adorn” posted 22 of its 23 weeks at No. 1 consecutively. The track remains the longest-running No. 1 song in the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart’s history.
“Please” retains the chart crown with 26.3 million in format audience in the week ending May 26, according to Nielsen Music, up less than 1% compared with the prior tracking period.
Should Cardi hope to challenge Miguel’s record, she’ll need to fend off essentially the only real current contender, Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus. The song advances 3-2 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay with a 4 percent gain to 23.6 million in audience and is the only title in the chart’s top 10 besides “Please” with a gain in total audience.
“Road,” a proven streaming titan and the incumbent Billboard Hot 100 champ, has already taken control of three other radio rankings: Rhythmic Songs, Rap Airplay and the plays-ranked Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop list.
