Drake successfully laps all competitors in the No. 1 race on Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart as “Way 2 Sexy,” featuring Future and Young Thug, becomes his 40th leader on the list, twice as many as any other act.
“Sexy” rises two spots from No. 3 to rule the chart dated Oct. 9. The single advances with a 17% surge in plays in the week ending Oct. 3, according to MRC Data, to rank as the most-played song at the radio format in the U.S.
With the new champ, Drake achieves his 40th No. 1 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, extending his record for the most by any artist since the chart began in 1993. Moreover, he now owns twice as many as his nearest challenger, Lil Wayne, who holds 20 chart-toppers. Here’s a look at the updated leaderboard for the most No. 1s on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay:
40, Drake
20, Lil Wayne
17, Chris Brown
16, Usher
12, Beyonce
11, R. Kelly
10, Jay-Z
10, Rihanna
For Future, “Sexy” marks the Atlanta rapper’s fourth No. 1 and first since “Mask Off” in 2017. Young Thug, meanwhile, collects his fifth leader. He last led alongside Chris Brown on the six-week champ “Go Crazy” last year.
“Sexy” also races to the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay summit in only its fourth week on the chart, tying the record for the fastest ascent of the 21st century. The other title? A Drake song, of course. The superstar’s “God Plan” also needed four frames to reach No. 1 in 2018. Before that, no song had raced to the top slot in four or fewer frames since Destiny’s Child and “Bills, Bills, Bills” charged to No. 1 in its fourth week in 1999.
“Way 2 Sexy” is the first single from Drake’s Certified Lover Boy album. The set, released in September, spent its first three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, with its first week registering the biggest weekly album consumption total of 2021.
Elsewhere, “Way 2 Sexy” reigns for a second week on Rap Airplay, where it improves 16% in audience in the week ending Oct. 3. It repeats at its No. 2 peak thus far on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, with a 15% boost to 20.8 million in audience for the week.
Beyond that, the single also makes waves in the pop and rhythmic spheres. On Rhythmic Airplay, “Sexy” climbs 6-3 thanks to a 20% surge in plays in the latest tracking week. Pop Airplay dividends come through a 29-25 lift and 38% growth in weekly spins.