Chart Brief: Michael Jackson Dominates R&B Streaming, Tone Stith Remains No. 1

Welcome to Chart Brief, Rated R&B’s weekly column tracking the latest movements across R&B charts. Each week, we’ll break down and analyze the R&B artists making waves on the Billboard, radio, and streaming charts. This edition covers the charts dated May 2, 2026.

Billboard Charts

Adult R&B Airplay

Tracks the week’s top Adult R&B hits via 24/7 airplay data from Mediabase and Luminate.

THE BRIEF: Tone Stith’s “Fly” holds the No. 1 spot for a second consecutive week on the Adult R&B Airplay chart. The liberating track is from his debut album, The Edge, out May 15.

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DEBUTS: 

• No. 27: Kayla Brianna – “Energy”
• No. 29: Eric Bellinger – “Cry In Front of You”
• No. 30: Chris Brown – “Obvious” 

Top 5 on Adult R&B Airplay

1. “Fly” – Tone Stith (LW: 1)
2. “Folded” – Kehlani (LW: 3, Peak: 1)
3. “More Than A Friend” – Elijah Connor (LW: 6)
4. “Forever” – Sentury (LW: 2, Peak: 1)
5. “Risk It All” – Bruno Mars (LW: 7, Peak: 5)

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R&B Streaming Songs

Calculates the most-streamed R&B songs of the week across digital service providers.

No. 1: “Billie Jean” – Michael Jackson (LW: 2)

THE BRIEF: Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” lands at No. 1 for the first time on Billboard’s R&B Streaming Songs chart. It first appeared on the chart in April 2013. Jackson not only controls the summit, but he also dominates the list with 12 charting songs out of its 15 slots; seven of those are in the top 10. 

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DEBUTS

• No. 11: “Smooth Criminal” – Michael Jackson 
• No. 12: “Bad” – Michael Jackson 
• No. 13: “You Rock My World” – Michael Jackson 
• “The Way You Make Me Feel” – Michael Jackson 

Top 5 on R&B Streaming Songs 

1. “Billie Jean” – Michael Jackson (LW: 2)
2. “Human Nature” – Michael Jackson (LW: 6)
3. “Beat It” – Michael Jackson (LW: 5)
4. “I Just Might” – Bruno Mars (LW: 1)
5. “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” – Michael Jackson (LW: 7)

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Hot R&B Songs

Tracks the week’s most popular R&B songs based on streaming activity, sales and radio airplay impressions.

No. 1:  “I Just Might” – Bruno Mars

Debuts:

• No. 9: Michael Jackson – “Dirty Diana”
• No. 12: Chris Brown feat. Leon Thomas – “Fallin’”
• No. 17: Bryson Tiller – “It’s OK”
• No. 18: Chxrry, Mariah the Scientist – “Bottles & Lights” 

Top 5 on Hot R&B Songs

1. “I Just Might” – Bruno Mars
2. “Folded” – Kehlani
3. “Billie Jean” – Michael Jackson
4. “Yukon” – Justin Bieber
5. “Human Nature” – Michael Jackson

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Top R&B Albums

Tracks the week’s most popular R&B albums based on sales and streaming data.

No. 1: Thriller – Michael Jackson (LW: 3)

Top 5 on R&B Albums

1. Thriller – Michael Jackson (LW: 3)
2. Number Ones – Michael Jackson (LW: 4; Peak: 2)
3. Swag – Justin Bieber (LW: 2; Peak: 1)
4. SOS – SZA (LW: 5; Peak: 1)
5. The Romantic – Bruno Mars (LW: 6; Peak: 1)

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Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums

Tracks the week’s most popular R&B/Hip-Hop albums based on sales and streaming activity.

No. 1: Thriller – Michael Jackson

THE BRIEF: Michael Jackson’s groundbreaking album Thriller is back at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It marks its first visit to the summit in 40 years. According to Billboard, Thriller sold 62,000 equivalent units in the tracking week ending May 7. The King of Pop’s catalog has seen a surge in streaming and sales activity, following the release of his blockbuster biopic, Michael, on April 24. 

Top 5 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums

1. Thriller – Michael Jackson
2. Number Ones – Michael Jackson
3. Swag – Justin Bieber
4. Octane – Don Toliver
5. SOS – SZA

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Hot 100

Tracks the week’s most popular songs across all genres via streaming, radio airplay and sales data. (Note: Chart Brief focuses on R&B only.)

Highest-Charting R&B Songs (Top 40)

• No. 4: “Man I Need” – Olivia Dean (LW: 3; Peak: 2)
• No. 3: “I Just Might” – Bruno Mars (LW: 3; Peak: 1)
• No. 6: “So Easy (To Fall In Love)” – Olivia Dean (LW: 6; Peak: 6)
• No. 9: “Folded” – Kehlani (LW: 10; Peak: 6)
• No. 15: “Risk It All” – Bruno Mars (LW: 20; Peak: 4)
• No. 17: “Billie Jean” – Michael Jackson (LW: 38; Peak: 1)
• No. 29: “Human Nature” – Michael Jackson (Re-Entry; Peak: 7)
• No. 32: “Beat It” – Michael Jackson (Re-Entry; Peak 1)
• No. 19: “Where Is My Husband!” – Raye (LW: 14; Peak: 11)

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Mediabase Radio Charts

R&B Radio

Tracks the week’s top R&B hits via 24/7 radio monitoring data from Mediabase, ranked by total weekly spins. (Dates: May 3 – May 9)

No. 1: “Fly” – Tone Stith (LW: 1)

Top 10 at R&B Radio 

1. “Fly” – Tone Stith (LW: 1)
2. “Folded” – Kehlani (LW: 2; Peak: 1)
3. “More Than A Friend” – Elijah Connor (LW: 5)
4. “Bad” – Saint Harison (LW: 4)
5. “Risk It All” – Bruno Mars (LW: 6)
6. “Forever” – Sentury (LW: 3; Peak: 1)
7. “Vacancy” – Ari Lennox (LW: 7)
8. “Man I Need” – Olivia Dean (LW: 8; Peak: 1)
9. “You (20th Anniversary)” – Raheem DeVaughn (LW: 9)
10. “Pressha” – Jill Scott (LW: 10; Peak: 1)

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Urban Radio

Tracks the week’s top hip-hop/R&B hits via 24/7 radio monitoring data from Mediabase, ranked by total weekly spins. (Dates: May 3 – May 9)

No. 1: “Father” – Ye feat. Travis Scott (LW: 3)

Top 10 at Urban Radio 

1. “Father” – Ye feat. Travis Scott (LW: 3)
2. “Folded” – Kehlani (LW: 2; Peak: 1)
3. “Pop Dat Thang” – Da Baby (LW: 1)
4. “Let Em Know” – T.I. (LW: 4)
5. “It Depends” – Chris Brown feat. Bryson Tiller (LW: 5; Peak: 1)
6. “Ever Since You Left Me” – French Montana & Max B (LW: 9)
7. “Body” – Don Toliver (LW; 7)
8. “Motion Party” – BossMan Dlow (LW: 14)
9. “Minks in Miami” – Rick Ross feat. French Montana & Max B
10. “B.B.B.” – Juvenile feat. Megan Thee Stallion

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Chart rankings are sourced from Billboard‘s weekly tallies. Radio airplay metrics, including spin counts and audience impressions, are provided by Mediabase.