Chart Brief: Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ Hits New Milestone on Billboard R&B Albums, Ne-Yo’s ‘Up Out & Gone’ Remains No. 1 for 3rd Week at Radio

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 July 25, 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.

No. 1: “Up Out & Gone” – Ne-Yo (LW: 1)

THE BRIEF: Ne-Yo’s “Up Out & Gone” continues its reign at No. 1 for a third consecutive week on the Adult R&B Airplay chart. It now ties his two other chart-toppers, 2018’s “Good Man” and 2020’s “U 2 Luv” with Jeremih, for the most weeks spent at the summit. “Up Out & Gone” is lifted from Ne-Yo’s country soul album, Highway 79. 

Debuts

• No. 30: “Yes” – Tank

CHART NOTE: Tank’s Floetry-inspired single “Yes” debuts on the Adult R&B Airplay chart this week, becoming his 29th entry on the list. Of his entries, 11 are No. 1, stretching back to “Please Don’t Go” in 2007 to “Control,” which spent two weeks atop the chart in March 2026.

Top 5 on Adult R&B Airplay

1. “Up Out & Gone” – Ne-Yo (LW: 1)
2. “Fallin” – Chris Brown feat. Leon Thomas (LW: 4)
3. “One Love” – Kem (LW: 5; Peak: 2)
4. “Folded” – Kehlani (LW: 2; Peak: 1)
5. “Spin” – Kevin Ross (LW: 6)

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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: 1)

THE BRIEF: Michael Jackson’s 1983 hit “Billie Jean” spends an 11th consecutive week at No. 1 on the R&B Streaming Songs chart. The timeless classic, which first appeared on the chart in 2013, has seen a significant boost in streaming activity from the blockbuster biopic MICHAEL, starring Jafaar Jackson. The film recently made history, becoming the highest-grossing biopic of all time, surpassing $1 billion globally. “Billie Jean” is MJ’s longest-running No. 1 on the R&B Streaming Songs chart, which officially launched in April 2013.

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Top 5 on R&B Streaming Songs

1. “Billie Jean” – Michael Jackson (LW: 1)
2. “Morning Dew (Donk)” – Beyoncé (LW: 2)
3. “I Just Might” – Bruno Mars – (LW: 3, Peak: 1)
4. “Chicago” – Michael Jackson (LW: 4; Peak: 2)
5. “Beat It” – Michael Jackson (LW: 5; Peak: 3)

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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 (LW: 1)

Re-Entries

• No. 22: “Drop The Lo” – Bryson Tiller

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Top 5 on Hot R&B Songs

1. “I Just Might” – Bruno Mars (LW: 1)
2. “Folded” – Kehlani (LW: 2; Peak: 1)
3. “Billie Jean” – Michael Jackson (LW: 3)
4. “Morning Dew (Donk)” – Beyoncé (LW: 4)
5. “What You Need” – Tems (LW: 5)

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Top R&B Albums

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

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

THE BRIEF: Michael Jackson’s groundbreaking album Thriller is still reaching new milestones over 40 years after its release. The 3x RIAA Diamond-certified album is now in its 10th week at No. 1 on the Top R&B Albums chart. It’s Jackson’s longest-running chart-topper on this list, which launched in 2013.

Re-Entries

• No. 22: Freudian – Daniel Caesar
• No. 25: Chris Brown – Chris Brown

Top 5 on R&B Albums

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

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Hot 100

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

Highest-Charting R&B Songs (Top 40)

• No. 8: “Man I Need” – Olivia Dean (LW: 10; Peak: 2)
• No. 9: “So Easy (To Fall In Love)” – Olivia Dean (LW: 9; Peak: 5)
• No. 10: “I Just Might” – Bruno Mars (LW: 7; Peak: 1)
• No. 13: “Risk It All” – Bruno Mars (LW: 15; Peak: 4)
• No. 31: “Morning Dew (Donk)” – Beyoncé (LW: 26)
• No. 36: “What You Need” – Tems (LW: 39)

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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: July 12 – July 16)

No. 1: “Up Out & Gone” – Ne-Yo (LW: 1)

Top 10 at R&B Radio

1. “Up Out & Gone” – Ne-Yo (LW: 3)
2. “Fallin’” – Chris Brown feat. Leon Thomas (LW: 5)
3. “One Love” – Kem (LW: 3)
4. “Folded” – Kehlani (LW: 2)
5. “Energy” – Kayla Brianna (LW: 7)
6. “What You Need” – Tems (LW: 9)
7. “Spin” – Kevin Ross (LW: 6)
8. “Let Em Know” – T.I. (LW: 8)
9. “Let Me” – Victoria Monét (LW: 4)
10. “Need Love” – Stokley (LW: 10)

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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.