Chart Brief: Chris Brown Scores Top 5 R&B Album, Elijah Connor Leads Adult R&B Airplay

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 23, 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: “More Than A Friend” – Elijah Connor (LW: 3)

THE BRIEF: Elijah Connor earns his first No. 1 hit with “More Than A Friend.” The ’90s-inspired jam debuted on the Adult R&B Airplay chart dated Feb. 14, before reaching the top 10 on the chart dated April 4. 

Debuts

• No. 24: Snoop Dogg feat. Swizz Beatz – “Step”

Top 5 on Adult R&B Airplay

1. “More Than A Friend” – Elijah Connor (LW: 3)
2. “Folded” – Kehlani (LW: 2; Peak: 1)
3. “Risk It All” – Bruno Mars (LW: 5; Peak: 5)
4. “Fly” – Tone Stith (LW: 1)
5. “Vacancy” – Ari Lennox (LW: 7)

CHART NOTE: Kem’s “One Love” moves up two spots this week, making its way into the top 10 at No. 9. Meanwhile, Ari Lennox’s “Vacancy,” the title track to her third album, enters the top 5 at No. 5. 

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 “Billie Jean” spends its second consecutive week at No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B Streaming Songs chart. Jackson also occupies eight spots in the top 10, with only Bruno Mars (“I Just Might,” No. 5) and Justin Bieber (“Yukon,” No. 10) being the only artists appearing. The bump in streaming activity follows the release of his biopic, Michael, released April 24.

Top 5 on R&B Streaming Songs

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

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)

Debuts:

• No. 14: “For The Moment” – Chris Brown
• No. 16: “Honey Pack” – Chris Brown
• No. 17: “Leave Me Alone” – Chris Brown
• No. 18: “Call Your Name” – Chris Brown feat. Sexyy Red & GloRilla
• No. 19: “Red Rum” – Chris Brown feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again
• No. 20: “Slow Jamz” – Chris Brown feat. Lucky Daye
• No. 22: “F**k And Party” – Chris Brown feat. Vybz Kartel
• No. 23: “Perfect Timing” – Chris Brown feat. Fridayy
• No. 24: “It’s Not You It’s Me” – Chris Brown
• No. 25: “Hate Me” – Chris Brown

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. “Human Nature” – Michael Jackson (LW: 5)
5. “Beat It” – Michael Jackson (LW: 6)

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)

Debuts:

• No. 3: Brown – Chris Brown

CHART NOTE: Chris Brown’s 12th album, Brown, debuts at No. 3 on the Top R&B Albums chart, becoming his ninth title to reach a top 10 entry. The LP debuts at No. 3.

Top 5 on R&B Albums

1. Thriller – Michael Jackson (LW: 1)
2. Number Ones – Michael Jackson (LW: 2; Peak: 2)
3. Brown – Chris Brown (NEW)
4. SOS – SZA (LW: 3; Peak: 1)
5. Swag – Justin Bieber (LW: 3)

Billboard 200

Tracks the week’s most popular albums across all genres based on sales and streaming activity.

Chris Brown’s Brown debuts at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. It extends his record of all his albums landing in the top 10. Overall, he has 13 top 10 appearances, including his joint project with Tyga, Fan of a Fan: The Album.

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.)

Debuts:

• No. 85: “For The Moment” – Chris Brown
• No. 92: “Honey Pack” – Chris Brown

Highest-Charting R&B Songs (Top 40)

• No. 3: “Man I Need” – Olivia Dean (LW: 4; Peak: 2)
• No. 4: “I Just Might” – Bruno Mars (LW: 5; Peak: 1)
• No. 5: “So Easy (To Fall In Love)” – Olivia Dean (LW: 6; Peak: 5)
• No. 8: “Risk It All” – Bruno Mars (LW: 15; Peak: 4)
• No. 9: “Folded” – Kehlani (LW: 9; Peak: 6)
• No. 15: “Billie Jean” – Michael Jackson (LW: 17; Peak: 1)
• No. 21: “Human Nature” – Michael Jackson (LW: 29; Peak: 7)
• No. 29: “Beat It” – Michael Jackson (LW: 32; Peak: 1)
• No. 36: “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” – Michael Jackson (LW: 42; Peak: 1)

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 10 – May 16)

No. 1: “More Than A Friend” – Elijah Connor (LW: 3)

Top 10 at R&B Radio

1. “More Than A Friend” – Elijah Connor (LW: 3)
2. “Folded” – Kehlani (LW: 2; Peak: 1)
3. “Risk It All” – Bruno Mars (LW: 5)
4. “Bad” – Saint Harison (LW: 4)
5. “Fly” – Tone Stith (LW: 1)
6. “Vacancy” – Ari Lennox (LW: 7)
7. “You (20th Anniversary)” – Raheem DeVaughn (LW: 9)
8. “One Love” – Kem (LW: 12)
9. “Man I Need” – Olivia Dean (LW: 8; Peak: 1)
10. “Let Em Know” – T.I. (LW: 11)

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