Mary J. Blige continues to surpass her previous best.
The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul’s current single “Breathing,” featuring Fabolous, climbs from No. 13 to No. 8 this week on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart, making it her 27th top 10 hit.
“Breathing” extends the Grammy winner’s record for the most top 10 singles among artists on the airplay chart, currently led by Chris Brown’s “Sensational” featuring Davido and Lojay.
The thumping track, produced by S. Dot, accounts for her 62nd entry after it debuted at No. 17 the week of Aug. 31.
In late 2023, Blige achieved her 26th top hit and her eighth No. 1 on the airplay chart with “Still Believe in Love” featuring Vado, which spent eight consecutive weeks at the top.
“Breathing” is Fabolous’s second top 10 appearance and second this year, following his collaboration with Tank on “Before We Started.” The suave track secured the No. 1 slot for two consecutive weeks.
Additionally, this week on Billboard, “Breathing” is No. 32 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, where Blige has had 30 top 10s and 87 entries. Her previous release, “Still Believe in Love,” reached No. 12 on the chart in January 2024.
Blige and Fabolous are also applying pressure at R&B radio with “Breathing,” which is No. 6 this week, up six spots from last week when it received 943 spins. The New York-coded track has now accumulated 1,260 spins and reached an audience of four million.
“Breathing,” which just received an R&B version, was released Aug. 16 via Blige’s label Mary Jane Productions in collaboration with 300 Entertainment. It’s the first single from her forthcoming album, slated to arrive this fall.
Speaking on the inspiration behind her new single, Blige said, “The story behind the track is what I’m doing finally, which is living, breathing, enjoying my life and celebrating the happiness and freedom I have that life brings. I finally get to exhale and inhale and then exhale and enjoy life, enjoy love.”
As for her next album, her 15th overall, Blige stated, “The overall theme is enjoying life and understanding that, again, life is what inspires me, whether I take the good with the bad. I look at every lesson as a blessing and I understand that I’m not the only one on the earth going through things. I celebrate my triumph, and I work through my hard times.”
She added, “So, the album is going to be fun in that perspective. There’ll be things that are real and serious, but you’ll be able to dance to it or sing to it. There’s a bunch of different things — ballads, world music. There’s some good sh*t on here.”
Blige’s upcoming album will succeed her 2022 release, Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe), which received tremendous acclaim.
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Next up, Blige is preparing for her performance at the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. She will be inducted into the performer category. The ceremony will take place on October 19 at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
Listen to Mary J. Blige’s “Breathing (R&B Version)” below.
