Drake Is No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the 21st Century Chart

As soon as debut single “Fallin’ ” dropped, Alicia Keys’ career only went up. The singer-songwriter’s track became the first of her eight No. 1s on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, while parent album Songs in A Minor began a run of seven chart-toppers for Keys on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The New York native has since expanded pursuits to include Grammy hosting and her semi-autobiographical Hell’s Kitchen musical, which won two Tony Awards and a Grammy for its cast album.

After his mainstream breakthrough with 1999’s The Slim Shady LP, Eminem surged to a 2000s takeover, which began with his landmark The Marshall Mathers LP in 2000. Ten of his 12 albums released in 2000-24 banked time at No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, with the remaining pair both reaching the top three. While he earned one No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (the Rihanna-assisted “The Monster”), the rap juggernaut boasts 41 entries on the chart in the quarter-century period.

With three albums by the turn of the century, Jay-Z bounded into the 2000s. No. 1s on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums became regular occurrences, perhaps best exemplified by a string of seven leaders in less than five years (2000-04), anchored by the extension of his Life and Times of Sean Carter into the new century and his famed The Blueprint trilogy. That packed release schedule plus a parade of featured verses on hits with fellow rappers and his standing as a go-to for R&B stars, most notably alongside Beyoncé, helped him stack 133 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs visits, including nine No. 1s, during the first 25 years of the century.

The soothsayer Juvenile once declared Cash Money was taking over for the 99 and 2000, and the label’s MVP, Lil Wayne, fulfilled that destiny. The teenage New Orleans native exploded into a global sensation with his clever turns of phrase and a dizzying number of drops. Thirty-five projects dotted the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in the quarter-century, a combination of mixtapes, collaborative sets and his solo catalog, headed by his famed Tha Carter series. Don’t forget his 11 No. 1s on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, the era’s second-highest total behind only his protégé, Drake, who, along with Nicki Minaj, made Wayne and crew chart titans over multiple decades.

A fresh-faced talent who carried the performance finesse of James Brown and Michael Jackson into the hip-hop era, Usher logged 11 No. 1s on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and eight top 10 albums on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums over 2000-24. Chief among the latter was 2004’s blockbuster Confessions, which cemented his legacy and added “Yeah!,” among other classics, to the canon. More than three decades into his career, Usher remains active in the conversation: 2023’s “Good Good,” with Summer Walker and 21 Savage, reached No. 7 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, extending his span of top 10s to 28 years.

From “Run It!” to “Residuals,” Chris Brown has survived — and thrived in — different R&B phases since his 2005 debut, shifting across ballads, pop and EDM influence, trap soul and hip-hop’s mounting sway. Consistency has been Brown’s calling card: Twelve of his 13 charted titles have reached the top three on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, with eight clocking time at No. 1. Across the aisle, Brown has carried 43 tunes to the top 10 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Besides his own material, the sought-after hook singer and duet partner sports a roster of collaborators ranging from Drake and Lil Wayne to Jordin Sparks and Lil Dicky.

Rising from the underground alt-R&B scene, The Weeknd honed his R&B and pop sensibilities into a global-conquering catalog. While his first Billboard chart appearances came courtesy of featured credits on tracks by Drake and Wiz Khalifa, The Weeknd soon graduated to the main attraction. Among his top highlights are nine No. 1s on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, with brooding tracks such as “The Hills” sharing space with the crossover flash of “Can’t Feel My Face” and the Daft Punk-assisted “Starboy.” Eight No. 1s in the period on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums round out his accomplishments, with every release since 2012’s Trilogy hitting the top spot.

Beyoncé leads all women on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the 21st Century recap, completing a Jackson-esque evolution to a supernova solo career that adds to the heights of the group that launched her to fame. While she entered Y2K as a member of Destiny’s Child, her solo journey fully kicked off with 2003’s smash singles “Crazy in Love,” featuring Jay-Z, and “Baby Boy,” featuring Sean Paul. Despite a 2010s priority shift to fuller album experiences and unconventional rollouts, her might endured. Check the eight No. 1s on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, covering Dangerously in Love to Renaissance, and 10 champs on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in the quarter century, with jewels like “Irreplaceable,” “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” and “Love on Top” adorning Queen Bey’s collection.

Who else? Although Drake didn’t touch Billboard charts until 2009 — roughly a third of the way through the quarter-century — his grip soon tightened into a stranglehold. It wasn’t just that Drake always seemed to be on the charts, but rather how he achieved plenty of simultaneous hits, balancing his own tunes with supporting features and bouncing between melodic R&B, catchy pop-tinged smashes and no-frills hip-hop, all ripe with lyrical snippets and snipes that have fed Instagram captions for years. The results? Record-breaking: 30 No. 1s on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and 135 top 10 hits, each more than double the nearest competitor, while 15 of his projects reached the summit on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums in the measurement period.

“Started from the bottom, now we’re here,” Drake made a signature recap in 2013, and “here” continues to be the top.