Rhythmic Airplay

History

Billboard magazine first took notice of the newly emerged genre on February 27, 1987, when it launched the first crossover chart, Hot Crossover 30. It originally consisted of thirty titles and was based on reporting by eighteen stations, five of which were considered as pure rhythmic. The chart featured a mix of urban contemporary, top 40 and dance hits. In September 1989, Billboard split the Hot Crossover 30 chart in two: Top 40/Dance and Top 40/Rock, the latter of which focused on rock titles which crossed over. By December 1990, Billboard eliminated the chart because more top 40 and R&B stations were becoming identical with the rhythmic-heavy playlist being played at the crossover stations at the time.

Billboard revived the chart in October 1992 as Top 40/Rhythm-Crossover, with the first number one being "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men. On June 25, 1997, it was renamed to Rhythmic Top 40 as a way to distinguish stations that continued to play a broad based rhythmic mix from those whose mix leaned heavily toward R&B and hip-hop. It was changed to Rhythmic Airplay in the February 7, 2004, issue and shortened to Rhythmic on July 12, 2008. As of the week of January 31, 2026, the current number-one song on the chart is "Take Me Thru Dere" by Metro Boomin, Quavo, Breskii and YK Niece.

Chart criteria

There are forty positions on this chart and it is solely based on radio airplay. 66 rhythmic radio stations are electronically monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems. Songs are ranked based on the number of plays that each song received during that week.

Songs receiving the greatest growth will receive a "bullet", although there are tracks that will also get bullets if the loss in detections doesn't exceed the percentage of downtime from a monitored station. "Airpower" awards are issued to songs that appear on the top 20 of both the airplay and audience chart for the first time, while the "greatest gainer" award is given to song with the largest increase in detections. A song with six or more spins in its first week is awarded an "airplay add". If a song is tied for the most spins in the same week, the one with the biggest increase that previous week will rank higher, but if both songs show the same amount of spins regardless of detection the song that is being played at more stations is ranked higher. Songs that fall below the top 15 and have been on the chart after 20 weeks are removed.

Records and achievements

Song with most weeks at number one

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Artists with most number-one singles

Artists with most entries

Artists with most Top 10 entries

References

References

1. Freeman, Kim. (February 28, 1987). "Hot 30 Crossover Chart Tracks New Breed Of Radio". Billboard magazine.
2. (January 31, 2026). "Rhythmic Airplay Songs".
3. "''Billboard'' Charts Legend".
4. "Drake Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
5. "Rihanna Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
6. "The Weeknd Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
7. "Chris Brown Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
8. "Drake & Rihanna Rule Rhythmic Songs Chart With 'Too Good'".
9. "Bruno Mars Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
10. "Lil Wayne Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
11. "Beyoncé Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
12. "Nicki Minaj Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
13. "Doja Cat Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
14. "Kendrick Lamar Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
15. "Post Malone Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
16. "Cardi B Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
17. "Drake Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
18. "Chris Brown Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
19. "Lil Wayne Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
20. "Nicki Minaj Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
21. "Kanye West Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
22. "Future Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
23. "Jay-Z Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
24. "Rihanna Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
25. "Snoop Dogg Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
26. "Pitbull Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
27. "Usher Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
28. "Ludacris Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
29. "Drake Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
30. "Chris Brown Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
31. "Lil Wayne Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
32. "Nicki Minaj Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
33. "Rihanna Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
34. "Future Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
35. "Usher Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
36. "Kanye West Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
37. "The Weeknd Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
38. "Ludacris Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
39. "Jay-Z Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.
40. ["Cardi B Rhythmic Songs Chart History"](https://www.billboard.com/artist/Cardi B/chart-history/tfc/). Billboard Music.
41. "Pitbull Rhythmic Songs Chart History". Billboard Music.