The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” outshines all competitors on Billboard’s Top Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs of the 21st Century chart. The smash lands at No. 1 on the survey, which is based on performance on the weekly Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart from the start of 2000 through the end of 2024.
“Blinding Lights” claims the shiny prize largely for its unprecedented longevity in the top 10: 59 weeks, the most of any song not only in the quarter century but in the entire history of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, dating to its 1958 consolidation into a single, genre-encompassing listing. Of its run in the top 10, “Blinding Lights” snagged 11 frames at No. 1 — the most among The Weeknd’s nine career champs.
In November 2021, “Blinding Lights” crowned Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs chart, dating to the weekly list’s August 1958 start. “I don’t think [it] has hit me yet,” The Weeknd told Billboard upon learning of the song’s all-time, all-genre command. “I just count my blessings, and I’m just grateful.”
Reflecting the biggest names in R&B and hip-hop from Y2K to today, check out the top 10 songs on Billboard’s Top Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs of the 21st Century chart below and the entire 100-position ranking in Billboard’s Greatest of All Time charts menu.
Following the reveal of Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the 21st Century chart and the unveiling of the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums of the 21st Century chart, check back Friday (Aug. 29) for Billboard’s rundown of The Top Producers of the 21st Century on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart, with all coverage of Billboard’s 21st Century Charts here.
Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs of the 21st Century recaps reflect performance on weekly charts dated Jan. 1, 2000, through Dec. 28, 2024. The Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists category ranks the best-performing acts in that span based on activity on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. (Titles released prior to mid-1999 are excluded, although such entries that appeared on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums or Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in that span contribute to the calculation of the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists chart.) The Top Producers of the 21st Century on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart reflects producers with the most No. 1s on weekly Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts dated Jan. 1, 2000, through Dec. 28, 2024, with ties broken by most top 10s and most overall chart entries.
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Robin Thicke feat. T.I. + Pharrell, “Blurred Lines”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo The star team-up dominated the summer of 2013 and beyond, racking up 16 weeks at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs that June through October. For all three hitmakers, who have enjoyed multiple No. 1s on the chart, “Blurred Lines” remains their longest-leading ruler.
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Maxwell, “Pretty Wings”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo After a nearly eight-year break between albums, Maxwell returned in 2009 with BLACKsummers’night and his biggest hit single. “This song, it’s about wanting to be with somebody but meeting them too early,” the singer-songwriter shared at a 2008 concert in which he performed the song pre-release. With its flight to No. 1, “Wings” and its 14-week Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs reign returned Maxwell to the summit for the first time in a decade, since “Fortunate” in 1999.
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SZA, “Snooze”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Despite a No. 2 peak on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, SZA’s “Snooze” passed many of its contemporaries in the long run thanks to strong consistency, as the 2022 release resonated after the height of its promo campaign as a single. Radio strength was an essential asset, as it claimed a record 37-week command atop the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.
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Post Malone & Swae Lee, “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Post Malone and Swae Lee swung to No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and stuck to the top rank for 11 weeks with their Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack smash, which began its run in early 2019. Both knew the feeling of an extensive stay well: Post Malone previously … posted 14 weeks in charge via “Rockstar” in 2017-18, while Swae Lee and his brother Slim Jxmmi, as duo Rae Sremmurd, ruled for seven weeks with “Black Beatles” in 2016-17.
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Bruno Mars, “That’s What I Like”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Bruno Mars had much to like in 2017, as singles from his ‘90s R&B-inspired album, 24K Magic, reaped massive rewards. “That’s What I Like,” the album’s second single (after its title track), celebrated 10 weeks at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. In 2019, it was revealed as the second-biggest hit on the chart for the entire 2010s decade.
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Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz, “Thrift Shop”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo “Thrift Shop” notched 14 weeks at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in 2013, pushing its main creators, duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, to a banner breakout year. Follow-up single “Can’t Hold Us” captured seven weeks at No. 1 later that year, and “Thrift Shop” wrapped 2013 as the year-end No. 1 track on the annual Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs recap.
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Miguel, “Sure Thing”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo “Sure Thing” was already a hit upon its release, hitting No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for a week in 2011. An unexpected revival from TikTok in 2023, however, pushed it into the history books. Thanks to that second wind, the single added 30 weeks to its chart run and became the track with the most weeks, 89, in the 67-year history of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
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Mary J. Blige, “Be Without You”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Blige’s devotional ode ranks as the top song by a woman for the quarter century on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The crown chart jewel of the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul’s collection conquered the tally for 15 weeks in 2006, longer than Blige’s five other leaders combined. In its run, the track surpassed two other of the genre’s juggernaut tracks (Deborah Cox’s “Nobody’s Supposed To Be Here” and Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together”) as the longest-leading hit by a woman, a mark that Blige owned for the next 17 years.
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Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow, “Industry Baby”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Erasing any notion of being a one-year wonder, Lil Nas X found more hits in 2021, including his smash collaboration with Jack Harlow. The rising talents’ joint effort was a runaway success, posting 19 weeks at No. 1 on the weekly Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. At the time, Lil Nas X owned the two longest leaders, with 2019’s “Old Town Road” (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus) in first place, with 20 frames.
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The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights”
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Ascending from the underground alt-R&B scenes of Toronto to international stardom, The Weeknd reached unprecedented stature with the glistening “Blinding Lights.” The single spent 11 weeks in charge of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart — chief of Abel Tesfaye’s nine champs — and a record 59 weeks in the top 10. The blockbuster claims history on other Billboard recaps, ruling the Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century chart, announced in January, following its coronation on the Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs retrospective.
