Kendrick Lamar Makes History With Third No. 1 in Three Weeks on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart

A week after Kendrick Lamar joined a select club of artists upon replacing himself at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, the rapper stands in a class of his own by becoming the first artist to achieve three successive No. 1s without interruption on the 66-year-old list.

Lamar makes history with “Luther,” a collaboration with SZA, which climbs from No. 2 to lead the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart dated Dec. 21. It swaps positions with the rapper’s “TV Off,” featuring Lefty Gunplay, which took over the top slot from Lamar’s “Squabble Up” a week prior. (“Squabble Up” is No. 3 on this week’s chart.)

All three tracks appear on Lamar’s GNX album, which was released without warning on Nov. 22. The set, on pgLang/Interscope Records, rules the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for a third consecutive week with 125,000 equivalent album units in the tracking week of Dec. 6 – 12, according to Luminate.

“Luther” traces its coronation to a combination of 28.7 million official U.S. streams (down 11% compared with the previous week), 2,000 song downloads (up 53%) and 9.8 million in airplay audience (up 63%) in the tracking week. The consumption totals push the track 2-1 for its first week atop the R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs chart and a 5-3 gain on R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs. Although “Luther” remains below the threshold for the all-genre Radio Songs chart (all airplay for a song, regardless of format, contributes to a title’s rank on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs), it drives 18-15 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay.

As “Luther” unlocks an unprecedented achievement for Lamar, let’s review more of the historic feats from the chart’s newest champ: