Thanks to the towering success of her long-awaited sophomore album, 2022’s ‘SOS,’ few in recent Billboard history can boast the year singer-songwriter SZA has had!
So much so, she’s been crowned the year’s top R&B act.
While the GRAMMY winner (born Solana Rowe) has made it clear she does not identify as an R&B artist, that hasn’t stopped her latest LP and its hits ‘Snooze,’ ‘Kill Bill,’ and others from rocking Billboard record books all year for the genre.
As if surpassing or meeting milestones set by music royals like Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, and Mary J. Blige wasn’t enoughto boast, she also set a number of separate personal career marks when she watched ‘Bill’ – her inaugural Hot 100 #1 – become her longest-charting hit on the all-genre chart to date.
And while Rowe’s accomplishments were trumpeted much louder than her R&B contemporaries’ were, The Weeknd‘s domination – though quieter – was still quite potent.
As if boasting 3 top 10 hits on the Hot 100 wasn’t enough to boast (‘Creepin‘ with 21 Savage and Metro Boomin, ‘K-Pop‘ with Travis Scott and Bad Bunny, and ‘Die For You‘), the latter – thanks to the viral surge of its original incarnation on TikTok seven years after its release – zoomed to #1 after being afforded the remix treatment with Ariana Grande.
The uptick in exposure of ‘Die’ gave a lifeline to its parent album, 2016’s ‘Starboy,’ which made history when it crossed the 300-week threshold on the Billboard 200 this year.
That impressive performance, combined with the enduring stays of 2020’s ‘After Hours‘ and his greatest hits effort ‘The Highlights,‘ made the 33-year-old 2023’s best-performing male R&B act.
See the full list here.
Wait you mean the top male R&B artist of the year wasn’t Chris Brown???? LMAO in the past 13 years in his prime he’s never finished as the top male R&B artist of the year, never had the top R&B album or song. Bruno Mars and The Weekend have done all 3 multiple times. But CB delusional fans swears he’s Michael Jackson and the King of R&B lol SMDH
CB won an NAACP image award last year . Something weeknd has never done 🤣. So stop comparing the weeknd corny non singing or dancing ass to the king MJ
An NAACP award?? LMAO people would much rather have Billboard and American Music awards. Two other categories Bruno Mars and The Weekend have lapped CB in lol.
Btw can you read BITCHH?? Where did i compare The Weekend to MJ?? I clearly said CB fans swears he’s Michael Jackson and the King of R&B.
Chris can paint and do backflips let’s see Bruno do that asshole
LMAO paint and do backflips?? Do you realize how many people and even kids can paint and do backflips?? Meanwhile Bruno Mars have diamond classic number one songs and top selling albums with sold out world tours.
Chris has you pressed and obsessed gay boi
FACTS are FACTS dumb FUCKKK. Lol but at least he can do backflips right?? LMAO