Nicki Minaj reclaims her status as the female rapper with the most No. 1s on Billboard’s Rhythmic Airplay chart as “Super Freaky Girl” ascends to the top rank of the list dated Oct. 1. The “Girl” coronation comes after the track improved 14% in weekly plays and was the most-played song on U.S. monitored rhythmic radio stations in the week ending Sept. 25, according to Luminate.
“Girl” gives Minaj her ninth Rhythmic Airplay champ, breaking her out of a tie with Cardi B to claim the most No. 1s among female rappers outright. Among all artists, she matches Jay-Z for a joint share of 10th place. Here’s a look at the current leaderboard:
- 34, Drake
- 17, Rihanna
- 13, Bruno Mars
- 13, Usher
- 12, Chris Brown
- 12, Lil Wayne
- 12, The Weeknd
- 11, Beyoncé
- 10, Post Malone
- 9, Jay-Z
- 9, Nicki Minaj
“Girl” secures Minaj’s first leader on Rhythmic Airplay in nearly three years, since her collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion and Ty Dolla $ign, “Hot Girl Summer,” led for one week in October 2019. The new champ marks her first as a sole leading act since “Truffle Butter,” featuring Drake and Lil Wayne, in 2015. As “Girl” joins the hitmaker’s chart-topping collection, here’s a review of Minaj’s Rhythmic Airplay No. 1s:
- “Bottoms Up,” Trey Songz featuring Nicki Minaj, one week at No. 1, beginning Oct. 30, 2010
- “Super Bass,” one, Aug. 6, 2011
- “Touchin, Lovin,” Trey Songz featuring Nicki Minaj, four, Nov. 22, 2014
- “Truffle Butter,” featuring Drake & Lil Wayne, one, March 28, 2015
- “Hey Mama,” David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj, Bebe Rexha & Afrojack, one, July 25, 2015
- “Rake It Up,” Yo Gotti featuring Nicki Minaj, one, Nov. 4, 2017
- “Big Bank,” YG featuring 2 Chainz, Big Sean & Nicki Minaj, one, Oct. 20, 2018
- “Hot Girl Summer,” with Megan Thee Stallion & Ty Dolla $ign, one, Oct. 26, 2019
- “Super Freaky Girl,” one (to date), Oct. 1, 2022
Elsewhere, “Girl” advances 9-5 on the Rap Airplay chart thanks to an 18% surge in audience in the week ending Sept. 25, and concurrently climbs 23-21 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay after a 16% gain to 5.8 million in audience in the same period. Plus, it rises 20-19 on Pop Airplay after a 10% gain in weekly plays.
Improvements at the rhythmic, pop and R&B/hip-hop radio formats combine to push “Girl” to the cusp of the top half of the 50-position, all-genre Radio Songs chart. There, the single jumps 33-26 in its fourth week on the chart after an 18% audience increase to 22.6 million in the week ending Sept. 22.