SZA’s SOS sails into uncharted waters on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart by becoming the longest-running No. 1 title in the chart’s 60-year history. The juggernaut earns the achievement with a 38th nonconsecutive week at No. 1, on the chart dated June 7, breaking its tie with Michael Jackson’s Thriller, which set the previous record of 37 weeks in 1983-84.
The new title-holder attains its historic week with 47,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the tracking week of May 23-29, according to Luminate, a 2% increase from the prior week. In total, SOS has spent 129 weeks on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and has never fallen outside the top 10.
SOS, SZA’s sophomore studio album, was released in December 2022 as the long-awaited follow up to the singer-songwriter’s acclaimed debut LP, 2017’s Ctrl. The set opened at No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and sparked hit singles such as “Kill Bill,” which spent a then-record 21 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and “Snooze,” which spent 13 weeks at No. 2 on the chart. The album received a second wind in December 2024 with its deluxe LANA edition’s release that added more than a dozen songs to the track list, including hits “Saturn” and “30 for 30.”
As SOS rewrites the record books, here’s an updated look at the albums with the most weeks at No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums since the chart launched in 1965.
Most Weeks at No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart
38, SOS, SZA, 2022-25
37, Thriller, Michael Jackson, 1983-84
29, Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em, M.C. Hammer, 1990
26, Just Like the First Time, Freddie Jackson, 1986-87
23, Can’t Slow Down, Lionel Richie, 1983-84
20, Songs in the Key of Life, Stevie Wonder, 1976-77
20, Street Songs, Rick James, 1981
20, Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon, Pop Smoke, 2020-21
19, Purple Rain, Prince and The Revolution, 1984
18, The Temptations Sing Smokey, The Temptations, 1965
18, Bad, Michael Jackson, 1987-88
Since a methodology change to Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums in February 2017 added streaming and individual track sales into the chart’s calculations, albums tend to spend much longer on the list due to consistent streaming activity. Prior to the switch, the chart’s ranks were based solely on traditional album sales. A growing shift toward longer track lists, too, has helped many popular albums retain strong chart positions as multiple popular songs from an album have provided a foundation for steady streaming numbers.
Due to the shifts, several longevity milestones have been rewritten in recent years. In addition to holding the No. 1 record for decades, Thriller also had the most weeks in the top 10 of Top R&B/Hop-Hop Albums, at 76 frames in 1983-84. While no album matched that total for over 30 years, six albums have now passed Thriller’s top 10-week count, all of which were released in 2012 or later.
Elsewhere on Billboard’s charts, SOS captures a 112th week at No. 1 on Top R&B Albums, far and away the longest leader on the 12-year-old list. On the all-genre Billboard 200, SOS ranks at No. 2, after having ruled the chart for 12 nonconsecutive weeks since its No. 1 arrival in 2022.
