Michael Jackson has secured 10 places on the 15-slot Billboard R&B Streaming Songs chart this week, capitalising on a sharp decline in track streams from rapper Drake, according to reporting by forbes.com.
The late pop star’s resurgence includes four re-entering singles, allowing him to occupy two-thirds of the entire specialist streaming list.
Jackson’s performance is led by his classic track “Billie Jean,” which retained its position at No. 1. His posthumous release “Chicago” advanced to a new peak at No. 2, blocking any outside competition from the top of the chart. Jackson also secured the third and fourth positions with “Human Nature” and “Beat It,” respectively.
The significant shift in chart positions comes as multi-album tracks from Drake began to vacate the ranking. The Canadian artist recently made history by launching three simultaneous albums-Iceman, Habibti and Maid of Honour-at the top three positions on the Billboard 200. Whilst predominantly hip-hop projects, several tracks were classified as R&B and dominated the streaming chart last week.
Drake’s presence on the R&B streaming chart has now been reduced to three tracks. His collaboration with Loe Shimmy, “I’m Spent,” fell from No. 2 to No. 5. Meanwhile, “Classic” dropped to No. 8 and his PartyNextDoor collaboration, “Fort Worth,” dipped to No. 11. Five of Drake’s tracks that occupied the chart last week failed to sustain their positions and fell off the list entirely.
The vacancies left by Drake’s departing tracks allowed Jackson’s “Rock With You” to re-enter the chart at No. 10. Three further singles from the late artist followed consecutively, with “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” returning at No. 12, “Smooth Criminal” at No. 13 and “Bad” at No. 14.
The high turnover of tracks also allowed Justin Bieber to mark a return to the specialist ranking. Bieber’s former number-one single “Yukon” re-entered the chart in the final slot at No. 15, marking its 35th week on the tally.
The volatility of the Billboard R&B Streaming Songs chart highlights the contemporary streaming landscape, where major multi-album releases from modern artists routinely flood the charts upon release before older, perennially popular catalogue tracks re-establish their baseline dominance.
