Ravyn Lenae achieves her first No. 1 on any Billboard chart as “Skin Tight,” featuring Steve Lacy, crowns the Adult R&B Airplay chart dated May 13. The single advances from No. 4 after an 11% surge in plays that made it the most-played song on U.S. monitored adult R&B radio stations in the week ending May 4, according to Luminate.
The new leader tops the list after a nearly-six-month journey. “Skin Tight” entered Adult R&B Airplay on the Nov. 26, 2022, chart and arrived at the top slot in its 25th week. It ousts another fellow newcomer, Ambré, whose “I’m Baby,” featuring Jvck James, drops to No. 4 after one week in charge.
“It feels crazy to have a No. 1,” Lenae, 24, tells Billboard about her first chart champ. “I think it’s resonating with people because it’s a story that is very relatable and hits home. I’m glad it’s made it’s rounds over the course of the year and that it is still being listened to.”
In addition to securing Ravyn Lenae’s first Adult R&B Airplay No. 1, “Skin Tight” is likewise the first champ here for Steve Lacy, on his first appearance. The Grammy Award-winner surged to new heights in popularity last year, on the heels of his Billboard Hot 100 No. 1, “Bad Habit.”
Despite what might have seemed an obvious choice to include a collaboration with one of the hottest R&B acts of 2022, Lenae says the new radio hit just made the cutoff for her album. “The funniest thing about this song is that it was added very late in the album process,” she says. “I started this song with Steve earlier on while making Hypnos, and he brought it back to my attention right when we were about to start mixing. That’s when we finished it and came up with the main line “Hold me while you can”. I’m so thankful he thought of the song and brought it back up because otherwise it probably wouldn’t be on the project.”
As “Skin Tight” leads Adult R&B Airplay, it continues to advance on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which ranks songs based on audience totals from both adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop radio stations. There, the single improves 27-21 thanks to a 18% boost in audience to 5.4 million in the latest tracking week. While most of the audience derives from the adult R&B sector, the song is making inroads at the mainstream R&B/hip-hop format, climbing 10% in plays in the last tracking week. For Lanae, her maiden visit secures her first first time in the top 25 of the 50-position R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay list; Lacy cracks the upper half in his second try, after “Bad Habit” peaked at No. 34 in November 2022.
