4Batz & Drake's “Act II” Reaches No. 1 on the Hot R&B Songs Chart

The challenger defeats the champion Advertising signHot R&B Songs chart this week as rookie singer 4Batz's “Act II: Date @ 8,” now featuring Drake, rockets 7-1 to top the March 23-dated list. The rise of the buzzing single comes after the release of a remix, which the heavyweight added, on March 8. At the summit, the new leader ends a historic run for SZA, who has reigned at the top of the chart for the past 53 weeks through four songs — “Kill Bill,” “Snooze,” a signature turn on “Slime You Out” and “Saturn” by Drake.

“Act II: Date @ 8” debuted on the chart dated January 6 and spent its first 11 weeks on the chart (including nine in the top 10) billed exclusively to 4Batz. With the majority of the song's activity in its final tracking week coming from the Drake-assisted remix, the song's chart listing undergoes two key changes: The artist credit changes to “4Batz featuring Drake” and the service tag, which previously just 4Batz, updated to 4Batz/OVO Audio. Business-wise, 4Batz and Drake will be partners again soon, as well Advertising sign reported that the budding singer has signed with OVO Sound — which Drake co-founded — for an EP deal.

In the March 8-14 tracking week on the multimetric Hot R&B Songs chart — which combines streaming, radio airplay and sales data — “Act II: Date @ 8” generated 19.9 million official streams in the U.S., according to Luminate, an explosion of 187%. from last week. The nearly threefold improvement drops the track 6-1 on the R&B Streaming Songs chart, where it becomes 4Batz's first chart-topper and Drake's ninth. It also wins the week's Greatest Gainer award, as the song with the biggest stream increase.

“Act II: Date @ 8” sold 1,000 digital downloads during the same period, sparking a No. 5 debut on R&B digital song sales. The track also scored 8.4 million audience impressions, helped by gains on several radio charts: climbing 19-16 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (up 21% in plays during the tracking week) and 28-24 on Rhythmic Airplay (a 33% increase).

Elsewhere, “Act II: Date @ 8” gains 26-3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it also takes home the Sales Gainer and Streaming Gainer awards, and 61-7 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. with the Streaming Gainer Award to boot.

While “Act II: Date @ 8” takes the biggest shine, two other 4Batz installments also hold spots on the Hot R&B Songs chart: “Act I: Stickerz 99″ rebounds 24-19 in its seventh week on the chart, while ” Act III: On God (She Like)” slips 10-11 in its second frame.