With ‘Sober,’ Psiryn Has the First Girl Group No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart in Decades
R&B girl group Psiryn earns its first No. 1 on a Billboard chart as its single “Sober” rules the Adult R&B Airplay chart. The track ascends from No. 2 after an 8% jump that made it the most played song on U.S. panel-contributing adult R&B radio stations for the tracking week of Jan. 31-Feb. 6, according to Luminate.
In taking the summit, Psiryn — comprised of Anaya Chayenne, Jada Denise and Victoria McQueen — becomes the first all-female duo or group to crown the Adult R&B Airplay chart in nearly 23 years. The last? The duo Floetry, whose “Say Yes” ruled for seven weeks in May-June 2003. Among acts with at least three members, Psiryn is only the second girl group to reign on the 31-year-old Adult R&B Airplay chart. The trio joins Brownstone, which scored a pair of one-week leaders — “If You Love Me” and “Grapevyne” — in 1995.
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As “Sober” advances, it knocks Coco Jones’ “Here We Go (Uh Oh)” from the top spot. The former champ ruled for seven nonconsecutive weeks beginning last December, including the last two frames.
“It feels surreal and is an absolute honor,” Psiryn tells Billboard of its new No. 1. “We are the first girl group in 20 years to achieve this, and it feels truly out of this world – we still can’t believe this is happening!”
The journey to summit began nearly six months ago, when “Sober” debuted at No. 23 in September. A steady climb followed, but the single ran the risk of falling short of the apex — with five straight weeks at No. 5 around the holidays — before a final push put it to the finish line. The week-in, week-out support, the group notes, likely aligns with a wider mood. “The relatability of this record speaks volumes. So many people connect with ‘Sober’ and the feeling of needing a break from the real world,” the trio adds. “People just gravitate toward it, just like we did when we first heard it!”
“Sober” was released through independent label Kandi Koated Entertainment, a multimedia agency owned by Kandi Burruss. The entrepreneur rose to fame as a member of R&B group Xscape, which logged 10 hits on the Adult R&B Airplay chart in the 1990s, including “Just Kickin It” (No. 4), “Understanding” (No. 3) and “Who Can I Run To” (No. 2), all of which reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. As a songwriter, Burruss co-penned hits include No. 1 Hot 100 hits from TLC (“No Scrubs”) and Destiny’s Child (“Bills Bills Bills.”)
Elsewhere, “Sober” repeats at its No. 18 high on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which ranks songs by combined audience totals from monitored adult R&B and mainstream R&B/hip-hop radio stations. There, the single climbed to 6.2 million audience impressions in the week, up 13% from 5.5 million in the previous tracking window.
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