Billboard’s new music column The Juice is paying homage to 50 artists/groups that have paved the way for R&B/Hip-Hop music over the past 25 years. At the top of the list is R&B singer R. Kelly, who beat out 49 other acts for the spot, including Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Michael Jackson and others.
R. Kelly crowns our list of the top 50 R&B/hip-hop artists of the past 25 years with good reason. Since January of 1985, he’s amassed 35 top 10 hits on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (the most of any act in the time frame) and a total of 84 charting singles. Among those are 11 No. 1s, including “Bump N’ Grind” (12 weeks at the top) and “Down Low (Nobody Has To Know)” (seven weeks) with Ronald Isley. Further cementing Kelly’s hitmaker status is his staggering 11 No. 1s on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The R&B icon continued to post new chart achievements in 2010, as he notched his 56th top 40 single with “When a Woman Loves.” (Billboard)