Chloe Bailey’s solo career is off to a strong start as the singer, who performs under the mononym Chloe, earns her first top 10 appearance on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Her debut release “Have Mercy” advances 13-10 on the list dated Dec. 4 thanks to continued radio strength.
“Mercy,” released via Parkwood/Columbia Records, entered Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at No. 13 in September and floated within the top 25 for its first ten weeks, including weeks of chart saturations from artists including Drake and Kanye West. It returned to No. 13 last week before its top 10 breakthrough on the current list.
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Radio airplay has been the main driver of “Have Mercy.” The single climbs 7-6 on the latest Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, which measures the most-played songs on U.S. monitored mainstream R&B/hip-hop stations. “Mercy” improves 3% in plays in the week ending Nov. 27 compared to the previous week, according to MRC Data.
Similarly, “Mercy” holds at its No. 7 peak thus far on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, which ranks the most-heard songs on R&B/hip-hop radio through audience impressions. In the week ending Nov. 27, the song adds 1% in audience to 13.8 million in the tracking period.
Beyond its home format, “Mercy” has also pushed into the upper tier of Rhythmic Airplay. It cracks the top five (up 6-4) in its 10th frame on the list, with a week-over-week gain of 10% in plays. Pop radio, too, has begun to catch on, as the budding hit moves 31-29 on Pop Airplay and improves 16% in weekly plays at mainstream top-40 stations.
Radio gains across multiple formats help “Mercy” climb 33-29 on the all-genre Radio Songs chart. The four-spot ascension comes through a 10% boost in audience, to 24.4 million in the tracking week ending Nov. 26.
Though “Mercy” is Chloe’s first solo offering, the singer is already familiar to audiences as one-half of the sibling duo Chloe x Halle, with her younger sister. The pair earned their first Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Billboard Hot 100 hit in 2020 with “Do It,” which reached No. 23 and No. 63 on those charts, respectively. Like “Mercy,” it also became a major R&B/hip-hop radio success, with a No. 6 peak on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay. The tune was also nominated for a Grammy Award for best R&B song, one of the siblings’ five nods to date.
