Jay-Z continues to add to his storybook career by joining an elite group of artists who’ve achieved a specific chart milestone.
Billboard reports the Brooklyn wordsmith has become just the sixth artist ever to have 100 solo appearances on the Billboard Hot 100. And he did it with the cut “Mood 4 Eva,” off the album “The Lion King: The Gift,” which also includes his wife Beyoncé, as well as Childish Gambino and singer Oumou Sangare.
The track debuted at No. 90 on the Hot 100, and the album itself holds the No. 2 position on the Billboard 200.
The only other artists besides Jay-Z to land on the Hot 100 at least 100 times are Drake with 196 appearances, Lil Wayne with 163, Elvis Presley at 109, and Nicki Minaj has landed there 103 times.
The “4:44” writer’s first appearance on the Hot 100 was on April 6, 1996, when his song “Ain’t No N–a/Dead Presidents,” featuring Foxy Brown, hit and peaked at No. 50. He also grabbed his first top 10 with Brown in 1997 with the cut “I’ll Be.”
On top of that, Jay-Z reached No. 1 on the chart four times, first in 1999 with the Mariah Carey song “Heartbreaker,” then in 2003 on Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love,” after that in 2007 with Rihanna‘s “Umbrella,” then with Alicia Keys in 2009 with “Empire State of Mind.”
But Jay and Beyoncé aren’t the only Carters on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their daughter Blue Ivy Carter landed at the 76th spot with the song “Brown Skin Girl,” which includes her mother, Saint Jhn and Wizkid.
Jay-Z’s 100th appearance on the chart doesn’t include the five times he’s been there as a member of The Carters, however. His two-person group with Bey doesn’t fall under the solo act category.
Other artists who’ve come close to reaching the Hot 100 as many times as the Roc Nation boss, Drake and the rest are Kanye West with 96 appearances, Chris Brown with 95, James Brown at 91, Future with 88, Ray Charles with 75, and Aretha Franklin for her 73 appearances.
