It’s a sweet sixteen for Prince Royce.
The 34-year-old Dominican American bachata star has logged his 16th No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart thanks to “Me EnRD,” which ascends 4-1 on the July 29-dated ranking.
With the new champ, Royce matches Carlos Vives for the second-most No. 1s by a tropical act, both with 16.
“Wow, happy with another No. 1 on Latin Airplay filled with colleagues from all different type of genres,” Royce tells Billboard. “Means so much, especially a song about DR where bachata was born.”
According to Luminate, “Me EnRD” crowns the all-Latin genre tally with 10.22 million audience impressions earned in the U.S. during the July 14-20 tracking week; that’s a 21% gain from the week prior.
Plus, it ousts Karol G and Shakira’s “TQG” from its two-week lead with a 7% dip in impressions, to 8.6 million. It falls to No. 3.
As “Me EnRD” ascends to the summit, Royce becomes the only artist to top Latin Airplay, unaccompanied by any other act — among the 15 rulers — in 2023. The last artist to pull off the feat was Maluma when “Junio” reigned for one week in October 2022.
As mentioned, with “Me EnRD” advancing from No. 4, Royce banks his 16th ruler and enters a tie with Vives for the second-most No. 1s among tropical acts, trailing only Romeo Santos who continues at the helm with 21.
Here’s the scoreboard of rulers by tropical acts on Latin Airplay since the chart launched in 1994:
21, Romeo Santos
16, Carlos Vives
16, Prince Royce
14, Marc Anthony
11, Gloria Estefan
6, Juan Luis Guerra y 440
“Me EnRD” was released on April 20 and lands at the penthouse on Latin Airplay in its 13th week. It concurrently takes the lead on Tropical Airplay, where Royce collects his 23rd champ.
