Soul Sweep: September 22, 2012...

I'm back again with part three of today's "chart sweeps" of the newest songs making their way on to the weekly music charts at Billboard magazine. This time out it's the latest on the R&B side of the world.

On the main R&B/HipHop Songs chart, singer Miguel scores his third #1 hit in a year with his latest, "Adorn".

The top two debuts on this list this week also popped onto the Hot 100, where I covered them here. First, Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Big Sean enter at #45 with "Clique", from their GOOD Music compilation Cruel Summer. Kanye's been to the top of this chart three previous times as a lead artist, with 2005's "Gold Digger", last year's "Niggas In Paris" with Jay-Z, and "Mercy" from the same upcoming set (he has three more #1's in a featured credit role). Jay-Z has three lead #1s besides "NIP" - "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It To Me)" from 2000, "Excuse Me Miss" in 2002, and the classic "Empire State Of Mind" in 2009. Big Sean's "Marvin & Chardonnay" (featuring Kanye) is his sole #1 lead so far...(NSFW)

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Lil' Wayne has racked up three chart toppers as a lead as well: both "Lollipop" and "A Milli" from 2008, and last year's "She Will" (he can count five more in a featured role). His "No Worries" featuring newcomer Detail comes in at #64 at R&B...(MAJOR NSFW)

...Okay, now for a little more palatable fare. At #83 is neo-soul singer Angie Stone, whose biggest hit to date is her first, 1999's Top-10 "No More Rain (In This Cloud)". Her Rich Girl set is coming out on September 25th. The second single from that set is "Backup Plan", and its post-disco swagger is awesome, it takes me to an Evelyn "Champagne" King place...(sorry for the pic here on the clip, Angie, you need an official video pronto!).

At #84 is Michael Lynche, who finished fourth in the ninth season of American Idol (the Lee DeWyze year, and Simon Cowell's last). "Big Mike", along with Siobhan Magnus, were my favorites from that season, and I'm thrilled he's out with new music. Lynche's first single, "Who's Gonna Love You More", has been hanging in the Adult R&B chart for three months now, and finally pops in the main R&B list as well. It finds him in great 90s-era balladeer voice, though as much as I like this I hope he spreads out a little on his upcoming debut album. But hey, with those cascading guitar licks I'm won over.

Singer/songwriter Omarion started out in the soul boyband B2K, who topped the pop charts back in 2002 with "Bump, Bump, Bump". After leaving the band in 2004, he put out three successful solo albums, and had another top-5 R&B hit in 2006 with "Ice Box". He returns at #85 with the second track from the multi-artist compilation Self Made Vol. 2 from Maybach Records to feature the singer, "M.I.A.". It features rapper Wale, who went to #1 last year with "Lotus Flower Bomb". "M.I.A." sounds like Drake if he could really sing, and bumps along seductively and convincingly as a contrast to the other usual Maybach tracks.

Cleveland-born singer Avant teamed up with Indianapolis' Keke Wyatt back in 2000 for a top-40 pop/top-5 R&B hit remake of Rene & Angela's "My First Love", and after a long road, the two reunite at #87 with "You & I". Keke's been busy these days appearing on the TVOne reality show R&B Divas, but besides that this song is a welcome return for both of them, finding them in great form, with the lush production perfect for the slow jam ballad.

The last new song on the main R&B/Hiphop list is by Georgia rapper Ca$h Out, whose debut single, "Cashin' Out" went all the way to #2 on the R&B chart and top-40 pop. His third charting hit at #91 is "Hold Up" featuring the aforementioned Wale, its the usual minor-key swagger rap that doesn't bother me as much as some of the others, but not by much.  (MAJOR NSFW)

Meanwhile, over on the Adult-R&B radio list, Anthony Hamilton jumps back into the #1 spot for a second non-consecutive week with "Pray For Me".

Rocketing onto the chart at #22 is Alicia Keys with "Girl On Fire". I featured the "Inferno Version" on this weeks "Pop Sweep", and here's the stripped down "Bluelight Version", with re-recorded subdued vocals and bass-heavy instrumentation. Keys has topped the Adult R&B list four times so far, from 2005's "Unbreakable" to 2010's "UnThinkable". As I mentioned in the pop recap, I prefer the delicate version here, but of course that's subject to change...

Neo-soul fave Vivian Green topped the Adult R&B chart back in 2005 with "Gotta Go Gotta Leave (Tired)", and she's back at #29 with "Anything Out There", the first single from her upcoming album, The Green Room. It's pleasant, but maybe I'm not as bowled over yet as her previous hits, but hey, her best has been remixed (she's got three #1 dance hits), so there's promise for a banging club track!

While Brandy's return after a four year break has already given her a top-20 R&B/Hiphop hit with "Put It Down", the Adult R&B/Urban Adult contemporary side of the house is cozying up to another track from her forthcoming album, Two Eleven, "Wildest Dreams". It's more like the classic "Brandy" I like, and it's a good offset to the other single. She just missed the top 10 here earlier this year with her reunion with "The Boy Is Mine" collaborator Monica on "It All Belongs To Me"...

That's it for the R&B corner of the music world, stay tuned, in 90 minutes I'll give you the newest on country radio. Groove on!