The ‘Young Lion’ Skips into the history books with H.E.R.

Skip Marley etches his name into the history books with Slow Down – on which he is joined by R&B songbird and two-time Grammy award-winning musician, H.E.R. – by moving to the top of both Billboard Adult R&B and Mediabase Urban adult contemporary charts.

Marley is the first Jamaican artiste to achieve such a feat. The single has garnered over 12 million streams on Vevo and more than 160 million global artiste streams. The song recently regained momentum following Island Record’s release of a remix featuring US rapper Wale.

Statement from Skip Marley:

“I never set my sights on a chart position when we recorded the song, but I give praise and thanks to the Almighty that the music can reach these heights and connect to a wider audience… Ever proud to represent Jamaica, achieving new levels in any endeavor. We ‘apprecialove’ all the DJs, programmers, and stations who supported. It takes an army of Jah soldiers to make this type of noise. Maximum respect to H.E.R. for lifting the track with her heavenly vocals and much love to Wale for blessing the remix.”

Additionally, the young musician is the first lead artiste to enter the Top 15 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart in almost 15 years. Slow Down is currently just outside Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop airplay’s (11), Hot R&B songs (11) and Rhythmic songs (14) charts. Previously, Sean Paul elicited the help of US singer Keyshia Cole for his 2006 hit Give it Up to Me.

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The sultry duet with H.E.R. brings Marley the coveted top spot for his debut on the Adult R&B chart. The 20-odd-year-old, third-generation Marley performer now sits at number 45 on Billboard’s Emerging Artist chart.

Slow Down also occupies number 26 on Billboard’s mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop chart after peaking at number 5 on the magazine’s Bubbling Under 100. The single also retains the number 26 slot on Mediabase’s Urban Top 30 chart and number 17 on the airplay tracker’s Rhythmic Top 20 chart.

“Skip not only continues to build on the success of the Marley legacy but has carved out a unique lane for himself in this business. As the first Jamaican artist to reach #1 on the Adult R&B Songs chart, his Island Records family couldn’t be prouder,” Island Records President and CEO Darcus Beese remarked.

During the mandatory quarantine, which was brought on by the covid-19 global pandemic, Marley has been performing multiple acoustic sets including Essence’s Music Monday series, Billboard Live, Global Citizen & World Health Organization and MusiCares.

The ‘Young Lion’ previous Billboard history includes major charting spots, in 2017, at number 4 on the Top 100 with the Katy Perry-led Chained to The Rhythm, number 2 on the Next Big Sound artiste chart, and number 88 on the Artist 100 chart.

Mediabase is a division of iHeartmedia which monitors radio airplay of some 180 satellite and terrestrial markets across the United States and Canada.