Linked here are Billboard magazine's number-one rhythm and blues hits.
Previously, Harlem Hit Parade, created in 1942, had listed the “most popular records in Harlem"[1] and another chart, "Race Records Juke Box", was created in 1945; in 1948, a parallel chart was added: "Race Record Best Sellers".
(The term "race music" originally came from within the black community, but was deemed offensive in the postwar world.
Because of the existence of multiple charts, some dates had more than one number-one song during the week.
According to researcher Joel Whitburn, "there was so much crossover of titles between the R&B and pop singles (Hot 100) charts that Billboard considered the charts to be too similar.