2025 Was the Year of the “Mutt” — And Now It’s the R&B Charts’ All-Time Top Dog
(December 1, 2025) – The next Chinese Year of the Dog won’t happen until 2030. But in the U.S., 2025 was clearly the year of the “Mutt.” In a year full of unexpected chart storylines, perhaps none has been more entertaining — or more ironically self-fulfilling — than the slow rise of Leon Thomas’ “Mutt,” the double-platinum R&B smash whose refrain calmly instructs: “Take your time… what’s the rush?”
Well, “Mutt” took that directive seriously. And now, after 35 long weeks on the chart, it is finally the most-played tune on Billboard’s Radio Songs list (chart dated Dec. 6), which measures radio airplay across all formats.
Earlier this year — thanks, in part, to a remix featuring Chris Brown — “Mutt” went where no other canine cut had gone since George Clinton’s “Atomic Dog” more than 42 years ago — to No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (beginning in August), where it still resides after 14 non-consecutive weeks at the top.
And in the process — much to the chagrin of my fraternity brothers (Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., aka “Ques”) everywhere — “Atomic Dog” no longer holds the distinction of being man’s best friend’s biggest No. 1 soul hit since Big Mama Thornton rocked out with the original “Hound Dog” in 1953! Additionally, “Mutt” is now marking its territory at pop radio, too, in a way that no other song — not “Who Let the Dogs Out,” not Florence & the Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over,” not Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog, not the O’Jays’ “Brandy” — has done since Elvis Presley’s classic cover of “Hound Dog” did nearly 70 years ago!
Yes, it’s that kind of dog-eat-dog moment.
🎵 “Mutt” Became the Top Dog of R&B Months Ago
Before this week’s Radio Songs triumph, “Mutt” had been sniffing around at the top of R&B playlists for months. It first topped the Adult R&B Airplay chart — or what this blogger affectionately call the Grown Folks list — back in May. Then it moved to No. 1 on the younger-skewing Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop R&B Airplay list. And finally it crowned the Rhythmic Airplay list, which leans even younger, in June. It took a few more weeks before the paws were aligned for “Mutt” to top the more comprehensive R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay list, which combines the Adult and Mainstream lists, and that finally led to its crowning of the composite Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs list, which adds sales of downloads and streaming — as well as other airplay formats — to the chart mix.
It was in September when “Mutt” eclipsed “Atomic Dog” as the chart’s longest-running canine No. 1 since the rock era began in 1955. Clinton’s classic spent four weeks at No. 1 in the spring of 1983 (after dethroning Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”) to become the biggest dog hit since Big Mama’s “Hound Dog” in 1953 (eight weeks at No. 1). It’s worth noting that two other dog classics have topped Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in the chart’s history: “Doggin’ Around” by Jackie Wilson for three weeks in 1960 (a remake titled “Stop Doggin’ Me Around” by the group Klique reached No. 2 in 1983) and Elvis’ remake of “Hound Dog” for one week in 1956.
With 14 weeks at No. 1 and counting, “Mutt” is clearly the R&B world’s new alpha dog, wagging its tail happily for months while daring other songs to try and snag its No. 1 bone.
But while “Mutt” leans more thematically towards Wilson’s classic soul ballad, with singer/songwriter Thomas taking on the role of a shunned, vulnerable, and hurt pup who’s trying to find his way in a romantic relationship, the song is no longer the underdog its lyrics portend it to be.
Related: “Atomic Dog” and Other Nuked Tunes—Ranked!
It’s now closer to “Hound Dog” and “Atomic Dog” in attitude — a chart stomping top dog whose No. 1 territory all future dogs will now try to enter and mark as their own. Yes, Thomas’ song’s breeding may be in question, but its legacy as the undisputed canine king of Black music’s kennel of dog classics — at least chart-wise — will be tough to beat.
It’s enough to make this Que tilt his head to the side in dismay.
💩 And Now Poop, err Pop Dominance is in Its Sights
Thanks to increased pop radio play (it sits at No. 5 on the pure pop airplay list), “Mutt” hits No. 1 for the first time on the all-genre Radio Songs chart, which combines pop, R&B, rhythmic, country, rock, adult and other formats, making it the biggest, broadest, most genre-agnostic airplay chart in the U.S.
Translation: “Mutt” was the most heard song on American radio this past week, beating out Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” at No. 2.
It has crossed beyond R&B into full pop saturation and, in the process, accomplished the increasingly rare feat of topping both R&B’s biggest chart and mainstream’s biggest airplay chart. That’s canine crossover territory that only Elvis’ “Hound Dog” conquered 70 years ago.
The moment was made even richer by “Mutt” following that historically slow 35-week climb, which could only be described as… obediently patient (only one song in the chart’s history has taken longer — Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” — at 37 weeks in 2023).
“Mutt” waited. It stretched. It sniffed around the edges at No. 2 more than two months earlier before retreating to No. 4 and then rebounding to begin its final climb to the top. Its refrain — “take your time, what’s the rush” — made it Billboard’s most prophetic song title since Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight” spent exactly a fortnight at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 2024.
But its chart climbs may end here. With Christmas upon us, “Mutt” is projected to fall from its No. 6 peak on the Hot 100 next week — not because it’s weakening, but because Mariah, Wham!, Brenda Lee, Andy Williams, and other Christmas ghosts of charts past are surging. “Mutt”’s radio prowess will likely similarly be affected with the annual returns of chart chow like “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” and “Last Christmas.”
Even the top dog in America must yield when Santa’s reindeer come to town.
Still, nothing can take away from its Radio Songs chart crowning — its graduation from R&B dominance to mainstream ubiquity akin to a mutt going from the local dog park to the Westminster Dog Show…and winning!
Leon Thomas has indeed created something rare in 2025 — a slow-burning, self-aware, genre-spanning smash that reached its radio peak all while honoring its own mantra: “Take your time… what’s the rush?”
No rush indeed.
“Mutt” proved that sometimes the most loyal hits don’t run fast — they run long.
And finally this week, Leon Thomas’ loyal canine came home with the (Radio Songs) crown.
Congratulations to the multi-talented Thomas.
DJRob
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.
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