Billboard published a weekly chart in 1984 ranking the top-performing singles in the United States in African American-oriented genres; the chart has undergone various name changes over the decades to reflect the evolution of black music and has been published as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs since 2005. In 1984, it was published under the title Black Singles through the issue dated October 13 and Hot Black Singles thereafter, and 19 different singles reached number one.

In the issue of Billboard dated January 7, "Time Will Reveal" by DeBarge was at number one, the final week of a five-week run in the top spot. The year's longest-running number one was "When Doves Cry" by Prince, which spent eight weeks in the top spot between June and August. Prince returned to number one in October with "Let's Go Crazy", on which his backing band the Revolution was also credited; he was the only act with more than one number one during the year. "When Doves Cry" has been included on lists of the greatest songs of all time, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Both songs also topped Billboard's pop chart, the Hot 100, as did five more of 1984's Black Singles number ones: "Hello" by Lionel Richie, "Let's Hear It for the Boy" by Deniece Williams, "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr., "Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)" by Billy Ocean, and "I Just Called to Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder.

A number of acts topped the black singles chart in 1984 for the first time. Rockwell gained his first chart-topper in March with his debut single "Somebody's Watching Me", which featured uncredited guest vocals by one of the most successful recording artists of all time, Michael Jackson. It was followed into the top spot by "She's Strange" by Cameo, the first number one for the band, which had charted regularly since 1977. In June, O'Bryan achieved the first chart-topper of his career with "Lovelite". "Caribbean Queen" became Ocean's first number one in September, and in December "Solid" gave Ashford & Simpson their first chart-topper, more than a decade after their first chart entry. The duo was replaced atop the chart by Midnight Star with its first number one, "Operator", which went on to be the final chart-topper of 1984.

Chart history

Key

†	Indicates number 1 on Billboard's year-end black singles chart

Chart history

Issue date	Title	Artist(s)	Ref.
January 7	"Time Will Reveal"	DeBarge
January 14	"Joanna"	Kool & the Gang
January 21
January 28	"If Only You Knew"	Patti LaBelle
February 4
February 11
February 18
February 25	"Encore"	Cheryl Lynn
March 3	"Somebody's Watching Me"	Rockwell
March 10
March 17
March 24
March 31
April 7	"She's Strange"	Cameo
April 14
April 21
April 28
May 5	"Hello"	Lionel Richie
May 12
May 19
May 26	"Don't Waste Your Time"	Yarbrough and Peoples
June 2	"Let's Hear It for the Boy"	Deniece Williams
June 9
June 16
June 23	"Lovelite"	O'Bryan
June 30	"When Doves Cry" †	Prince
July 7
July 14
July 21
July 28
August 4
August 11
August 18
August 25	"Ghostbusters"	Ray Parker Jr.
September 1
September 8	"Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)"	Billy Ocean
September 15
September 22
September 29
October 6	"Let's Go Crazy"	Prince and the Revolution
October 13	"I Just Called to Say I Love You"	Stevie Wonder
October 20
October 27
November 3	"I Feel For You"	Chaka Khan
November 10
November 17
November 24	"Cool It Now"	New Edition
December 1	"Solid"	Ashford & Simpson
December 8
December 15
December 22	"Operator"	Midnight Star
December 29

See also

• 1984 in music
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1984