Usher f/ Beyoncé and Lil Wayne, “Love in This Club, Pt. 2″ (LaFace). You could call it a remix, but it is more of an adjustment, even though the original continues to ride high(er). Beyoncé gets thrown into the mix, Jeezy is replaced with Weezy (who is hilarious, despite being a distraction), and the initial mix’s bleariness is transformed into a sugared glide; you can never go wrong with the gentle bass boom accented with a little synthetic cowbell. Nothing could make up for Confessions‘ “Throwback” not being released as a single, but this comes surprisingly close. It’s the first single this year to go straight to the Top 20 of the R&B/Hip-Hop chart. (Bizarrely, it has more or less stalled).

Colby O’Donis f/ Akon, “What You Got” (KonLive/Geffen). What is most remarkable? That Puerto Rican-American singer Colby O’Donis is a ready-made marketing dream? (A first name that is as Middle American as it gets, a last name that looks Irish and could pass as an unintentional reference to a Greek god, a squeaky-clean image balanced out by a professional association with the not-so-”clean” Akon…) Or is it that Colby’s face appears roughly 50 times on the Official Colby O’Donis MySpace Page? Or is it that this breezy slice of post-freestyle pop is already in the top 20 of the Hot 100 and is, depending on your interpretation, deceptively dirtbag-ish (”But I don’t mind if ya come and play with us/Just don’t talk too much”)? Looks like a tie, possibly.

Here is the full roster of new R&B entries on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for May 3 and 10, listed in order of position, along with ratings on a 0-to-10 scale and links to samples. One question (make it three, actually): Why does Al Green need John Legend? More specifically, why does a song by Al Green need “featuring John Legend” listed beside it? Is anyone more likely to pay attention to an Al Green song because it features John Legend? “Oh, I probably wouldn’t have checked out that Al Green song, but now that I see John Legend is involved, I am interested.” No disrespect to Legend — John Legend could be just about anyone else, because we’re talking about Al Green.

May 3, 2008
89. Jill Scott f/ George Duke, “Whenever You’re Around” (8)
91. Al Green f/ John Legend, “Stay with Me (By the Sea)” (7)
92. Mariah Carey, “Bye Bye” (5)
95. Mariah Carey f/ T-Pain, “Migrate” (8)
96. Chrisette Michele, “Love Is You” (7)
100. Colby O’Donis f/ Akon, “What You Got” (6) MySpace

May 10, 2008
14. Usher f/ Beyoncé and Lil Wayne, “Love in This Club, Pt. 2″ (8) MySpace
78. Rihanna, “Take a Bow” (5) MySpace
93. Ray Lavender, “Stay” (6) MySpace
95. Pleasure P., “Did You Wrong” (4) MySpace
98. Leona Lewis, “Bleeding Love” (2) MySpace
100. Cherish, “Amnesia” (7) MySpace

Previously
January 19 (Ryan Leslie, Usher)
January 26 and February 2 (Dear Jayne, Raheem DeVaughn, Cherish)
February 9 and 16 (Johnta Austin, Charlie Wilson)
February 23 and March 1 (Mariah Carey, Usher, Ashanti)
March 8 and 15 (Estelle, Noel Gourdin)
March 22 and 29 (Tiffany Evans, Michael McDonald)
April 5 and 12 (Lloyd, Karina Pasian, Paris Houston)
April 19 and 26 (Lalah Hathaway, Ne-Yo, Conya Doss, R. Kelly)