In a striking turn for the music industry, rap music has been entirely shut out of the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in 35 years. The week, which ended this past Friday, saw zero songs classified under rap in the upper half of the chart. This moment sheds light on a dramatic shift not only on the charts but within the broader hip-hop ecosystem.
The last time no rap song landed in the top 40 was February 1990, showing how consistently rap had dominated popular music across decades. This recent absence is multi-factorial. For one, the departure of the rap hit “Luther” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA from the chart due to recurrent-rules changes left vacuum. On top of that, twelve tracks from Taylor Swift’s new album held spots in the top 40, squeezing out other genre contenders.
According to The Fader, “no rap songs currently rank in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time since February 1990,” result of both industry mechanics and shifting listener trends. The article notes that the last major rap holdout, Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” fell from the chart this month, officially ending hip-hop’s decades-long streak.
Still, the outlet emphasizes that the absence doesn’t necessarily signal a creative downturn for rap. “Hip-hop remains culturally dominant even if it’s not reflected in this week’s charts,” The Fader writes, suggesting that much of today’s innovation in the genre happens outside traditional mainstream pipelines through independent releases, viral moments and cross-genre experimentation.
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