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Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 Is Rap-Free for Second Straight Week

A new recurrent rule knocked Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s long-running “Luther” off the chart, ending a 35-year run of rap in the upper tier.

Overview

  • Billboard reports the Top 40 contained no rap songs on the Oct. 25 chart and remains rap-free on the Nov. 1 listing, marking a second consecutive week.
  • YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s “Shot Callin” is now the highest-ranking rap entry at No. 43, with Cardi B’s “Safe” at No. 48 and BigXthaPlug’s “Hell at Night” at No. 49.
  • Billboard’s updated recurrent thresholds removed “Luther” at No. 38 in its 46th week, with seven other Top 40 tracks also made recurrent under the new rules.
  • Twelve songs from Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl have occupied Top 40 slots for three weeks, limiting openings for new entries from other genres.
  • Hip-hop’s U.S. market share has slipped from nearly 30% in 2020 to about 24% in 2025, and the last Top 40 without rap was previously recorded on Feb. 2, 1990.