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3d ago

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

Billboard’s revised recurrent policy pushed Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” off the chart, clearing the way for a rare rap-free stretch.

Kendrick Lamar performs with SZA during Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show at Caesars Superdome on February 09, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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Biz Markie appears at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on Nov. 23, 2012. His song “Just a Friend” launched a Hot 100 streak of rap songs on the upper reaches of the charts in 1990 that lasted over 35 years.
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Overview

  • The Oct. 25 chart ended a 35-year run of Top 40 rap presence when “Luther” was removed under updated recurrent thresholds, and the Nov. 1 chart remained rap-free.
  • YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s “Shot Callin” moved from No. 44 to No. 43 on the Nov. 1 Hot 100, making it the closest rap track to reenter the Top 40.
  • “Luther” fell to No. 38 in its 46th week and was reclassified as recurrent for not reaching No. 25 within 26 weeks, a change that also sent several other long-running songs off the chart.
  • Openings created by the removals did not lift rap titles into the region, with space further constrained by all 12 tracks from Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl occupying Top 40 slots.
  • Billboard data show hip-hop’s market share has slipped from nearly 30% in 2020 to about 24% in 2025, down from 16 rap songs in the Top 40 five years ago and eight two years ago.