Particle.news
Download on the App Store

For the First Time Since 1990, Rap Disappears From Billboard Hot 100 Top 40

A rule change that sped the removal of long-running hits pushed Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s “Luther” off the chart, highlighting hip-hop’s recent market-share slide.

Overview

  • The latest Hot 100 ends a roughly 35-year run of rap titles in the chart’s upper ranks, a streak that began in February 1990.
  • Billboard’s updated recurrent policy triggered the exit of “Luther” after a 46-week run that included 13 weeks at No. 1.
  • No rap tracks appear in the current top 40, with YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s “Shot Callin” the highest rap entry sitting just outside the threshold.
  • Top 40 slots have been crowded by major pop releases, including all 12 tracks from Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl remaining on the chart.
  • Industry figures cited in coverage place hip-hop’s market share near 24% this year, and commentators note the genre’s sound continues to shape pop and country even as fewer rap artists chart high.