In 2025, Hip-Hop Died and Was Reborn

"Claims that hip-hop is dead have been ricocheting for decades, but on October 29th, Billboard reported that there were exactly zero rap songs in the top 40 of the Hot 100 chart, for the first time since February 1990. The drought arrived after Kendrick Lamar and SZA's long-reigning hit "Luther" was quietly removed under Billboard 's updated chart rules, which now eject older songs more aggressively: tracks below No. 5 after 78 weeks; No. 10 after 52 weeks; No. 25 after 26 weeks; and No. 50 after 20 weeks."

"The song spent 13 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 earlier this year, giving Lamar and SZA their longest chart-topper, as well as the second longest-running hip-hop song of all time, behind Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road." Within two weeks of its departure, Megan Thee Stallion put hip-hop back in the top 40 with her latest single "Lover Girl." But it makes sense that the last enduring rap song in the coveted upper echelon of the Hot 100 would come from Lamar, the artist who has spent the last 20 months influencing the genre and pop culture alike."

"Prior to K-Dot's lyrical and character assault of Drake, hip-hop was in a strong place, commercially. Per , hip-hop's overall market share in 2020 was near 30 percent, a peak for the genre. In 2023, that number slipped to just over 25 percent, and as of late October, it was hovering around 24 percent. But commercial success is not always equivalent to creativity and substance. While the genre reached its market peak five years ago, hip-hop's creative vitality steadily eroded under Drake's lengthy, chart-dominating reign, which prioritized ubiquity, shallow collaboration, and self-mythology over substance."

Billboard's updated chart rules removed older tracks more aggressively, producing a moment with zero rap songs in the Hot 100 top 40 on October 29th. Kendrick Lamar and SZA's "Luther" was ejected after failing to reach No. 25 following more than 26 weeks, despite earlier spending 13 consecutive weeks at No. 1. Megan Thee Stallion returned hip-hop to the top 40 within two weeks with "Lover Girl." Hip-hop's market share peaked near 30 percent in 2020, slipped to just over 25 percent in 2023, and hovered around 24 percent by late October. Commercial prominence coexists with concerns about declining creative vitality amid prolonged chart domination by certain artists.

Read at Consequence