No Rap Songs in Hot 100's Top 40 for First Time Since 1990
www.billboard.com
No rap songs have ranked in the top 40 on the last two Billboard Hot 100 charts, following Kendrick Lamar and SZA's "Luther" dropping off the chart.

With Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s 13-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “Luther” falling off the Hot 100 dated Oct. 25, 2025, there were officially no rap songs in the chart’s top 40 last week.

The highest-ranking rap song — defined as a song deemed eligible for charting on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs listing — on the Oct. 25 Hot 100 was YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s “Shot Callin,” at No. 44. Cardi B’s “Safe” (featuring Kehlani) and BigXthaPlug’s “Hell at Night” (featuring Ella Langley) also ranked in the 40s, at Nos. 48 and 49, respectively.

The last time before that when there were zero rap songs in the top 40 of the Hot 100? You have to go back all the way back to Feb. 2, 1990, when the top-ranking rap song was Biz Markie’s eventual top 10 hit “Just a Friend,” which had just climbed to No. 41 on the chart. The next week, “Just a Friend” jumped to 29, starting a Hot 100 streak of rap songs in the top 40 that would last for the next 35 years, eight months and three weeks.

  • kurcatovium@piefed.socialEnglish
    2·
    4 days ago

    I am basically a rock and metal fan, listening to everything from Led Zeppelin, through Sigur Ros to Cannibal Corpse. Yet I kind of enjoy some (old) rap stuff like Cypress Hill, Wu Tang Clan, NWA or so. But whenever I come across modern shit like I don’t even know… Lil Z or another random name? What the fuck is that?