No hip-hop song or album has reached the top of Billboard’s main charts in the US this year. It may be that rap is being displaced from the number one position in music.
No hip-hop song or album has topped the Billboard 200 or Hot 100 charts this year. A music media that maintains US sales charts Billboard reported about it on Monday.
The last time such a long time without rap hits has passed was in 1993, which means that rap success in the Yankees has been the laziest in 30 years.
The difference from last year is significant. By the start of June 2022, there had already been six number one hip-hop albums: Gunna DS4Ever, Lil Durkin 7720, by Tyler The Creator Call Me If You Get Lost, Pusha T‘s Almost Dry, Future I Never Liked You and by Kendrick Lamar Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.
There had been number one hits from the rap side by Jack Harlow First Class and Future and Drake’s Wait For U.
Instead of country, Korean and Colombian
Instead of rap, Yankees’ number one albums this year have been of Tomorrow X Together The Name Chapter: Temptation, Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito, by Morgan Wallen One Thing at a Time and by Stray Kids 5-STAR.
So, whereas last year there was “Made in USA*” -* rap, this year the going is international: Tomorrow X Together and Stray Kids are both South Korean boy bands, while Karol G is a Colombian r’n’b star.
Where’s the rap?
Billboard offers a few explanations for the lack of hip-hop releases on the charts.
Unlike last year, the “old” big names in rap did not release records at the beginning of the year. Rap’s generational change is still in progress, when the star roster of the 2010s, from Kendrick Lamar to Drake, To J. Cole and About Nicki Minaj Tyler The Creator is still in power.
Newer authors From Megan Thee Stallion to Lil Baby do not seem to rise to the status of the above-mentioned yet: Long breaks between projects and the uneven popularity of publications prevent the emergence of new solid stars.
The names Lil Durk and Moneybag Yo released new records at the beginning of the summer, but they don’t seem to end up at the top of the charts.
Cantria and lattar instead
Since 2018, hip-hop has been the biggest music genre in the United States. However, Billboard estimates that its dominance is about to break. Lattar music and country music are considered to be heirs to the mantle.
According to The Economist this may well be the case, as music sung in Spanish generated a billion dollars in record sales last year.
In Finland, on the other hand, hip-hop is doing very well, because on 14.6. More than half of the top 10 albums were hip-hop.