For the first time since 1990, hip-hop was absent from Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for two weeks in October. That drought was short-lived and has returned to the charts. While some are concerned about the genre’s future, it is still performing well both critically and commercially.
Until the release of Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl,” the biggest streaming debut of the year was Playboi Carti’s “Music,” as it had 139 million streams in its first day, breaking Spotify’s streaming record at the time.
Carti’s success shows that relatively new artists within hip-hop can compete with established superstars across all genres. You don’t get 139 million streams without being able to command an audience, and no artist does that better right now than Playboi Carti. “Music” also showed that hip-hop can merge styles better than any other genre, as both Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd appeared on the album.
In addition to the record-breaking streaming debut for the genre, hip-hop has also seen numerous albums top the charts this year. Artists like Tyler, the Creator, Travis Scott and Lil Baby, among others, have all seen their albums top the Billboard charts.
While each album only topped the charts for a week, it still proved that hip-hop has enough stars to keep the genre relevant. The fact that there is a wide range of hip-hop artists that can top the charts shows that it does not rely on one or two stars to carry the genre.
The commercial success that hip-hop has seen this year proves that a two-week drought on the Billboard charts is not cause for alarm and that the genre is still very much relevant.
As a lifelong hip-hop fan, I grew up listening to artists like Eminem and Kanye West. I still go back to those artists and look forward to when they put out new music, but have also loved the artists that have come out as I’ve grown up, like Travis Scott and Carti.
Hip-hop is the most versatile genre on the planet, and the new artists have continued to push the boundaries of the genre. No other genre includes as many unique style choices, including clever bars, energetic beats and more rap artists than ever being including singing in their songs.
In addition to the commercial success that hip-hop has seen this year, it has been making waves within pop culture for the last few years. Just last year, the genre was the talking point of the year thanks to the feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
That led to Lamar’s album, “GNX,” going No. 1 on the charts and “Not Like Us” becoming the first non-holiday song to top the Hot 100 three separate times. It culminated with Lamar performing at the Super Bowl and having the most-watched halftime show of all time.
Beyond hip-hop, Lamar is one of the greatest artists of all time and will be remembered as the defining hip-hop artist of this generation. The commercial success he’s achieved is expected, considering he has put out the best and most influential albums since his debut in 2011.
Drake has also seen commercial success after the feud throughout the year, as his most recent album, “$ome $exy $ongs 4 U,” topped the charts after its release in February and “Nokia” went as high as No. 3 on the Hot 100.
While the feud did benefit both artists commercially, hip-hop’s success is not solely due to the beef. It instead proved, unlike any other genre, that hip-hop can command the attention of the entire world. In no other genre can you see two of the biggest artists in the world go head-to-head, command the attention of the entire world and lead into the Super Bowl.
In addition, hip-hop is also being critically acclaimed this year. Of the eight albums nominated for album of the year at the Grammy Awards, three of them are hip-hop albums. Clipse, Tyler, the Creator and Lamar were all nominated for album of the year.
Lamar also received the most nominations of any artist, with nine, and Tyler had two albums nominated for a Grammy for both “Chromakopia” and “Don’t Tap the Glass.”
While it had a short recess from the Hot 100, hip-hop as a genre is still very much alive. The genre is more diverse than it has ever been sonically due to the vast style differences within the genre. Lyrics and energy from artists across the board are what make the genre popular and what will allow it to thrive in the future.
This has allowed for both artists who focus more on lyricism, such as Clipse and Lamar, and artists who focus more on energy, such as Carti, to find success. As someone who has listened to hip-hop my entire life, one of the things I have always enjoyed is the variety of styles across the genre. That same appeal for me is what will help hip-hop thrive well into the future.
Every genre goes through its rises and falls in success, and hip-hop is no different. However, its exclusion from the Hot 100 only became noteworthy because of the impact the genre has, and not because it is on the decline either critically or commercially.
