For the past four decades, rap music has been a genre-defying art form that has influenced modern culture in thousands of ways, from connecting different communities all the way to style and clothing trends. Ever since its mainstream appearance in the 80s, personalities such as Run-D.M.C. and N.W.A have paved the way for the genre to evolve and stay fresh for many years. An indicator of rap’s longevity is its constant appearance on the Billboard Hot 100. Since 1990, there has always been a rap song in the Top 40. But that streak came to an end on October 25, 2025.
For a song to chart on the Top 40, it must receive a massive number of plays. This can happen through streaming the song, listening to the song on the radio, or buying the track. All of these count towards streams, and if they receive enough, the song can claim a spot on the Top 40.
Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s hit song “luther” was the last song on the Top 40, with its disappearance marking the end of rap’s long-running mastery of the charts. Given the amount of time rap has stayed consistent on the charts, this news has started a conversation: is rap officially dying? With different genres, such as R&B and folk starting to gain more traction in recent years, could it be possible that newer generations are straying away from rap, losing the traction it once had?
In the 90s, rap cemented itself into the mainstream, and the charts reflected that; about 7,300 rap songs entered the Hot 100 across the decade. During the 2000s, around 89 different rap singles reached number one on the charts.
In the 2010s, artists like Drake and Kanye West dominated the charts and boosted rap music into mainstream popularity. Songs such as “All of The Lights” and “God’s Plan” are some of the most recognized rap songs from this decade, leaning away from how traditional rap songs sounded.
Around October 2020, only 16 rap songs were present on the Hot 100’s Top 40, which would later decrease to about half of that in October 2023.
In 2024, “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar and “Houdini” by Eminem reached the top three on the Top 40, but no other rap songs that year were able to reach this milestone.
But what is the real reason for this staggering fall off?
Albums such as GNX by Kendrick Lamar and DON’T TAP THE GLASS by Tyler, the Creator are relatively seen as the biggest mainstream rap albums that were released recently. Both albums had many of their songs land on the Billboard charts, both landing a spot on the Top 40. But after these songs disappeared, no others went in their spot.
Many major veterans, such as Kanye West and Lil Wayne, kept the genre fresh and excited for numerous years. But their recent albums haven’t connected to listeners the way their past albums did. On June 6, Lil Wayne released his latest album Tha Carter VI, selling 108,000 units its first week. It was a pivotal flop compared to Tha Carter V, released in 2018, which sold 480,000 copies its first week. The project received negative reviews, with many people agreeing that this project is Wanye’s worst. Pitchfork, a notable and highly respected music magazine, described the project as a “disaster.”
Coincidentally, Kanye West’s latest album VULTURES 2, made in collaboration with Ty Dolla $ign, is now regarded as his worst album to date. Pitchfork wrote that the songs felt “limp and flabby.” The album sold 107,000 units its first week, becoming West’s lowest charting album ever.
Constant album delays, mainly popularized by West, have had a major effect on getting the public excited for an album. West’s upcoming album BULLY has been on fans’ radar for a year now, but the delay had ultimately killed the hype that the album had when it was first announced. Highly anticipated albums, such as Playboi Carti’s MUSIC received constant delays, making fans wait upwards of five years for one album. When albums get delayed, it slowly kills the excitement for the fans, with many of them not caring about the project when it finally releases.
The main reason why rap disappeared from the Top 40 was due to a new rule that Billboard Magazine introduced, which moved older “recurrent” songs off the Hot 100 quicker. This was a major blow to the appearance of rap on the charts, since many timeless songs were constantly in the Top 40. This new rule was also the reason why “luther” fell from the charts, labeling this rule as the nail in the coffin for rap in the Top 40.
A genre of music that has influenced the world for the past 40 years most likely won’t disappear anytime soon, but its fall from the charts could be showing a shift that general audiences have towards rap music. Other genres, such as country and pop, still dominate the charts, occupying many of those 40 spots.
Rap’s relationship with the charts have always been fluctuating, constantly rising and peaking, but it has still remained a cultural giant in the world. The sound that rap has now is miles different to when it was first introduced, yet despite these changes, millions of people around the world still adore the genre as a whole and appreciate it as an art form. It’s undeniable that rap music isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
