Rap’s 35-Year Hot Streak on Billboard Hot 100 Ends
For the first time in 35 years, rap music is taking an unplanned break from the Billboard Hot 100. The streak snapped when Kendrick Lamar’s “Luther,” featuring SZA, fell off…
For the first time in 35 years, rap music is taking an unplanned break from the Billboard Hot 100. The streak snapped when Kendrick Lamar’s “Luther,” featuring SZA, fell off the chart after Billboard made some new rule changes that shook things up.
Billboard announced the update on October 29, revealing that “Luther” had been removed from its chart tracker under the revised guidelines. The new rules tighten how long songs can stick around based on their chart position. For example, a song below No. 25 after 26 weeks or below No. 50 after 20 weeks will now be removed.
“Luther” landed at No. 38 in its final week, which meant it didn’t meet the new cutoffs—and out it went.
Kendrick’s Highs Before the Drop
It’s been a massive year for Lamar even with this recent loss. His album GNX made history as the longest-running No. 1 album on Billboard’s Top Rap Albums chart this summer. He also stole the show at the 2025 Super Bowl halftime performance and took home five Grammys, sweeping every category he was nominated in.
So while “Luther” may be gone from the chart, Lamar’s legacy is anything but fading.
Pop Takes the Lead
On the other side of the genre divide, pop music is thriving. Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl is dominating, with every track from the album appearing somewhere on the Hot 100. Justin Bieber, Olivia Dean, and Alex Warren—whose single “Ordinary” has spent an impressive 37 weeks on the chart—are also holding strong.
Meanwhile, rap still has a few songs hanging out near the bottom of the chart. YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s “Shot Callin” sits at No. 44, while Cardi B’s “Safe” featuring Kehlani and BigXthaPlug’s “Hell at Night” featuring Ella Langley hold down the No. 48 and No. 49 spots, respectively. There’s still hope that one of them could climb back into the top 40 soon.
A Genre in Transition
Billboard called the absence of rap in the Hot 100 “the latest sign of a recent dip in rap’s commercial dominance.” After peaking around 2020, when hip-hop ruled streaming and radio, the genre has seen a gradual decline.
Back in October 2020, there were 16 rap songs in the top 40. By 2023, that number had been cut in half. The last time rap completely disappeared from the upper ranks was in early February 1990, right before Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend” climbed back up to No. 29.
Rap has rebounded before—and odds are, it will again. For now, the genre that defined generations is simply catching its breath before the next big hit drops.
