For the primary time in greater than 35 years, no rap songs seem in the Billboard Hot 100’s prime 40.
The streak got here to an finish on the chart dated Oct. 25, 2025following the autumn of Kendrick (*40*) and SZA’s 13-week No. 1 hit, “Luther.” The highest-charting rap music is now YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s “Shot Callin” at No. 44, simply outdoors the highest 40. Other rap tracks, together with Cardi B’s “Safe” that includes Kehlani and BigXthaPlug’s “Hell at Night” that includes Ella Langley, are additionally in the 40s at No. 48 and 49.
The final time the Hot 100 had zero rap songs in the highest 40 was Feb. 2, 1990, when Biz Markie’s Just a Friend had simply reached No. 41. That single would bounce to No. 29 the next week, sparking a 35-year, eight-month, and three-week streak of rap songs persistently showing in the highest 40.
Billboard’s current chart methodology adjustments performed a task in the milestone. According to the outletsongs that had spent prolonged time on the chart and fell beneath sure positions have been deemed recurrent and eliminated. “Luther,” which had been at No. 38 the week prior after 46 weeks on the Hot 100, was one such music.
While the rule change created alternatives for different tracks to rise, no rap songs have been shut sufficient to interrupt into the highest 40. The dominance of Taylor Swift’s 12-song stronghold from her new album The Life of a Showgirl additionally restricted room for rap hits.
Hip-hop’s absence in the highest 40 highlights a current dip in business dominance. At its peak in 2020, rap made up almost 30% of the general market share; by 2023, it fell to only over 25%, and thru Oct. 23, 2025, it has hovered round 24%. In comparability, the identical chart week in 2020 featured 16 rap songs in the highest 40, and two years in the past, there have been eight.
“Luther” was the final rap music to look in the Hot 100’s prime 10, rating No. 9 on the Aug. 2 chart, earlier than falling out of the highest 10 the next week. The closest any rap music has come since was BigXthaPlug’s “All the Way” at No. 22 on Sept. 6, 2025.