For the first time in 35 years, there are no rap songs in the Billboard Hot 100’s top 40.
The shift came after Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s 13-week No 1 hit Luther dropped off the chart dated October 25, 2025.
The highest-ranking rap track that week was YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s Shot Callin at No 44, followed by Cardi B’s Safe featuring Kehlani at No 48 and BigXthaPlug’s Hell at Night featuring Ella Langley at No 49.
The last time rap was absent from the Hot 100’s top 40 was February 2, 1990, when Biz Markie’s Just a Friend sat at No 41 before breaking into the top 40 the following week. That moment sparked a 35-year, eight-month streak of rap representation on the chart.
Recent rule adjustments by Billboard contributed to the streak’s end. Songs now go recurrent after surpassing specific chart durations and dropping below certain positions — a change that removed Luther after it fell to No 38 in its 46th week.
Despite several openings created by this rule, no rap songs were close enough to reenter the top 40. Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl also occupied 12 of those top spots.
Hip-hop’s market share has slipped from nearly 30% in 2020 to about 24% in 2025. With major artists like Drake and Kendrick Lamar between album cycles, the genre is in a quiet phase.
On the current chart dated November 1, Shot Callin inches closer, climbing from No 44 to No 43, extending rap’s top-40 drought to a second week.
