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Hip-Hop Locked Out of Billboard Top 40: First Time Since 1990

*The week of October 25, 2025, marked an unprecedented setback for hip-hop: according to The AV Club, no rap songs made the Billboard Hot 100 Top 40. The long-running hit “Luther” by SZA and Kendrick ...
Rolling Out

Billboard’s top 40 loses all rap songs for first time

Hip-hop has officially exited the upper echelon of the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time in more than three decades. The top 40 of the iconic chart currently contains zero rap songs, marking ...
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For the first time in 35 years, the Billboard Top 40 has no hip-hop or rap songs. Here’s why

Starting in the late '70s, hip-hop and rap ascended through popular culture, mostly in America but also in other countries. Then, in 1990, a breakthrough. Hip-hop and rap tracks began infiltrating the ...
The Grio

Rap falls off the Billboard Top 40 for the first time in 35 years — here’s what’s behind the drop

Rap has officially dipped out of the top 40 songs on the Billboard charts for the first time in 35 years. Billboard reported today that there are currently no rap songs in the top 40 of the Billboard ...
Hypebeast

Megan Thee Stallion Ends the First Top 40 Rap Drought Since 1990

Megan Thee Stallion’s new single, “Lover Girl,” debuted at No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 This marks the first rap song in two weeks to enter the chart’s Top 40 The achievement ends the first drought ...
Hypebeast

The Billboard Hot 100’s Top 40 Has No Rap Songs for the First Time in 35 Years

For the first time since February 1990 — over 35 years — the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 40 contained zero rap songs on the chart dated October 25, 2025 The removal of Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “luther,” ...