Rap Music Vanishes from Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 for First Time Since 1990

As of October 29, 2025, the Billboard Hot 100 chart has seen a significant shift in the presence of rap music. For the first time in over 35 years, the top 40 of the chart dated October 25, 2025 did not contain a single rap song. The last time this occurred was on February 2, 1990, when Biz Markie's "Just a Friend" was the highest-ranking rap song at No. 41.

The end of this remarkable rap top 40 streak can be attributed, in part, to recent rule changes to Billboard's Hot 100 methodology. Songs that had fallen below certain thresholds and spent an extended period on the chart were deemed "recurrent" and removed, resulting in the departure of tracks like "Luther" from the top 40. This opened up opportunities for other songs to enter the region, but no rap tracks were close enough to the threshold to make the jump.

Additionally, the rap genre has seen a dip in its commercial dominance in recent years. Hip-hop's overall market share reached a peak of 30% in 2020 but has since slipped to just 24% so far in 2025. This shift is reflected in the Hot 100 chart, where only 8 rap songs were present in the top 40 two years ago, compared to 16 in the equivalent chart dated October 24, 2020.

While the absence of rap in the Hot 100's top 40 may be a temporary lull, it marks a significant moment in the evolving landscape of the music industry. As the industry continues to adapt to changing listener preferences and chart methodologies, the impact on the representation of different genres remains a topic of ongoing discussion and analysis.