On October 25, 2025, Kendrick Lamar and SZA's 13-week number one "Luther" fell from Billboard's top 40. The highest-ranking rap song at the moment is YoungBoy Never Broke Again's "Shot Callin'" at number 44. This means that no rap song remains at the top of the chart, something that hasn't happened since 1990.
The last time Billboard's "Hot 100" lacked rap songs in the top 40 was February 2, 1990, when Biz Markie's "Just a Friend" just reached number 41. The following week, the song jumped to number 29, beginning a 35-year, eight-month, three-week streak of rap songs consistently in the top 40.
Billboard's changed methodology for calculating the list has contributed to this. At the same time, rap music's absence reflects a decline in the genre's commercial dominance. In 2020, the genre accounted for almost 30 percent of the total market share, in 2023 it had dropped to just over 25 percent, and on October 23, 2025 it was around 24 percent. By comparison, the same week of the list in 2020 contained a whopping 16 rap songs in the top 40, and two years ago there were eight.
