Last week, hip-hop made headlines for a dubious reason. For the first time in more than 35 years, no rap songs appeared in the Billboard Hot 100’s top 40. This came after “Luther,” Kendrick Lamar’s duet with SZA, was removed from the chart following the implementation of a new rule.
The news sparked dialogue about the lack of hits from rappers on the charts. Even with the dominant success of “Luther” — which spent 13 weeks at No. 1 — rap has had a shaky year commercially.
In some ways, the latest news gave rap doubters more ammunition for a sentiment that has been reoccurring since the end of the pandemic: that the genre is dying, being lapped by fresher, more global sounds like K-pop and Latin music. It’s unclear whether the past couple of years are an aberration or the new normal.
One thing that complicates this narrative is that, historically, the charts haven’t always been the most important factor in hip-hop. In fact, some of the greatest and most genre-defining rap songs of the past 50-plus years—everything from Nas’ “N. Y. State of Mind” to Rick Ross’ “B. M. F.”—were never Top 40 hits, even though those songs are synonymous with hip-hop and, in some cases, have earned plaques. (“N. Y. State of Mind” went gold, while “B. M. F.” went platinum.)
This applies to the artists themselves, too. Some of the greatest and most accomplished rap artists of all time have never had a Top 40 hit. (We’re focusing on the Top 40 because that’s traditionally been the distinction between a hit and a non-hit—a measure that goes back to the 1950s.)
https://www.complex.com/music/a/treyalston/20-rap-artists-who-never-had-a-top-40-hit
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