Everybody is saying Hip-Hop is down because there is no single in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In all honesty, so what? Weighing in on the news is legendary producer The Alchemist, making one thing clear: “No rap in top 40 has nothing to do with the music being bad or good.”
For the first time in more than 35 years, no rap songs appear in the Billboard Hot 100’s top 40. Kendrick Lamar’s “Luther” has dropped off the chart, ending an unbroken run that began in February 1990. The highest-charting rap song this week is YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s “Shot Callin,” sitting just outside the top 40 at No. 44. The week of October 25, 2025, marks a rare moment in chart history, signaling a possible shift in mainstream music tastes after decades of hip-hop dominance.