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There are currently no hip-hop songs in the US top 40 chart for the first time since 1990.
It comes after Kendrick Lamar and SZA‘s hit 2024 single ‘Luther’ departed the Billboard Hot 100 due to rule changes to the chart in how songs are deemed eligible.
As Rolling Stone reports, the collaborative track was removed from the run-down after 46 weeks, during which the song spent 13 weeks at Number One.
‘Luther’ was still a top 40 hit at the time, landing at Number 38 in its final week. However, the single didn’t maintain a placement at Number 25 or above after its 26th week on the chart. The rule change subsequently resulted in the track disappearing from the top 40.
There is now not one hip-hop or rap song in the Hot 100’s top 40, as per the latest chart update for the week of October 29.
The list instead features Taylor Swift’s full ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ album, along with hit singles by the likes of Morgan Wallen, Olivia Dean, Kehlani and Alex Warren.
But there are still several rap tracks sitting just outside the top 40 that could head up the chart later. These include YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s ‘Shot Callin’ (Number 43), BigXthaPlug and Ella Langley’s ‘Hell At Night’ (Number 50), and Cardi B and Kehlani’s ‘Safe’ (Number 57).
Songs that have been on the Billboard Hot 100 for extended periods of time and also fall below a certain chart position will now be deemed “recurrent” and removed from the top 40.
‘Luther’ appears on Lamar’s sixth and latest studio album, ‘GNX’, which he surprise-released in November 2024. In a glowing, five-star review, NME said that Lamar and SZA “join up on the debonair ‘Luther’, flipping the soulful stylings of the late soul legend Luther Vandross“.
“Together, they revamp a traditional love ballad, hi-hats crashing against the racing strings and bass 808s, while the pair rely on their lofty registers to detail a modern love story,” it added.
Over the summer, Lamar and SZA brought their joint ‘Grand National’ tour to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. In a four-star review of the concert, NME wrote: “Basked in a hazy white glow, they deliver versions of ‘Luther’ and ‘Gloria’ with breathtaking tenderness.
“It’s a rare moment of collective softness after a sprawling, disjointed spectacle – proof of what the show could have been if the music had been allowed to breathe, to speak for itself. In London tonight, two stars collide, but even greatness can struggle to find the perfect balance.”
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