**For clarity, rap and hip-hop are used interchangeably throughout the article, as both represent the same space in music charts.** For the first time in over 35 years, rap vanished from the Billboard ...

Since the beginning of 2026, a flood of AI-generated music and videos built around Viking and Norse mythology aesthetics has swept social media. Here's how the AI Viking rap trend spread across ...

Billboard spoke with AZ Chike about how his debut album 'No Rest for the Wicked' was shaped by a leak, Kendrick Lamar, and ...

For the first time in more than three decades, not a single rap song ranks among the 40 most popular tracks in America. Last week's Billboard Hot 100 marked the end of a remarkable 35-year streak, ...

Let’s get this out of the way at the beginning: there is no handful of songs that ever completely encapsulate any genre or artist or sound. The beauty of art is that it’s ephemeral—to quote a famed ...

2025 was a strange year for rap singles, although some of the genre's biggest artists showed out with some bonafide hits. Hip-Hop in 2025 was highlighted by discourse about whether or not the genre is ...

Hip-hop has evolved from a powerful form of storytelling into one of the world's most influential cultural forces. As the ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Hugh McIntyre covers music, with a focus on the global charts. Post Malone returns to Billboard’s hip-hop tallies as DJ Khaled’s ...

A bizarre conspiracy theory circulating online has combined two popular targets of right-wing hatred: rap music and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The wild theory accuses the US ...

One of the biggest names in 2000s CHH is still garnering huge streaming numbers in 2026. “Ooh Ahh (My Life Be Like)” is one ...

In today’s digital age, you would think your favorite rap song would be just a click away. Well, as most of us know, that is not the case, especially on popular streaming platforms like Apple Music, ...

A recent tiff between underground rap promo pages has sparked an impassioned online debate about the definition of “gimmick rappers” over the past week. Most of it is boring and wrapped up in ...