Rap falls off the Billboard Top 40 for the first time in 35 years — here’s what’s behind the drop

The news may indicate a dip in rap’s dominance in mainstream music, but the music publication has also changed its top 100 rules.

Rap has officially dipped out of the top 40 songs on the Billboard charts for the first time in 35 years.

Billboard reported today that there are currently no rap songs in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. The genre has been producing chart toppers at this level for three decades.

On October 25, Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s song “luther” fell off the Hot 100. At its peak, it spent 13 weeks at number 1. The other highest-ranking rap song on that date was “Shot Callin’” by YoungBoy Never Broke Again, at number 44. The Youngboy single has not broken the top 40 this week, either, meaning rap is still absent from that ranking.

The last time there were no rap songs in the “Hot 100’s” top 40 was on February 2, 1990. Biz Markie’s single “Just a Friend, was climbing the charts at number 41 that week, landed at 29 by the next week, and eventually peaked in the top 10. From that moment on, rap music stayed in the top 40.

The shock of the news immediately made music listeners question the state of rap and whether it has lost its mainstream dominance. Hip-hop’s market share has been declining since it hit a peak in 2020 at almost 30 percent. In 2025, the market share stands at 24 percent.

But, there’s more to the story that doesn’t concern just rap music. This summer, Billboard tweaked the rules to shorten the length of time that a song is allowed to stay on the Hot 100 chart. Previously, songs were pulled off the Hot 100 after they dropped below No. 25 after 52 weeks, or below No. 50 after 20 weeks. Billboard’s new rules are listed below.

Descending songs will now depart via the following thresholds, once they are:

Below No. 50 after 20 weeks

Below No. 5 after 78 weeks

Below No. 10 after 52 weeks

Below No. 25 after 26 weeks

These changes led to the departure of “luther” from the top 40. It was removed at number 38 after it had been on the Hot 100 for 46 weeks.

According to Billboard, the new rules address how the streaming era has impacted its charts, which now reflect repeat listening. An extreme example is when superfans, or “stans,” try to manipulate the charts by streaming their favorite artist’s single or album repeatedly to help increase its numbers. Billboard said the changes will “alleviate congestion in various regions of the Hot 100.”