Are musical tastes changing?
Or is there a deeper cultural shift in the works?
Those are the sorts of questions permeating social media and music discourse after a shocking report surfaced that the Billboard charts are missing a clear genre of song for the first time in decades.
“No Rap Songs Are in the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 40 for the First Time Since 1990,” Billboard blared in its headline.
“With Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s 13-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 ‘Luther’ falling off the Hot 100 dated Oct. 25, 2025, there were officially no rap songs in the chart’s top 40 last week,” Billboard explained.
The last time a rap song wasn’t in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 was in 1990, when Biz Markie’s eventual top 10 hit “Just a Friend” was only able to rank at 41.
Of note, a week after “Just a Friend” just barely missed the top 40, it jumped up to 29, kicking off the streak of rap songs in the top 40 that just ended.
As both Billboard and People magazine noted, one reason for rap’s lack of inclusion in the top 40 may have had to do with Billboard’s new rule change with regard to chart-topping.
“Previously, Billboard removed songs that slipped below No. 25 after 25 weeks or No. 50 after 20 weeks,” People notes. “Now Billboard will remove songs given the following parameters of chart descent: Below No. 5 after 78 weeks; No. 10 after 52 weeks; No. 25 after 26 weeks; and No. 50 after 20 weeks.”
Billboard, however, also noted that — outside of charting rule changes — another reason that rap fell out of the top 40 is because the genre is losing some of its appeal.
“The lack of rap songs in the Hot 100’s top 40 is the latest sign of a recent dip in rap’s commercial dominance,” Billboard noted. “Hip-hop’s overall market share reached a peak in 2020, when it neared 30%. That had slipped to just over 25% in 2023, and has been at 24% so far in 2025, through the week of Oct. 23.”
It is worth pointing out that while musical tastes may be changing with regard to rap, some things just don’t change.
Another reason rap isn’t on the top 40? Because all 13 tracks from pop czarina Taylor Swift’s newest album, “Life of a Showgirl,” are in the top 40. That’s nearly half of that list made up of Swift’s brand of milquetoast pop.
Billboard did opine that at least one rapper, Drake, is wholly expected to crack that top 40 once his highly anticipated new album, “Iceman,” finally drops.
But while the rap world waits for that album, fans of other music appear to be largely tuning the genre out.
Social media reaction was mixed on this new musical development.
Some rap connoisseurs blamed “goofy hiphop journalists” for this downfall:
Congratulations to the culture and the dot era for successfully ending a streak of 35 years, eight months and three weeks.
No rap songs appear in the top 40 on the Hot 100 for the first time since February 1990.
You goofy hiphop journalists cheered for the label and supported… pic.twitter.com/HRxUzN83R5
— Akademiks TV (@AkademiksTV) October 29, 2025
Conservative pundits, meanwhile, argued that this is emblematic of a larger cultural shift — and rap’s waning influence.
For the first time since 1990, no rap songs appear in Billboard’s Hot 100 Top 40. Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” was the last to drop off after new chart rules took effect.
The shift highlights rap’s shrinking share of mainstream music over the past five years. pic.twitter.com/78XQFifShJ
— Timcast News (@TimcastNews) October 30, 2025
“The shift highlights rap’s shrinking share of mainstream music over the past five years,” Timcast News said.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
The post The Billboard Top 40 Now Contains Zero Rap Songs for the First Time in Decades appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.