Hot Rap Songs is a record chart published by the music industry magazine Billboard that ranks the most popular hip hop songs in the United States. 77 songs topped Hot Rap Songs in the 2010s. The first number-one song of the decade was "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys. In 2012, Drake broke the record for the most Hot Rap Songs number-one songs, previously held by Diddy. During the 2010s, Drake spent the most weeks at number one and attained the most number-one songs on Hot Rap Songs, with 19 chart-toppers spanning 118 weeks. In 2019, "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus spent a record-breaking 20 weeks atop Hot Rap Songs. The final number-one song of the decade on the chart was "Roxanne" by Arizona Zervas.
At the start of the decade the chart was airplay-based, with rankings based on each track's estimated audience as monitored by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems from a panel of 134 radio stations. In October 2012, Billboard altered the chart's methodology to include digital download sales and streaming data. Under the new methodology, the Rap Songs chart became a distillation of the main Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, which according to the magazine "highlight[s] the differences between pure R&B and rap titles in the overall, wide-ranging R&B/hip-hop field." "Gangnam Style" by Psy was the first number-one song to benefit from these changes, ascending from number 20 to the top spot on the chart dated October 20, 2012.
The changes were met with controversy, with critics arguing that the new chart failed to take into account R&B and rap music's traditionally African-American demographic. Psy's climb to number one in particular was also criticized, with Ebro Darden, program director of New York City radio station WQHT, arguing: "Trust me when I tell you hip-hop does not consider Psy rap. Billboard has pull, but they cannot make people who live hip-hop believe Psy is rap." In response, Billboard chart director Bill Werde defended the changes as a necessary means of reflecting consumer tastes on genre charts. In a 25th anniversary listing of the top 100 songs in the history of Hot Rap Songs based on chart performance, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' 2013 15-week number-one single "Thrift Shop" was ranked at number one, thanks in part to the new methodology.
Number-one songs +Key Billboard year-end number-one song ↑ Return of a song to number one ← 2000s2010201120122013201420152016201720182019 Song Artist Reached number one Weeks atnumber one Ref. "Empire State of Mind" Jay-Z featuring 9 "BedRock" Young Money featuring Lloyd 9 "Say Something" Timbaland featuring Drake 4 "Nothin' on You" B.o.B featuring 7 "Over" Drake 4 "Your Love" 8 "Love the Way You Lie" Eminem featuring Rihanna 8 "Fancy" Drake featuring T.I. and Swizz Beatz 1 "Right Above It" Lil Wayne featuring Drake 5 "No Hands" Waka Flocka Flame featuring Wale and 2 "Aston Martin Music" featuring Drake and 3 "No Hands" ↑ Waka Flocka Flame featuring Wale and 3 "Black and Yellow" 2 "Moment 4 Life" featuring Drake 9 "Look at Me Now" featuring Lil Wayne and 10 "My Last" Big Sean featuring 2 "I'm on One" DJ Khaled featuring Drake, and Lil Wayne 13 "Headlines" Drake 7 "Niggas in Paris" Jay-Z and 10 "Make Me Proud" Drake featuring 1 "" Drake featuring Lil Wayne 14 "Drank in My Cup" 4 "Cashin' Out" Cash Out 2 "Mercy" , Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz 9 "No Lie" 2 Chainz featuring Drake 6 "Gangnam Style" Psy 8 "I Cry" Flo Rida 3 "Gangnam Style" ↑ Psy 1 "Thrift Shop" Macklemore and featuring Wanz 15 "Can't Hold Us" Macklemore and featuring 14 "Holy Grail" Jay-Z featuring 5 "Berzerk" Eminem 1 "Holy Grail" ↑ Jay-Z featuring 6 "Rap God" Eminem 1 "Holy Grail" ↑ Jay-Z featuring 1 "" Eminem featuring Rihanna 9 "Timber" Pitbull featuring Kesha 15 "Fancy" featuring Charli XCX 18 "Anaconda" 6 "Black Widow" featuring 5 "Hot Nigga" 2 "I Don't Fuck with You" Big Sean featuring E-40 3 "Only" featuring Drake, Lil Wayne and 1 "I Don't Fuck with You" ↑ Big Sean featuring E-40 6 "Time of Our Lives" Pitbull and Ne-Yo 7 "Trap Queen" Fetty Wap 3 "See You Again" featuring 15 "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" Silentó 9 "Hotline Bling" Drake 18 "Me, Myself & I" G-Eazy and 1 "Summer Sixteen" Drake 1 "Me, Myself & I" ↑ G-Eazy and 8 "Panda" Desiigner 15 "Don't Mind" 1 "Panda" ↑ Desiigner 2 "Sucker for Pain" Lil Wayne, and Imagine Dragons with Logic and Ty Dolla Sign featuring X Ambassadors 1 "Too Good" Drake featuring Rihanna 3 "Broccoli" DRAM featuring Lil Yachty 9 "Black Beatles" Rae Sremmurd featuring Gucci Mane 8 "Bad and Boujee" Migos featuring Lil Uzi Vert 12 "iSpy" Kyle featuring Lil Yachty 1 "Humble" 4 "I'm the One" DJ Khaled featuring , Quavo, Chance the Rapper and Lil Wayne 13 "Unforgettable" French Montana featuring 2 "Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)" Cardi B 8 "Rockstar" featuring 21 Savage 15 "God's Plan" Drake 11 "Nice for What" Drake 4 "This Is America" Childish Gambino 2 "Nice for What" ↑ Drake 2 "Psycho" featuring Ty Dolla Sign 1 "Nice for What" ↑ Drake 1 "Sad!" XXXTentacion 1 "I Like It" Cardi B, Bad Bunny and 1 "Nice for What" ↑ Drake 1 "In My Feelings" Drake 11 "Lucid Dreams" Juice Wrld 1 "Mona Lisa" Lil Wayne featuring 1 "Lucid Dreams" ↑ Juice Wrld 1 "Zeze" featuring and Offset 1 "Sicko Mode" 10 "Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)" and 9 "Please Me" Cardi B and 1 "Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)" ↑ and 2 "Wow" 1 "Old Town Road" Lil Nas X featuring 20 "Truth Hurts" Lizzo 7 "Highest in the Room" 1 "Truth Hurts" ↑ Lizzo 6 "Roxanne" 4
References
External links Hot Rap Songs at Billboard