I was looking at the highest selling rap songs from ‘06 to now. Here are the different artists to chart each year (lets do only top 10 for now):

06 - 17
07 - 14
08 - 8 (TI and Lil Wayne dominated)
09 - 11
10 - 11
11 - 13
12 - 10
13 - 9
14 - 12
15 - 8 (Fetty WAP dominated)
16 - 10
17 - 13
18 - 10
19 - 6
20 - 14
21 - 11
22 - 8
23 - 10
24 - 8

2020 is the odd year as covid messed up a lot of releases for artists so you had a lot of random names up there who have since disappeared.

Basically from 19 the numbers have dropped on average and if I was to do it based on new artists the list is even smaller.

Even though a lot of them fell off I'll always say 2020-2021 was a fun time for hip hop and the numbers in op dont lie

gate kept streaming playlists and the streaming algorithm that is built off of pushing similar sounding songs of the most currently popular songs

Lots of factors

Labels aren't developing artists anymore, they want overnight successes. Streaming has completely changed what it means to chart. Tik Tok also completely changed the formula for what a hit song is

Interesting topic, op
I think part of it is monoculture eroding.
More artists are making it as a full time job making music, but less are blowing up and charting huge songs and s***, because people just tend to listen to different things when they have the option.

I think it's lame his fans started this narrative/joke based off a really good song that people took a liking to

compare any artist album from 2014 to 2024

everyone just rapping on trap beats cuz it’s “hot” and the new artists do the same

s*** is tiring

Just to make sure I’m interpreting this correctly, this is the amount of rappers to chart within the Top 10 on the Hot 100 each year?

we are becoming too connected and everyone is developing the same taste in entertainment

Everything and everyone will eventually assimilate into a larger, singular, whole

If you look at the number it really hasn’t changed too much

06-14 having an average of 11.6 and 16-24 having an average of 9. Sure it’s lower, but not exponentially lower

Also you can’t saw look how few rappers there were in this 5 year span! Also 2 of the years don’t count

20% is pretty notable

Indisputable proof that 2006-2010 was the best time to be a rap fan

Yeah I guess from a percentage stand point. I just think the whole thread is kind of silly. It’s just another sales just much more convoluted and not necessarily indicative of actually diversity in the genre, imo

Doesn’t help when people stuck on forcing a big 3 like we can’t have more than 3 hot rappers

Man it’s hard to say. I’d say rap is less diverse now, there’s some regional variation but nothing like there was in the mid 2000s.

With the advent of social media everyone has started to sound similar, and the charts just kind of mirror that

The only region that still sounds very unique to me these days is Houston

We have a Billboard chartwatch thread pinned to the top of music sxn if that gives you any idea

Look at 2006 for example. It has the “most diversity” of any year on this list but when you dig a single layer deeper you see all of the songs are one hit wonder snap songs. Chingy? Jibbs? Lil Jon? Yung Joc? Yung Dro? In this context “diversity” just means more guys. I’m probably just tired and cranky tbh but these numbers don’t really mean anything to me in the context of diversity

If you think about it every single part of the casual listener experience now is completely homogenized and made to force you to listen to the most easy listening corporate approved s*** possible. You really have to go out of your way to listen to anything else

Yeah but tbf that was a regional sound that reached nationwide, that was a whole self contained era itself that contributed to the diversity. Music consumption is way more corporatized and streamlined now

I’m not arguing the lack of diversity im arguing these numbers don’t mean s***