Here are 15 predictions for rap music in 2026. No, there won't be a breakout AI star in rap.

This story is the second installment of a three-part series discussing major changes in popular music throughout the course of 2024. Today’s story focuses on the current state of rap music. This year ...

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - FEBRUARY 09: (L-R) SZA and Kendrick Lamar perform onstage during Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show at Caesars Superdome on February 09, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. ...

The hip-hop landscape has undergone a remarkable transformation in 2025, with an unprecedented surge of teenage talent capturing audiences nationwide. After years of established artists dominating the ...

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, ...

Billboard‘s recent rule changes sparked a concerned discussion after they resulted in a two-week absence of rap music in the Hot 100 chart’s top 40 for the first time in almost three decades. “Is ...

You could argue that today’s music fans are spoiled beyond previous generations’ wildest imaginations. Back in the Nineties and even the early 2000s, the level of insight audiences had into their ...

Hip-hop is in a complicated place right now. It’s not the dominant force it once was, but it remains the engine of popular music, with flashier, more global genres borrowing its strategies, sounds, ...

Rap isn’t just entertainment. It’s applied writing. Every strong verse uses voice, structure, evidence, and emotional control ...

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 ...