(August 3, 2026) – It’s here! DJROBBLOG’s exclusive listing of every rap song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. From Vanilla Ice’s first official rap No. 1 in 1990 to the most recent, all 102 songs that qualify as rap/hip-hop to top Billboard’s premier singles chart are listed here, along with a brief story of each one!
Remarkably, despite hip-hop’s omnipresence in popular music and popular culture over the past four decades, the 102 qualifying songs (using the methodology described below) represent just 8.5% of the 1194 total No. 1s in Hot 100 history (since Aug. 1958). The share rises to 14.2% when measured from rap’s commercial breakthrough in November 1979, and to 22.1% from November 1990, when the genre scored its first official No. 1. The total will undoubtedly grow over time, but as of this writing (Aug. 2026), the list remains surprisingly exclusive. By comparison, there’ve been nearly 300 albums that qualify as hip-hop that have topped the Billboard 200 chart over the past 40 years, mainly because albums don’t have to cross pop’s airplay barrier before becoming hits.
How are songs considered for this list?
As with any genre-based list, a handful of Hot 100 No. 1 entries occupy a gray area. Songs were generally included if they were widely marketed, perceived, or charted as rap or hip-hop releases at the time. Readers may reasonably disagree about a few titles – or about some that have been excluded – and that’s part of the story of hip-hop’s evolution.
Few of you might recall when Billboard removed Milli Vanilli’s first hit, “Girl You Know It’s True,” from their early rap singles charts, and subsequently kept their other songs off. That’s the same scrutiny the blog applied to the borderline songs that were considered for inclusion here. For this list’s purposes, I generally excluded songs whose primary identity is pop, R&B, country, Latin, dancehall, or rock – even if performed by artists commonly associated with hip-hop. Conversely, melodic delivery alone was not grounds for exclusion if the song’s overall identity remained rooted in hip-hop.
With that in mind, the first No. 1 rap song was technically Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” in November 1990. But Blondie took “Rapture” – a song that heavily featured Debbie Harry rapping throughout the song’s second half – to No. 1 in 1981. During the intervening years, a few songs came close, including Run DMC’s “Walk This Way” (No. 4, 1986), Tone Loc’s “Wild Thing” (No. 2, 1989), and MC Hammer’s “Pray” (No. 2, 1990). Hammer’s earlier “U Can’t Touch This” was largely viewed as a No. 1 hit, but his label’s decision to release only a 12” vinyl version of the single limited its chart performance in 1990 to a No. 7 peak.
From Rap’s Humble Beginnings to Today
Rap and hip-hop didn’t begin to dominate pop culture until the 1990s, thanks to prominent placement in mainstream media like Fox-TV’s comedy sketch show In Living Color and MTV’s Yo! MTV Raps. Whereas only three songs topped the chart during the decade’s first half, ten rap hits reached No. 1 from 1995-99, beginning with Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise,” which also became the first rap song to finish the year as the Hot 100’s top song.
Since 1995, only one year – 2000 – has gone without at least one rap or hip-hop song topping the chart. Still, the fact that the defining genre of the past several decades has only recently crossed the 100 mark is astounding. That says something about the exclusivity of the chart’s summit and the increasingly blurred boundaries between hip-hop and adjacent genres.
Here is DJROBBLOG’s exclusive recap of the 102 rap/hip-hop songs that have topped the Hot 100. Songs that finished as the year’s biggest hit are highlighted in gold font. This list will be updated as warranted:
1990s (13 songs)
No. 1: “Ice Ice Baby” – Vanilla Ice (1990, 1 wk). Vanilla Ice’s biggest chart rival in 1990 was MC Hammer. But he has Hammer’s label, Capitol Records, to thank for “Ice Ice Baby” becoming rap’s first No. 1 single. Capitol limited the early 1990 release of the wildly popular “U Can’t Touch This” to a12” vinyl single, stunting its performance on the Hot 100. It almost certainly would’ve been rap’s first No. 1 single otherwise.
No. 2: “Jump” – Kris Kross (1992, 8 wks). In the wake of other kiddie stars like Another Bad Creation and The Boys came Kris Kross, two 12-year-olds whose flows were as good as anyone twice their age. Their song topped charts in Australia, Canada, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Zimbabwe… proving rap’s new global reach.
No. 3: “Baby Got Back” – Sir Mix-a-Lot (1992, 5 wks). The “Brick House” of rap? Not since the Commodores’ big 1977 hit had there been a song celebrating a (Black) woman’s backside with as much crossover appeal as Sir Mix-a-Lot’s ubiquitous smash single. And there arguably hasn’t been one since.
No. 4: “Gangsta’s Paradise” – Coolio ft. L.V. (1995, 3 wks). There’s something symbolic (and deeply satisfying) about the first rap song to become the year’s biggest hit borrowing heavily from Stevie Wonder’s “Pastime Paradise,” a song from what many consider one of the greatest albums of all time, Songs in the Key of Life.
No. 5: “Tha Crossroads” – Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (1996, 8 wks). Consider this hip-hop’s version of “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday,” except bigger. Ironically, despite the song’s mourning theme, the group’s original membership is still intact and touring some 30 years later.
No. 6: “How Do U Want It/ California Love – 2Pac ft. K-Ci & JoJo/ ft. Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman (1996, 2 wks). Hip-hop’s first double-sided No. 1 came just two months before 2Pac was murdered in Las Vegas. Roger Troutman – featured on “California Love” – would also succumb to gun violence (at the hands of his own brother) in 1999.
No. 7: “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” – Puff Daddy (Diddy) ft. Mase (1997, 6 wks). To say Puffy (now Diddy) was on top of the world in 1997 would be a huge understatement. “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” – equally an understatement – was the first of five No. 1 songs he produced (and contributed vocals to) that year. He was credited as an artist on three of them.
No. 8: “Hypnotize” – The Notorious B.I.G. (1997, 3 wks). Less than ten months after 2Pac scored his first No. 1, Biggie secured his. Sadly, both rappers would be gone by March 1997, making Biggie’s “Hypnotize” the first posthumous No. 1 by a rapper, and the first posthumous No. 1 single by anyone since John Lennon’s “(Just Like) Starting Over” 16 years earlier. This song, as well as Mariah Carey’s “Honey” a few months later, contained no shortage of the Diddy ad-libs that drew criticism from his West Coast nemesis Suge Knight at the prior year’s Source hip-hop awards.
No. 9: “I’ll Be Missing You” – Puff Daddy (Diddy) and Faith Evans ft. 112 (1997, 11 wks). Diddy’s Police-sampling tribute to the fallen Christopher Wallace included Biggie’s wife Faith Evans and featured Bad Boy labelmates 112. That meant five Bad Boy acts – Diddy, Biggie, Mase, Evans, and 112 – had all secured No. 1 songs in the span of two months.
No. 10: “Mo Money Mo Problems” – The Notorious B.I.G. ft. Puff Daddy (Diddy) & Mase (1997, 2 wks). Biggie’s tribute was knocked out of No. 1 by Biggie himself, featuring his boss Diddy and fellow rapper Mase. This made Mase the first rapper to score two No. 1 songs without being a lead artist on either tune. When Mariah Carey’s “Honey” replaced “Mo Money” at No. 1, it gave Diddy three consecutive No. 1 tunes as a producer/vocal contributor, something that hadn’t happened since the Bee Gees’ heyday in 1978.
No. 11: “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” – Will Smith (1998, 3 wks). By the time Will Smith – the first rapper to win a Grammy – hit No. 1, he’d dropped his Fresh Prince moniker and finished his run starring in the NBC sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. He had also begun starring in the movie franchises for Bad Boys and Men in Black, making him an A-list Hollywood actor. Getting his first No. 1 Billboard hit was small potatoes by comparison.
No. 12: “Doo Wop (That Thing)” – Lauryn Hill (1998, 2 wks). Lauryn Hill became the first female rapper to hit No. 1 in 1998, somewhat avenging the non-No. 1 status of her ubiquitous 1996 remake of the Roberta Flack classic “Killing Me Softly,” which had been withheld from commercial single availability and therefore was ineligible for the Hot 100. Moreover, Hill would be the only female rapper in a lead role to have a No. 1 hit for the next 16 years.
No. 13: “Wild Wild West” – Will Smith ft. Dru Hill & Kool Moe Dee (1999, 1 wk). A bit of history: Before Will Smith’s “Wild Wild West,” the last time an artist had a No. 1 song from a movie in which he also played the lead role was fifteen years earlier when Prince topped the chart with songs from Purple Rain.
2000s (30 songs)
No. 14: “Ms. Jackson” – OutKast (2001, 1 wk). The first of OutKast’s three No. 1 hits was Andre 3000’s and Big Boi’s version of Dr. Hook’s “Sylvia’s Mother,” lyrically speaking. In this case, the song was inspired by the mother of singer Erykah Badu, who Andre 3000 was dating at the time.
No. 15: “Always on Time” – Ja Rule ft. Ashanti (2002, 2 wks). The Murder Inc. domination of the Billboard charts was in full swing by early 2002. A few months before “Always on Time” topped the chart, a Murder remix of Jennifer Lopez’ “I’m Real” (feat. Ja Rule) did the same. They were followed by more No. 1 hits by Lopez, Ja Rule, and singer Ashanti, giving Murder Inc. the kind of domination that hadn’t been seen since Bad Boy Entertainment’s chart blitz five years earlier.
No. 16: “Hot in Herre” – Nelly (2002, 8 wks). St. Louis entered the rap scene with acts like Chingy, J-Kwon, Murphy Lee, and others. But Nelly was the Gateway Arch city’s first to hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 with 2002’s intentionally misspelled summertime anthem, “Hot in Herre.” Nelly remained the city’s only chart topper for 22 years, until Metro Boomin hit No. 1 in a featured role on Future’s “Like That.”
No. 17: “Dilemma” – Nelly ft. Kelly Rowland (2002, 10 wks). Diddy was the first rapper to replace himself at No. 1 in 1997. But Nelly was the first to do it in lead roles. His own “Dilemma,” featuring Destiny’s Child’s Kelly Rowland, knocked “Hot in Herre” out of No. 1 in August 2002, outlasting its predecessor with 10 weeks on top (vs. eight for “Hot”).
No. 18: “Lose Yourself” – Eminem (2002/03, 12 wks). While Will Smith was the first rapper to top the charts with a song from a movie starring him in a lead role, Eminem became the first to do so with a quasi-autobiographical film. “Lose Yourself” – from the motion picture 8 Mile – was No. 1 for 12 weeks – then the longest-running No. 1 rap hit in Hot 100 history.
No. 19: “In Da Club” – 50 Cent (2003, 9 wks). Originally considered for the 8 Mile movie (and presented to Eminem proteges D12), “In Da Club” was ultimately recorded by fellow Eminem discovery 50 Cent, whose version instantly catapulted him to superstardom in 2003. “Club” became the second rap hit to finish atop Billboard’s annual year-end recap (after 1995’s “Gangsta’s Paradise”).
No. 20: “21 Questions” – 50 Cent ft. Nate Dogg (2003, 4 wks). Surprisingly, the only No. 1 song credited to the late singer Nate Dogg was as a featured guest on 50 Cent’s “21 Questions” in 2003. That’s because earlier classics like “Regulate” (by Warren G.), “The Next Episode” (by Dr. Dre), and “Area Codes” (by Ludacris) failed to reach the pinnacle.
No. 21: “Shake Ya Tailfeather” – Nelly, P. Diddy & Murphy Lee (2003, 4 wks). The numbers kept stacking up as Nelly achieved his third and Diddy his fifth No. 1 Hot 100 singles. That extended Diddy’s lead as the “rapper” with the most No. 1 singles, whether in a lead or featured role. This includes his appearance on B2K’s “Bump, Bump, Bump” from earlier in 2003.
No. 22: “Stand Up” – Ludacris ft. Shawnna (2003, 1 wk). While Ludacris rightly gets all the shine for this song and its hilarious music video, few people recall that “Stand Up” was produced solely by none other than Kanye (Ye) West, the year before West would achieve his own chart-topping success with his solo debut as well as in featured roles on other hits (see No. 24 below).
No. 23: “The Way You Move” – OutKast ft. Sleepy Brown (2004, 1 wk). OutKast’s second No. 1 – “Hey Ya!” – was Andre 3000’s vehicle. It’s not included on this list because it’s more of a throwback pop-funk song with Andre singing, not rapping. But that smash hit was dispatched from No. 1 by the equally memorable “The Way You Move,” where Big Boi spit verses that took fans back to the duo’s rap roots.
No. 24: “Slow Jamz” – Twista ft. Kanye West & Jamie Foxx (2004, 1 wk). During the 1980s, few would have considered the late Luther Vandross’ classic ballads as sample sources for future rap hits. But such has been the case for several big ones, including this No. 1 song produced by and featuring Kanye West. “Slow Jamz” used a sped-up version of the ultimate slow jam – “A House Is Not a Home” – from Luther’s debut album, Never Too Much.
No. 25: “Slow Motion” – Juvenile ft. Soulja Slim (2004, 2 wks). Of the 13 acts who achieved their first Hot 100 No. 1s in 2004, either in lead or featured roles, eight of them were rappers. Soulja Slim became the second (after Biggie) to do so posthumously. Juvenile, meanwhile, surpassed his best known and more consequential earlier anthem “Back That Azz Up,” a No. 19 hit that helped solidify the South as a hip-hop force five years earlier.
No. 26: “Lean Back” – Terror Squad (2004, 3 wks). Back when “lean” was a body gesture and not Future’s concoction of choice. While Terror Squad was a rap collective with multiple members, their sole No. 1 single was essentially a duet between leader Fat Joe and newbie Remy Ma, the female MC who joined Terror Squad after the death of Big Pun four years earlier. In the mid-2000s, Remy served as the de facto bridge between ‘90s females (Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Eve, Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, etc.) and the future led by Nicki Minaj.
No. 27: “Drop It Like It’s Hot” – Snoop Dogg ft. Pharrell (2004, 3 wks). Twelve years after Snoop Dogg debuted as a guest on the No. 2 Dr. Dre hit “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang,” he rang up his own No. 1 with the ubiquitous anthem “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” featuring Pharrell Williams. Both songs are considered iconic in hip-hop, with the former being named by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of their “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.”
No. 28: “Candy Shop” – 50 Cent ft. Olivia (2005, 9 wks). Fifteen years before Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion spelled it out for us on “WAP,” 50 Cent and Olivia took the metaphor/euphemism route with “Candy Shop,” with lines invoking “magic stick,” “lollipop,” “hit the spot,” and the wonderfully imaginative “I melt in your mouth girl, not in your hand.”
No. 29: “Gold Digger” – Kanye West ft. Jamie Foxx (2005, 10 wks). The years 2004 and 2005 were very good for Jamie Foxx. The actor/musician scored two No. 1 singles – both as a featured guest on rap hits by Twista and Kanye West – and received two Oscar nominations for acting roles in 2004 films, winning the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Ray Charles.
No. 30: “Laffy Taffy” – D4L (2006, 1 wk). Rappers had a thing about candy during the 2000s. First 50 Cent hit No. 1 with “Candy Shop” and later Lil Wayne topped the chart with “Lollipop.” In between was this song by one-hit-wonders D4L out of Atlanta. Their ode to Laffy Taffy, the chewy candy with assorted flavors, was really a metaphor for a woman’s backside, as in “Girl, shake that Laffy Taffy.” Okay, maybe “Baby Got Back” has since been joined in backside infamy.
No. 31: “Grillz” – Nelly ft. Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp (2006, 2 wks). Grill culture is a major part of hip-hop. Or at least it was in the aughts when this song came out. Paul Wall was a white rapper from the Houston hip-hop scene, which was peaking around this time. With lines like “Rob the jewelry store and tell ‘em, ‘Make me a grill,’” and “If I could call it a drink, call it a smile on the rocks,” how could this song go wrong?
No. 32: “Ridin’” – Chamillionaire ft. Krayzie Bone (2006, 2 wks). Another product of the Houston rap scene, Chamillionaire was “Ridin’ Dirty” with this No. 1 song in 2006. As popular as “Ridin’” was, more interesting was the “Weird Al” Yankovic parody it spawned – “White & Nerdy” – which played on stereotypes associated with white and/or nerdy people. That song became the only Billboard top ten hit for “Weird Al,” peaking at No. 9 in ’06 (and besting the No. 12 showing of 1984’s “Eat It”).
No. 33: “Money Maker” – Ludacris ft. Pharrell (2006, 2 wks). Imagine if Billboard had started its Strip Club Songs chart twenty years earlier. This track – the third Hot 100 No. 1 for Ludacris – would have easily topped it as the Atlanta rapper’s anthems seemed custom-made for the ATL’s favorite haunts. Fun fact: “Money Maker” was the answer to a Jeopardy! clue in the category of alliterative song titles in July 2026.
No. 34: “This is Why I’m Hot” – Mims (2007, 2 wks). I will always admire “This is Why I’m Hot” for this line: “I’m hot ‘cause I’m fly, you ain’t ‘cause you not.” Oh wait, no this one: “I could sell a mill sayin’ nothin’ on the track.” Is there any wonder this song sold a mill and topped the Hot 100 for two weeks in 2007?
No. 35: “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” – Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em (2007, 7 wks). While Soulja Boy (without the “Tell ‘Em”) remained a social media presence in the 2020s, his crowning moment occurred two decades earlier with the snap-era anthem, “Crank That (Soulja Boy).” The song spent seven weeks at No. 1 in 2007, tying Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable” for the most that year (although “Irreplaceable” also had three weeks in 2006).
No. 36: “Stronger” – Kanye West (2007, 1 wk). The French electro-house duo of Daft Punk saw a bit of a renaissance in the aughts and again in 2013, thanks initially to rapper Kanye West who sampled their “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” for his 2007 No. 1 hit, “Stronger.” Six years later, after connecting with producer/singer Pharrell and Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers, they scored on their own with “Get Lucky,” a No. 2 hit. Sadly, Daft Punk disbanded in 2021, leaving millions of fans to wonder what could’ve been if they’d continued. As for Kanye, “Stronger” was from his Graduation album, which went head-to-head with 50 Cent’s Curtis thanks to their simultaneous releases, resulting in a historic sales and chart battle that saw Ye emerging victorious.
No. 37: “Low” – Flo Rida ft. T-Pain (2008, 10 wks). While Coolio and 50 Cent were the first two rappers to score the year’s biggest hit, Flo Rida (born Tramar Dillard in Miami) was the first rapper to do so with his very first release (an accomplishment Lil Nas X would match in 2019). “Low” featured a red-hot T-Pain and topped the Hot 100 for ten weeks in 2008, making it Pain’s third No. 1 single (including “Kiss Kiss” with Chris Brown and his own “Buy U a Drank,” both in 2007).
No. 38: “Lollipop” – Lil Wayne ft. Static Major (2008, 5 wks). Lil Wayne’s first No. 1 was 2008’s “Lollipop.” The diamond-certified single was Wayne’s foray into electropop, one of the many subgenres the Louisiana native has experimented with over the years. It’s just one of the reasons he still holds the record as the rapper who’s charted the most consecutive years (22) on the Hot 100 from 2004-2025 (and counting). Static Major’s No. 1 came posthumously as he died following a medical procedure just weeks before the single’s release.
No. 39: “Whatever You Like” – T.I. (2008, 7 wks). The Rocky movie franchise may be the only one in history whose first three films were associated with No. 1 Hot 100 singles. Of course, there’s the first Rocky, which included “Gonna Fly Now” by Bill Conti (No. 1, 1977). Then there’s Rocky III, the movie that included Survivor’s huge No. 1 hit, “Eye of the Tiger” in 1982. And finally, there’s Rocky II (1979), which included the song T.I. sampled for this No. 1 single – Bill Conti’s “Redemption.”
No. 40: “Live Your Life” – T.I. ft. Rihanna (2008, 6 wks). Before 2008, it had been nearly 30 years (Chic’s “Le Freak” in 1978/79) since a song moved in and out of the No. 1 position three times. In 2008, three songs pulled the trick: Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love,” and both of T.I.’s No. 1s, “Whatever You Like” and this tune with Rihanna. In fact, “Live Your Life” made T.I. the first artist to knock himself out of No. 1 twice involving the same two songs.
No. 41: “Crack a Bottle” – Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent (2009, 1 wk). For those who were wondering, “Crack a Bottle” meant to open an alcoholic beverage. “Let your body waddle” – the song’s next line – was simply a dance metaphor. But seriously, only Em would think to rhyme bottle with waddle. When paid downloads were still a big thing, this song registered more than 418,000 in its first week on iTunes, then a record.
No. 42: “Right Round” – Flo Rida (2009, 6 wks). Kudos to the very pop-minded Flo Rida for sampling Dead or Alive’s campy 1985 dance-pop classic, “You Spin Me Around (Like a Record),” to get his second No. 1 single. It’s not the kind of musical marriage one would have envisioned upon hearing the original decades earlier. But it worked in 2009 at a time when electronic dance music was all the rage in the U.S. “Right Round” was also co-written and co-produced by Dr. Luke (Gottwald), making it one of his 18 such songs to top the Hot 100, third all-time among producers and tied-fourth all-time among songwriters.
No. 43: “Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys (2009, 5 wks). Hard to imagine, but this was the last No. 1 single of the aughts and the last one on the Hot 100 for both Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. That was nearly 17 years ago as of this typing! Wow.
2010s (29 songs)
No. 44: “Nothin’ on You” – B.o.B ft. Bruno Mars (2010, 2 wks). The song that introduced the masses to Bruno Mars also introduced us to rapper B.o.B (born Bobby Ray Simmons, Jr.). I admittedly thought B.o.B would become the bigger star, but that wasn’t the case. Bruno Mars is now one of the biggest artists in music history with ten No. 1 Hot 100 hits to his name. B.o.B followed “Nothin’ on You” with the stellar “Airplanes,” feat. Hayley Williams of Paramore, which went to No. 2 later in 2010.
No. 45: “Not Afraid” – Eminem (2010, 1 wk). The rapper formerly known as Slim Shady first began to “exorcise the demons” of his past with this uplifting number from his album Recovery. It came more than a decade before Eminem appeared to bury his former alter-ego for good on his 2024 album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce). “Not Afraid” was ultimately regarded as one of the era’s most empowering anthems and became Em’s second diamond-certified single (for moving more than 10 million units).
No. 46: “Love the Way You Lie” – Eminem ft. Rihanna (2010, 7 wks). Few rap hits were as powerful as this collaboration between two of music’s biggest stars who had shared experiences with abusive relationships. “Love the Way You Lie” delved into that abuse cycle from both the female victim’s perspective (Rihanna’s) and from the male abuser’s (Em), with the latter providing a first-person narrative revealing his vulnerability and self-awareness. Rihanna’s haunting chorus immediately recalled her experiences with Chris Brown the year before this song’s release.
No. 47: “Black and Yellow” – Wiz Khalifa (2011, 1 wk). Wiz Khalifa’s first No. 1 single soundtracked his hometown team Pittsburgh Steelers’ rise to their eighth and most recent Super Bowl appearance in 2011 (for the 2010 season). It rose to No. 1 the week after the game, which the Steelers’ lost to the Aaron Rodgers-quarterbacked/Mike McCarthy-coached Green Bay Packers. Fifteen years later, both McCarthy and Rodgers were with the Steelers. Go figure!
No. 48: “Whistle” – Flo Rida (2012, 2 wks). Flo Rida’s metaphor-laden last No. 1 single, “Whistle” prompted this equally – if not unwittingly – risqué critique: “Flo’s obvious enough to taunt ‘blow my whistle, baby’ but his quoted instructions would not literally work.” Those instructions, of course, were “whistle while you work it.” Anyhow, the song hit No. 1 in at least 20 countries and sold more than 3 million copies.
No. 49: “Thrift Shop” – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Wanz (2013, 6 wks). One of the first beneficiaries of Billboard’s October 2012 policy dispensing of separate radio panels for its Hot 100 and sub genre charts (e.g., R&B, country, rock, Latin, etc.) was Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop.” It not only wound up being the Hot 100’s biggest hit of 2013, but also the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Song’s chart champ for the year, based on having topped that list for 14 weeks.
No. 50: “Can’t Hold Us” – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Ray Dalton (2013, 5 wks). Since Billboard reinstated its Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in 1965 – after a 15-month hiatus – never had white artists owned as many as the top four songs on the chart’s year-end recap. That finally happened in 2013 when these four songs finished 1 through 4: “Thrift Shop” (see No. 49 above), “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke feat. T.I & Pharrell, “Can’t Hold Us,” and “Suit & Tie” by Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z. “Can’t Hold Us,” of course, was memorable for the hook provided by former gospel singer Ray Dalton.
No. 51: “The Monster” – Eminem ft. Rihanna (2013/14, 4 wks). “The Monster” proved to be just that for its two artists. Eminem moved into a tie with Diddy as the rapper with the most No. 1 singles (at the time) with five. That’s still the most among white rappers and tied for third overall (with Diddy, Cardi B and Travis Scott) behind Drake (14) and Kendrick Lamar (6). “The Monster” also gave Rihanna the title of singer featured on the most No. 1 songs by rappers with three.
No. 52: “Fancy” – Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX (2014, 7 wks). You may not think that Iggy Azalea’s career goes back that far, but when “Fancy” topped the chart in 2014, neither Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Future nor Travis Scott had yet scored a No. 1 Hot 100 single. Another irony: her featured partner Charli XCX released a new album in July 2026 that is vying for the Billboard 200’s top spot as I type this.
No. 53: “See You Again” – Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth (2015, 12 wks). Two No. 1s, six top tens, twelve top 40s, and 33 Hot 100 singles. Those are the numbers on Pittsburgh-area rapper Wiz Khalifa in both lead and feature roles. Still, he’ll likely be forever remembered for just his two No. 1s: “Black and Yellow” and this ode to the late Fast & Furious actor Paul Walker, who died in a single-vehicle auto accident in 2013.
No. 54: “Panda” – Desiigner (2016, 2 wks). This trap song’s ascension to the top in 2016 prompted DJROBBLOG to rank it as one of the worst No. 1 songs of the 21st century to that point (a stance I’ve since reconsidered). At the same time, Rolling Stone ranked it one of the 30 best songs of the first half of 2016. Desiigner had only one other top 40 hit after “Panda” – “Timmy Turner” – which reached No. 34 later that year. All of that said, try not bouncing your head when this song plays. It’s an exercise in futility.
No. 55: “One Dance” – Drake ft. Wizkid & Kyla (2016, 10 wks). Before 2016, Drake came close to having No. 1s as a lead artist on runner-up chart hits like “Best I Ever Had” (his debut single in 2009) and “Hotline Bling” (2015). It wasn’t until 2016 that he hit pay dirt both in a featured role and as a lead artist, and both times involved dancehall songs. First came Rihanna’s “Work” followed just weeks later by “One Dance,” featuring Nigerian artist Wizkid. Wizkid, in turn, became the first Nigerian artist to top the Hot 100.
No. 56: “Black Beatles” – Rae Sremmurd ft. Gucci Mane (2016/17, 7 wks). Rae Sremmurd is the reverse spelling of Drummer’s Ear. And the first drummer that should come to mind when hearing this song is Ringo Starr. But “Black Beatles” was less an ode to the Fab Four than it was a self-boast for the Atlanta-based duo. Nonetheless, it took the “mannequin challenge” to make this already popular song go viral in early 2017.
No. 57: “Bad and Boujee” – Migos ft. Lil Uzi Vert (2017, 3 wks). Just as Rae Sremmurd was a play on a phrase, the group that displaced them from the top was a shortening of “amigos,” which described the trio of Quavo, Offset, and the late Takeoff. They were based in Lawrenceville, GA and quickly rose to fame during the trap scene’s emergence in the 2010s. Fast fact: when “Bad and Boujee” replaced “Black Beatles” at No. 1, it marked the only time that a rap “group” replaced another atop the chart.
No. 58: “Humble” – Kendrick Lamar (2017, 1 wk). When I saw the Jeopardy! category “One-Word Album Titles” flash across the screen recently, I fully expected MJ’s Thriller to be among the correct responses (it was the $100 clue). Hip-hop heads likely held the same expectation for Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN (the $200 clue), featuring the musical push for humility that became the legendary rapper’s second of six No. 1 singles (counting his first in a guest turn on Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood”). Btw, think he’d ever do that feature with T-Swizzle again?
No. 59: “I’m the One” – DJ Khaled ft. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper & Lil Wayne (2017, 1 wk). It’s a fine line between hip-hop and hip-pop when it involves pop superstar Justin Bieber rap-singing the verses on a DJ Khaled track. But this song featured guest spots by some of rap’s biggest names at the time, including Quavo (of Migos), Chance the Rapper, and Lil Wayne. Helping its case (slightly): “I’m the One” topped Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs for 13 weeks in 2017.
No. 60: “Bodak Yellow” – Cardi B (2017, 3 wks). Cardi B’s first of five No. 1 songs (only four are on this list as the fifth is a guest role on Maroon 5’s pop hit “Girls Like You”), “Bodak Yellow” made red bottom shoes more famous than they already were. It also made Cardi only the third female rapper in a lead role to top the Hot 100, after Lauryn Hill and Iggy Azalea.
No. 61: “Rockstar” – Post Malone ft. 21 Savage (2017, 8 wks). The country singer formerly known as rocker formerly known as rapper Post Malone has had five No. 1 songs on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart and six on the Hot 100, beginning with “Rockstar,” featuring Atlanta legend 21 Savage. Perhaps the song’s title should’ve been an early hint of things to come. In addition to the Hot 100 and Hot Rap Songs, Posty has topped Hot Country Songs and scored three top tens on Hot Rock Songs. “Rockstar” even made the Latin Top 50 in 2018. Now that’s versatility.
No. 62: “God’s Plan” – Drake (2018, 11 wks). One could call this the Michael biopic of hip-hop — or pop-trap or whatever you’d label it. For as much as critics panned it during its original release, “God’s Plan” became not only Drake’s biggest hit but the biggest single of 2018, much like the Michael biopic became the biggest such film in history following some of the worst reviews a film could endure. The analogy is not without purpose. In 2026, Drake surpassed MJ as the male soloist with the most chart toppers (see No. 102 below).
No. 63: “Nice for What” – Drake (2018, 8 wks). Though she continues touring and making TV appearances, soon it will have been 30 years since Lauryn Hill released any new material following her landmark debut album The Miseducation of…. Fans were either reminded of that fact or somewhat satiated when Drake sampled her 1998 classic “Ex-Factor” for his second No. 1 of 2018. The song replaced “God’s Plan” in April and was in turn knocked off by his “In My Feelings” that July, making Drizzy one of only a few acts to accomplish that feat with three consecutive singles.
No. 64: “This is America” – Childish Gambino (2018, 2 wks). At the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement of 2018 came this socially conscious single from Donald Glover’s alter ego. Childish Gambino cleverly melded upbeat African-influenced chants with menacing trap beats to represent the often-conflicting aspects of the American Dream and being Black in America. As one of the few sociopolitical rap songs to top the chart, “This” won Grammys for both Record and Song of the Year, becoming the first rap single to do so.
No. 65: “Psycho” – Post Malone ft. Ty Dolla Sign (2018, 1 wk). Back when songs were promoted with merch that significantly boosted their chances of topping the charts, Post Malone’s second No. 1 (and Ty Dolla $ign’s first) benefited from a T-shirt tie-in. As a result, the song built enough momentum to knock Drake’s long-running “God’s Plan” from the top, while equally addressing some of the common themes of fame and paranoia among the day’s rappers.
No. 66: “Sad!” – XXXTentacion (2018, 1 wk). Here’s something sad: The first four artists to score posthumous No. 1 songs were Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, Jim Croce, and John Lennon (between 1968 and 1980). The next four were The Notorious B.I.G., Soulja Slim, Static Major, and XXXTentacion – all rappers, and all of whom died before their 34th birthdays.
No. 67: “I Like It” – Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J. Balvin (2018, 1 wk). Cardi B achieved her second No. 1 single with Reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny and Colombian singer J. Balvin. “I Like It” featured a prominent sample of the Latin music classic “I Like It Like That,” originally a hit in 1967 for Pete Rodriguez. Bad Bunny, of course, would go on to global superstardom, which culminated with his politically divided but record-breaking Super Bowl LX halftime performance in 2026.
No. 68: “In My Feelings” – Drake (2018, 10 wks). “In My Feelings” was Drizzy’s ode to the New Orleans Bounce scene and featured La La Anthony in the role of “KeKe” in the music video. When “Feelings” spent its tenth week at No. 1 in 2018, it gave Drake the record for most weeks spent at the top during a calendar year, with 29 total between his three No. 1s. Another fun fact: “In My Feelings” spent more weeks (10) at No. 1 than Drake’s next seven No. 1 singles combined (8 weeks).
No. 69: “Sicko Mode” – Travis Scott (2018, 1 wk). This song’s parent album – Astroworld – prompted cries of “foul” by Nicki Minaj when, thanks to some alleged heavy outside promotion, it outperformed her Queen album and kept it out of the No. 1 spot. “Sicko Mode” also popularized the beat-switch trend and featured a prominent guest spot by an uncredited Drake, who’s been using beat switches ever since, including at least twelve of them on his three simultaneously released albums in 2026: Iceman, Habibti, and Maid of Honour.
No. 70: “Sunflower” – Post Malone & Swae Lee (2018, 1 wk). When it comes to melody rap and No. 1s, “Sunflower” ranks right up there with “Tha Crossroads.” Post Malone and Swae Lee were firmly entrenched in the hip-hop ecosystem when this contribution to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse hit in 2019, despite its singsong cadence by both artists. And though this is not an absolute rule, “Sunflower” topped Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart, tipping the scales in its favor for this recap.
No. 71:“Old Town Road” – Lil Nas X (2019, 19 wks). Some will question Lil Nas X’s inclusion on a hip-hop list given this song’s strong tie to country music (its more popular version included Billy Ray Cyrus in a feature). But we’re not going to hold that against him, especially given the dubious treatment shown by Billboard, which removed the song from their country music charts despite it getting airplay in that format. Redemption came via “Old Town Road” spending 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, still a record among non-holiday hits. It’s also the most recent rap song to finish as the year’s biggest hit.
No. 72: “Highest in the Room” – Travis Scott (2019, 1 wk). Like most 21st century rappers, Travis Scott’s lyrics often explore themes of fame, betrayal, and emotional vulnerability. “Highest in the Room” was no different. Part of its success, however, was due to its multi-format release, including cassette, CD and vinyl singles. “Highest” has been certified for nine million in sales/streaming as of this writing, just a million shy of diamond status.
2020s (30 songs)
No. 73: “The Box” – Roddy Ricch (2020, 11 wks). The first new No. 1 song of the 2020s was also the first No. 1 for Compton-born rapper Roddy Ricch, whose success was chronicled in the song’s lyrics. The song’s ambiguity about what “The Box” was meant that people could interpret it as a jail cell, a safe/container for his weapon, or even slang for a woman’s anatomy. Either way, “The Box” – with its memorable two-note “eee-err” hook – became an anthem mirroring Ricch’s quick rise to wealth and fame at the beginning of the decade.
No. 74: “Toosie Slide” – Drake (2020, 1 wk). The irony of “Toosie Slide” coming out just weeks after the Covid-19 shutdown of March 2020 is that most clubs had been shut by then, relegating Drake’s dance tutorial hit to soundtracking TikTok videos, which ultimately was how it became a No. 1 hit. True to the pandemic’s social distancing era, the music video featured Drake dancing alone to the song in his Toronto mansion.
No. 75: “The Scotts” – The Scotts (Travis Scott & Kid Cudi) (2020, 1 wk). Travis Scott and Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi teamed up in 2020 to form The Scotts, and then gave that title to their collaboration, resulting in the first Hot 100 No. 1 single to bear as its title the name of the artists performing it. Not a bad distinction to have during a year in which every No. 1 song established or broke some kind of record.
No. 76: “Savage” – Megan Thee Stallion ft. Beyoncé (2020, 1 wk). From 2009 to 2022, Beyoncé’s No. 1 songs came courtesy of being featured on other people’s hits. In this case, it was a late add to Megan Thee Stallion’s “Stallion” that pushed the track to No. 1, giving Megan her first and Bey her seventh No. 1 Hot 100 hit (eleventh including those with Destiny’s Child). Not since 2009’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” had Mrs. Carter had a No. 1 in a lead role. That would change later in the decade with “Break My Soul” (2022) and “Texas Hold ‘Em” (2024).
No. 77: “Rockstar” – DaBaby ft. Roddy Ricch (2020, 7 wks). DaBaby was on top of the world in 2020 when he scored the second No. 1 song titled “Rockstar” in the span of three years. He and featured guest Roddy Ricch were easily that year’s top two newcomers. That all changed when the seven-time Grammy nominee – who even appeared in 2019 as a guest on SNL – was filmed making homophobic statements during a Miami concert in 2021. He made a comeback in 2026 when “Pop Dat Thang” became his first top 40 hit in five years.
No. 78: “Trollz” – 6ix9ine & Nicki Minaj (2020, 1 wk). It’s safe to say the duo of colorful rapper 6ix9ine and politically mercurial Nicki Minaj “trolled” the Hot 100 with “Trollz” in 2020. It became the first No. 1 song to disappear from the chart after only four weeks. That record for brevity has since been beaten by BTS’ also appropriately titled “Life Goes On,” which exited after only three chart weeks.
No. 79: “WAP” – Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion (2020, 4 wks). Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s ode to natural umm… abilities was memorable for lines like “bring a bucket and a mop for this wet-ass p…” you get the picture. DJROBBLOG memorably broke down the song’s metaphors and euphemisms in one of the blog’s most-read articles.
No. 80: “Franchise” – Travis Scott ft. Young Thug and M.I.A. (2020, 1 wk). This song’s debut atop the Hot 100 in October 2020 made Travis Scott the first act to score three No. 1 debuts within a 12-month period. A more dubious distinction is that his last four No. 1 singles (including 2025’s “4×4”) have spent a combined seven weeks in the top ten. By comparison, his first – “Sicko Mode” – alone spent 32 weeks there. Also, “Franchise” gave 2020 its eighth No. 1 hip-hop song, which tied the record set in 2018 (also capped by a Travis Scott single).
No. 81: “What’s Next” – Drake (2021, 1 wk). The video for “What’s Next” – the first single taken from his Scary Hours 2 EP in 2021 – featured Drizzy moving through Toronto while boasting about his success and warning his competitors of his next moves. Based on the video, those moves included Drake hanging out the back of his whip during a blizzard, driving his Mercedes alongside a personalized private jet on a frozen runway, and toasting with his OVO crew in a penthouse suite. What was next would be his long-awaited Certified Lover Boy album, which dropped just a few months later.
No. 82: “Up” – Cardi B (2021, 1 wk). Cardi B extended her record as the female rapper with the most No. 1 singles (five) with “Up,” whose refrain (“when it’s up then it’s stuck”) was said to be inspired by “stuck” excrement. Well, if that’s true, at least it’s an original rap concept. When “Up” topped the chart, it gave female rappers a fourth No. 1 single in the span of ten months. That equaled the number of female rap No. 1 singles in the previous 22 years combined.
No. 83: “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” – Lil Nas X (2021, 1 wk). Lil Nas X permanently removed the “perception” of having been a one-hit-wonder (despite having several successful earlier follow-ups to “Old Town Road”) with this risqué number bearing his given first name. More controversial than the song was the video, depicting – among other things – the rapper descending into Hell via a stripper pole.
No. 84: “Rapstar” – Polo G (2021, 2 wks). Combine a trap beat with a ukelele riff and you get “Rapstar” by Polo G. The Chicago rapper became the tenth of the 2020s to achieve his first No. 1 Hot 100 hit – a promising start for hip-hop in a decade that wasn’t even two years old. In retrospect, it also marked the start of the genre’s turning point. In the five years from 2017-2021, there were 30 hip-hop songs that topped the Hot 100. In the five years since, there’ve only been twelve.
No. 85: “Way 2 Sexy” – Drake ft. Future and Young Thug (2021, 1 wk). I’ll ask my rap heads and chart geeks to confirm this, but I believe this song (from Drake’s Certified Lover Boy album) makes Young Thug – best known for his Georgia RICO case – the artist with the most No. 1s as a guest artist without having one of his own. He was also featured on Camila Cabello’s “Havana” and Travis Scott’s “Franchise.” As for Future, this Right Said Fred-sampling tune allowed him to break the record for longest wait for a No. 1 hit – his first after scoring 124 other chart entries.
No. 86: “Industry Baby” – Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow (2021, 1 wk). Lil Nas X continued his 2021 “comeback” with this triumphant anthem celebrating his success, resilience, and unapologetic identity while challenging critics and industry norms (particularly for rappers). The song reflected his journey from doubt to dominance, with lyrics that emphasized his triumph over adversity. A clear example was the rapper’s open acknowledgement of his identity, particularly in the line, “I don’t f*** b*tches, I’m queer,” which challenged hip-hop’s heteronormative culture and promoted individuality and self-expression.
No. 87: “First Class” – Jack Harlow (2022, 3 wks). Louisville chart-slugger Jack Harlow was on a roll in the early ‘20s after first topping the chart with Lil Nas X. His second No. 1, “First Class,” borrowed heavily from the hook of Fergie’s “Glamorous,” a No. 1 song from fifteen years earlier. Here’s a stat that can only increase his hip-hop cred: he was the only male rapper in either 2022 (“First Class”) or ’23 (“Lovin on Me”) to score a solo No. 1 with no features. By comparison, Drake’s four No. 1s during the same span all included features (or he was the featured artist).
No. 88: “Wait for U” – Future ft. Drake & Tems (2022, 1 wk). Future had to wait until his 125th chart entry to get his first No. 1 as a featured guest on Drake’s “Way 2 Sexy” in 2021. He only had to wait another five or so to get his second – this time as a lead rapper with Drake and superstar Nigerian artist Tems guesting.
No. 89: “Jimmy Cooks” – Drake ft. 21 Savage (2022, 1 wk). The only “rap” song on Drake’s dance-oriented Honestly, Nevermind album was this one – “Jimmy Cooks.” This song also included the album’s only feature, 21 Savage. Speaking of which, of Drake’s fourteen No. 1 singles (as of early August 2026), only six are without features, including the latest (“Janice STFU,” see 102 below).
No. 90: “Super Freaky Girl” – Nicki Minaj (2022, 1 wk). More than 13 years after first hitting the charts in 2009, Nicki Minaj finally achieved her first No. 1 in a solo lead role. The Rap Barbie scored in 2022 with the Rick James-sampling “Super Freaky Girl.” Minaj is also the female rapper with the most Hot 100 entries at 149, placing her sixth among all rappers (behind Drake, Future, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Lil Baby) and second among females (Taylor Swift).
No. 91: “Paint the Town Red” – Doja Cat (2023, 3 wks). “Bitch, I said what I said” begins the refrain for this “Walk On By”-sampling hit by Doja Cat – one that made her only the second femcee to score multiple No. 1 singles in a non-featured role, after Cardi B and Nicki Minaj. Doja Cat, whose online and social media presence has been mercurial at best, was one of the fastest-rising rappers during the early 2020s, earning her the unofficial title of “Queen of Pop-Rap.”
No. 92: “Slime You Out” – Drake ft. SZA (2023, 1 wk). Some fans were quick to point out during the historic Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar beef of 2024 that superstar SZA performed on songs by both rappers, first reaching No. 1 with Drake on 2023’s “Slime You Out” and later topping the chart with Kendrick on “Luther.” While she never declared with certainty where her loyalty lay, SZA’s 2025 Super Bowl performance with K-Dot essentially removed any doubt.
No. 93: “First Person Shooter” – Drake ft. J. Cole (2023, 1 wk). Speaking of that historic beef with Kendrick, this was the song that unwittingly launched it. In “First Person Shooter,” Drake and J. Cole declared that they – along with Lamar – made up “The Big Three” of rap, an assertion that offended the Compton rapper, prompting him to retort in a future No. 1 hit (see “Like That” at No. 97 below).
No. 94: “Lovin on Me” – Jack Harlow (2023/24, 6 wks). Jack Harlow’s career took a hit after he famously declared that he “got blacker” while making his new 2026 album, Monica, which took on a more R&B sound than its predecessors. The apparent intended context – that his pivot to R&B was unlike that of other white rappers who transition into rock and country formats following their hip-hop success – was lost on some. Despite his poorly chosen phrasing, Harlow is now tied with Post Malone as the white rapper with the second-most No. 1 singles (after Eminem’s five). He has three including his featured turn on Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby.”
No. 95: “Hiss” – Megan Thee Stallion (2024, 1 wk). Megan Thee Stallion’s “Hiss” slithered its way to No. 1 in early 2024, courtesy of a not-so-subtle diss aimed at Nicki Minaj. Minaj – whose husband and brother are registered sex offenders – took issue with Megan’s line invoking “Megan’s Law,” the California statute requiring such offenders to register with local law enforcement agencies. “Hiss” was also the seventh No. 1 song by a female rapper in a lead role during the 2020s, extending the record for any decade. It followed multiple earlier hits by Megan, Minaj, Cardi B, and Doja Cat.
No. 96: “Carnival” – Ye & Ty Dolla Sign ft. Rich the Kid & Playboi Carti (2024, 1 wk). While many rappers on this list struggle with personal issues, you’d be hard pressed to find one as mercurial as the rapper formerly known as Kanye West – now simply “Ye.” That’s why his return to the top of the Hot 100 in 2024 – after a 17-year absence and after many attempts to cancel him following anti-Semitic remarks among other things – was nothing short of remarkable. For those keeping track, the parent album for “Carnival” – Vultures 1 by Ye & Ty Dolla Sign – became West’s eleventh No. 1 LP, and his first since Donda nearly three years earlier. As vulgar as it may have been, the group chant on this single is what made it a huge hit.
No. 97: “Like That” – Future, Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar (2024, 3 wks). Kendrick Lamar refuted the apparent “Big Three of rap” slight (see No. 93 above) in his contribution to Future’s “Like That” with the line, “Motherfuck the ‘big three’, nigga it’s just big ME.” That line prompted a diss battle for the ages between Drake, Lamar, and initially J. Cole, who released and then rescinded his response, “7 Minute Drill,” after apologizing to Lamar. Other rappers, including Rick Ross and The Game, tried to enter the fray with diss raps of their own, but were largely ignored.
No. 98: “Not Like Us” – Kendrick Lamar (2024/25, 3 wks). If Kendrick’s bars on Future’s “Like That” inflamed the diss battle between him and Drake, then “Not Like Us” essentially doused it. Rarely had a song entered (and dominated) the zeitgeist as thoroughly as Kendrick’s scathing attack, which accused Drizzy of being a colonizer and a pedophile. The song prompted Drake to file lawsuits against both rappers’ record company – Universal Music Group – for its promotion, which the Canadian rapper considered unfair. The song eventually won every major Grammy (incl. Record and Song of the Year) for which it was nominated in 2025. It also became the first song to spend just three weeks at No. 1 with each week being separated by at least two months (nine months between its first and last appearances).
No. 99: “Squabble Up” – Kendrick Lamar (2024, 1 wk). “Squabble Up” was Kendrick’s debut single from the GNX album and sampled Debbie Deb’s mid-1980s freestyle dance classic “When I Hear Music.” That song soundtracked a lot of college parties that I attended in 1984/85 but failed to make the top 40 on either the Hot 100 or R&B chart (No. 43 there). Long considered a cult classic, “When I Hear Music” was thrust into the spotlight for the first time in 40 years by “Squabble Up.”
No. 100: “4×4” – Travis Scott (2025, 1 wk). In the past two years (as of early August 2026), only one rapper not named Kendrick Lamar or Drake has topped the Hot 100, and that’s Travis Scott, whose “4×4” snuck in a week during February 2025. Scott likely has his performance during the 2025 College Football National Championship halftime show to thank for his No. 1 showing, which aired a pre-save link for the CD single – one that sold more than 160,000 copies in its first week. The success was short lived, as “4×4” made the second-fastest exit from the Hot 100 for a No. 1 single, tied with 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj’s “Trollz.” A less dubious accomplishment: by this blog’s methodology, “4×4” holds the distinction of becoming the 100th rap/hip-hop song to top the Hot 100.
No. 101: “Luther” – Kendrick Lamar and SZA (2025, 13 wks). The hip-hop ballad inspired by (and which sampled) Luther Vandross’ 1982 classic with Cheryl Lynn – “If This World Were Mine” – made chart history after Kendrick and SZA performed it at the Super Bowl in February 2025. It became the rap song with the second-longest reign (13 weeks) on the Hot 100 (after Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road”). It also gave Pulitzer Prize-winning Kendrick his second consecutive Record of the Year Grammy, after “Not Like Us” the year before.
No. 102: “Janice STFU” – Drake (2026, 2 wks). A bloodied-but-unbowed Drake recovered from a brutal rap beatdown – at least by most folks’ assessments – to get hip-hop’s 102nd Number One single (and Drake’s fourteenth – most among male soloists in any genre). The song’s title prompted Drizzy to issue apologies to girls named Janice everywhere, but equally as important, it became the Canadian superstar’s first song to spend more than a single week at No. 1 since “In My Feelings” nearly eight years earlier.
Please click below to enjoy all of the above songs in one playlist.
Rap leaderboard:
These ten rappers have had the most No. 1 Hot 100 hits, including qualifying rap hits above as well as appearances on No. 1 songs in other genres.
First: Drake (14 No. 1s, including 12 songs above plus two features on songs by Rihanna)
Second: Kendrick Lamar (6, including a feature on Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood”)
Tied for third (five each): Travis Scott, Cardi B, Eminem, and Diddy
Tied for seventh (four each): Kanye West, 50 Cent, Nelly, and T.I.
Note: Post Malone has had six No. 1 singles, but only the first three factor into this list as the last three (“Circles,” “Fortnight” – with Taylor Swift, and “I Had Some Help” – with Morgan Wallen) were significant departures from hip-hop.
Ten Other Songs Considered:
The following No. 1 songs were considered but ultimately excluded because they were judged to be primarily pop, country, dancehall, Latin, rock, or otherwise outside the scope of this list’s definition of a rap/hip-hop song.
“Rapture” – Blondie (1981). Debbie Harry will forever get props for having the first song to feature a prominent rap verse (or two) in a No. 1 song, but the fact is “Rapture” was a pop/disco song with a rap verse (or two).
“Good Vibrations” – Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch (1991). While Marky Mark was a rapper, this song was marketed as hip-house, not hip-hop, when it was released in 1991. The song topped the Hot 100 and was a top ten R&B hit but failed to make the Hot Rap Songs chart.
“Set Adrift on Memory Bliss” – P.M. Dawn (1991). It’s not hip-hop, just ask KRS-One.
“One Week” – Barenaked Ladies (1998). No, the “Chickety China, the Chinese Chicken” line doesn’t establish grounds for calling this a rap/hip-hop hit.
“Butterfly” – Crazy Town (2001). More rock than rap, in my humblest opinion.
“Get Busy” – Sean Paul (2003). This song is dancehall/reggaeton, through and through.
“Hey Ya!” – OutKast (2003). Andre 3000 was primarily a rapper, but this duo’s huge No. 1 hit was clearly an exception.
“Buy U a Drank” – T-Pain (2007). T-Pain was often branded by the mainstream media as a rapper. But the truth is that he’s a singer who rarely, if ever, rapped.
“Say So” – Doja Cat ft. Nicki Minaj (2020). When two rappers get together and create a disco/funk-inspired pop song with Doja Cat singing the verses, it’s not a rap record.
“Stay” – The Kid Laroi ft. Justin Bieber (2021). The Kid Laroi is an Australian rapper and singer. Justin Bieber is a Canadian singer. The singing overshadowed the rapping in this electropop hit from 2021.
This article was first published on August 3, 2026. The article and Spotify playlist will continue to be updated as more No. 1 songs occur.
DJRob
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.
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