(November 17, 2019).  The 2010s don’t officially end until December 31, 2019.  But Billboard magazine – the industry’s authoritative trade publication – has already released several of its decade-end charts.  

On Thursday (11/14), they released the all-genre Top 100 artists list from positions 100 to 11, with the official top-10 ranking to be revealed in various phases over the next five months, culminating with next April’s Billboard Music Awards telecast.

But it’s a worst-kept secret who the top-10 artists are, and DJROBBLOG has taken the top-10, plus the remaining 90 and distilled from that the biggest hip-hop artists among them.  (Note: from the list of 100 artists, 25 of them are considered hip-hop.)

What follows then is a ranking of the top 25 hip-hop artists of the decade using combined Hot 100 songs data, Billboard 200 albums data, plus social media and touring boxscore info.

It should be no surprise who’s at the top, as Drake is not only the top hip-hip artist, but the biggest artist overall (despite his um, lukewarm reception at this month’s Camp Flog Gnaw Festival in Los Angeles). It sucks to be at the top.

Also, for the purposes of this list, we are including Post Malone, whose status as a rapper is questionable but whose music still qualifies as hip-hop.

And regardless of what readers might think about pop-oriented rappers like Flo Rida and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, they do still qualify as rappers and are thus eligible for this list.  

Remember also that this is an all-decade list, so it takes into account an artist’s performance during the early years (2010-12) as well as the later ones (2017-19) and all the years in between (2013-2016). So some artists who aren’t so hot today are included because of their successes at the beginning of the decade.

So with no further delay, here they are – the top hip-hop artists of the decade, using Billboard’s Top Artists list as a basis:

1. Drake

Drake

2. Post Malone

Post Malone

3. Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj

4. Eminem

Eminem

5. Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar

6. Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne

7. Travis Scott

Travis Scott

8. Cardi B

Cardi B

9. Future

Future

10. Jay-Z

Jay-Z

11. J. Cole

J. Cole

12. Pitbull

Pitbull

13. Flo Rida

Flo Rida

14. Kanye West

Kanye West

15. Wiz Khalifa

Wiz Khalifa

16. Migos

Migos

17. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

18. XXXTentacion

XXXTentacion (real name: Jahseh Onfroy; 1997-2018)

19. Juice WRLD

Juice WRLD

20. Fetty Wap

Fetty Wap

21. Big Sean

Big Sean

22. Lil Uzi Vert

Lil Uzi Vert.

23. B.o.B

B.o.B

24. 21 Savage

21 Savage

25. Meek Mill

Meek Mill

So, to recap, here’s the list without pics.

  1. Drake
  2. Post Malone
  3. Nicki Minaj
  4. Eminem
  5. Kendrick Lamar
  6. Lil Wayne
  7. Travis Scott
  8. Cardi B
  9. Future
  10. Jay-Z 
  11. J. Cole
  12. Pitbull
  13. Flo Rida
  14. Kanye West 
  15. Wiz Khalifa
  16. Migos
  17. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
  18. XXXTentacion
  19. Juice WRLD
  20. Fetty Wap
  21. Big Sean
  22. Lil Uzi Vert
  23. B.o.B
  24. 21 Savage
  25. Meek Mill

Missing from the list: Childish Gambino, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Wale, G-Eazy, Jeezy, T.I., Gucci Mane, Logic, NF, Rae Sremmurd, Chance the Rapper, Mac Miller

Rick Ross is conspicuously missing from this list.

So what do you think of this chart?  Bogus? Dope?  Hogwash?  Lit?

A good representation of the hip-hop culture of the 2010s? Or not so much?

You be the judge.  Use the comment section to provide your reaction.

Read More: Here’s an exclusive list of ALL the hip-hop albums that have hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

DJRob 

DJRob is a freelance blogger who covers R&B, hip-hop, pop and rock genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff!  You can follow him on Twitter @djrobblog.

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By DJ Rob

44 thoughts on “Top 25 Hip-Hop Artists of the Decade: 2010-19”
    1. Well since most hip-hop after 2000 sucks ass anyway, and most of these young cats only talk about ass, pussy and shooting shit, that wasn’t a hard bar to reach.

  1. WHY DO Y’ALL HAVE CARDI B BEFORE JAY Z THAT JUST SHOWS THAT YOUR LIST IS UNEDUCATED. DO YOUR RESEARCH CANT BE A RAPPER TOP 10 IF YOU DONT WRITE YOUR OWN LYRICS MAKE IT MAKE SENSE.

    1. This list is based on chart success over the past ten years, NOT lifetime. Of COURSE, Jay-Z ranks higher than Cardi in a career list, but this was a DECADE list for 2010-2019.

  2. Though they’re missing but their music keeps inspiring new artists
    #happy birthday late mozey radio /goodlyf music

  3. Why you do Jay like that…rae & thugga should be there….Florida mmmh nah.no complains about the top spot…rozay should be there but most of his action came in the first half of the decade…and why ain’t French Montana in the Convo, he’s had more hits that likes of fetty WAP and BoB

    1. Haha. I didn’t “do” anyone like that. This is straight from Billboard’s list of the top artists of the decade. I just screened the hip-hop artists from the magazine’s rankings.

    1. In terms of influence I can understand this list. But I’m terms of best albums, it’s near criminal to not have Danny Brown, Run the Jewels, Earl Sweatshirt or schoolboy q on here

  4. Wia is Eminem,Ludachrish,marry J Blige,chris brown, neyon, birdman, dmx? The list is not complete without diz niggaz… .boom!!

  5. I feel Lil Wayne & Kanye were supposed to be in the top 5. I mean, they changed the game. From start (IANAHB & Yeezus), mid-decade (The Life Of Pablo & Rebirth) and finish (Tha Carter V & Jesus Is King). Also Rozay & The Weeknd need a spot on that list ?
    #word

    1. I was surprised Kanye was so low, but Billboard cut off the eligibility period in September, so Jesus is King didn’t count. And Lil Wayne had too long of a gap during the decade without charting, so that explains his low rank.

    2. How can people like Chris brown ,usher ,Justine bieber and young thug etc be missing from the list when some of these others on the list jusy just recently started topping and havn’t been there all this while?

  6. I think the list is bogus
    Rappers like NF have made great leaps in the past 6 to 10 years
    Why aren’t they there
    Lil Wayne is a legend but y’all gotta admit in the past 5 years he hasn’t been on top of his game

    1. Not sure why NF isn’t there. He only recently started having chart-topping albums, so maybe it was too late to catch up to the others who’ve been charting longer.

    2. Honestly this is not fair for Rick Ross Rozay had made so much contributions in the mid decade his album God forgives was a hit, his rap style is quite unique and only typical to him but you out listed him, I think you consider the early rappers more than those who were making hits during the start of the decade

      1. I agree that Rozay should have been higher, and you should know that I didn’t create this ranking…I’m basing it on where Billboard has them ranked in their overall artist of the decade list.

    3. Y’all gotta admit that NF and the Rae Shremmurds do deserve to be at least in the top twenty they have done so much

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