Popularity of rap and hip hop soars in the UK, topping 50 million streams in 2020
The popularity of rap and hip hop soared in the UK in 2020, new research by the BPI reveals.
The rise has been powered by streaming, with rap and hip hop tracks topping 50 million plays in the UK last year, the music trade body reports in its All About Music 2021 yearbook.
Rap and hip hop now accounts for well over a fifth (22%) of all UK singles consumption - a six-fold increase on 1999 - led by big-name acts including Drake and Eminem and driven further by rising stars such as AJ Tracey, Headie One and S1mba.
Seven of 21 songs to top the Official Singles Chart last year were were classified as rap/hip hop. Over a third of those were British acts, including big Top 10 hits by Aitch, Tion Wayne, Dutchavelli and DigDat.
MORE: Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2021 so far
Female artists are also driving the rise in rap/hip hop: Cardi B's chart-topping WAP, Megan Thee Stallion's Savage, and Doja Cat's Say So were all big hits last year, while Bree Runway and Flohio are among the artists making waves in 2021.
2020 Official Top 5 Rap & Hip Hop singles
1. Saint Jhn - Roses
2. Stormzy/Ed Sheeran/Burna Boy - Own It
3. Roddy Ricch - The Box
4. Doja Cat - Say So
5. S1mba ft. DTG - Rover
© Official Charts Company
The genre's share of music consumption has now increased for six consecutive years in terms of singles streams and sales, according to Official Charts Company data. That growth also extends to the albums market, aided by chart-topping releases from 2020 by Eminem, J Hus, Juice WRLD, Headie One, Pop Smoke and Nines.
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Rap and hip hop's market share in the UK is now over six times greater than at the start of the Millennium; in 1999 the genre's share of the albums market was just 2%.
2020 Official Top 5 Rap & Hip Hop albums
1. Stormzy - Heavy Is The Head
2. Pop Smoke - Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon
3. Eminem - Music To Be Murdered By
4. Post Malone - Hollywood’s Bleeding
5. Juice Wrld - Legends Never Die
© Official Charts Company
MORE: Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2021 so far
Commenting on the rise of the genre in recent years, broadcaster Jasmine Dotiwala recalls a period in the 1990s when she was told rap and hip hop "would be a fleeting genre not to be taken seriously, especially the UK sound. Now it's woven into the fabric of mainstream Pop culture – the power of Hip-hop and the influence of UK talent can be seen at every turn.
"To see how successful British Rap voices across cultures are soaring with success is something we always knew was possible, we just needed the internet and streaming services to galvanise the British Rap and Hip Hop movements’ DIY ethos. To the musicians, their teams, the multiple media platforms, radio DJs, producers, live events teams, music journalists, those who champion the music and culture relentlessly and the music lovers.... Congratulations!"
Joseph ‘JP’ Patterson, EIC at Complex UK and founder of TRENCH Magazine, added: “To know how much Black British music has impacted the music industry at large is something that I couldn’t be more proud of. From the days when Grime and UK Rap was an afterthought in mainstream spaces, to now being a driving force in the UK’s musical landscape — it just goes to show that with great music and an even greater work ethic, the sky really is the limit. Dave, Stormzy, Ghetts, J Hus et al — some of our finest lyricists — are getting their flowers at the best point of their careers, and they deserve every last bit of it.
“We also shouldn’t forget the importance of the Grime resurgence that took place in 2014 and lasted a few years because the work that Skepta, Novelist, AJ Tracey and more put in laid the foundation for a lot of the chart invasion/BRITs nominations that we’re seeing today.”
2020 Official Top 10 UK Rap & Hip Hop singles
1. Stormzy/Ed Sheeran/Burna Boy - Own It
2. S1mba ft. DTG - Rover
3. Aitch/AJ Tracey/Tay Keith - Rain
4. AJ Tracey ft Mostack - Dinner Guest
5. Young T & Bugsey ft. Headie One - Don’t Rush
6. Headie One/AJ Tracey/Stormzy - Ain’t It Different
7. Dave ft. Burna Boy - Location
8. AJ Tracey - Ladbroke Grove
9. Tion Wayne/Dutchavelli/Stormzy - I Dunno
10. Stormzy - Vossi Bop
© Official Charts Company
2020 Official Top 10 UK Rap & Hip Hop albums
1. Stormzy - Heavy Is The Head
2. J Hus - Big Conspiracy
3. Dave - Psychodrama
4. KSI - Dissimulation
5. D-Block Europe - PTSD
6. M Huncho - Huncholini the 1st
7. D-Block Europe - Street Trauma
8. AJ Tracey - AJ Tracey
9. J Hus - Common Sense
10. Nines - Crabs In A Bucket
© Official Charts Company
Article image: Flo Ngala (Cardi B)
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BleeUK
It not rocket science, the only reason why rap is huge in UK in charts and people are streaming it, it because it on the top playlist on streaming world,(than people searching for it) by record label and putting Rap and dance music right up to the list, so the other Styles like interesting clean cuts or vintage styles Country, Pure Pop, Classic, Rock, Jazz, Indie/alt/folk is right down the bottom and not refresh at the top of playlist control.
thierry henon
rap has roared not only in the UK but everywhere else for years now!! That is not news!! Unfortunately a lot of rap artists are extremely bad but still have success in the charts!! Thanks God we still have great artists like EMINEM who is still making records and some great albums i may add and some newcomers who have huge talent like LIZZO, DOJA CAT, SUMMER WALKER and MEGAN THEE THE STALLION but we still have the overrated and not talented at all artist like CARDI B!!
Augustus Doministrix
Agreed, I think the OCC is quite biased towards all these terrible rappers and lets the charts become flooded with all the , which is ironically enough not even music but in a music chart. Agree with Eminem totally 👍 I like some of Lizzo, don’t really like Doja Cat, Summer Walker I’ve not heard but I don’t like Megan Thee Stallion, she’s sh*te.
DG
Dan Gerous
The 'popularity' of Rap and Hip Hop could be due to the favouritism of streaming in the Official Charts Company data. The OCC has declared that 150 'streams' is the same as 1 sale [download, CD single, or vinyl single sale] which to me is just far too low. A 7" single costs roughly £9.99, and yet for the same price I could buy a month of ad-free streaming on a popular streaming site. If I used my £9.99 to stream the biggest Rap hit from last year ['Rockstar' by DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch , No.7 on the "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 for 2020"] I could stream it 7120 times in a 30 day month if I am awake for only 12 hours a day... I suggest 1000 FULL streamed plays should = one download sale, and that physical sales should = 10 sales. Make the Chart a points system based on 'value' of the media used to enjoy the music. Simple. 1 Chart Point for a full stream (The track MUST be played IN FULL - not just a 30 second clip), 1,000 chart points for a digital download and 10,000 points for a physical sale (vinyl, CD or cassette single/E.P. ). This would make a totally level playing field for music again based on money spent on the artists making the music we love. I'm sure rap wouldn't be as popular if people had to actually spend their money on it. [nb: free streams and soft--style music video streams now are included in the OCC data].
A
Amr
I am not reading all that
Augustus Doministrix
Well why bother commenting then? Like I’m sure he cares