Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Spotify CLASSICS: The 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of the Streaming Era

20/05/2024

Reviews by Carl Chery, Kemet High, and Adrian Covert

In February, we launched Spotify CLASSICS-our first-ever program to celebrate catalog music. Our inaugural list acknowledged the Classic Hip-Hop and R&B Albums of the Streaming Era and featured timeless releases like Kendrick Lamar's DAMN., Future's DS2, Jay-Z's 4:44, and Travis Scott's ASTROWORLD, to name a few.

In April, we kicked off the second chapter of CLASSICS by unveiling the 100 Greatest R&B Songs of the Streaming Era. And today we unveil the latest chapter of our CLASSICS program: The 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of the Streaming Era. Spotify defines the streaming era as a time frame that spans from 2015 until present day.

Hip-hop has been the most influential genre in pop culture for decades, but it became the No.1 music genre in the U.S. in 2017, according to Nielsen. Hip-hop's commercial ascendance coincided with existential shifts for the genre. Rap transitioned to a more melodic format, occasionally making it hard to distinguish between hip-hop and R&B. Trap became the most popular sound in music, and its practitioners started releasing music at a relentless pace. But hip-hop remains as creatively inspired as ever, marked by the emergence of an exciting new generation who have already made their presence felt when it comes to the best hip-hop songs.

Spotify's U.S. hip-hop editorial team-spearheaded by Carl Chery, Creative Director, Head of Urban Music-has taken on the ambitious task of reviewing thousands of songs, and in the end, this list offers a snapshot of hip-hop during the streaming era. Spotify CLASSICS is 100% qualitative. The criteria for the list are based on quality, impact, replay value, influence, and cultural significance. The program is driven by our editors' music and cultural expertise-not by data-meaning that big streaming numbers were not a requirement to make the list.

Note: All songs were released on Spotify after January 1, 2015. The Spotify streams are current as of May 20, 2024.

100. Coi Leray Players Uptown Records, 2022 Produced by: Johnny Goldstein

Spotify Streams: 459,472,370

Fun Fact: There's a version of Players that features Coi Leray singing rather than rapping, but she hated it and overhauled the entire song to make it what it is today.

99. Fivio Foreign Big Drip RichFish LLC/Columbia Records, 2019 Produced by: AXL BEATS

Spotify Streams: 77,303,121

Fun Fact: Big Drip was created the day that Fivio Foreign's close affiliate, Sosa Geek, was locked up. Elsewhere, it was AXL BEATS's idea to use Fivie's ad-libs as a primary-as opposed to secondary-sound.

98. Doechii Yucky Blucky Fruitcake Five 5 Records, 2020 Produced by: Unicorn Waves

Spotify Streams: 46,210,978

Fun Fact: Yucky Blucky Fruitcake was Doechii's first song to appear in our RapCaviar playlist.

97. YG ft. Nipsey Hussle FDT Def Jam Recordings, 2016 Produced by: DJ Swish

Spotify Streams: 38,857,798

Fun Fact: When YG and Nipsey Hussle were filming the accompanying video for FDT, they shot their solo parts separately to avoid mixing their respective groups.

96. Sexyy Red SkeeYee Open Shift/gamma., 2023 Produced by: DJ Meech, Banbwoi, Tay Keith

Spotify Streams: 90,942,958

Fun Fact: In an interview with Montreality, Sexyy Red explained the meaning behind SkeeYee, saying, If you see a cute girl or somebody with a big booty or you trying to holler at somebody, they call that the geek call. A geek is a crackhead, dope fiend. Like when you serving geeks where I'm from, that's a geek call.

95. Freddie Gibbs, Madlib Crime Pays Keep Cool/RCA Records, 2019 Produced by: Madlib

Spotify Streams: 43,770,445

Fun Fact: There's an unreleased, alternate version of Crime Pays that features Norah Jones on the chorus.

94. Moneybagg Yo Time Today CMG/N-Less/Interscope Records, 2021 Produced by: Real Red, YC

Spotify Streams: 187,755,749

Fun Fact: Moneybagg Yo told Genius he initially wanted to push Hard For The Next as a single, but CMG label head Yo Gotti insisted he go with Time Today instead, which proved to be a solid choice.

93. Lil Durk ft. Gunna What Happened to Virgil Alamo Records/Sony Music Entertainment, 2022 Produced by: Chop Squad DJ

Spotify Streams: 143,392,151

Fun Fact: Chop Squad DJ made the beat for What Happened to Virgil in just 25 minutes during an Instagram Live session where fewer than 100 people were in attendance.

92. Flo Milli Never Lose Me RCA, 2023 Produced by: Gerreaux

Spotify Streams: 249,249,152

Fun Fact: The beat for Never Lose Me first appeared as Babyface Ray's Ron Artest. Flo Milli's version began as a freestyle but ultimately became a bona fide hit.

91. Denzel Curry Ultimate PH Recordings/Loma Vista Records, 2015 Produced by: RONNY J

Spotify Streams: 217,371,123

Fun Fact: Denzel Curry shot the video for Ultimate in LA's Arts District just a few blocks from the Spotify offices.

90. A$AP Rocky Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2 (LPFJ2) A$AP Rocky Recordings LLC/RCA, 2015 Produced by: Nez & Rio

Spotify Streams: 330,047,035

Fun Fact: LPFJ2 first appeared in 2014 at the end of A$AP Rocky's Multiply video in a clip featuring DMV rapper Yung Gleesh dancing to it.

89. Yo Gotti Down In the DM Epic Records/Sony Music Entertainment, 2016 Produced by: Ben Billions, Schife Karbeen

Spotify Streams: 177,922,823

Fun Fact: Down In The DM was intentionally made to capture the essence of Snapchat and Instagram on the same night Yo Gotti's cuts from The Art of Hustle, General (featuring Future) and Bible (featuring Lil Wayne) were made.

88. Doja Cat ft. Rico Nasty Tia Tamera Kemosabe Records/RCA, 2019 Produced by: Doja Cat, Kurtis McKenzie

Spotify Streams: 328,481,933

Fun Fact: In an Instagram post, Tamera Mowry ranked Tia Tamera
LINK: https://newsroom.spotify.com/2024-05-20/best-hip-hop-songs-100-top-tra...
See more stories from spotify

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

10/07/2026

N.Y. State Broadcasters Association Selects Hall of Fame Class of 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

Chyron's PRIME 5.4 Brings Template Experience to More Newsrooms

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

Registration Opens for 2026 NAB Show New York

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

IAB Releases Redefining Media Types' Standard for Public Comment

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

Wedotv FAST Channels Launch on TiVo Platforms in Europe

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

Sage Offers Guidance on EAS Password Changes

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/07/2026

Omaha Productions Goes All-In as World Series of Poker Main Event Returns to ESPN

With 50+ cameras, three trucks, 60+ EVS channels, RFID hole-card workflows, and ...

09/07/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Dana Shearer, Syracuse University

A recent graduate from Westchester, NY, this experienced technician has already started her first gig in the industry, as a REMI A2 Comms Specialist at ESPN In...

09/07/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Lightcasts Andreas Kisslinger on the Role of Automation, Cloud-Based Workflows in Streaming

Live sports production is a fast-paced industry with no signs of slowing down. W...

09/07/2026

TV Skyline, thinXpool, DMC Production Collaborate on Deutsche Telekom's World Cup From NYC

From a rooftop studio in Manhattan, multiple Germany-based companies share respo...

09/07/2026

FOX One and Overtime Announce Creator Series Race to Glory for FIFA World Cup 2026

Overtime has announced a content partnership with FOX One to produce Race to Glo...

09/07/2026

Ross Production Services Standardizes on Clear-Com Intercom Across Mobile Production Fleet

Clear-Com has announced that Ross Production Services (RPS) has standardized on ...

09/07/2026

NetApp Returns as Presenting Partner of 2026 NFL Madrid Game

The NFL has announced that NetApp will return as Presenting Partner of the NFL Madrid Game, featuring the Atlanta Falcons against the Cincinnati Bengals at the ...

09/07/2026

The R&A and Cisco Announce Multi-Year Network Infrastructure Partnership

The R&A and Cisco have announced a multi-year partnership making Cisco the Official Network Supplier of The R&A and its Championships. Cisco will deploy AI-read...

09/07/2026

Fox Television Stations, Extreme Reach, and LTN Complete Live Syndication of 25 Words or Less LIVE

Fox Television Stations, Extreme Reach (XR), and LTN have announced the completi...

09/07/2026

Wynn Records Launches Direct-to-Consumer Streaming Platform Powered by Kiswe

Kiswe has announced a partnership with Wynn Records to launch the Wynn Records Network streaming platform, debuting Saturday, July 11 with a Salita Promotions b...

09/07/2026

NEP Europe Announces Multi-Year Agreement as Wimbledon Broadcast Services Provider

NEP Europe has announced a new multi-year agreement with Wimbledon Broadcast Ser...

09/07/2026

Thropic Games Raises Pre-Seed Round Led by The Famous Group

Thropic Games, a company offering casual mobile games tied to fan fundraising for sports programs, has announced a pre-seed funding round led by The Famous Grou...

09/07/2026

Game Creek Video Purchases 10 Grass Valley K-Frame Switchers for Fleet Expansion

Game Creek Video has reached an agreement with Grass Valley to purchase 10 K-Frame production switchers as part of a two-year fleet expansion. Two systems have ...

09/07/2026

Gravity Media Powers ITVs FIFA World Cup Coverage with Three-Hub Remote Production

Gravity Media is delivering a three-hub remote production workflow for ITV's...

09/07/2026

Report: North American Broadcast Journalists Spend Up to 75% of Time on Technical Workflows

A new report from Quickplay and Caretta Research, The Broadcaster Revolution Wi...

09/07/2026

DAZN to Broadcast Esports World Cup Free to Global Audiences

DAZN, the world's leading sports entertainment platform, has announced a long-term strategic partnership with the Esports World Cup Foundation to serve as t...

09/07/2026

YES Networks Mike Webb on Finding Opportunity for Innovation in Live Regional Sports Production

The regional sports network is staying busy this summer with broadcasts of the N...

09/07/2026

Universal Audio Black Box HG-2 & elysia karacter

Latest analogue-emulation plug-ins revealed Universal Audio have just added two new analogue-emulation plug-ins to their DSP-powered UAD line-up. Developed ...

09/07/2026

Neumann launch U 47 FET Bon Scott Edition

Limited-edition mic celebrates rock icon Neumann have partnered with the Bon Scott Estate to create a limited-edition version of the U 47 FET that honours b...

09/07/2026

Plugin Station: Plug-in management software

Handles organisation, updates, troubleshooting & more Created by pro-audio software developer Julian Worden, Plugin Station from Julian Michael Technologies...

09/07/2026

LANDR expand Fair Trade AI programme

Introduces new $1 million advance programme LANDR have just announced the next phase of their Fair Trade AI programme, a pioneering opt-in music-licensing p...

09/07/2026

Spitfire Audio expand low-cost Originals range

Four new titles now available Spitfire Audio have just introduced four new titles in their Originals range, bringing the total count of libraries in the low...

09/07/2026

SBS statement Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion

SBS statement Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion 9 July, 2026 Media releases SBS acknowledges the gravity of the matters before the Roy...

09/07/2026

Press Release: NFVF Sixth Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP6) Status Update

08 July 2026, Johannesburg - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an a...

09/07/2026

Blackmagic Design Announces New UltraStudio Express 3G

Blackmagic Design Announces New UltraStudio Express 3G Brie Clayton July 9, 2026 0 Comments New extremely portable capture and playback models with 3G...

09/07/2026

Miri Introduces Self-Service Cellular Data and SIM Card Management Platform for NetConnect+ Plans

Miri Introduces Self-Service Cellular Data and SIM Card Management Platform for ...

09/07/2026

Hong Kong Jockey Club Expands Intercom Infrastructure Wit...

Riedel Communications today announced that the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), one of Asia's most prestigious horse racing organizations, has significantly up...

09/07/2026

Game Creek Video Switches On Next-Gen Production with K-F...

Leading North American mobile production facility provider standardizes on Grass Valley's fully IP-native K-Frame production switchers for its fleet of next...

09/07/2026

Miri Introduces Self-Service Cellular Data and SIM Card M...

Miri Technologies Inc. is rolling out a new online portal that provides customers and resellers with self-serve management tools and usage analytics for the com...

09/07/2026

Beeble Introduces AI-Driven SwitchHDR Converter

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/07/2026

DP Aakash Subramaniam Chooses ZEISS Supreme and Nano Prim...

Cinematographer Aakash Subramaniam, WICA faced a conceptual challenge: how could he make a film about dying that doesn't feel like one? The film, Our Weird...

09/07/2026

The Search for Leah Croucher: A Parent's Nightmare for U and U&W

Years in the making, this intimate documentary draws on rare access to Leah Crouchers family to tell the story behind one of Britains most high-profile missing ...

09/07/2026

Enjoy Gigafast speeds and Ultimate TV pack for less

Thursday 9 July 2026 Enjoy Gigafast speeds and Ultimate TV pack for less The latest deals have dropped from Sky TV and Sky Broadband, the award-winning provid...

09/07/2026

Local campaigns with impact

Hands up who would like to dress up as a giant crisp packet? The call that went out across the agency as our anti-litter campaign, Wish you weren't here fo...

09/07/2026

GeForce NOW Turns Up the Heat With New GeForce RTX 5080-Powered Toronto Server

This GFN Thursday brings more games, more power and more ways to play on GeForce NOW. The cloud gaming service is expanding with a new GeForce RTX 5080-powere...

08/07/2026

Aqueduct Racetrack Goes Silent

The end of the Big A' marks the demise of one more iconic sports venue and its signature sound After 132 years as one of the preeminent horse-racing track...

08/07/2026

Memphis Athletics, Learfield Continue Long-Term Partnership

Memphis Athletics and Learfield have signed a long-term renewal to their 25-year relationship, which sees Learfield's Tiger Sports Properties continue repre...

08/07/2026

T-Mobile Brings ABS Challenge System, 5G Batting Practice Cams to 2026 MLB All-Star Game in Philadelphia

MLB All-Star Week returns to Philadelphia for the first time in 30 years as Amer...

08/07/2026

SVG Enterprise Launches Inaugural Enterprise Video Summit, Oct. 19 in New York

Former Wall Street Video event expanded to include all Enterprise sectors SVG Enterprise has announced the inaugural Enterprise Video Summit, taking place Oct....

08/07/2026

Wrigley Field Revamp: Chicago Cubs Upgrade LED Videoboards To Match New 1080p Control Room

An offseason project enhanced eight video displays around the venue in time for ...

08/07/2026

A Beacon on Biscayne Bay: Miami Heat Reflect on Ambitious Renovation at SVG Venues & Teams Summit

Kaseya Center has a ton of new features that weren't available to the indust...