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 ...

09/10/2026

Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026

September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026 New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

11/09/2026

Calrec to Unveil Type RT Compact Console at IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/09/2026

Biggest functionality boost yet makes Buttons the perfect...

Version 1.8 will bring advanced routing control, new workflow tools, boosted control panel flexibility and ease of integration into IP networks...

11/09/2026

Ikegami Announces Four New UNICAM XE Series Cameras

Ikegami announces four additions its UNICAM XE range of 4K-UHD cameras with the introduction of the UHK-X700VN, UHK-X750VN, UHK-X600VN and UHK-X650VN. Developed...

11/09/2026

DHD Launches New MX3 Consoles - Modular to the Core

DHD.audio has chosen IBC2026 as the launch venue for a major new addition to its broadcast sound production platform: the MX3 console range. MX3 retains the mod...

11/09/2026

Sony To Showcase Latest Production Technology At IBC2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/09/2026

EKT To Feature New Linux-Based ATSC 3.0 STB At IBC2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/09/2026

Jimmy Kimmel Shifts Political Interview to YouTube Over FCC Worries

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/09/2026

Remembering 9/11: 25 Years of TV Tech Coverage

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/09/2026

Tiger Group To Auction Equipment from a National Broadcasting Studio

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/09/2026

Grass Valley Launches AVORA at IBC2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/09/2026

Survey: Low Latency for Live Streaming Is Industrys Top Challenge

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/09/2026

Atomos Debuts New HDR Monitors at 2026 IBC Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/09/2026

Grass Valley Launches AVORA at IBC2026 Bringing All in On...

New standalone solution gives production teams everything they need to create, produce and deliver live content from one flexible system. Grass Valley today an...

11/09/2026

Wave Central a Domo Broadcast Company Named Recipient of...

Recognition honors the development of FPV drone camera systems for live sports broadcast coverage Wave Central, a Domo Broadcast Company that develops advanced...

11/09/2026

Teradek Launches Bolt 7 A Unified Wireless System for Zer...

Teradek, the industry leader in zero-delay wireless video solutions, announced the launch of Bolt 7, which now includes a unified wireless video and data system...

11/09/2026

ACT Pixel Academy Announces Autumn Courses

The ACT Entertainment tvONE and Green Hippo Pixel Academy has released its autumn course schedule, with hands-on training dates in September, October and Novemb...

11/09/2026

Scientists discover a new way that a disease-linked protein comes apart

LA JOLLA, CA-Transthyretin amyloid disease (ATTR) is a progressive, life-threatening condition caused when the protein transthyretin (TTR) breaks apart and aggr...

11/09/2026

Major Update to Blackmagic Cloud

Major Update to Blackmagic Cloud Brie Clayton September 10, 2026 0 Comments Blackmagic Design has announced a major update to Blackmagic Cloud which a...

11/09/2026

Dalet Helps Media Organizations Navigate the Rise of Synthetic Content with NVIDIA AI

Dalet Helps Media Organizations Navigate the Rise of Synthetic Content with NVID...

11/09/2026

Benetti Menswear Tees Up for 2026 Amgen Irish Open on RT

RT has today announced Benetti Menswear as the sponsor of its 2026 Amgen Irish Open coverage for a sixth consecutive year, further strengthening the heritage c...

10/09/2026

First AI-Generated Golf Announcer To Debut During New Mexico Open

Duff Foreman is an AI-generated announcer who will add color to this month's New Mexico Open...

10/09/2026

IBC 2026: Bitmovin Rolls Out Encoder Version 3

Bitmovin is rolling out Encoder Version 3, the next major release of the technology behind its VOD and Live Encoders. Version 3 is built on a premise every stre...

10/09/2026

IBC 2026: Net Insight Highlights Open Live Media for Controlled Live Services

At IBC2026, on booth 1.B47, Net Insight will showcase Open Live Media, its architecture for delivering resilient live media services across networks, partners, ...

10/09/2026

PWHL, Scripps Sports Sign National Television Deal for 2026-27 Season

The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and Scripps Sports have announced a national broadcast rights agreement for the 2026-27 season, a landmark par...

10/09/2026

IBC 2026: Trusted Partner Network Debuts Fix It or Risk It to Tackle Everyday Security Risks

The Trusted Partner Network (TPN), the global content security initiative powere...

10/09/2026

NFL Brings Back Creator Programs to Deliver Access, Original Storytelling During the 2026 Season

The NFL is launching its most expansive creator programming yet, bringing togeth...

10/09/2026

Sportsnet Removes 150 Blackouts for More National NHL Games Than Ever in 2026-2027 Season

Sportsnet is set to deliver its biggest hockey season ever with a national sched...

10/09/2026

IBC 2026: LiveU Showcases Starlink for News and Sports Broadcast as Clarus Integrated Reseller

LiveU is now a Clarus Integrated Reseller, bringing Starlink's fast, reliabl...

10/09/2026

IBC 2026: Mimir Develops Single Layer for Content, Metadata, AI Orchestration

Mimir is the cloud-native media production platform built for teams that need to move media fast across live, archive, web, social, and broadcast workflows. At ...

10/09/2026

IBC 2026: ATSC 3.0 To Receive Technology & Engineering Emmy Award for Significant Advancement in Television Broadcasting

ATSC is being honored with a 2026 Technology & Engineering Emmy Award by the Nat...

10/09/2026

Audio-Technica Presents BP880R Contact Transducer for Immersive Sports Broadcast, Production Audio Enhancement

Audio-Technica has introduced the BP880R Contact Transducer, a specialized micro...

10/09/2026

ESPN, ION Team Up to Broadcast WTGL Starting on Nov. 8

TMRW Sports in partnership with the LPGA, today announced multiyear U.S. media rights agreements with ESPN and Scripps Sports/ION to bring WTGL, the new women&#...

10/09/2026

SportsNet Pittsburgh Honors Roberto Clemente Day With Second-Annual Live Spanish-Language Pirates Telecast

SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) in partnership with Major League Baseball and the Pit...

10/09/2026

Tennis Channel Gives Fans Options With Premium Subscription on Roku

Tennis Channel announced today its launch as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel. Tennis Channel offers viewers a single home for Tennis Channel and Ten...

10/09/2026

IBC 2026: Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform With New Capabilities

Dolby has announced major updates to Dolby OptiView, its live sports platform, ahead of IBC 2026. The updates include new AI-powered intelligence to better unde...

10/09/2026

Dalet Names Brian Doheny as CEO

Dalet has appointed Brian Doheny as CEO. Doheny joined Dalet as President and Chief Revenue Officer in April 2026. Since joining Dalet, Doheny has led the compa...

10/09/2026

IBC 2026: Sony Demonstrates Various Creative Solutions for Attendees at the RAI

Sony, as well as its partner company Nevion, is starting IBC 2026 with a handful of announcements for attendees to see on the show floor. Sony Announces the 4t...

10/09/2026

SoFi Stadium Solidifies Production Output With Multi-Layered Tech Renovation

The six-year-old venue is expanding capabilities for NFL action, Super Bowl LXI, 2028 Summer Olympics SoFi Stadium, as well as the surrounding area known as Ho...

10/09/2026

Acon Digital introduce Acoustica 8

Editing, restoration & mastering suite upgraded Acon Digital Acoustica 8 audio editing restoration mastering software. Acon Digital have just launched the la...

10/09/2026

Readipop & XOX open XOX Studio

Classic synths & drum machines available to play Based in Reading, UK, Readipop are a music and arts charity with a long track record of innovative, partici...

10/09/2026

Neumann launch the KH 310 II & KH 350

Popular model updated & new addition introduced With many of the models in Neumann's KH family now boasting onboard DSP and support for the company'...

10/09/2026

Arturia launch the AudioFuse Studio Rev2

Improved desktop interface announced The latest iteration of Arturia's flagship desktop audio interface has just arrived, introducing improved preamps, ...

10/09/2026

Progress needs proof: Rohde & Schwarz showcases its trailblazing test solutions at EuMW 2026 in London

Progress needs proof: Rohde & Schwarz showcases its trailblazing test solutions ...

10/09/2026

Nielsen launches CTV ad spend data into its French Ad Intel product

France launch follows UK and Germany as Nielsen expands product across EMEA Paris, France, September 10, 2026 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measuremen...

10/09/2026

Fabric Data, TMT Insights Merge to Create Fabric Insights

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/09/2026

Leading Audio Manufacturers Join Forces on Dialog Intelli...

Leading professional audio manufacturers NUGEN Audio, RTW, Steinberg and Telos Alliance have joined forces with Fraunhofer IDMT to establish a common approach t...

10/09/2026

Setplex Introduces AI Insider for Faster Smarter Video Se...

Built Into Setplex's Zapflex Platform, AI Insider Turns Video Service Data Into Actionable Insights Setplex today introduced AI Insider, a breakthrough new...