In the last 51 years, hip-hop has grown from what some people believed to be a fad to a global phenomenon. The culture has produced ground-breaking artists and record-breaking sales numbers, leading rap to become the biggest genre in music. However, in recent years, there has been a massive slump in album sales numbers, all while the genre remains more popular than ever. So, what gives?
Hip-hop’s impact is undeniable. In 2018, Nielsen SoundScan’s year-end music industry report confirmed hip-hop (their way of categorizing rap as a genre) was the most popular genre in the U.S. According to Statista‘s most recent numbers, hip-hop was the most streamed genre of music in the U.S. in 2021. Yet, as recent numbers show, rap artists aren’t selling like they used to. Even A-listers.
Eminem’s latest album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in July. However, the 281,000 units sold for that project is a far cry from his record-breaking The Marshall Mathers LP, which sold 1.7 million copies in its first week in 2000. Even Drake, arguably hip-hop’s most viable rap artist, isn’t immune. His pre-streaming era 2010 debut album, Thank Me Later, sold more first-week copies than his latest album, For All The Dogs, did in 2023.
So, why in an era where people can download music without leaving the comfort of their homes are rap sales numbers down compared to a time when people had to physically buy music and bootlegging was rampant?
According to musicologist and historian Zachary Diaz, the genre’s popularity might have ironically contributed to the drop.
“The market share [of hip-hop] has become so massive that it’s this sort of zenith and because it is everywhere, it’s hard to even tell what is hip-hop and what isn’t,” he told Newsweek earlier this year. “It’s going to sound cheesy but because hip-hop has been so appropriated and exploited, it’s like hip-hop is everywhere but at the same time it’s nowhere.”
The conflict seems to be the most evident when it comes to the album sales of female rappers, many of whom are wildly popular and have huge fan bases. Unfortunately, that does not translate to big album sales.
The numbers for the first half of 2024 don’t look promising either. According to Luminate, the sales data service from which Billboard derives its album and song charts, genres like Latin, pop, rock, dance and country have exponentially larger growth than hip-hop in 2024. The numbers also show around 65 percent of rap/hip-hop fans report streaming music within the first week of its release, which is only behind K-pop and Latin music.
XXL has reached out to YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify and Billboard for comment about how streaming numbers correlate to album sales, but did not hear back as of press time.
Last October, Juicy J weighed in on the decline of rap sales via social media and urged the hip-hop community to do something about it.
“I know a lot of people don’t want to hear this, but I’m being real,” he began. “Rap music is down 40 percent this year. I’ma say it again—rap music is down 40 percent. Check the charts, check the math…What are we as rappers, producers, composers, etc. gonna do about this shit? ’Cause it’s down 40 percent this year. Check the charts! Do your research. This is a fact.”
He expressed his desire to for his fellow rappers and producers to do something about it. “Let’s have a conversation!” Juicy urged. “What are we gonna do? As rappers, producers, composers, songwriters, engineers—what are we gon’ do, man? Rap is down 40 percent, man. We gotta figure some sh*t out. We gotta sit down and talk. Let’s have a meeting. Let’s meet up somewhere … Let’s talk about this sh*t, how we can turn this sh*t around.”
There are other factors at play here, including hip-hop’s seeming inability to produce certified rap stars like it once did and the economy as a whole. With no clear reason to pinpoint, the head scratching will continue.
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