Hip-hop is going to be fine. Lately, fans have been going through an existential crisis over the state of the genre and culture. For the first time since February 1990, there are no rap songs in the Top 40 of Billboard’s Hot 100. On its face, this is alarming. For 35 years, rap has proven genuinely viable as a form of pop culture. Back in the 90s, it worked in conjunction with R&B as how people accessed Black culture.Then, eventually, the pendulum switched. Hip-hop became the predominant form of pop culture. Sure, the seasons changed every once in a while, but artists like Drake or Future or Lil Wayne or Kanye West were good to keep rap in the foreground as new interests emerged. Now, after all these years, it can’t even crack the Top 40? Prophecies of a death like jazz and rock felt imminent to a lot of people. Fingers were pointed at the lack of stars, the beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, anything to find a culprit for why hip-hop still isn’t at its peak.Here’s the thing: Rap is going to be fine. We’ve seen the ‘hip-hop is dead’ rhetoric dozens of times, especially from the purists of the world. Hell, Nas was one of the leaders in parroting the idea back in 2006. This isn’t the first time the diagnosis has been sprung upon the culture. But something drastic would have to happen to truly kill this art form we love.Hip-Hop Is Experiencing a Shift That Pop and Country Have Gone Through BeforeHere’s the thing: it’s honestly more impressive that rap has maintained its spot at the top for this long. Pop and country have gone out of vogue several times in culture. For pop, it would frequently latch onto whatever was raking in the dough the most. Put a fresh coat of the pop sheen on it, and it would satisfy itself. It even made due in the early 2010s when strange indie hits were captivating people the most. Commercialism was always the key to pop surviving, even if it didn’t look or sound like Max Martin. As long as it could reasonably be sold, pop could stick.Country music is the most striking comparison to what hip-hop is going through. Country has lamented its death since at least the 60’s. Traditionalists claimed Nashville sold out all the time. Hank Williams, the Highwaymen, this is a constant. In the 80s, the country was too sappy. In the 90s, it was too shiny. But now people look at 90s country as a golden age, where they raked in the most money and balanced commercial music with its initial roots. If these artists complained in the 70s, imagine how they’d feel about the carnival in 2025.After country had its last big boom with post 9/11 patriotism, the genre was convulsing. But after a decade-plus of being a mere blip on the pop culture radar, it shares a space with hip-hop again. Country’s biggest artist, Morgan Wallen, loves pairing up with a rapper. BigXthaPlug made a whole album of country crossovers, and he’s one of the biggest rappers in the world. Country is far too popular and still rigorously maintaining its roots too much to truly be dead. Critique it as you may, but rap has done the same.This Isn’t Just a Hip-Hop Problem, It’s a Music ProblemIn assigning a death sentence to rap music, we also overlook the current state of music as a whole. Even to devout chart followers, Billboard’s Hot 100 makes absolutely zero sense. Kate Bush proved that songs can emerge from internet virality and soundtracks despite being released decades ago. Miguel’s “Sure Thing” was released in 2010 and had a significant run on the charts. Moreover, since the COVID pandemic, records are sticking around on charts far longer than they used to. “Blinding Lights” stuck around for years and became the longest charting song in the Top 10 ever. Sometimes, records are inclined to stick around on the charts for a full calendar year before eventually petering out. This week, “MUTT” by Leon Thomas has peaked at No. 10 after lingering on the charts for 38 weeks. What a hit means in 2025 is radically different than our innate understanding. Naturally, hip-hop is going to feel the effects of this.Consequently, popular music doesn’t have much of an identity at all. Sure, Taylor Swift still has dominant real estate, but the feeling is even different there. Her last album, Tortured Poets Department, hasn’t stuck with anyone besides her immediate fan base. The rest of the Top 10 feels increasingly random. Number 2 is from a K-Pop Netflix movie, KPop Demon Hunters. Number 3 is from Alex Warren, an artist who seemingly appeared out of thin air and has just kind of stuck around accordingly. Is he a pop star? I guess, technically, but it doesn’t feel right. I’m not sure how many people actually know who Olivia Dean is, but they’ll know “Man I Need.”Hip-Hop Isn’t Dying, It’s Just RefreshingThese genres all seem to be struggling to understand music habits in today’s landscape. Frankly, country seems like the only genre that has a firm idea of who its premier artists are. Pop has cultivated its new crop of stars, but they also can’t quite control the randomness of these charts either. Meanwhile, hip-hop aggressively holds onto the stars they know.It worked out in 2024 when Kendrick Lamar spent his days beating on Drake. But it was a band-aid. Currently, the highest charting rap song is by “YoungBoy Never Broke Again”, an artist the industry has been extremely hesitant to touch. Most of these other hits sound exceptionally stale otherwise.Could hip-hop use a new influx of stars? Absolutely. It would be dour if the 2020s were defined by a lot of familiar faces from the 2010s. But hip-hop could never truly die when the culture of it still holds weight. It could never truly die when it still has its role as the predominant form in which Black artists create. It could never truly die without a replacement. The worst that could happen is that it shares its space rather than outright holding the throne. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Every piece of media has experienced its turbulence after COVID. It makes sense that hip-hop would need a refresh. Rap has rested on its laurels as the dominant pop culture juggernaut and has become more preoccupied with commercialism than the art form. The right balance would restore the culture in a way that would allow a rejuvenated push back to the top.There’s not a lack of options either. Scour the scenes for who is doing new, compelling ideas. Look for the eccentricities, the things that make you feel a little uncomfortable. Embrace the regional flair, the fact that different cities can do different things stylistically. This is what makes hip-hop exciting. These are the qualities that created Future, Young Thug, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and Chief Keef. These are the artists who have spawned countless offspring and variations on their creativity.What’s beautiful about hip-hop is that it was always on the cutting edge. Poptimism tends to be the leading factor in genre death, waxing to the point where it lacks distinction. If anything, the exclusive focus on commercialization is certainly what has dulled the genre and culture. But because hip-hop is an active culture that still receives proper care, it cannot die. What will kill rap is a lack of imagination and a ready replacement, so cultural vampires can leech off of more Black art. Until the underground crumbles and doesn’t care about the art, rap will only go through the natural ebbs and flows that come with being a popular genre.Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty ImagesThe post Hip-Hop Isn’t in the Top 40 for the First Time Since 1990 (And That Might Be a Good Thing) appeared first on VICE.