The Billboard Hot 100 has been one of the most accurate depictions of music trends and listening patterns since its inception on August 4, 1958. It covers all genres and truly provides a barometer of what people are listening to.The latest edition of the list features a notable omission that has the internet abuzz. As per an official Billboard statement,“With Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s 13-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 Luther falling off the Hot 100 dated Oct. 25, 2025, there were officially no rap songs in the chart’s top 40 last week.”This is the first time a rap song has not been featured in the top 40 since February 2, 1990, ending a streak of 35 years, eight months, and three weeks as per Chart Data.Shortly after the story broke, several users quickly took to social media to share their reactions.One user wrote,“but i heard kendrick saved hiphop tho”Another user decided to pull Nicki Minaj into the conversation, who is fresh off an exceedingly volatile back-and-forth with fellow hip-hop star Cardi B.“Nicki predicted this”Others tried to offer theories of how we reached this point,“Mumble Rap killed Rap Music”Some users seemed pleased by the news,“Turned to my husband and said that the world is healing (because of this) and he thought I was talking about the ozone layer without context”Finally, some hip hop fans saw it as a wake-up call for their favorite artists to do better,“Time for a refresh! We want real rap! Real rappers back”Recent rule changes affect Billboard Hot 100 rankingsInterestingly, off the heels of the news, Billboard released a statement suggesting recent rule changes to the Hot 100 list may have skewed the possibility of this surprising result. While exceedingly technical, their explanation paints a picture of how such an outlier result could have arisen under the given parameters.Essentially, as per new protocols, songs that are on the way down the chart and have been featured for a stipulated period are ultimately removed entirely. Most recently, this affected “Luther”, a track by Kendrick Lamar and SZA, that had previously spent 26 weeks on the Hot 100.This result alone does not necessarily predict a shift in taste towards hip-hop, but at the very least, it suggests the genre is stagnating. It remains to be seen how artists and their audiences will respond in the coming months.