UK Rap and Hip Hop soars in 2020 fuelled by streaming with the genre accounting for over a fifth of UK singles according to the BPI. This new analysis from the BPI is from their ‘All About the Music’ 2021 yearbook based on data from the Official Charts Company published on the 15th April. Rap and Hip Hop accounted for 22% of all UK singles and 12.2% of album sales. Both figures represent all-time peaks for the genre, thanks in part to the huge success of breakthrough British artists such as Headie One (who has a brace of BRITs 2021 nominations), Nines, and KSI as well as more established international stars.
Rap and Hip Hop’s market share is now over six times greater than at the start of the Millennium when its share of the singles market was just 3.6% and its share of the albums market in 1999 was a tiny 2.0%. Rap and Hip Hop’s share of music consumption has now increased for six consecutive years in terms of singles streams and sales. In 2020 seven of the year’s 21 Official Charts No.1 singles were classified as Rap/Hip Hop, including tracks by Stormzy, Eminem and Cardi B. British talent accounted for over a third (33.6%) of all the Rap/Hip hop singles consumption in 2020, with songs by breakthrough artists such as Aitch, Tion Wayne, Dutchavelli and DigDat among those making the top 10 of the Official Singles Chart.
2020 was also notable for the waves made by women artists – as well as appearing with Cardi B on WAP, Megan Thee Stallion enjoyed a top three hit with Savage, as did Doja Cat with Say So (which Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj guested on remixes of, respectively). There were also a number of women making an impact in the UK Rap genre, with artists such as Bree Runway and Flohio tipped to have a big 2021.
An ever-increasing number of domestic performers are now amassing huge streaming audiences with tracks by S1mba, AJ Tracey, Dave and Headie One all racking up more than 50 million plays in the UK alone in 2020. All those artists – along with others such as Bugzy Malone, M Huncho and Young T & Bugsey – were among the upper echelon achieving over 100 million UK plays across their catalogues last year.
Rap/Hip Hop’s growth in the albums market reached an all-time-high of 12.2% in 2020 with No.1 albums for Stormzy, Eminem and J Hus. Chart success came from Juice WRLD and Pop Smoke both reaching the summit with posthumous releases. As in the singles market, artists from the UK enjoyed significant success: collectively their music comprised over a quarter (25.7%) of album sales and streams in the genre.
2020 Official Top 10 UK Rap & Hip Hop singles
© Official Charts Company
- Stormzy/Ed Sheeran/Burna Boy Own It
- S1mba ft. DTG Rover
- Aitch / AJ Tracey / Tay Keith Rain
- AJ Tracey ft Mostack Dinner Guest
- Young T & Bugsey ft. Headie One Don’t Rush
- Headie One /AJ Tracey / Stormzy Ain’t It Different
- Dave ft. Burna Boy Location
- AJ Tracey Ladbroke Grove
- Tion Wayne / Dutchavelli / Stormzy I Dunno
- Stormzy Vossi Bop
2020 Official Top 10 UK Rap & Hip Hop albums
© Official Charts Company
- Stormzy Heavy Is The Head
- J Hus Big Conspiracy
- Dave Psychodrama
- KSI Dissimulation
- D-Block Europe PTSD
- M Huncho Huncholini the 1st
- D-Block Europe Street Trauma
- AJ Tracey AJ Tracey
- J Hus Common Sense
- Nines Crabs In A Bucket
2020 Official Top 5 Rap & Hip Hop singles
© Official Charts Company
- Saint Jhn Roses
- Stormzy/Ed Sheeran/Burna Boy Own It
- Roddy Ricch The Box
- Doja Cat Say So
- S1mba ft. DTG Rover
2020 Official Top 5 Rap & Hip Hop albums
© Official Charts Company
- Stormzy Heavy Is The Head
- Pop Smoke Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon
- Eminem Music To Be Murdered By
- Post Malone Hollywood’s Bleeding
- Juice Wrld Legends Never Die
All About the Music 2021 is free to BPI members but can be purchased here.
