Now here’s a ranking worth mulling over, at least if you’re not allergic to hearing the names of the two big music industry institutions involved. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of its Hot Rap Songs chart, Billboard has put together a list of the genre’s best performing songs in that time period. The top spot went to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis for their vintage clothes-fetishizing hit song “Thrift Shop,” and as much the popularity of the single can’t be questioned, it’s interesting to have a release from the current decade, way past hip-hop’s commercial peak, take the crown.
Take a look at the top 10 below, and browse the whole ranking on Billboards’s website.
10. “The Humpty Dance” – Digital Underground
09. “No Hands” – Waka Flocka Flame feat. Roscoe Dash & Wale
08. “Big Poppa/Warning” – The Notorious B.I.G.
07. “Flava In Ya Ear” – Craig Mack
06. “Gangsta’s Paradise” – Coolio feat. L.V.
05. “Expression” – Salt-N-Pepa
04. “Can’t Hold Us” – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton
03. “Hot Boyz” – Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott feat. Nas, Eve & Q-Tip
02. “Tootsee Roll” – 69 Boyz
01. “Thrift Shop” – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz
