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- 2023 Rapped: Highest-Selling Album, Most-Streamed Song & More
2023 Rapped: Highest-Selling Album, Most-Streamed Song & More
Plus, Metro Boomin teases another joint collab album.

Kanye might still release Vultures before 2024, but his 20-year streak of charting a song on Billboard since the beginning of his career officially ended in 2023. In other news today:
Billboard’s Hot 100 📈
Kanye’s releasing this Vultures single tonight 👀
2023 Rapped: highest-selling album, most-streamed song & more 🏆️
Metro Boomin teases another 2024 joint album 🔥
Industry Insights 🔎

Billboard’s Hot 100

According to Billboard, for the week of December 30.
The above chart shows Billboard’s Hot 100 ranking for this week. The Hot 100 ranks songs based on streaming activity, radio airplay audience impressions, and sales data—all measured by Luminate.
Jack Harlow’s “Lovin On Me” holds steady at #6 even in the midst of a holiday chart takeover. Nicki Minaj’s “Everybody” drops from #26 to #39 in its second week, and “FTCU” holds the same position at #42.

Kanye’s Allegedly Dropping This ‘Vultures’ Single Tonight

Kanye’s allegedly releasing Vultures before the end of the year and dropping a single from the album tonight. According to the subreddit u/GoodAssSub, a frequent source for Kanye leaks, the song “Everybody” ft. Charlie Wilson was sent to distributors and is scheduled to hit streaming services at midnight
“EVERYBODY” IS SET TO DROP AS A SINGLE TONIGHT.
WE HAVE RECEIVED CONFIRMATION FROM A RELIABLE SOURCE IN CONTACT WITH A BIG PRODUCER.
— GoodAssSub (@GoodAssSub)
10:20 PM • Dec 28, 2023
The song sparked controversy when it first premiered at the Vultures rave in Miami due to its use of the Backstreet Boys’ 1997 song of the same name. Clearance issues were brought up, but it’s possible Kanye got it cleared. Here’s why:
“Everybody” uses an interpolation, not a sample
Interpolations are like a cover of a segment of a song
Charlie Wilson re-created the original Backstreet Boys chorus
Kanye only needs clearance from the publisher (which is not Backstreet Boys)
When is Vultures dropping? After delaying the release of the album to Dec 31st, fans noticed the date on Apple Music changed to Jan 12th, 2024.
But subreddit u/GoodAssSub posted a recap of Vultures info that said the album is targeting a Sunday (Dec 31st) or Monday (Jan 1st) release, and Apple Music has officially changed the date back to Dec 31st.
VULTURES END OF YEAR INFO DUMP FROM OUR SUBREDDIT
— GoodAssSub (@GoodAssSub)
10:52 PM • Dec 28, 2023
In other Kanye news, he issued a formal apology in Hebrew to the Jewish community via IG for his many antisemitic remarks. He also released YZY PODS, a compact sock-like shoe that folds up to fit in a bag easily, on the YEEZY SPLY website for $269 each.
JUST IN: Kanye West posts apology on IG‼️🙏
“I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions… your forgiveness is important to me, and I am committed to making amends and promoting unity”
— RapTV (@Rap)
8:09 AM • Dec 26, 2023

2023 Rapped: Highest-Selling Album, Most-Streamed Song & More

As 2023 comes to a close, rap music wasn’t the favorite child it used to be, facing allegations of declining market share and chart dominance compared to its Latin and country music siblings. But did rap have a bad year?
2023 brought Lil Uzi Vert’s first album in three years, Travis Scott’s long-awaited Utopia, a Yeat x Drake collab, and new Playboi Carti music. See rap’s year in review below (via HipHopAllDayy) and test your knowledge with a bonus quiz at the end.
5 highest-selling rap albums of 2023
Utopia by Travis Scott 1.7M
Heroes & Villains by Metro Boomin 1.6M
Her Loss by Drake, 21 Savage 1.4M
For All The Dogs by Drake 1.4M
My Turn by Lil Baby 970K
10 most-streamed rap songs globally of 2023 on Spotify
“Paint The Town Red” by Doja Cat 713M
“Sprinter” by Central Cee, Dave 529M
“fukumean” by Gunna 524M
“Barbie World” by Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice 386M
“I KNOW ?” by
Travis Scott 283M
“Search & Rescue” by Drake 282M
“All My Life” by Lil Durk, J. Cole 271M
“FE!N” by Travis Scott, Playboi Carti 248M
“MELTDOWN” by Travis Scott, Drake 241M
“Agora Hills” by Doja Cat 237M
10 rappers who charted on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the most weeks in 2023
Drake 52 weeks
21 Savage 52 weeks
Travis Scott 46 weeks
Nicki Minaj 45 weeks
Ice Spice 42 weeks
Future 37 weeks
Cardi B 34 weeks
Coi Leray 33 weeks
Rod Wave 33 weeks
J. Cole 33 weeks
2023 Rapped: Quiz
Test your rap knowledge with the questions below. Once you submit the answer you think is correct, you’ll find out if you were right or wrong.
What was the most-streamed rap song of 2023 in the US? (not global)Guess the correct answer from the options below |
Which rapper was streamed 7B times on Spotify in 2023, breaking their career record?Guess the correct answer from the options below |
Which female rapper had their biggest year ever on Spotify with over 5B streams?Guess the correct answer from the options below |
Which album, not released in 2023, saw its highest streams to date this year?Guess the correct answer from the options below |

Metro Boomin Teases Another 2024 Joint Album

Metro Boomin just added another name to his list of loading collab albums. Instead of a rapper, it’s fellow Atlanta producer Zaytoven. Metro teased the news on X, posting a screenshot of his conversation with Zaytoven discussing a beat they were cooking.
“The sound of these beats me and @zaytovenbeats make together are so unique like nothing my ears have heard before,” Metro tweeted. The duo previously worked together on “RIP Luv” from 21 Savage’s album Savage Mode II and are frequent collaborators with Future but don’t appear on the same songs often.
Me and @zaytovenbeatz probably got 100 🔥🔥🔥 beats by now. I got on here to ask you guys what artist should we do a tape with first but now I’m thinking maybe it should be a compilation tape of various artists over these masterpieces!
— Metro Boomin (@MetroBoomin)
10:05 PM • Dec 26, 2023
Metro’s been active on X this week, answering fans’ questions and giving updates on his pending projects. He’s promoted his collab album with Future the most, which is reportedly “on the way,” although no release date has been confirmed.
He teased an album with J.I.D earlier this year and told fans this week that, unlike the Future project, it’s not done and is still a work in progress. He was also in the studio with 21 Savage right after Christmas, likely working on Savage’s upcoming album.
Not almost done but we working. Bro just sent me a new 1 I played back to back like 7 times in the car earlier
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥— Metro Boomin (@MetroBoomin)
8:14 AM • Dec 27, 2023
Which Metro Boomin collab album do you want the most?Click an option below to weigh in |

Chief Keef hops on Sexyy Red’s “Bow Bow Bow (F My Baby Dad)” remix. Delivering four solo verses, he dominates the track flipping to the chorus to rap, “F*ck my baby mama.”
Takeoff’s father joins $1M USD wrongful death lawsuit. It was filed against 810 Billiards & Bowling in Houston, where the late rapper was shot.
Jay Rock says a TDE compilation album is coming “at the top of the year.” Black Hippy, the group composed of Rock, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, and Kendrick Lamar, is set to appear on the album.

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