Thanks to the streaming revolution, we have a real time idea of exactly what is hot.
The website Kworb tracks data from iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube to rank all the artists in the world on their current streaming heat.
As of this evening, 17 of the most popular artists in the world are rappers.
They are:
16. DJ Khaled 17. XXXTENTACION 22. French Montana 28. Drake
34. Kendrick Lamar 36. Lil Uzi Vert 44. Logic 52. Nicki Minaj
54. Big Sean 68. Macklemore 76. Post Malone
86. Young Thug 89. 21 Savage 91. Swae Lee
95. Gucci Mane 97. Cardi B 100. Migos
The top five of any genre are Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Luis Fonsi [Despacito] and The Imagine Dragons, in that order.
Now, this doesn't mean XXX is more popular than Drake and Kendrick overall. It just means he's more popular (getting more streams) worldwide right now. You can check out the entire list here.
[Related: Final numbers for Lil Uzi Vert's Luv Is Rage 2 and XXXTentacion's 17 are in.]
Any surprises on the list?