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TOP TEN SINGLES
• 1. "Baby Boy": Beyoncé featuring Sean Paul
• 2. "Shake Ya Tailfeather": Nelly, P. Diddy & Murphy Lee
• 3. "Get Low": Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz featuring the Ying Yang Twins
• 4. "Right Thurr": Chingy
• 5. "Frontin' ": Pharrell featuring Jay-Z
• 6. "Damn!": YoungBloodz featuring Lil Jon
• 7. "P.I.M.P.": 50 Cent
• 8. "Into You": Fabolous featuring Tamia/Ashanti
• 9. "Stand Up": Ludacris featuring Shawnna
• 10. "Where is the Love?": Black Eyed Peas
Source: The Billboard Hot 100 singles chart
Rap music is so pervasive in society that it has accomplished a musical milestone: All of the Top 10 singles on the new Billboard Hot 100 chart feature rap.
From No. 1 ("Baby Boy" by Beyoncé and Sean Paul) to No. 10 ("Where is the Love?" by Black Eyed Peas), rappers rule as never before on the chart, which is released today.
"Hip-hop is as mainstream now as rock and pop were 10 years ago," said Dylan Sprague, program director for Atlanta Top 40 radio station Q100.
"To kids growing up today, hip-hop is pop music," he said. "It's only adults who look at it differently."
Musically, rap and hip-hop are the same thing -- lyrics spoken over a steady rhythmic beat. Hip-hop culture, which includes the music but also slang, dance and fashion, has been steadily increasing its influence in youth culture for years -- from TV commercials to suburban teens who get Eminem-style short haircuts.
White consumers now buy an estimated 80 percent of hip-hop CDs by many mainstream acts, according to industry estimates. And white musicians once identified with pop are blending their music with hip-hop. Justin Timberlake, formerly of boy band 'N Sync, guests on the Peas' "Where is the Love?" and Christina Aguilera's latest hit, "Can't Hold Us Down," is a duet with rapper Lil' Kim.
In addition, three of the Top 10 songs have Atlanta roots: "Get Low" by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz featuring the Ying Yang Twins (No. 3); "Damn!" by YoungBloodz featuring Lil Jon (No. 6); and "Stand Up" by Ludacris featuring Shawnna (No. 9), indicative of Atlanta's importance in the hip-hop world. And the No. 1 CD on Billboard's album chart is "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below," by Atlanta hip-hop duo Outkast.
The Billboard Hot 100 reflects what's popular on radio, says Silvio Pietroluongo, who oversees the chart. Years ago, the chart covered sales of singles, but record companies rarely release hit songs as singles anymore. The radio dominance of hip-hop is being fueled by listener demand and the marketplace. The album chart, where Outkast is No. 1, is based solely on sales.
"What made hip-hop distinct 10 years ago really doesn't exist anymore, the idea that it expressed a particular consciousness of a group of people who were left out of popular culture," said Consuela Francis, assistant professor of African-American literature at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.
"It's not about struggle anymore -- how much is Puff Daddy struggling?" she said. "But it still has that allure, and that allure has transcended racial boundaries. Everybody wants to buy it."
• 1. "Baby Boy": Beyoncé featuring Sean Paul
• 2. "Shake Ya Tailfeather": Nelly, P. Diddy & Murphy Lee
• 3. "Get Low": Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz featuring the Ying Yang Twins
• 4. "Right Thurr": Chingy
• 5. "Frontin' ": Pharrell featuring Jay-Z
• 6. "Damn!": YoungBloodz featuring Lil Jon
• 7. "P.I.M.P.": 50 Cent
• 8. "Into You": Fabolous featuring Tamia/Ashanti
• 9. "Stand Up": Ludacris featuring Shawnna
• 10. "Where is the Love?": Black Eyed Peas
Source: The Billboard Hot 100 singles chart
Rap music is so pervasive in society that it has accomplished a musical milestone: All of the Top 10 singles on the new Billboard Hot 100 chart feature rap.
From No. 1 ("Baby Boy" by Beyoncé and Sean Paul) to No. 10 ("Where is the Love?" by Black Eyed Peas), rappers rule as never before on the chart, which is released today.
"Hip-hop is as mainstream now as rock and pop were 10 years ago," said Dylan Sprague, program director for Atlanta Top 40 radio station Q100.
"To kids growing up today, hip-hop is pop music," he said. "It's only adults who look at it differently."
Musically, rap and hip-hop are the same thing -- lyrics spoken over a steady rhythmic beat. Hip-hop culture, which includes the music but also slang, dance and fashion, has been steadily increasing its influence in youth culture for years -- from TV commercials to suburban teens who get Eminem-style short haircuts.
White consumers now buy an estimated 80 percent of hip-hop CDs by many mainstream acts, according to industry estimates. And white musicians once identified with pop are blending their music with hip-hop. Justin Timberlake, formerly of boy band 'N Sync, guests on the Peas' "Where is the Love?" and Christina Aguilera's latest hit, "Can't Hold Us Down," is a duet with rapper Lil' Kim.
In addition, three of the Top 10 songs have Atlanta roots: "Get Low" by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz featuring the Ying Yang Twins (No. 3); "Damn!" by YoungBloodz featuring Lil Jon (No. 6); and "Stand Up" by Ludacris featuring Shawnna (No. 9), indicative of Atlanta's importance in the hip-hop world. And the No. 1 CD on Billboard's album chart is "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below," by Atlanta hip-hop duo Outkast.
The Billboard Hot 100 reflects what's popular on radio, says Silvio Pietroluongo, who oversees the chart. Years ago, the chart covered sales of singles, but record companies rarely release hit songs as singles anymore. The radio dominance of hip-hop is being fueled by listener demand and the marketplace. The album chart, where Outkast is No. 1, is based solely on sales.
"What made hip-hop distinct 10 years ago really doesn't exist anymore, the idea that it expressed a particular consciousness of a group of people who were left out of popular culture," said Consuela Francis, assistant professor of African-American literature at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.
"It's not about struggle anymore -- how much is Puff Daddy struggling?" she said. "But it still has that allure, and that allure has transcended racial boundaries. Everybody wants to buy it."
