To no one's surprise, rap and R&B music dominated the streaming scene in 2020. According to MRC Data and Billboard, over 30 percent of all audio and video music streams in the United States were songs by hip-hop and R&B artists.
Hip-Hop + R&B Are Growing In Popularity
In the categories of video streams, audio streams, and combined video and audio streams, hip-hop and R&B ranked No. 1 across the board. The numbers continue to go up from the last couple of years, extending the lead over rock and pop music.
In terms of audio streams, ‘R&B/hip-hop’ claimed 30.7% of all on-demand plays. And across audio and video streams combined, ‘R&B/hip-hop’ claimed 31.1%. These startling figures meant that the ‘R&B/hip-hop’ category increased its market share of total ‘album-equivalent sales’ in the US in 2020, which take into account physical sales, digital sales, and streaming. In 2020, says MRC Data (formerly Nielsen Music), ‘R&B/hip-hop’ claimed a 28.2% share of total album-equivalent consumption. That was up on both 2019 (27.4%) and 2018 (25.6%). (Music Business Worldwide)
Roddy Ricch Had 2020’s Most Popular Track
According to the streaming data, Compton rapper Roddy Ricch’s song “The Box” was the most-streamed audio and video track. Roddy’s smash hit racked up over 920 million audio plays, and almost 400 million video plays last year.
Roddy Ricch Hints ‘It’s Time’ For New Music
Roddy took to his Instagram Story with a picture of an expensive Richard Mille watch, simply captioned “its time”. Many are taking this as a hint he’s got some new music to drop, although no other news or updates have been given as of now.
It’s time for #roddyricch to drop a new album 👀👀?? NEED IT or KEEP IT
Roddy Ricch + Future’s Rolling Stone Cover
Roddy Ricch and fellow rap superstar Future are dominating the game. The duo have secured the digital cover of Rolling Stone magazine. For the magazine’s recap of the massive musical successes this year, Rolling Stone put the two stars on its cover. The digital exclusive features a black and white photograph of them posted up together.
“My sense of melody just comes from within,” says Roddy Ricch, who just received six Grammy nominations. “It’s a natural instinct.” Roddy sat down with Future, one of his biggest musical heroes, for our Musicians on Musicians issue. Tap the link in our bio to read the digital cover story here. Photograph by @mason.poole Fashion Director @thealexbadia Stylist @bobbywesley