Key Takeaways:

• “LOVER GIRL” debuted at No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Megan Thee Stallion’s return to the chart’s Top 40.
• A latest Billboard rule change eliminated long-charting hits, contributing to the rap drought.
• The tune’s success highlights the rising affect of feminine rappers in mainstream music.

Is Megan Thee Stallion hip hop music’s savior? That’s in all probability too early to name, however the Houston Hottie is liable for returning the style to a Top 40 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart after a two-week hiatus.

Last Wednesday (Oct. 29), music/rb-hip-hop/no-rap-songs-hot-100-top-40-first-time-since-1990-1236100625/”>Billboard reported {that a} hip hop tune was absent from the aforementioned chart for the primary time since February 1990. But due to Megan, hip hop’s evident, and arguably regarding, absence was short-lived.

Her new tune, “LOVER GIRL,” debuted at music/chart-beat/megan-thee-stallion-lover-girl-hot-100-rap-songs-top-40-1236104019/”>No. 38 on Hot 100 chart dated Saturday (Nov. 8). The tune was launched on Friday (Oct. 24) and samples R&B group Total’s “Kissin’ You.” It’s the primary rap tune within the chart’s Top 40 since Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther,” which had a 44-week run on the chart earlier than its departure on Oct. 18.

hip hop’s absence from the Hot 100 chart’s Top 40 sparked plenty of discussion about what it means for the style and the tradition. While some mentioned it marked a drop in high quality from the style, others take a look at it as a possible sign to spark extra creativity.

However, what many individuals glossed over was that the chart’s pointers had modified. Per Billboard, descending songs on the chart had been “deemed recurrent and removed from the chart if they had exceeded certain durations on the chart while also falling below certain updated chart thresholds.” While precisely what these thresholds are was not shared, it meant that Ok. Dot’s “Luther,” which was No. 38 on the chart within the prior week, was eliminated.

Luckily, together with Megan Thee Stallion and a few high-profile releases due out this yr — together with Drake’s Iceman and new music from Lil Baby — don’t anticipate hip hop’s lack of illustration on the charts to final very lengthy.