Kendrick Lamar Reclaims Top Spot from Drake on Billboard Chart

With his album GNX returning to the top spot on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, Kendrick Lamar has overtaken Drake on the Billboard rankings.

Lamar has made it to the top of this esteemed ranking, which measures album consumption by looking at both sales and streaming figures, for the sixth time.

After two weeks at the top, Drake’s joint collaboration with PartyNextDoor, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, has fallen to number two.

The Canadian rapper’s latest work opened at number one less than a month ago but has seen interest wane while Lamar’s popularity remains strong.

Thanks in large part to his song “Not Like Us,” which saw a comeback months after its original release, many people regarded Lamar as the winner of that conflict.

The two rappers’ animosity is still visible in their streaming and chart performances, despite the fact that they are not currently involved in an active dispute.

Drake maintains a stronger overall presence by holding six distinct spots on the Billboard chart with songs from his extensive library.

His classics like Take Care, Views, and Scorpion continue to chart impressively, each having spent hundreds of weeks on the full 50-spot roster.

Lamar, on the other hand, responds by prioritizing quality over quantity, putting three albums in the same chart’s top ten.

Standing at eight and nine, respectively, Damn. and Good Kid, M.A.A.D City continue to be excellent performers.

Most remarkably, ten years after its release, Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly is still at number 44 on the charts.

Hip-Hop’s Power Struggle Intensifies

The chart battle occurs amid other industry drama, with Kanye West recently criticizing Kendrick Lamar’s guest appearance on Playboi Carti’s new album “I Am Music.”

West expressed his dislike for Lamar’s music on social media platform X, despite acknowledging the rapper’s technical skills.

“I DONT LIKE KENDRICK LAMAR’S MUSIC. HE RAPS VERY GOOD BUT I DIDNT NEED TO HEAR HIM ON CARTI ALBUM,” he posts.

Playboi Carti’s album features numerous high-profile collaborations, including The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Future, Young Thug, and Lil Uzi Vert.

This release marks Carti’s first album since 2020’s Whole Lotta Red and contains thirty tracks spanning over an hour and seventeen minutes.

Despite the controversy surrounding Lamar’s inclusion in the album, industry insiders expect that I Am Music will rank among the year’s most successful hip-hop releases.

The shifting chart positions reflect the dynamic nature of rap’s competitive landscape, where commercial success often fuels ongoing rivalries.

The enduring cultural impact of Lamar and Drake on contemporary hip-hop is demonstrated by the fact that fans are still actively streaming both artists.

While Drake dominates the overall Billboard landscape, Lamar’s artistic credibility and critical acclaim provide him with staying power.

This back-and-forth between two of the biggest names in rap demonstrates how, in the streaming-dominated industry of today, chart positioning is still a crucial indicator of success.