Rap is radio's biggest hit source

[Professor Dave]

Rap is radio's biggest hit source
Thu Jul 3, 7:19 AM ET

Ken Barnes USA TODAY

Rap, an underground phenomenon since the '70s, is now American radio's most popular form of music.

More than a quarter of the most-heard radio songs of 2003 so far are by rappers. Even more telling: 40% of the year's top 30 are rap hits. And those figures don't count guest appearances by rap artists on several big R&B hits.

Rap's radio popularity eclipses its sales inflence. Although albums by 50 Cent, 2003's airplay champ, and others have topped the sales chart, rap accounted for only 13% of 2002 album sales, well below rock's 31%, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

But hits by 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Ja Rule and dancehall reggae rappers Sean Paul and Wayne Wonder helped propel hip-hop to the top of radio playlists.

Since last year, USA TODAY has been publishing a unique radio airplay list each week. The list combines airplay data from top 40, R&B, adult contemporary, rock and country radio stations to rank songs by their total listening audience. It provides the most comprehensive overview of the styles of music Americans choose to hear on the radio.

Other airplay trends:

* Pop music (encompassing Justin Timberlake (news), Avril Lavigne (news) and John Mayer (news)) was No. 2 in popularity.

* Country ranked third but had only one song in the top 25: a cover of a Fleetwood Mac song by the Dixie Chicks (news - web sites), who have since become pariahs at country radio stations. But country songs made up more than 40% of the top 100's bottom third.

* R&B makes up one-sixth of America's favorite songs. If you combine rap and R&B and throw in a few R&B-flavored pop hits, the urban rhythmic sound comprises half the top hits.

* Rock, while less dominant on radio than in previous eras, remains a significant presence with more than 10% of the top songs, led by 3 Doors Down's When I'm Gone, No. 6 for the year.

* Sparked by 50 Cent, Sean Paul and Lavigne, new and emerging artists accounted for nearly 30% of the top 100 hits, including four of the top 10.

[Jpolson]

No surprize here. Look at any top 10 album or singles sales every so weeks and more than half is R&B/Rap. This is the first time I heard a major newspaper talk about a trend I've noticed for a while.

[BenDee]

I've noticed too. My teenybopper sister has switched from Q102(CHR format) to 103.9(hip-hop) in the last 6 months . Meanwhile I'm still with the .

[rickets]

This survey is meaningless. This is a very narrow portion of the musical spectrum. There is a machine cranking out ''hits'' designed only for ''hit'' buying and radio station calling demographics (mostly teenagers).

Radio stations love this stuff because parents are forced to listen to what the kids listen to and they (the parents, who actually have money to buy big things) get added to the ratings numbers.

Popular music is simply that which has been reduced to a lowest common denominator. There is an occasional piece of art that crosses over into crapland, but most of that stuff is pretty damn pathetic.