Hip-Hop Dominates Online Music Searches This Summer

Since it first hit national airwaves in the late 1980s, hip-hop in the mainstream seems to have gone from a voyeuristic curiosity, to the dominant commercial genre, to something in between. Rappers can no longer go gold off of affiliation alone; EDM has replaced MCs in clubs and on college campuses. Yet by some measures, one of America’s greatest homegrown art forms is going as strong as ever. Google recently released their data for the hottest songs of the summer, and by nearly every metric, hip-hop wins in a landslide. In measuring the most-played songs on Youtube and Google Play, the tech giant’s streaming platform, and the Google search results themselves, Fetty Wap, Wiz Khalifa and Silento (of whipping and nae nae-ing fame) helped rap reign supreme. (A caveat: the biggest individual winner is actually a rap-adjacent act, The Weeknd.) It’s the one-eyed wonder from New Jersey who looks to put the singles-as-social-currency strategy to the test; Fetty Wap’s self-titled debut drops later this month on 300. See the full results below:

The 10 most streamed songs on Google Play:

1. Wiz Khalifa – “See You Again (feat. Charlie Puth)”
2. Fetty Wap – “Trap Queen”
3. The Weeknd – “Earned It (Fifty Shades Of Grey) (From The “Fifty Shades Of Grey” Soundtrack)”
4. WALK THE MOON – “Shut Up and Dance”
5. Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud”
6. Flo Rida – “GDFR (feat. Sage The Gemini & Lookas)”
7. OMI – “Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix Radio Edit)”
8. Skrillex & Diplo – “Where Are Ü Now (with Justin Bieber)”
9. The Weeknd – “Can’t Feel My Face”
10. The Weeknd – “The Hills”

The 10 most played songs on Youtube, accounting for both official uploads and fan versions:

1. Silentó – “Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)”
2. Fetty Wap – “Trap Queen”
3. Wiz Khalifa – “See You Again (feat. Charlie Puth)”
4. Taylor Swift – “Bad Blood”
5. OMI – “Cheerleader”
6. The Weeknd – “The Hills”
7. Mark Ronson – “Uptown Funk ft. Bruno Mars”
8. T-Wayne – “Nasty Freestyle”
9. Omarion – “Post To Be (feat. Chris Brown & Jhene Aiko)”
10. Fetty Wap – “My Way (feat. Monty)”

The 10 most searched-for songs on Google in the United States:

1. Fetty Wap – “Trap Queen”
2. Taylor Swift – “Bad Blood”
3. OMI – “Cheerleader”
4. The Weeknd – “The Hills”
5. Rachel Platten – “Fight Song”
6. Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”
7. David Guetta – “Hey Mama”
8. T-Wayne – “Nasty Freestyle”
9. Ed Sheeran – “Photograph”
10. Jessie J – “Flashlight”