The 50 Hottest Rappers Right Now Ranked According To Google Trends
We rank the hottest rappers on the Internet in the most scientific way we know how: using Google!
Image via Complex Original
51.
Last year we did a post called The 50 Hottest Rappers Right Now, Ranked According To Google Trends where we looked up every rapper we could think of in Google Trends to find out which rappers people were Googling the most. If you're unfamiliar with Google Trends, we highly recommend that you read the intro to last year's piece to get a better understanding of how it works. In a nutshell, as we've previously explained, Google Trends is "a free service provided by Google that allows users to see how often terms are searched on Google. Better yet, it allows you to compare the popularity of different search terms."
But since doing that list, there's been some marked improvements to Google Trends. Namely, the introduction of the ability to search using "Topics." Although it's still in Beta, searching using Topics allows users to get more accurate data on search terms because, as Google notes, when you use Topics it "quickly provides accurate measurements of overall search interest." The fatal flaw with our list last year was when you searched a rapper like "Drake" you got overlap with results from other things with the word Drake in it, like "Drake Bell" or "Drake Hotel." It also made searching names like "T.I." and "Nas" impossible because they appear in way too many words so the results were skewed. But that's no longer a problem because when you use Topics, it knows to limit the results to "Drake" and lists him as a rapper. However, two names on this list did not exist in Topics (though they were quite popular), so in those particular cases we ended up searching using specific queries. Still, we stand by the results.
When searching, we limited our results to the last 12 months and only within the United States to keep the numbers current and local. Finally, we cannot stress how fickle the Internet is. The research for this list was conducted on September 3 and 4 which means they could have changed already and will surely change in the coming days. However, we feel this is still an accurate snapshot of what people are searching for right now. Without further ado, here are The 50 Hottest Rappers Right Now Ranked According To Google Trends.
Written by Insanul Ahmed (@Incilin)
50.Riff Raff
Reason for recent spike: August 24-30, 2014 - Shows up as Katy Perry's date at 2014 MTV VMAs.
True story: Towards the end of our research, Riff Raff became the benchmark for if you were popular enough make the list. So, basically, Riff Raff is the benchmark for all rappers in 2014.
49.Machine Gun Kelly
Reason for recent spike: April 20-26, 2014 - Releases song “Sail.”
We can't believe it either. It feels like we haven't heard the name MGK in the longest, but it looks like he's built a strong fanbase that cares about his music.
48.Kid Ink
Reason for recent spike: January 5-11, 2014 - Releases album, My Own Lane.
Gotta give it to Kid Ink. He may not get much props, but he's been able to build himself a career.
47.Lil Durk
Reason for recent spike: April 27, 2014 – May 3, 2014 - Beefs with Tyga.
Being best-known for beefing with Tyga? Come on Lil Durk, this ain't what you want.
46.Ice Cube
Reason for recent spike: January 12-18, 2014 - Ride Along hits theathers, N.W.A biopic announced.
You can keep hating on Cube for going Hollywood. But you know damn well you weren't gonna buy any of his albums.
45.Wu-Tang Clan
Reason for recent spike: April 13-19, 2014 - Wu-Tang affiliated rapper cuts off his own penis.
How can hip-hop be dead when Wu-Tang is SEO friendly?
44.Lil Kim
Reason for recent spike: February 9-15, 2014 - Is reported to be pregnant with first child.
Old rappers, much like bad habits, die hard. It's been ugly to watch Lil Kim beef with Nicki in an attempt to hold on to any semblance of relevancy, but here we are.
43.Kevin Gates
Reason for recent spike: August 3-9, 2014 - Says he loves eating booty, becomes an Internet joke.
Looks like more rappers should join the Eat A Booty Gang.
42.Chance The Rapper
Reason for recent spike: December 8-14, 2013 - Releases two old mixtapes Good Enough and the Back to School Pack.
Chance would surely be higher on this list if he would just drop another project already.
41.Nas
Reason for recent spike: April 13-19, 2014 - Celebrates 20 year anniversary of Illmatic.
A rapper like Nas failed to make this list last time since his name wasn't SEO friendly. But now, thanks to Topics, we can discern his actual popularity.
40.Wale
Reason for recent spike: July 6-12, 2014 - Gets called out by Meek Mill on Twitter.
Thanks to Topics, we can finally be confident that the Topic “Wale” doesn't overlap with search term like the country “Wales.”
39.Sean Combs
Reason for recent spike: February 2-8, 2014 - Rumor spreads that he's engaged to girlfriend Cassie.
Last time, it was hard for us to figure out how to list someone like Puffy becuase of his many aliases. Were people Googling him using Puff Daddy, Puffy, or Diddy? And how do you avoid overlap when you can use the word “puff” and “puffy"? Thankfully, Topics makes it easier by listing him as “Sean Combs” which is a useful catchall term in this case.
38.Nelly
Reason for recent spike: November 24-30, 2013 - Performs “Cruise” at the 2013 American Music Awards.
Here's a name we did not expect to make this list. Nelly is still kicking around. Good for him.
37.Young Jeezy
Reason for recent spike: August 24-30, 2014 - Releases latest album, Seen It All: The Autobiography.
After being stable for a while, Jeezy has heated up in recent weeks thanks to his latest album. Though, getting arrested probably played a role too.
36.Kid Cudi
Reason for recent spike: February 23, 2014 - March 1 - Releases Satellite Flight.
As much as we love Topics, we feel some kind of way that they list Cudi as an Actor and not a Musician or Rapper. While it's true Cudi is focusing on acting, to us he'll always be a musician first.
35.Mac Miller
Reason for recent spike: May 11-17, 2014 - Releases latest mixtape, Faces.
Interesting to note that Mac's latest mixtape did more for SEO than the latest season of his reality show, Mac Miller and The Most Dope Family.
34.Young Thug
Reason for recent spike: August 24-30, 2014 - Releases 1017 Thug 3: The Finale.
The great thing about using Topics in Trends is that it helps you cater your results. And for nearly every name on this list, Google already had the Topic in their database. However, that was not the case for Young Thug. For whatever reason, Google hadn't already indexed him into Topics. So we were forced to use the general Query term of “Young Thug.” However, we feel like his name is so unique we're not too worried about overlap (like the way Googling Drake can overlap with Vera Drake, Drake Hotel, or Drake Bell, etc.)
33.Juicy J
Reason for recent spike: September 29, 2013 - October 5, 2013 - False rumor spreads that Miley Cyrus is pregnant with Juicy J's baby.
Turns out rumors can do a lot for your SEO. Probably because as soon as anyone tells us a totally ridiculous rumor that couldn't possibly be true, we Google it to make sure it's not.
32.French Montana
Reason for recent spike: August 17-23, 2014 - Makes debut apperence on Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
We guarantee French's stock is gonna keep rising in the next few months with the release of his next album and his high profile relationship with Khloe Kardashian.
31.ScHoolboy Q
Reason for recent spike: February 23, 2014 - March 1, 2014 - Releases latest album Oxymoron.
ScHoolboy has clearly been hard at work this year, but he'd probably need to get into something scandolous before he'll climb up this list.
30.Tyga
Reason for recent spike: May 4-10, 2014 - Beefs with Lil Durk.
We would have never guessed people were still this interested in Tyga but between beefing with Durk, dating Blac Chyna, and having jams like “Hookah” and “Loyal,” he's having a pretty popping year.
29.The Notorious B.I.G.
Reason for recent spike: March 9-15, 2014 - 17th year anniversary of death.
We'll always love Big Poppa.
28.A$AP Rocky
Reason for recent spike: October 27, 2013 - November 2, 2013 - Releases video for “Angels.”
Seeing as how Rocky's name peaked when he released the largely forgotten “Angels,” we're guessing his fans are really thirsting for new solo material.
27.Big Sean
Reason for recent spike: August 24-30, 2014 - Rumors about dating Arianna Grande are seemingly confirmed by them holding hands at MTV VMAs.
Who cares about making music when Sean's high-profile relationships with Naya Rivera and Ariana Grande keep him in the news?
26.J. Cole
Reason for recent spike: January 26 – February 1, 2014 - Teams up with Wale, Meek Mill, and Rockie Fresh for “Black Grammys.”
To be perfectly honest, we totally forgot the song “Black Grammys” existed. It's too bad Cole's name didn't peak with the release of “Be Free.”
25.Rich Homie Quan
Reason for recent spike: May 4-10, 2014 - Suffers seizures on music video set.
Like Young Thug, Quan's name wasn't indexed into Topics so we searched for him using Query. And since his name is so esoteric, we don't think overlap is a problem. Still, who would have guessed he'd rank higher than someone like Young Thug? Maybe we're all sleeping on Quan.
24.Donald Glover
Reason for recent spike: December 8-14, 2013 - Releases latest album Because The Internet.
This one is tricky. Obviously, Donald Glover raps under the name Childish Gambino. But when you search Childish Gambino in Trends it suggests Donald Glover as the Topic so that's what we used.
23.Gucci Mane
Reason for recent spike: September 8-14, 2013 - Gets arrested in Atlanta.
Even from jail, Gucci still relevant. Though some of the searching probably has to do with the fact he's in jail and people want to know for what and when he'll get out.
22.2 Chainz
Reason for recent spike: September 8-14, 2013 - Releases latest album B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time.
Chainz had a great run (especially for a guy who everyone counted out for the longest) but it's starting to feel like that run is coming to an end.
21.Snoop Dogg
Reason for recent spike: April 27, 2014 - May 2, 2014 - Disses former Clippers owner Donald Sterling in Instagram video.
We love Uncle Snoop because he's the type of rapper that can diss Donald Sterling and get the mainstream media to pay attention.
20.Macklemore
Reason for recent spike: January 26, 2014 - February 1, 2014 - Wins four awards at 2014 Grammys.
Save for a number of controversies, Macklemore has been pretty quiet and hasn't released much music over the past year. It's a testament to how big he's gotten that, despite the dearth of material, he's still number 20.
19.Pitbull
Reason for recent spike: November 24-30, 2013 - Performs “Timber” at American Music Awards.
Yeah, nobody gives a shit about Flo Rida, but everybody loves them some Mr. 305. Dale!
18.Rick Ross
Reason for recent spike: March 2-8, 2014 - Release of latest album, Mastermind.
It feels like Rozay has lost a bit of relevance and his sliding from No. 11 to No. 18 on this list confirms that. But, we're glad his spike came from an album release and not, you know, getting shot at or boneheaded lyrics about date rape.
17.50 Cent
Reason for recent spike: May 25-31, 2014 - Throws worst first pitch ever at Mets game.
50's latest album, Animal Ambition only managed to move 50,000 during its fist week, and didn't get many good reviews. But that doesn't matter since 50 is still entertaining when not in the booth.
16.Meek Mill
Reason for recent spike: July 6-12, 2014 - Sentenced back to prison by Philadelphia judge.
Meek got a boost on this list in one of the worst possible ways: getting locked up.
15.Future
Reason for recent spike: October 27, 2013 - November 1, 2013 - Gets engaged to Ciara.
It feels like Future's album, Honest, came and went but having a high-profile relationship can keep your name in the news.
14.Wiz Khalifa
Reason for recent spike: May 25-31, 2014 - Arrested for possession of marijuana in Texas airport.
If you were surprised that Wiz recently scored a No. 1 album with Blacc Hollywood, just remember that the Taylor Gang has a legit fanbase.
13.Kendrick Lamar
Reason for recent spike: January 26 – February 1, 2014 - Macklemore Instagrams text to Kendrick saying “I robbed you” after 2014 Grammy Awards.
Nowadays rappers tend to release songs and mixtapes at a dizzying frequency, but Kendrick proves that you don't need to constantly release music to stay on people's minds.
12.Pharrell
Reason for recent spike: March 2-8, 2014 - Partners with UN for Internation Day of Happiness, “Happy” becomes worldwide phenomenon.
If it feels unfair to include Pharrell on this list because all he did was sing on his album, remember that he spit one of the hottest verses of the year on Future's “Move That Dope.”
11.Chief Keef
Reason for recent spike: August 10-16, 2014 - Turns 19 and releases video for “Fool Ya.”
The fact that Chief Keef is still this popular just goes to show you he made a real impact and wasn't just a flash in the pan.
10.T.I.
Reason for recent spike: May 25-31, 2014 - Gets into fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas.
T.I. jumped 40 spots on this list from last year. That's an impressive feat, but unfortunately the jump has more to do with fighting with Floyd Mayweather than awesome songs like “About The Money.”
9.Dr. Dre
Reason for recent spike: May 4-10, 2014 - Apple buys Beats By Dre.
Reminder: Dr. Dre's last album, 2001, came out in 1999.
8.Tupac Shakur
Reason for recent spike: August 24-30, 2014 - Suge Knight is shot in a Los Angeles club.
Last time around we had to make two seperate entries for Pac, “Tupac” and “2pac” since his results were split. But thanks to Google's new beta “Topics” search functionality, we're able to put those results together and get an accurate reading on people's interest in the late, great 2Pac. Turns out, people still love Pac.
7.Iggy Azalea
Reason for recent spike: May 18 – 24, 2014 - “Fancy” and “Problem” both shoot up the charts on their way to becoming summer anthems.
Iggy had such a huge summer it's no suprise she went from No. 35 to No. 7 in just one year. Still, for her to be ranked in the Top 10 is impressive, especially because she's the only other woman on this list.
6.Lil Wayne
Reason for recent spike: December 15 – 21, 2013 - Death hoax goes viral on Facebook.
Whoever starts these death hoaxes on social media sites just needs to stop.
5.Kanye West
Reason for recent spike: November 24-30, 2013 - Goes on "The Breakfast Club" and argues with Charlamagne Tha God.
To be honest, No. 5 seems kinda low for Kanye. Maybe it's because now that he's with Kim, he already gets so much media attention people don't need to look him up.
4.Jay Z
Reason for recent spike: May 11-17, 2014 - Gets attacked by Solange in an elevator at the 2014 Met Gala.
Solange may have won the elevator battle, but Jay keeps winning the relevancy war.
3.Nicki Minaj
Reason for recent spike: August 24-30, 2014 - Performs “Anaconda” at the 2014 MTV VMAs.
Last year Nicki came in at No. 2, so it's weird to see her come in at No. 3 this time around considering the year she's having. Though it goes to show you, beefing with Mariah Carey on American Idol might be worth more than all that ass in the “Anaconda” video.
2.Eminem
Reason for recent spike: November 3-9, 2013 - Performs “Rap God” at 2013 YouTube Music Awards.
Yup, 15 years since the release of his debut album, Eminem is still going strong. Expect another spike when he drops Shady XV.
1.Drake
Reason for recent spike: September 15-21, 2013 - Release of Nothing Was The Same.
Drake doesn't just dominate radio airwaves because the radio sucks and play the same 20 song over and over. It's because people actually love Drake and they can't get enough of him. Just accept it and move on.