Ebro Says He’s Heard Labels Are Prioritizing Signing Latin and Afrobeat Artists Over Rappers

There have only been two No. 1 hip-hop albums on the Billboard 200 chart in 2023, Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape and Travis Scott’s Utopia. Colombian singer Karol G, however, scored a No. 1 earlier this with her latest album, Mañana Será Bonito. Peso Pluma’s third studio album debuted at No. 3 in June, too. On the afrobeat side of things, artists such as Burna Boy, Tems, and Davido are continuing to gain international hype and success. There hasn’t been a single No. 1 hip-hop record on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, though.

There was a string of no. 1 hip-hop albums in 2022, including two from Drake, Pusha T’s It’s Almost Dry, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, and Future’s I Never Liked You. But for the most part, the year was dominated by Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin TI, which spent a total of 13 weeks at the No. 1 spot and was the best-performing album of the year.