Kendrick Lamar Is the First Rapper to Hit 100 Million Monthly Spotify Listeners

Kendrick Lamar has become the first rapper to hit 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify, according to the streaming service.

As of Monday, Kendrick had 100,052,025 monthly listeners, making him the first rapper to hit that figure on Spotify. He’s the 9th artist overall to hit the figure.

He’s in elite company with Bruno Mars (151,000,000), The Weeknd (125,000,000), Lady Gaga (123,000,000), Billie Eilish (108,000,000), and Taylor Swift (87,000,000).

Other rappers closing in on his spot are Post Malone (69,000,000), Drake (77,000,000), Eminem (74,000,000), Ye (67,000,000), and Travis Scott (75,000,000).

Kendrick is coming fresh off the heels of another major achievement by becoming the first rapper to have three top-10 albums on the Billboard 200 simultaneously: GNX, which is at No. 1., DAMN, which is at No. 9, and Good Kid, M.A.A.D City that’s at No. 10.

The last time that a male artist had three albums in Billboard’s top 10 was in 1966, when Herb Albert accomplished the feat. The only living female artist to achieve the same is Taylor Swift.

In the wake of Kendrick’s halftime performance for Super Bowl LIX, a league employee reportedly admitted that choosing him over Lil Wayne was a mistake.

Skip Bayless alleged that the NFL reached out to Wayne about the snub.

“The NFL immediately sent Wayne a letter of apology,” Bayless said. “From nobody in particular, just from the league on NFL letterhead. A letter that thanked him for his years of supporting the league, not just the Packers, his favorite team, but supporting and promoting the NFL, in general, which he has.”

According to The US Sun, an employee of the NFL reportedly concluded that choosing K.Dot wasn’t the right choice.

“A mistake was made and we regret the choice that was made,” an NFL employee was quoted as saying. “Wayne should have been the first option, as he is from New Orleans and we know that there was a clear motivation for him and his side to do a unique show in his town.’