What were some of the most notable trends on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart in the first half of 2024? Hit Songs Deconstructed , which provides compositional analytics for top 10 Hot 100 hits, has released its Mid-Year 2024 State of the Hot 100 Top 10 report. Here are three takeaways from Hit Songs Deconstructed’s latest in-depth research. In the first six months of 2024, hip-hop was the most common primary genre in the Hot 100’s top 10, contributing to 33% of all top 10 hits.
Pop followed closely at 31%, with country third at 16%. “Hip-hop/rap’s popularity has been up-and-down over the past five years,” Hit Songs Deconstructed’s report notes. “After dropping to 23% in 2023, its lowest level since 2016, it rebounded to a level on par with 2021” by mid-year 2024.
Meanwhile, “pop has been in decline since 2021, until stabilizing in the first half of 2024.” Leading the way for hip-hop through mid-year were Hot 100 No. 1s by Jack Harlow (“Lovin On Me”) and Kendrick Lamar , who notched two (“Like That,” with Future and Metro Boomin , and “Not Like Us”).
Plus, “country’s presence in the top 10 remains solid after the genre’s number of hits nearly quadrupled last year,” per the report. Country’s mid-year share of 16% follows its 15% take for 2023 — after 4-5% showings in 2020-22. “Notably, several artists outside of the traditional country space released crossover hits in the genre,” in the first half of 2024, including Hot 100 lead.