The absence of rap from the top of the Billboard Hot 100 has been a dominant trend in 2023, with Latto becoming the first hip-hop artist this year to reach No. 1 as a featured artist last month.
Despite receiving mixed reviews after remaking Nelly's 2002 hit "Hot In Herre" with his latest single "It's Getting Hot," NLE Choppa believes he has what it takes to end hip-hop's drought atop the Hot 100.
On Thursday, the Memphis rapper replied to a tweet courtesy of Chart Data, which revealed it's officially been one year since a rapper earned a No. 1 placement on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist.
"Bet lemme change that rq," NLE responded.
Granted, NLE Choppa has yet to come close to topping the Billboard Hot 100. In fact, the 20-year-old has only earned four Top 40 hits on the chart, scoring his highest-charting single with last year's "Slut Me Out" (No. 28). Prior to that, NLE peaked inside the Top 40 three previous times, with 2019's "Shotta Flow" (No. 36), 2019's "Camelot" (No. 37), and 2020's "Walk Em Down" (No. 38).
By this time in 2022, four rappers had already scored No. 1 hits on the Hot 100 as a lead artist: Jack Harlow ("First Class"), Future ("Wait For U"), Drake ("Jimmy Cooks"), and Nicki Minaj ("Super Freaky Girl"). Meanwhile, five hip-hop artists topped the Hot 100 through the first eight months of 2021: 24kGoldn ("Mood"), Drake ("What's Next"), Cardi B ("Up"), Lil Nas X ("Montero"), and Polo G ("Rapstar").
