This year, as with previous years, brands all around the world will spend billions upon billions of dollars in hopes of buying something that for four decades—has come quite naturally to leaders within the hip-hop community—influence.
Obviously, whenever most people think of the way that brands leverage their resources to attain influence these days, they typically tend to think of marketing mediums like television advertising, podcast advertising, social media marketing, etc.
While those mediums are very effective as it pertains to informing audiences about brands and products; when it comes to sheer influence and capturing the hearts of a vast amount of consumers—it would be far more advantageous for brands if they did a better job at incorporating the culture that has had far more influence than any other since the late 80s—hip-hop.
To help brands like yours do just that, at Decryption, we created a series which we call, Trending In Culture, so that your brand could always be aware of what is currently trending in hip-hop culture in all of the aspects that matter most to consumers within the culture.
With that being said, let’s get to what you’re here for—what’s currently trending in hip-hop in Q2 of 2024.
Who’s hot in music
Even if it may not be your favorite time of the year, how could you not just love spring? Spring marks the beginning of when flowers begin to bloom. The weather warms significantly. And daylight lasts longer. What’s there not to love about the season?
Spring also signifies changes in hip-hop as well. Particularly for hip-hop music. That’s because historically, spring is when the biggest artists in the genre begin to drop new singles to generate buzz for their summer album releases—as well as their summer tours. And this year has been no exception.
These are currently the hottest artists in the culture at the moment:
Cardi B – April 6th, 2018. That’s the date when Cardi B released her one and only album, Invasion Of Privacy. For about 99% of the artists in hip-hop, not releasing an album in six years would purchase them a one-way ticket to the land of irrelevance.
But for Cardi B, not only has absenteeism not hurt her standing in the genre—one could easily make the case that Cardi B is far more relevant in hip-hop today than she was six years ago when her debut album debuted atop the Billboard 200.
By killing her features when collaborating with other artists on their singles—as well as sparingly dropping her own, Cardi has managed to remain in the public’s eye musically. Her latest single, Enough (Miami), is currently one of Spofify’s most streamed hip-hop songs of the year. The music video for the song now has over 10 million views on YouTube only a few weeks after its release.
Although Cardi promised that she’ll drop her long-awaited sophomore album this year, the way that she’s managed to keep her fans satisfied over the last six years without dropping a follow-up album has been nothing short of remarkable.
Future/Metro Boomin – There have been many hip-hop artists that could brag about things like: winning prestigious awards. Having an album go No. 1 on the Billboard 100. And headlining their own nationwide tours.
Nevertheless, one thing that very few artists throughout hip-hop’s storied fifty year history have been able to make a legit claim to—is creating a style that musically, a vast amount of artists within the culture would go on to adopt. Atlanta’s own Future, is one of the artists that could truly make that claim.
From a production standpoint, producer Metro Boomin could also say the same due to the fact that so many hip-hop producers in the game today have emulated his style.
So it should be of no surprise that when the duo teamed up to drop a new album, hip-hop fans went absolutely bananas.
Released on March 20th, 2024, their album, We Don’t Trust You, debuted No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100—selling an impressive 250,000 album-equivalent units its first week. More importantly, the album was met with rave reviews by fans online and in the streets.
21 Savage – Speaking hip-hop artists from the ATL, a big reason why Atlanta has been the most dominant city when it comes to hip-hop music is because of the consistency of artists like 21 Savage.
Just months after the success of his joint album with Drake, 2023’s Her Loss, 21 dropped his third studio album, American Dream, in January of this year. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, providing further proof of two things: trap music is still alive. And that 21 Savage is still one of the most lit artists in the rap game.
Sexxy Red – Whenever you think of hot hip-hop artists of the past, some of the barometers that you could use to determine their relevance in the culture were how many magazine covers they’ve been featured on; how many times they’ve had a music video go number one on shows like 106 & Park and TRL, or how many songs they currently had in rotation on hip-hop radio stations.
Well, if you needed any evidence that those barometers were no longer indicators of the relevance of artists in the culture—look no further than the meteoric rise of Sexxy Red.
Don’t let the fact that Sexxy Red isn’t a huge artist from a commercial standpoint—and hasn’t released a debut album deviate from the fact that she’s still one of the hottest artists in hip-hop.
Since the release of her second mixtape, 2023’s Hood Hottest Princess, The St. Louis, MO rapper has kept her name ringing in hip-hop. Whether via music or social media—where she is one of the most active artists in the genre, Sexxy Red demands attention.
The music video for her latest single, Get It Sexyy, received over one million views on YouTube on its first day of release.
Megan Thee Stallion – There’s no doubt about it, years from now, whenever people look back at this current era of hip-hop music, they’ll have no choice but to acknowledge the enormous role that female rappers have played in helping to keep the genre poppin’.
An artist that has definitely done her part in keeping all eyes on the genre is the Houston hottie herself—Megan Thee Stallion.
Whether it’s through her music, her endorsement deals (which she has many of, including one with Nike), or her raunchy social media posts—Meg understands the assignment—which is to keep her brand significant in the culture.
If her upcoming album receives the same response as her latest single, HISS (which now has over 23 million views on YouTube) has received in the streets—you might want to get hydrated—because it’s going to be another hot girl summer. Meg’s tour, the appropriately titled, Hot Girl Summer Tour, is set to begin in May.
Glorilla – The ultimate objective of guerrilla marketing is to achieve conventional results through unconventional means. You’d be hard pressed to find many artists that have done a better job at doing that than Memphis, Tennessee native GloRilla.
Although she’s yet to release an official debut album, through her mixtapes, street singles, and social media presence, GloRilla has still managed to create and maintain a huge buzz in the streets. Her most recent single, Yeah Glo!, is one of the hottest songs out at the moment. What’s more, she’s also set to join Megan Thee Stallion on her Hot Girl Summer Tour in the coming months.
Kendrick Lamar – To keep it all the way one hundred with you, Kendrick made our list primarily for one reason, the way the streets have reacted to his verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s song, Like That, off their album, We Don’t Trust You.
If you haven’t heard the song yet, go listen to his verse and you’ll understand why fans in the culture are still going crazy over it.
J. Cole – For all of the complaints that today’s artists have about the current digital days of streaming, a particular advantage artists have today over the days of old thanks to today’s technology, is having the ability to drop surprise projects without having to worry the music leaking early.
On April 5th, 2024, J. Cole did just that by dropping a surprise mixtape that has driven hip-hop fans around the world on social media in an absolute frenzy titled, Might Delete Later.
Both hip-hop fans, as well as many respected hip-hop publications—are already calling this project a masterpiece and some of Cole’s best work to date. As evidenced by the album instantly shooting to No. 1 on Apple Music the same day of its release.
What’s hot in non-traditional media
If there were any legitimate debates about it before, undoubtedly, the debate is now officially over. Those on the side of the debate that podcasts and vlogs in the culture would just be a fad—should have all capitulated by now and acknowledged the fact that podcasts and vlogs aren’t just here to stay—they’ve become a staple in the culture.
These are the hottest non-traditional media platforms in the culture at the moment:
Club Shay Shay
Drink Champs
It Is What It Is
Kai Cenat Live
Million Dollaz Worth Of Game
Nightcap
VladTV
What’s hot in fashion
Besides warmer weather, livelier vibes, and new music from some of the biggest artists in the culture, another great thing about springtime is that trends in fashion often change drastically. Needless to say, the change in fashion trends heading into the spring season has the biggest effect on fashion brands.
Brands that were hot during the winter—could easily lose their position as it pertains to popularity within the culture once spring comes around. Which was the case this year for a few brands that made our list in Q1.
These are the hottest fashion brands in the culture at the moment:
Amiri
Balenciaga
Chrome Hearts
Dior
Essentials
Fendi
Givenchy
What’s hot in traditional media
With all of the positives that come along with the arrival of spring, one of the few downsides of the season is that for those who still enjoy traditional forms of media like television—spring is typically the dry season for television shows.
While we may not have as many shows in rotation as we typically would during the fall or winter seasons—there are still some shows on air that the culture loves.
These are currently the hottest television shows in the culture at the moment:
Abbott Elementary
BMF
Diarra From Detroit
Grown-ish
Love & Hip Hop: Miami
Unsung
Hottest social media platforms
A popular phrase in hip-hop culture at the moment is I’m outside. Which is basically slang for someone saying that they’re not in the house and they are where the action is. The funny thing about that statement is that a majority of the time you’ll see or hear someone say it—it’ll come from their social media account.
Even when people are in the streets, it won’t be long until they relinquish their undivided attention to the social media apps on their smartphones.
These are the most popular social media platforms in the culture at the moment:
Instagram
Twitter
TikTok
Snapchat
Facebook
What’s fading
Not that long ago, part of the process of purchasing an automobile consisted of instantly upgrading a few things on the vehicle. Regardless of if the vehicle was new or used, in hip-hop culture, if you bought a car or a truck and had the means to do so—you instantly felt the need to throw a killer sound system in your whip.
And a major component to having a killer sound system was having a high-end car stereo.
Stereo brands like Alpine, Kenwood, and Pioneer have all become household names in the culture; primarily because so many hip-hop artists have inserted the brand’s names in their raps throughout the years
Fat Joe once eloquently stated that, “Yesterday’s price is not today’s price.” That same logic also applies towards culture. Just because something was once a way of life—certainly doesn’t mean that it will always be that way.
That now seems to be the case with high-end car stereos. More so than at any point over the last 30 years—consumers within the culture have become perfectly okay with not upgrading their vehicle's factory stereo system.
As with all things in hip-hop, this trend could also change in the future. But for now, it appears as though high-end stereo systems are something that is fading from the culture.