If you were to determine which rap mecca was the epicenter of hip-hop during the genre’s rise, there’s no question that the throne was initially reserved for the East and West Coasts.
New York ran the rap game from the 1980s through the early 1990s, before Los Angeles became the capital of hip-hop on the strength of classic albums such as Dr. Dre’s 1992 LP The Chronic and Snoop Dogg’s 1993 effort Doggystyle. By the late-1990s, New York reclaimed the throne with the arrival of Nas, the Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, and DMX, among others.
Meanwhile, down South, the 1990s saw the rise of Outkast and Goodie Mob in Atlanta, Houston’s Geto Boys and UGK, and Three 6 Mafia and 8Ball & MJG in Memphis. At the same time, No Limit and Cash Money were establishing Louisiana as a Southern rap mecca by way of future moguls like Master P and Birdman, both of which produced a stable of up-and-coming rappers such as Lil Wayne, Juvenile, B.G.. Mystikal, Soulja Slim, Silk The Shocker, Mia X, and C-Murder.
A countdown of Southern Hip Hop artists in order of streams on Spotify as lead artist is as follows:
- 38Nardo Wick
- Streams as a lead artist: 0.0
- Streams as a featured artist: 103.7M
- Most streamed song of all time by Nardo Wick: Pop Out with 58.8M streams
- 37GloRilla
- Streams as a lead artist: 0.0
- Streams as a featured artist: 30.3M
- Most streamed song of all time by GloRilla: On Wat U On with 27.6M streams
- 36Tee Grizzley
- Streams as a lead artist: 0.0
- Streams as a featured artist: 59.4M
- Most streamed song of all time by Tee Grizzley: Shit Real with 19.9M streams
- 35Killer Mike
- Streams as a lead artist: 202.9M
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.13B
- Most streamed song of all time by Killer Mike: Legend Has It with 97.5M streams
- 34Lil' Kim
- Streams as a lead artist: 413.7M
- Streams as a featured artist: 295.4M
- Most streamed song of all time by Lil' Kim: Quiet Storm with 69.6M streams
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- 33Jamie Foxx
- Streams as a lead artist: 481.9M
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.25B
- Most streamed song of all time by Jamie Foxx: Gold Digger with 1.14B streams
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- 32Big K.R.I.T.
- Streams as a lead artist: 508.6M
- Streams as a featured artist: 184.7M
- Most streamed song of all time by Big K.R.I.T.: 1Train with 130.1M streams
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- 31Birdman
- Streams as a lead artist: 517.8M
- Streams as a featured artist: 382.1M
- Most streamed song of all time by Birdman: We'll Be Fine with 81.5M streams
- 30DJ Drama
- Streams as a lead artist: 664.6M
- Streams as a featured artist: 28.7M
- Most streamed song of all time by DJ Drama: Wishing with 102.0M streams
- 29Three 6 Mafia
- Streams as a lead artist: 960.5M
- Streams as a featured artist: 5.1M
- Most streamed song of all time by Three 6 Mafia: Stay Fly with 166.8M streams
- 28Rich Homie Quan
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.23B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.04B
- Most streamed song of all time by Rich Homie Quan: My Nigga with 330.4M streams
- 27Waka Flocka Flame
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.24B
- Streams as a featured artist: 130.7M
- Most streamed song of all time by Waka Flocka Flame: No Hands with 659.1M streams
- 26Young Money
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.31B
- Most streamed song of all time by Young Money: Trophies with 466.1M streams
- 25Pusha T
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.38B
- Streams as a featured artist: 2.46B
- Most streamed song of all time by Pusha T: Runaway with 708.4M streams
- 24Mike WiLL Made-It
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.40B
- Streams as a featured artist: 835.3M
- Most streamed song of all time by Mike WiLL Made-It: Go Stupid with 414.1M streams
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- 23Jay Rock
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.49B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.57B
- Most streamed song of all time by Jay Rock: Money Trees with 1.46B streams
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- 22Lupe Fiasco
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.72B
- Streams as a featured artist: 377.2M
- Most streamed song of all time by Lupe Fiasco: Battle Scars with 375.0M streams
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- 21Ludacris
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.74B
- Streams as a featured artist: 2.87B
- Most streamed song of all time by Ludacris: Yeah! with 1.29B streams
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- 20Nipsey Hussle
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.86B
- Streams as a featured artist: 196.1M
- Most streamed song of all time by Nipsey Hussle: Grinding All My Life with 194.4M streams
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- 19Wale
- Streams as a lead artist: 2.35B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.10B
- Most streamed song of all time by Wale: No Hands with 659.1M streams
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- 18T.I.
- Streams as a lead artist: 2.52B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.31B
- Most streamed song of all time by T.I.: Live Your Life with 548.8M streams
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- 17Rick Ross
- Streams as a lead artist: 2.90B
- Streams as a featured artist: 5.64B
- Most streamed song of all time by Rick Ross: Money In The Grave with 967.1M streams
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- 16The Game
- Streams as a lead artist: 2.92B
- Streams as a featured artist: 551.6M
- Most streamed song of all time by The Game: Hate It Or Love It with 740.9M streams
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- 15Moneybagg Yo
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.10B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.57B
- Most streamed song of all time by Moneybagg Yo: Run It Up with 390.8M streams
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- 14A$AP Ferg
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.26B
- Streams as a featured artist: 675.8M
- Most streamed song of all time by A$AP Ferg: Plain Jane with 732.5M streams
- 13Schoolboy Q
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.41B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.21B
- Most streamed song of all time by Schoolboy Q: Collard Greens with 621.7M streams
- 122 Chainz
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.49B
- Streams as a featured artist: 4.61B
- Most streamed song of all time by 2 Chainz: F**kin' Problems with 799.3M streams
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- 11Trey Songz
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.73B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.15B
- Most streamed song of all time by Trey Songz: It's A Vibe with 482.3M streams
- 10YG
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.97B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.49B
- Most streamed song of all time by YG: BIG BANK with 370.3M streams
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- 9Kevin Gates
- Streams as a lead artist: 4.91B
- Streams as a featured artist: 620.4M
- Most streamed song of all time by Kevin Gates: 2 Phones with 384.2M streams
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- 8French Montana
- Streams as a lead artist: 4.94B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.40B
- Most streamed song of all time by French Montana: Unforgettable with 2.05B streams
- 7OutKast
- Streams as a lead artist: 5.03B
- Streams as a featured artist: 9.6M
- Most streamed song of all time by OutKast: Hey Ya! with 1.33B streams
- 6Gucci Mane
- Streams as a lead artist: 5.45B
- Streams as a featured artist: 3.74B
- Most streamed song of all time by Gucci Mane: Wake Up in the Sky with 991.1M streams
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- 5Meek Mill
- Streams as a lead artist: 6.19B
- Streams as a featured artist: 2.32B
- Most streamed song of all time by Meek Mill: Going Bad with 1.18B streams
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- 4Tyga
- Streams as a lead artist: 6.92B
- Streams as a featured artist: 3.92B
- Most streamed song of all time by Tyga: Taste with 1.35B streams
- 3Big Sean
- Streams as a lead artist: 7.24B
- Streams as a featured artist: 3.20B
- Most streamed song of all time by Big Sean: I Don't Fuck With You with 779.7M streams
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- 2Wiz Khalifa
- Streams as a lead artist: 8.33B
- Streams as a featured artist: 4.89B
- Most streamed song of all time by Wiz Khalifa: See You Again with 1.88B streams
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- 1Future
- Streams as a lead artist: 18.85B
- Streams as a featured artist: 14.28B
- Most streamed song of all time by Future: Mask Off with 1.59B streams
