Whether it’s T.I. and Pharrell behind Robin Thicke’s smash hit “Blurred Lines,” or Rihanna blazing the chorus on Eminem’s hit song “Monster,” it’s apparent that African-Americans are part of some of the chart-topping singles of last year.
But according to an article on Slate, not one African American artist had a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in all of 2013. This is the first time this has happened in all of the Billboard chart ‘s 55 years of existence. It represents a huge contrast to 10 years ago, when a person of color recorded every chart-topping hit.
Ironically, songs from white artists, like Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Can’t Hold Us,” were chart toppers in R&B/Hip-Hop categories during 44 out of 52 weeks last year. The other eight weeks? Drake.