Hip hop began as an underground movement out of the South Bronx in the 1970s and hit the mainstream in 1980 when the legendary “Rapper’s Delight” became the first hip hop single to break into the Billboard 100. Today, it’s a billion-dollar industry, responsible for 25% of all music consumption in the U.S., and top artists like Cardi B and Post Malone have become legitimate household names across the globe.
Using data exclusive to Tubular, we took a deep-dive into the world of hip hop on YouTube. You can also download our report for more than 45-pages of in-depth analysis into the trends, audiences, and campaigns of the world of hip hop in the U.S. and French markets. It’s a must-read for music executives and video industry professionals alike!
Highlights from Tubular’s Exclusive Hip Hop Report
- There was a 187% increase in views of French hip hop content from 2017 to 2018.
- Cardi B’s “I Like It” generated 769M views to become most-watched U.S. hip hop video of 2018.
- Eminem was the most-viewed U.S.-based hip hop artist in 2018.
- French hip hop fans are 39x more likely to engage with interview content on YouTube than the average U.S. YouTube engager.
Hip Hop on YouTube: Top Insights from the U.S. Market
As hip hop accounted for a quarter of music streams in 2018, the demand for the genre was obviously reflected in online video views. Fan-favorite and all-round cultural phenomenon Cardi B appeared in two out of the top three most-viewed US Hip Hop songs of last year, generating a combined 1.3B views on YouTube:
- Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin – I Like It – 769M views
- 6ix9ine, Nicki Minaj, Murda Beatz – “FEFE – 559M
- Bruno Mars – Finesse (Remix) [Feat. Cardi B] – 528M
So we know there is an enormous appetite for hip hop on YouTube, but the report also confirms how the hip hop audience behaves on YouTube while consuming this content. For instance, did you know that followers and viewers of female hip hop artists from the U.S. are 7-9% more likely to engage with that content than the average YouTube viewer?
U.S. hip hop fans are also 6x more likely to engage with the Coachella music festival than average U.S. YouTube viewer!
Top Videos & Insights from the French Hip Hop Market
The French hip hop market is still relatively small when compared to the U.S. market, but it’s growing massively. At first, French hip hop was mainly influenced by American hip hop, but throughout the past couple of decades, it has developed its own very distinct personality, drawing from a range of cultural influences including the rich African heritage many of the French artists share. There was a 187% increase in views of French hip hop content on YouTube from 2017 to 2018. The top three most-viewed French language hip hop songs of last year were:
- [EXCLU] Soolking “Guérilla” #PlanèteRap – 175M views
- DADJU – Bob Marley (Clip Officiel) – 128M
- Vald – Désaccordé (since deleted) – 99.1M
While French music fans tune into hip hop on YouTube to catch their favorite artists, the “Audience Also Watches” data we pulled told a fascinating story in its own right.
We found that French hip hop fans were 39x more likely to engage with interview content, and 13x more likely to engage with soundtrack uploads on YouTube than the average viewer (which is a content tip for labels and publishers right there). But the biggest surprise was the cross-over audience between French hip hop and sports.
By comparing the audience for French hip hop to the average viewer, we found that fans were 21x more likely to engage with FIFA World Cup content on YouTube in 2018. Although, given that France won the Jules Rimet trophy in the dazzling 4-2 final against Croatia, and that males aged between 18 and 34 make up 57% of the YouTube audience for French hip hop on YouTube, this shouldn’t be too much of a shock.
Interested in more in-depth analysis into the trends, audiences, and campaigns of the world of hip hop in the U.S. and French markets?