Conscious rap been a force since the ’80s, when real MCs started speaking truth over dope beats. It goes way beyond sick flows – these cats drop knowledge bombs, sparkin’ change in the streets and in your mind.
The legends who built this – Immortal Technique spittin’ that revolutionary fire; Brother Ali with soul and social awareness; Killer Mike droppin’ truth about politics; and Talib Kweli forever fightin’ for what’s right. Then you got heavyweights like Black Thought, droppin’ deep wisdom, and Mos Def, the real all-rounder. These are the OGs of conscious rap, their words changed the game and still ring true today.
A countdown of most popular Conscious Hip Hop artists in order of streams on Spotify as lead artist is as follows:
- 33Hell Razah
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.0M
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.0M
- Most streamed song of all time by Hell Razah: One Step with 646K streams
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- 32Ras Kass
- Streams as a lead artist: 17.2M
- Streams as a featured artist: 3.8M
- Most streamed song of all time by Ras Kass: Lyrical Swords with 7.1M streams
- 31Poor Righteous Teachers
- Streams as a lead artist: 35.6M
- Most streamed song of all time by Poor Righteous Teachers: Word Iz Life with 9.4M streams
- 30ILL BILL
- Streams as a lead artist: 49.8M
- Streams as a featured artist: 27K
- Most streamed song of all time by ILL BILL: My Uncle with 6.4M streams
- 29Brand Nubian
- Streams as a lead artist: 62.5M
- Most streamed song of all time by Brand Nubian: Slow Down with 12.5M streams
- 28ICE-T
- Streams as a lead artist: 64.8M
- Streams as a featured artist: 8.4M
- Most streamed song of all time by ICE-T: Colors with 16.0M streams
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- 27Boogie Down Productions
- Streams as a lead artist: 82.6M
- Most streamed song of all time by Boogie Down Productions: 9mm Goes Bang with 11.4M streams
- 26Queen Latifah
- Streams as a lead artist: 126.0M
- Streams as a featured artist: 4.4M
- Most streamed song of all time by Queen Latifah: U.N.I.T.Y. with 38.3M streams
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- 25Digital Underground
- Streams as a lead artist: 137.7M
- Streams as a featured artist: 241.6M
- Most streamed song of all time by Digital Underground: I Get Around with 240.6M streams
- 24David Banner
- Streams as a lead artist: 188.9M
- Streams as a featured artist: 14.1M
- Most streamed song of all time by David Banner: Get Like Me with 48.6M streams
- 23Killer Mike
- Streams as a lead artist: 253.9M
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.26B
- Most streamed song of all time by Killer Mike: Legend Has It with 99.0M streams
- 22Immortal Technique
- Streams as a lead artist: 317.4M
- Streams as a featured artist: 6.3M
- Most streamed song of all time by Immortal Technique: Dance With The Devil with 79.5M streams
- 21Geto Boys
- Streams as a lead artist: 323.7M
- Most streamed song of all time by Geto Boys: Mind Playing Tricks on Me with 146.2M streams
- 20Scarface
- Streams as a lead artist: 436.9M
- Streams as a featured artist: 95.3M
- Most streamed song of all time by Scarface: Smile with 76.9M streams
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- 19Aesop Rock
- Streams as a lead artist: 467.6M
- Streams as a featured artist: 47.2M
- Most streamed song of all time by Aesop Rock: Preservation with 46.1M streams
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- 18Public Enemy
- Streams as a lead artist: 485.4M
- Most streamed song of all time by Public Enemy: Harder Than You Think with 100.9M streams
- 17Big K.R.I.T.
- Streams as a lead artist: 513.4M
- Streams as a featured artist: 193.3M
- Most streamed song of all time by Big K.R.I.T.: 1Train with 130.3M streams
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- 16Mos Def
- Streams as a lead artist: 607.1M
- Streams as a featured artist: 181.0M
- Most streamed song of all time by Mos Def: Ms. Fat Booty with 246.7M streams
- 15Common
- Streams as a lead artist: 667.2M
- Streams as a featured artist: 532.2M
- Most streamed song of all time by Common: Make Her Say with 97.7M streams
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- 14VIC MENSA
- Streams as a lead artist: 690.6M
- Streams as a featured artist: 201.2M
- Most streamed song of all time by VIC MENSA: Cocoa Butter Kisses with 183.4M streams
- 13The Roots
- Streams as a lead artist: 867.9M
- Streams as a featured artist: 146K
- Most streamed song of all time by The Roots: You Got Me with 164.3M streams
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- 12Gang Starr
- Streams as a lead artist: 954.8M
- Most streamed song of all time by Gang Starr: Full Clip with 149.1M streams
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- 11Vince Staples
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.63B
- Streams as a featured artist: 320.3M
- Most streamed song of all time by Vince Staples: Norf Norf with 204.3M streams
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- 10Jay Rock
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.67B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.72B
- Most streamed song of all time by Jay Rock: Money Trees with 1.52B streams
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- 9Lupe Fiasco
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.75B
- Streams as a featured artist: 380.3M
- Most streamed song of all time by Lupe Fiasco: Battle Scars with 378.5M streams
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- 8Nipsey Hussle
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.93B
- Streams as a featured artist: 271.5M
- Most streamed song of all time by Nipsey Hussle: Grinding All My Life with 197.5M streams
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- 7A Tribe Called Quest
- Streams as a lead artist: 2.09B
- Streams as a featured artist: 3.8M
- Most streamed song of all time by A Tribe Called Quest: Can I Kick It? with 288.0M streams
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- 6Nas
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.27B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.05B
- Most streamed song of all time by Nas: Rodeo with 308.5M streams
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- 5Ice Cube
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.60B
- Streams as a featured artist: 116.3M
- Most streamed song of all time by Ice Cube: It Was A Good Day with 1.15B streams
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- 4Chance the Rapper
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.80B
- Streams as a featured artist: 4.35B
- Most streamed song of all time by Chance the Rapper: I'm the One with 1.27B streams
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- 3Logic
- Streams as a lead artist: 9.52B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.22B
- Most streamed song of all time by Logic: 1-800-273-8255 with 1.34B streams
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- 2J. Cole
- Streams as a lead artist: 18.60B
- Streams as a featured artist: 3.42B
- Most streamed song of all time by J. Cole: No Role Modelz with 2.28B streams
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- 1Kendrick Lamar
- Streams as a lead artist: 25.49B
- Streams as a featured artist: 10.26B
- Most streamed song of all time by Kendrick Lamar: HUMBLE. with 2.27B streams
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