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: 3.2M
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.0M
- Most streamed song of all time by Hell Razah: One Step with 676K streams
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- 32Ras Kass
- Streams as a lead artist: 17.6M
- Streams as a featured artist: 4.3M
- Most streamed song of all time by Ras Kass: Lyrical Swords with 7.3M streams
- 31Poor Righteous Teachers
- Streams as a lead artist: 36.2M
- Most streamed song of all time by Poor Righteous Teachers: Word Iz Life with 9.6M streams
- 30ILL BILL
- Streams as a lead artist: 50.2M
- Streams as a featured artist: 27K
- Most streamed song of all time by ILL BILL: My Uncle with 6.5M streams
- 29Brand Nubian
- Streams as a lead artist: 64.1M
- Most streamed song of all time by Brand Nubian: Slow Down with 12.7M streams
- 28ICE-T
- Streams as a lead artist: 66.3M
- Streams as a featured artist: 8.4M
- Most streamed song of all time by ICE-T: Colors with 16.5M streams
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- 27Boogie Down Productions
- Streams as a lead artist: 84.0M
- Most streamed song of all time by Boogie Down Productions: 9mm Goes Bang with 11.7M streams
- 26Queen Latifah
- Streams as a lead artist: 129.8M
- Streams as a featured artist: 4.6M
- Most streamed song of all time by Queen Latifah: U.N.I.T.Y. with 39.1M streams
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- 25Digital Underground
- Streams as a lead artist: 141.9M
- Streams as a featured artist: 247.8M
- Most streamed song of all time by Digital Underground: I Get Around with 246.8M streams
- 24David Banner
- Streams as a lead artist: 193.6M
- Streams as a featured artist: 14.1M
- Most streamed song of all time by David Banner: Get Like Me with 50.2M streams
- 23Killer Mike
- Streams as a lead artist: 265.1M
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.43B
- Most streamed song of all time by Killer Mike: Legend Has It with 100.9M streams
- 22Immortal Technique
- Streams as a lead artist: 325.8M
- Streams as a featured artist: 6.4M
- Most streamed song of all time by Immortal Technique: Dance With The Devil with 83.8M streams
- 21Geto Boys
- Streams as a lead artist: 330.9M
- Most streamed song of all time by Geto Boys: Mind Playing Tricks on Me with 149.9M streams
- 20Scarface
- Streams as a lead artist: 444.5M
- Streams as a featured artist: 95.7M
- Most streamed song of all time by Scarface: Smile with 78.4M streams
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- 19Aesop Rock
- Streams as a lead artist: 474.2M
- Streams as a featured artist: 49.7M
- Most streamed song of all time by Aesop Rock: Preservation with 48.5M streams
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- 18Public Enemy
- Streams as a lead artist: 501.7M
- Most streamed song of all time by Public Enemy: Harder Than You Think with 104.6M streams
- 17Big K.R.I.T.
- Streams as a lead artist: 516.1M
- Streams as a featured artist: 194.2M
- 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: 619.5M
- Streams as a featured artist: 181.1M
- Most streamed song of all time by Mos Def: Ms. Fat Booty with 252.8M streams
- 15Common
- Streams as a lead artist: 677.4M
- Streams as a featured artist: 536.1M
- Most streamed song of all time by Common: Make Her Say with 99.3M streams
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- 14VIC MENSA
- Streams as a lead artist: 693.7M
- Streams as a featured artist: 206.2M
- Most streamed song of all time by VIC MENSA: Cocoa Butter Kisses with 188.0M streams
- 13The Roots
- Streams as a lead artist: 883.6M
- Streams as a featured artist: 146K
- Most streamed song of all time by The Roots: You Got Me with 169.2M streams
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- 12Gang Starr
- Streams as a lead artist: 986.8M
- Most streamed song of all time by Gang Starr: Full Clip with 153.6M streams
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- 11Vince Staples
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.66B
- Streams as a featured artist: 332.5M
- Most streamed song of all time by Vince Staples: Norf Norf with 207.0M streams
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- 10Jay Rock
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.70B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.80B
- Most streamed song of all time by Jay Rock: Money Trees with 1.60B streams
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- 9Lupe Fiasco
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.79B
- Streams as a featured artist: 404.5M
- Most streamed song of all time by Lupe Fiasco: Battle Scars with 383.9M streams
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- 8Nipsey Hussle
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.97B
- Streams as a featured artist: 272.3M
- Most streamed song of all time by Nipsey Hussle: Grinding All My Life with 203.4M streams
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- 7A Tribe Called Quest
- Streams as a lead artist: 2.14B
- Streams as a featured artist: 4.0M
- Most streamed song of all time by A Tribe Called Quest: Can I Kick It? with 296.2M streams
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- 6Nas
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.33B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.06B
- Most streamed song of all time by Nas: Rodeo with 311.3M streams
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- 5Ice Cube
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.71B
- Streams as a featured artist: 117.8M
- Most streamed song of all time by Ice Cube: It Was A Good Day with 1.20B streams
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- 4Chance the Rapper
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.84B
- Streams as a featured artist: 4.39B
- Most streamed song of all time by Chance the Rapper: I'm the One with 1.28B streams
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- 3Logic
- Streams as a lead artist: 9.61B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.24B
- Most streamed song of all time by Logic: 1-800-273-8255 with 1.35B streams
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- 2J. Cole
- Streams as a lead artist: 19.02B
- Streams as a featured artist: 3.53B
- Most streamed song of all time by J. Cole: No Role Modelz with 2.35B streams
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- 1Kendrick Lamar
- Streams as a lead artist: 26.60B
- Streams as a featured artist: 10.60B
- Most streamed song of all time by Kendrick Lamar: HUMBLE. with 2.35B streams
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