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 Top 50 countdown of most popular Southern Hip Hop artists in order of streams on Spotify as lead artist is as follows:
- 50MO3
- Streams as a lead artist: 356.7M
- Most streamed song of all time by MO3: Outside with 65.1M streams
- 49EST Gee
- Streams as a lead artist: 409.8M
- Streams as a featured artist: 584.4M
- Most streamed song of all time by EST Gee: Real As It Gets with 125.2M streams
- 48Chamillionaire
- Streams as a lead artist: 454.9M
- Streams as a featured artist: 17.7M
- Most streamed song of all time by Chamillionaire: Ridin' with 270.2M streams
- 47Cam'ron
- Streams as a lead artist: 459.9M
- Streams as a featured artist: 174.6M
- Most streamed song of all time by Cam'ron: Hey Ma with 186.3M streams
- 46Lil' Kim
- Streams as a lead artist: 463.5M
- Streams as a featured artist: 367.1M
- Most streamed song of all time by Lil' Kim: Quiet Storm with 71.7M streams
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- 45Big K.R.I.T.
- Streams as a lead artist: 515.5M
- 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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- 44Birdman
- Streams as a lead artist: 564.5M
- Streams as a featured artist: 385.1M
- Most streamed song of all time by Birdman: We'll Be Fine with 81.6M streams
- 43JUVENILE
- Streams as a lead artist: 607.0M
- Streams as a featured artist: 51.9M
- Most streamed song of all time by JUVENILE: Back That Azz Up with 208.9M streams
- 42Jamie Foxx
- Streams as a lead artist: 642.6M
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.33B
- Most streamed song of all time by Jamie Foxx: Gold Digger with 1.20B streams
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- 41GloRilla
- Streams as a lead artist: 650.0M
- Streams as a featured artist: 61.8M
- Most streamed song of all time by GloRilla: Tomorrow 2 with 169.4M streams
- 40DJ Drama
- Streams as a lead artist: 702.7M
- Streams as a featured artist: 53.3M
- Most streamed song of all time by DJ Drama: Wishing with 102.9M streams
- 39YFN Lucci
- Streams as a lead artist: 787.5M
- Streams as a featured artist: 152.3M
- Most streamed song of all time by YFN Lucci: Everyday We Lit with 208.2M streams
- 38Three 6 Mafia
- Streams as a lead artist: 854.8M
- Streams as a featured artist: 178.9M
- Most streamed song of all time by Three 6 Mafia: Stay Fly with 177.4M streams
- 3742 Dugg
- Streams as a lead artist: 950.5M
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.23B
- Most streamed song of all time by 42 Dugg: We Paid with 433.4M streams
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- 36Money Man
- Streams as a lead artist: 996.5M
- Streams as a featured artist: 14.8M
- Most streamed song of all time by Money Man: 24 with 402.6M streams
- 35Pooh Shiesty
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.15B
- Streams as a featured artist: 654.9M
- Most streamed song of all time by Pooh Shiesty: Back in Blood with 393.2M streams
- 34Nardo Wick
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.15B
- Streams as a featured artist: 124.3M
- Most streamed song of all time by Nardo Wick: Who Want Smoke?? with 258.7M streams
- 33Young Nudy
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.19B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.04B
- Most streamed song of all time by Young Nudy: The Race with 397.5M streams
- 32Young Money
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.25B
- Most streamed song of all time by Young Money: Trophies with 479.1M streams
- 31Rich Homie Quan
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.27B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.12B
- Most streamed song of all time by Rich Homie Quan: My Nigga with 339.5M streams
- 30Waka Flocka Flame
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.33B
- Streams as a featured artist: 132.8M
- Most streamed song of all time by Waka Flocka Flame: No Hands with 692.2M streams
- 29Pusha T
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.40B
- Streams as a featured artist: 3.27B
- Most streamed song of all time by Pusha T: Runaway with 770.5M streams
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- 28Mike WiLL Made-It
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.47B
- Streams as a featured artist: 891.8M
- Most streamed song of all time by Mike WiLL Made-It: Go Stupid with 436.2M streams
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- 27Yo Gotti
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.56B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.68B
- Most streamed song of all time by Yo Gotti: Betrayed with 609.9M streams
- 26Jay Rock
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.69B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.78B
- Most streamed song of all time by Jay Rock: Money Trees with 1.58B streams
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- 25Lupe Fiasco
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.78B
- Streams as a featured artist: 392.6M
- Most streamed song of all time by Lupe Fiasco: Battle Scars with 382.8M streams
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- 24Young Dolph
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.86B
- Streams as a featured artist: 427.9M
- Most streamed song of all time by Young Dolph: Major with 155.2M streams
- 23Ludacris
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.96B
- Streams as a featured artist: 2.99B
- Most streamed song of all time by Ludacris: Yeah! with 1.41B streams
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- 22Nipsey Hussle
- Streams as a lead artist: 1.96B
- Streams as a featured artist: 272.1M
- Most streamed song of all time by Nipsey Hussle: Grinding All My Life with 201.8M streams
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- 21Key Glock
- Streams as a lead artist: 2.28B
- Streams as a featured artist: 695.2M
- Most streamed song of all time by Key Glock: Ambition For Cash with 345.5M streams
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- 20Wale
- Streams as a lead artist: 2.42B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.15B
- Most streamed song of all time by Wale: No Hands with 692.2M streams
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- 19T.I.
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.03B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.51B
- Most streamed song of all time by T.I.: Live Your Life with 570.4M streams
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- 18The Game
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.08B
- Streams as a featured artist: 590.6M
- Most streamed song of all time by The Game: Hate It Or Love It with 800.7M streams
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- 17Rick Ross
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.08B
- Streams as a featured artist: 6.48B
- Most streamed song of all time by Rick Ross: Money In The Grave with 991.9M streams
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- 16Moneybagg Yo
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.31B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.92B
- Most streamed song of all time by Moneybagg Yo: Run It Up with 408.3M streams
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- 15A$AP Ferg
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.33B
- Streams as a featured artist: 855.3M
- Most streamed song of all time by A$AP Ferg: Plain Jane with 744.6M streams
- 142 Chainz
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.54B
- Streams as a featured artist: 6.39B
- Most streamed song of all time by 2 Chainz: F**kin' Problems with 821.6M streams
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- 13Schoolboy Q
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.81B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.30B
- Most streamed song of all time by Schoolboy Q: Collard Greens with 651.5M streams
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- 12Trey Songz
- Streams as a lead artist: 3.83B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.19B
- Most streamed song of all time by Trey Songz: It's A Vibe with 488.9M streams
- 11YG
- Streams as a lead artist: 4.16B
- Streams as a featured artist: 2.99B
- Most streamed song of all time by YG: Plug Walk with 661.4M streams
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- 10Kevin Gates
- Streams as a lead artist: 5.06B
- Streams as a featured artist: 797.2M
- Most streamed song of all time by Kevin Gates: 2 Phones with 392.2M streams
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- 9OutKast
- Streams as a lead artist: 5.13B
- Streams as a featured artist: 67.0M
- Most streamed song of all time by OutKast: Hey Ya! with 1.43B streams
- 8French Montana
- Streams as a lead artist: 5.25B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.49B
- Most streamed song of all time by French Montana: Unforgettable with 2.21B streams
- 7Gucci Mane
- Streams as a lead artist: 5.64B
- Streams as a featured artist: 3.70B
- Most streamed song of all time by Gucci Mane: Wake Up in the Sky with 1.05B streams
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- 6Meek Mill
- Streams as a lead artist: 6.50B
- Streams as a featured artist: 2.73B
- Most streamed song of all time by Meek Mill: Going Bad with 1.22B streams
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- 5Tyga
- Streams as a lead artist: 7.08B
- Streams as a featured artist: 4.23B
- Most streamed song of all time by Tyga: Taste with 1.39B streams
- 4Big Sean
- Streams as a lead artist: 7.57B
- Streams as a featured artist: 4.36B
- Most streamed song of all time by Big Sean: I Don't Fuck With You with 799.8M streams
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- 3Migos
- Streams as a lead artist: 8.10B
- Streams as a featured artist: 1.52B
- Most streamed song of all time by Migos: Bad and Boujee with 950.5M streams
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- 2Wiz Khalifa
- Streams as a lead artist: 8.72B
- Streams as a featured artist: 6.12B
- Most streamed song of all time by Wiz Khalifa: See You Again with 1.96B streams
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- 1Future
- Streams as a lead artist: 20.32B
- Streams as a featured artist: 15.30B
- Most streamed song of all time by Future: Mask Off with 1.67B streams
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