From Independent to Corporate: A Political Economic Analysis of Rap Billboard Toppers

A “snapshot” of the Billboard music industry charts from 1990 to 2005 was created to examine how corporate ownership influenced the content of the hip‐hop and rap genres. The analysis included a close textual reading of the charts to identify trends associated with ownership in the music industry. The findings suggest the merging of the music industry into four dominant firms aided in the creation of music genres with messages different from the grassroots messages in the tradition of hip‐hop and rap.