The 90’s were very much a golden era for hip-hop. But since I was born in the 90’s, I’ve had to experience a lot of these great albums years after they were released, with no less appreciation.
If you’re in the same boat or just looking for a nostalgic playlist, Polygraph and Billboard have got you covered.
The two have teamed up and created a graph of every top five hip-hop single from 1989 to 2015. Additionally, you can listen to every single one of them over on the website using an interactive timeline with details of when each song peaked along with information on the artist.
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It’s got everyone from Salt-n-Pepa, Nas and 2Pac to Drake and Big Sean. If you’re looking for a particular artist or date, you can search the graph as well.
Billboard started its hip-hop chart in 1989 when artists like N.W.A and Ice-T were on the up and MTV’s historically influential ‘Yo! MTV Raps’ show was only a few months old.
The Billboard chart was originally based on sales, but in 2002 it was changed to radio audience figures and added digital downloads and impressions to the mix in 2012.
The tool is great for every generation, whether you want to see what was popular when you were born (like me) or as a reminder of your formative years and how people actually paid for music once upon a time.
➤ This is what Hip Hop’s Billboard top 10 sounded like, back in 1995 [Polygraph]
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