Much of the time, the loyal and wonderful readers of HotNewHipHop ponder aloud why we post so much Kardashian-related content. Perhaps you're unsure about why there's another article about Iggy Azalea wearing a bikini going up in the afternoon of a relatively busy hip-hop news day. Or maybe you've been asking yourself why each time 50 Cent trolls one of his rivals, an article is published almost immediately on our pages. Well, your questions are about to be answered.
Each year, we tally our most relevant data-based findings to determine the most popular artists on HotNewHipHop in the last twelve months. Some names will be obvious. Others, however, require more of a guess on your part. This year, the top earner in clicks and total views shouldn't be a surprise and, if you're still paying attention to the feud between Cardi B and Nicki Minaj, a winner may just have been crowned as a direct result of this list.
Scroll through the information below to find out who the most popular artists of the year were on HNHH and, if you're unsure about why some of these stars are mentioned, you only have yourself to blame. After all, these findings are all data-based, meaning that they made the list if you were searching for and clicking on articles about them. Whatever you guys are checking for the most on the site, those artists make up our Top Artists of the year.
15. Kodak Black
Whether people were interested in his countless run-ins with the law, his beef with T.I., or his comments about Nipsey Hussle's widow Lauren London, Kodak Black found his name in the news all year and his fans, AKA y'all, were keeping an eye out for him. With nearly 8 million total views, the Big Stepper was successful on news articles, song posts, and more.
14. Lil Wayne
Last year, Lil Wayne ranked much higher, rounding out the Top Five on this list. That likely had to do with the release of his long-awaited Tha Carter V. Without much of a musical imprint in 2019, Weezy F Baby maintains his spot for another campaign, earning the third-highest song views on the site from our fifteen top spots. When it comes to mixtape and video views, Lil Wayne was the GOAT in those categories, clocking in the largest numbers.
13. R. Kelly
What can we say about R. Kelly... At the start of the year, he was being exposed in the Surviving R. Kelly docuseries on Lifetime. That was only the start of his trouble in 2019. The disgraced singer made headlines all throughout the year when he briefly went missing from prison, got arrested about a dozen times, and more. His inclusion on this list should be pretty straightforward.
12. Jay-Z
This comes as somewhat of a surprise. The majority of our fifteen top artists made it onto this list because of their messy, dramatic undertakings in 2019. Jay-Z spent the year fairly unbothered, not actively sharing his life on social media, yet he still managed to nab the twelfth spot here. With almost ten million article views for the entire year, Hov is still in high demand.
11. Chris Brown
Chris Brown is a mainstay on our data-driven lists. With fans as devoted as Deathstroke continuously cruising the HotNewHipHop pages in search of the latest updates regarding CB, the superstar singer will likely always be on this year-end list. The release of Indigo and his countless features helped make Brown the artist with the most views on song posts, beating absolutely everybody in that regard. The only person that came close was Drake.
10. T.I.
The recent scandal involving Tip's comments on his daughter's virginity helped solidify the Atlanta legend's placement in the Top Ten of our Top Artists list. Making remarks on most controversial incidents taking place within the hip-hop landscape, T.I. made sure his opinion was always clear on some of the hottest issues today.
9. Offset
Easily the most popular of his fellow group-members, Offset's closest Migos competition was at No. 35 this year in Quavo. With numerous cheating scandals, a short-lived breakup with Cardi B, an album release, and much more, it was a busy year for Offset. The star enjoyed a healthy mix of mixtape, news, song and video views to earn the ninth position.
8. Kanye West
Clocking in at just over eleven-million total views, Kanye West dominated the news circuit hard in 2019. Between the growth of his Yeezy brand, his business expansion to Wyoming, his Jesus Is King release (and non-releases) and more, you guys wanted to read about all about Ye.
7. Nicki Minaj
In possibly the most interesting development from this year's data findings, Nicki Minaj ends up right below Cardi B for HNHH views in 2019. Last year, the Queen ended up with the highest overall page views. Twelve months later, she's slipped to the seventh-top spot. Her retirement, marriage, and numerous beefs have helped keep her name on top of things, but her twelve million views weren't enough to keep up with Cardi B.
6. Cardi B
Taking over from her arch-nemesis as the most popular female on the site this year, Cardi B logged 1.5 million more page views than Nicki Minaj. Without much new music dropping in the last year, the Bronx native depended solely on antics, thirst traps, drama, and teases to keep the fans interested. She's bound to experience another strong year in 2020 though with the release of her second studio LP.
5. Drake
Another year with Drake missing from the top spot... Likely the most influential artist in the world today, Drake gathered page clicks on all ends: songs, videos, news articles, you name it! Still, it wasn't enough for the 6ix God to come through on top. Drake was one of the three most-listened-to artists when it comes to single releases, and his video views were also pretty strong. Unfortunately, there was no dramatic beef with Pusha-T or a secret baby to bolster his throne at the pole position this year though.
Last year, 6ix9ine was a new entry on our Top Artists list. In 2019, even though he was in jail for the entire campaign, he was still one of the most-searched and clicked artists on HotNewHipHop. Of course, the majority of his action came from updates on his legal status, including his recent sentencing trial and all the snitching that led up to it. Hip-hop's biggest disruptor had another big year on the site, thanks solely to you guys.
3. Eminem
After sitting pretty at No. 8 for the last two years, Eminem actually moved up a handful of spots in 2019. His beef against Nick Cannon likely did the trick for him because, as you all know, the Rap God hasn't released much new music at all this year. Still, his name remains in the headlines and there's a good chance it will for years to come.
2. Nipsey Hussle
The death of Nipsey Hussle impacted the rap community strongly, shaking us to the core and forcing us to re-evaluate how we appreciate artistry as a whole. Hussle didn't get his roses while he could still smell them. In the days/weeks/months following the 33-year-old's passing, information continued to pour in about the fatal shooting and Hussle's final moments. His inclusion on 2019's Top Artists tally should be obvious.
1. 50 Cent
50 Cent basically had no competition this year. If you're wondering why you always find articles on HNHH about the man's online trollery, it's because you guys want to read them so desperately. By a margin of almost ten million total views (!!!), 50 Cent was the most sought-after artist on the website this year. Always entertaining, you can be sure to have a good laugh when he posts, well, anything to social media. That's why he earned the top spot of 2019.