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i said a hip hop the hippie the hippie/to the hip hip hop, a you dont stop/the rock it to the bang bang boogie say up jumped the boogie/to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat/now what you hear is not a test–i’m rappin to the beat/and me, the groove, and m

Rap is radio’s biggest hit source
Rap, an underground phenomenon since the ’70s, is now American radio’s most popular form of music.
More than a quarter of the most-heard radio songs of 2003 so far are by rappers. Even more telling: 40% of the year’s top 30 are rap hits. And those figures don’t count guest appearances by rap artists on several big R&B hits.
Rap’s radio popularity eclipses its sales influence. Although albums by 50 Cent, 2003’s airplay champ, and others have topped the sales chart, rap accounted for only 13% of 2002 album sales, well below rock’s 31%, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
But hits by 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Ja Rule and dancehall reggae rappers Sean Paul and Wayne Wonder helped propel hip-hop to the top of radio playlists.
Since last year, USA TODAY has been publishing a unique radio airplay list each week. The list combines airplay data from top 40, R&B, adult contemporary, rock and country radio stations to rank songs by their total listening audience. It provides the most comprehensive overview of the styles of music Americans choose to hear on the radio.
Other airplay trends:
ï Pop music (encompassing Justin Timberlake, Avril Lavigne and John Mayer) was No. 2 in popularity.
√Ø Country ranked third but had only one song in the top 25: a cover of a Fleetwood Mac song by the Dixie Chicks, who have since become pariahs at country radio stations. But country songs made up more than 40% of the top 100’s bottom third.
√Ø R&B makes up one-sixth of America’s favorite songs. If you combine rap and R&B and throw in a few R&B-flavored pop hits, the urban rhythmic sound comprises half the top hits.
√Ø Rock, while less dominant on radio than in previous eras, remains a significant presence with more than 10% of the top songs, led by 3 Doors Down’s When I’m Gone, No. 6 for the year.
ï Sparked by 50 Cent, Sean Paul and Lavigne, new and emerging artists accounted for nearly 30% of the top 100 hits, including four of the top 10.