What were some of the most notable trends on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart in the first half of 2024?
Hit Songs Deconstructed, which provides compositional analytics for top 10 Hot 100 hits, has released its Mid-Year 2024 State of the Hot 100 Top 10 report.
Here are three takeaways from Hit Songs Deconstructed’s latest in-depth research.
Hip-Hop Tops Pop
In the first six months of 2024, hip-hop was the most common primary genre in the Hot 100’s top 10, contributing to 33% of all top 10 hits. Pop followed closely at 31%, with country third at 16%.
“Hip-hop/rap’s popularity has been up-and-down over the past five years,” Hit Songs Deconstructed’s report notes. “After dropping to 23% in 2023, its lowest level since 2016, it rebounded to a level on par with 2021” by mid-year 2024.
Meanwhile, “pop has been in decline since 2021, until stabilizing in the first half of 2024.”
Leading the way for hip-hop through mid-year were Hot 100 No. 1s by Jack Harlow (“Lovin On Me”) and Kendrick Lamar, who notched two (“Like That,” with Future and Metro Boomin, and “Not Like Us”).
Plus, “country’s presence in the top 10 remains solid after the genre’s number of hits nearly quadrupled last year,” per the report. Country’s mid-year share of 16% follows its 15% take for 2023 — after 4-5% showings in 2020-22. “Notably, several artists outside of the traditional country space released crossover hits in the genre,” in the first half of 2024, including Hot 100 leaders “Texas Hold ‘Em” by Beyoncé and “I Had Some Help” by Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen.
Synths Lead, Acoustics Ascend
“Twenty-four prominent instruments shaped the sound of top 10 hits during the first half of 2024,” on the Hot 100, according to Hit Songs Deconstructed. Synth (non-bass) was the most represented, heard in 73% of entries.
Further, primarily acoustic drums/percussion continued to trend upward in the Hot 100’s top 10 in the first half of 2024, claiming their “highest level in nearly a decade,” the report reveals. “This is due in part to R&B/soul songs, where use jumped from 22% to 50% since 2023,” highlighted in part by SZA’s “Snooze” and “‘Saturn.”
“Bells and chimes saw their first increase in four years, jumping from 1% to 9% in the first half of 2024,” per mid-year findings, with such hits including Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone and Hozier’s “Too Sweet.”
Additionally, “despite dropping off slightly in the first half of the year, use of acoustic guitar continues to be strong at 31% of songs, largely driven by country.”
(Less) Teamwork Makes the …
A quarter of Hot 100 top 10s during the first half of 2024 were crafted by five or more credited songwriters. However, “this number is notably down compared to years prior,” according to Hit Songs Deconstructed.
“Conversely, top 10 hits penned by a single songwriter have doubled since last year,” per the mid-year review. Among solo authors are Swift and Lamar, who scored two such Hot 100 top 10s each in the first six months of 2024 — the former’s “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” and “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” and the latter’s “Not Like Us” and “Euphoria” — and Dolly Parton and Tracy Chapman, thanks, respectively, to reworkings of “Jolene” by Beyoncé and “Fast Car” by Luke Combs.
