Kendrick Lamar Is the Year’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artist for the First Time

For the first time in his career, Kendrick Lamar reigns as Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the year, storming to the 2025 crown. The superstar rapper claims the throne in his 13th time on the annual recap — a run of every year since 2012, apart from 2020 — and outdoes his previous best finish, a No. 2 result in 2017.

Lamar triumphs on the 2025 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists list, which is based on activity from the weekly Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts dated Oct. 26, 2024, through Oct. 18, 2025, from the domination of his GNX album and its biggest hit, the SZA collaboration “Luther,” along with Billboard Boxscore (touring) data.

To supplement his year-end win, Lamar is also the Top Rap Artist, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artist – Male, and Top Rap Artist – Male.

Explore All of Billboard’s 2025 Year-End Charts

A Nearly Perfect 10 for ‘GNX’: GNX, a surprise release that dropped on Nov. 22, 2024, via pgLang/Interscope/Interscope Capitol, debuted at No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart dated Dec. 7. It spent seven weeks at No. 1 during the 2025 chart year and nearly remained in the top 10 for the entire period, with one exception — the penultimate week (Oct. 11, 2025). While it of course generated massive attention from A) being a Kendrick Lamar album and B) being the first Kendrick Lamar album since his pop-culture-defining feud with Drake, GNX achieved a second wind after Lamar headlined the halftime show of Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9.

Thanks to its strong longevity, GNX is the No. 2 title on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for 2025. It loses out to SZA’s SOS, which tops the annual recap for a second time, after its 2023 victory, thanks in part to its SOS Deluxe: LANA edition, which was combined with the original SOS on the charts.

Billboard’s year-end music charts represent aggregated metrics for each artist, title, label and music contributor on the weekly charts from Oct. 26, 2024, through Oct. 18, 2025. Rankings for Luminate-based recaps reflect equivalent album units, airplay, sales or streaming during the weeks that the entries appeared on a respective chart during the tracking year. Any activity registered before or after a title’s chart run isn’t considered in these rankings. That methodology detail, and the October-October time period, account for some of the difference between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Luminate.

‘Luther’ Leads Songs Recap: While Lamar and SZA compete on the albums’ leaderboard, the pair join forces to capture the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs’ top prize with their collaboration “Luther.” The track, from GNX, sailed to its chart-topping honor with a record-shattering 31 weeks atop the weekly Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, by far the longest run in the chart’s 67-year history. To secure its record-breaking achievement, “Luther” took the crown from Lamar’s own “Not Like Us,” at 22 weeks in charge, which itself overcame SZA’s “Kill Bill,” and its 21 frames on top.

Beyond “Luther,” Lamar and SZA team up for another high finish on the year-end list with “30 for 30.” The single, from the LANA deluxe edition of SZA’s SOS, lands at No. 4. In addition to those two tracks, Lamar three more tracks in the year’s top 10: “TV Off,” featuring Lefty Gunplay (No. 2), the 2024 year-end champ “Not Like Us” (No. 5) and “Squabble Up” (No. 7).

Leon Thomas Roars in Rookie Season: Thanks to his breakthrough R&B smash hit “Mutt,” Leon Thomas is the Top New R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of 2025. The acclaimed singer-songwriter, whose prior work includes co-writing and co-producing credits on SZA’s “Snooze,” stepped into his own spotlight with his breakout track. “Mutt,” released in August 2024, was a sleeper hit, finally entering the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in late January of 2025. As gradual improvements in streaming and radio lifted its fortunes, the song reached the weekly top 10 in April, before bearing another long journey until it finally crowned the list in August. Once “Mutt” arrived, however, it refused to budge, wrapping the last nine weeks of the chart tracking year in the top spot. From that combination of endurance and success, “Mutt” secured the No. 6 rank on the year-end Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs list.

As “Mutt” became a hit, its parent album of the same name climbed to a No. 8 best on the weekly Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums in June, sparked by a deluxe Heel edition. Although its title track was the main success driver, the album found additional Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs hits in the chart year via “Not Fair” and “Yes It Is,” which both peaked at No. 43.

Big Glo, Breezy & The Weeknd Win, Too: While Lamar, SZA and Thomas are the main winners of the 2025 cycle for R&B/hip-hop, here’s a review of other key highlights across the year-end chart results.

• GloRilla ranks at No. 1 on Top Rap Artists – Female, spurred by several hit singles from her debut album, Glorious. Viral fanfare and stellar radio support for “TGIF” and the Sexyy Red collaboration “Whatchu Kno About Me,” for example, were major contributors.

• Chris Brown’s “Residuals” claims the year’s radio triumphs, leading the plays-based Adult R&B Airplay and Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay recaps, as well as the overall audience-based R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay list.

• The Weeknd bags multiple R&B triumphs, including No. 1 on Top R&B Artists – Male. His song “Timeless,” featuring Playboi Carti, tops the Hot R&B Songs survey and is No. 1 on R&B Streaming Songs recap.