This list was created by aggregating more than 60 best-of lists focused on rap and hip-hop songs. Also factored in were awards received by the songs and the number of weeks the songs spent at #1 on the Billboard rap chart, R&B chart, and Hot 100.
Click here to see other genre-specific song lists.
Spotify Podcast:
Check out the Dave’s Music Database podcast episode The Birth of Hip-Hop: The 50th Anniversary which references songs on this list. It debuted August 11, 2023.
1. Eminem “Lose Yourself” (2002)
2. Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five “The Message” (1982)
3. The Sugarhill Gang “Rapper’s Delight” (1979)
4. Dr. Dre with Snoop Doggy Dogg “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang” (1992)
5. Public Enemy “Fight the Power” (1989)
6. 50 Cent “In Da Club” (2002)
7. Coolio with L.V. “Gangsta’s Paradise” (1995)
8. The Notorious B.I.G. “Juicy” (1994)
9. Wu-Tang Clan “C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)” (1994)
10. N.W.A. “Straight Outta Compton” (1989)
11. Afrika Bambaataa & the Soul Sonic Force “Planet Rock” (1982)
12. Eminem with Dido “Stan” (2000)
13. Ice Cube “It Was a Good Day” (1993)
14. Puff Daddy with Faith Evans & 112 “I’ll Be Missing You” (1997)
15. Tupac Shakur (2pac) with Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman “California Love” (1996)
16. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony “Tha Crossroads” (1996)
17. Geto Boys “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” (1991)
18. OutKast “Ms. Jackson” (2000)
19. Salt-N-Pepa “Push It” (1987)
20. 2pac “Dear Mama” (1993)
21. Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott “Get Ur Freak On” (2001)
22. Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)” (1992)
23. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with Wanz “Thrift Shop” (2012)
24. Mobb Deep “Shook Ones Part II” (1995)
25. Run-D.M.C. with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler & Joe Perry “Walk This Way” (1986)
26. Young M.C. “Bust a Move” (1989)
27. Lil Nas X with Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road” (2018)
28. Eminem with Rihanna “Love the Way You Lie” (2010)
29. M.C. Hammer “U Can’t Touch This” (1990)
30. N.W.A. “Fuck tha Police” (1989)
31. Nelly “Hot in Herre” (2002)
32. Jay-Z “99 Problems” (2004)
33. Kanye West with Jamie Foxx “Gold Digger” (2005)
34. Jay-Z with Alicia Keys “Empire State of Mind” (2009)
35. Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock “It Takes Two” (1988)
36. De La Soul “Me, Myself and I” (1989)
37. Jay-Z & Kanye West “Niggas in Paris” (2011)
38. Sir Mix-a-Lot “Baby Got Back” (1992)
39. Slick Rick “Children’s Story” (1989)
40. LL Cool J “Mama Said Knock You Out” (1991)
41. The Notorious B.I.G. “Hypnotize” (1997)
42. Flo Rida with T-Pain “Low” (2007)
43. Kendrick Lamar “Alright” (2015)
44. Cardi B “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” (2017)
45. Lil Wayne with Static Major “Lollipop” (2008)
46. Kanye West “Jesus Walks” (2004)
47. Kurtis Blow “The Breaks” (1980)
48. Snoop Dogg with Pharrell Williams “Drop It Like It’s Hot” (2004)
49. Naughty by Nature “O.P.P.” (1991)
50. Snoop Doggy Dogg “Gin & Juice” (1994)
51. Eric B. & Rakim “Paid in Full (Seven Minutes of Madness)” (1987)
52. Nas “NY State of Mind” (1994)
53. Kendrick Lamar “Humble” (2017)
54. Eminem “The Real Slim Shady” (2000)
55. Common “I Used to Love H.E.R.” (1994)
56. Tone Loc “Wild Thing” (1988)
57. Eminem “My Name Is” (1999)
58. Lil Wayne “A Milli” (2008)
59. Wiz Khalifa & Charlie Puth “See You Again” (2015)
60. LL Cool J “Rock the Bells” (1986)
61. OutKast “Hey Ya!” (2003)
62. Marley Marl “The Symphony” (1988)
63. House of Pain “Jump Around” (1992)
64. LL Cool J “I Need Love” (1987)
65. Vanilla Ice “Ice Ice Baby” (1990)
66. Method Man & Mary J. Blige “I’ll Be There for You/You’re All I Need to Get By” (1995)
67. Nate Dogg & Warren G “Regulate” (1994)
68. Arrested Development “Tennessee” (1992)
69. Digital Underground “The Humpty Dance” (1990)
70. Drake “Hotline Bling” (2015)
71. Run-D.M.C. “Sucker MC’s” (1984)
72. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with Ray Dalton “Can’t Hold Us” (2011)
73. Drake “God’s Plan” (2018)
74. Roddy Ricch “The Box” (2019)
75. Cardi B with Megan Thee Stallion “WAP” (2020)
76. Tag Team “Whoomp! There It Is” (1993)
77. Boogie Down Productions “The Bridge Is Over” (1987)
78. Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel “White Lines (Don’t Do It)” (1983)
79. DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince “Parents Just Don’t Understand” (1988)
80. Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott “Work It” (2002)
81. Lauryn Hill “Doo Wop (That Thing)” (1998)
82. DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince “Summertime” (1991)
83. Iggy Azalea with Charli XCX “Fancy” (2014)
84. Post Malone with 21 Savage “Rockstar” (2017)
85. Doug E. Fresh with Slick Rick “La Di Da Di” (1985)
86. Nas “The World Is Yours” (1994)
87. 2pac “Keep Ya Head Up” (1993)
88. Beastie Boys “You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Party” (1986)
89. Kris Kross “Jump” (1992)
90. Kanye West with Daft Punk “Stronger” (2007)
91. Audio Two “Top Billin’” (1988)
92. Blackstreet with Dr. Dre & Queen Pen “No Diggity” (1996)
93. Chamillionaire with Krayzie Bone “Ridin’” (2006)
94. T.I. “What You Know” (2006)
95. Soulja Boy Tell’em “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” (2007)
96. Cypress Hill “How I Could Just Kill a Man” (1991)
97. Jay-Z with UGK “Big Pimpin’” (2000)
98. Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling” (2009)
99. Drake with Wizkid & Kyla “One Dance” (2016)
100. Nelly with Kelly Rowland “Dilemma” (2002)
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First posted 6/8/2011; last updated 8/22/2023. | 
You forgot to add # 47
ReplyDeleteThanks for the catch. List has been updated and now includes a #47!
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