Top 5 Artists Most Likely to Win Rap Madness

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Round 2 Begins

There are only 32 artists left in Rap Madness, and voting for Round 2 is now live. Click the button to vote for your favorites on our IG stories, and see the updated bracket below.

A reminder that voting takes place on Wednesdays and Saturdays. We’ll send the results to your inbox on Thursdays and Sundays.

Based on the completed brackets, here are some exclusive stats on the most and least likely artists to win Rap Madness.

Top 5 Artists Most Likely to Win it All

1. Kendrick Lamar was the winner for 44% of the completed brackets

2. Ye was the winner for 18% of the completed brackets

3. Travis Scott was the winner for 12% of the completed brackets 

4. Drake was the winner for 6% of the completed brackets

5. Eminem was the winner 5% of the completed brackets

Top 5 Fan Favorites Unlikely to Win it All 

1. Playboi Carti—only 1,674 brackets voted for him as the winner (2.7%)

2. Future—only 1,457 brackets voted for him as the winner (2.4%)

3. J. Cole—only 986 brackets voted for him as the winner (1.6%)

4. 21 Savage—only 808 brackets voted for him as the winner (1.3%)

5. Lil Wayne—only 635 brackets voted for him as the winner (1%)

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Billboard Hot 100

The above chart shows Billboard’s Hot 100 ranking for this week. The Hot 100 ranks songs based on streaming activity, radio airplay audience impressions, and sales data—all measured by Luminate.

Every rap song took a dip this week. Eminem’s “Houdini” went from #2 to #8. Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” dropped to #5 after staying steady at #3 for a few weeks. Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” and Future’s “Like That” declined only by one spot, while GloRilla’s “Wanna Be” and Central Cee’s “BAND4BAND” dropped five spots.

Pharrell’s New ‘Despicable Me 4’ Track May Also Be a Drake Diss

Pharrell Williams’ newest track might not be as kid-friendly as the movie it appears in. The artist has been a part of the Despicable Me family since the first film was released in 2010, contributing to the film's scoring with production and original songs. 

But unlike the “Happy” earworm anthem from Despicable Me 2, Pharrell may have pulled off a crazy double entendre, making a song that’s a soundtrack and a diss for Despicable Me 4. 

What did Pharrell say?

On his new track, “Double Life,” fans think he is taking the opportunity to throw some jabs at rap’s current punching bag—Drizzy. 

He sings on the song, "Hey, what are you hiding? (Watch), What you do when you're gone? (Hey), Nothing wrong being private (Watch), Make sure it ain't wrong (Yeah), Your life double-sided (Watch), Two-faced like coins, What side do I get? (Watch), What side are you on?"

The sentiment of the lyrics could be playing into the accusations Kendrick Lamar made about Drake hiding everything from a daughter to his OVO crew’s inappropriate relationships with younger girls. 

In verse two, Pharrell says, “Lie detector time (Watch) / Do you feel bad when you lie? (Watch).” Since Drake’s beef with Kendrick simmered down, numerous claims he made on his diss tracks have proven false, further fueling the theory that Pharrell’s pen is pointed at him.

Sure, Pharrell could just be talking about the antics of the movie’s main character, Gru. Nevertheless, the timing and lyrics in the song seem a little too calculated, considering their history.

Not to mention, “Double Life” is a slick title for a song that addresses two different people, Gru and Drake, at the same time. 

The beef between Pharrell and Drake 

Champagne Papi fired shots at Pharrell while featured on Travis Scott’s 2023 song “Meltdown.” While reigniting his beef with Pusha T, Drake says he melted down an auctioned-off chain from Pharrell and doesn’t fuck with Louis Vuitton anymore since Pharrell took over from the late Virgil Abloh. 

He spits on the song, “fuck all that spinnin' the narrative shit, I melt down the chains that I bought from yo' boss, Give a fuck about all of that heritage shit, Since V not around, the members done hung up the Louis, they not even wearing that shit.” 

Pharrell never publicly acknowledged the verse, and almost like clockwork at this point, Drake was caught lying. Chains that once belonged to Pharrell can be seen in his “Family Matters” music video, published in May. 

Kendrick, however, took issue with Drake’s “Meltdown” verse and addressed it on “euphoria,” rapping, “I don’t like you poppin’ shit at Pharrell, for him, I inherit the beef, / Yeah, fuck all that pushin’ P, let me see you push a T.” 

While Drake hides away on his ranch, Pharrell and his allies are making moves. K. Dot is hosting his Juneteenth concert today, hopefully with the first live performance of “Not Like Us.” He is also pulling a Power Rangers team-up morph with Pharrell and starring in his LEGO life story Piece by Piece. 

The Rap Index ft. Don Toliver, LUCKI, Lil Baby, BossMan Dlow & More

The Rap Index is a way to follow and discover new music. Divided into 4 categories describing rap subgenres, songs are placed according to their style and sound—giving you a better idea of what songs will appeal to your musical taste. Only releases from the previous New Music Friday are included to help keep you up to date.

RapTV’s Ranking of Rap Index Songs

1. “Tore Up” by Don Toliver (Listen on Spotify)

2. “Gerskiway” by LUCKI, Rylo Rodriguez, Veeze (Listen on Spotify)

3. “Choppa” by Byron Messia, Lil Baby (Listen on Spotify)

4. “Devil Is A Lie” by Tommy Richman (Listen on Spotify)

5. “LUV 4 YA” by Destroy Lonely (Listen on Spotify)

6. “SportsCenter” by BossMan Dlow (Listen on Spotify)

7. “Act bad twin!” by Chow Lee, Cash Cobain, Bay Swag (Listen on Spotify)

8. “Twisting Our Fingers” by Lil Gotit, Young Thug, Lil Keed (Listen on Spotify)

• Scooter Braun is stepping out of the game. After 23 years of managing superstars, including Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, he announced his retirement. 

• Nas is about to “Get Down” on Broadway. He is working on the musical stage adaptation of the 1984 hip-hop movie Beat Street.

• Diddy is facing further consequences for his actions. He returned his key to the city of New York after footage was released of him assauulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie in 2016.