Music Features

How Mariah Carey Paved the Way for Hip-Hop’s Reign Over Pop

25 years ago, pop stars and rappers were were expected to stay in their respective lanes. But Mariah Carey proved that hip-hop and pop were a match made in heaven—changing popular music as we know it.

Mariah Carey participates in the ceremonial lighting of the Empire State Building to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the release of her single "All I Want For Christmas Is You", in New YorkMariah Carey Empire State Building Lighting, New York, USA

Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Hip-Hop is pop—not in sound, but rather in terms of influence and authority.

Certainly pure pop—pasteurized and whipped into its ultimate peak in the early 2010s—is still breathing, though despite its name, the genre's reign as the chieftain of popular music has ended.

Drake and Bad Bunny are as much of pop stars in 2020 as Carly Rae Jepsen and Kesha were in 2012. Spotify reports that, at this very moment, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's "WAP" is the most-streamed song in the United States. Immediately following that is trap-pop cut "Mood," a TikTok-famous summer bop by 24kGoldn and Iann Dior, two of many rising zoomer rappers who have embraced Hip-Hop's guidance in most melodic forms, like trap-pop, emo rap, alternative hip-hop, and pop-rap. And if that's not enough to give Hip-Hop a throne, Nielsen Music has confirmed that eight of the top 10 artists of 2020 so far are, of course, rappers.

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Clipping at the heels of Tory Lanez's claim that he's "the best rapper alive," Lil Pump took to Twitter late last night to say he, too, is an unstoppable force of lyrical nature.

"It's scientifically proven that I'm the most lyrical rapper of all time," the 18-year-old MC wrote. Undoubtedly, the Internet was quick to debate this claim.



Lil Pump has been known to troll, and he was possibly just bored last night and wanted to do something to get the people talking. The claim comes amidst Pump having to apologize for being racial insensitive in his latest single, "Butterfly Doors." Prior to the track's release, a snippet emerged of Pump rapping, "They call me Yao Ming cause my eyes real low." The lyric has since been edited out of the track.

Pump also recently announced his long-awaited HARVERD DROPOUT will finally be released on February 22. Originally scheduled to be released last year, the artist pushed the date back after going to jail in September for driving without a license. Pump has since been released and plans to take the Coachella Stage this summer alongside Gucci Mane and Smokepurpp under the moniker "Gucci Gang." Listen to his latest single below, and bask in the misunderstood complexities of Lil Pump.


Mackenzie Cummings-Grady is a creative writer who resides in the Brooklyn area. Mackenzie's work has previously appeared in The Boston Globe, Billboard, and Metropolis Magazine. Follow him on Twitter @mjcummingsgrady.


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