However, the reaction to AzaleaвЂ™s win suggested that the public had somehow elevated Billboard to more than just being the purveyor of music popularity data. The answer was simple if not readily apparent: Iggy Azalea outsold and was played and streamed more during the eligibility period (as reflected in BillboardвЂ™s rap and hip-hop charts from March 2014 вЂ“ March 2015) than the other rap artists in contention.Д«illboard magazine, which has tracked such data for over 100 years, certainly has the credentials to tell us of those and other metrics related to music and artist popularity in this country and abroad. Rapper Iggy Azalea graced the cover of a recent Billboard Magazine issue With the most recent example being the crowning of Iggy Azalea as the Top Rap Artist at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday, May 17, many people вЂ“ particularly the R&B/Hip-Hop faithful вЂ“ wondered aloud and on social media how a white female rapper from Australia could beat out such artists as Nicki Minaj, Drake, Big Sean and Kendrick Lamar вЂ“ all of whom also had big successes in the past 12 months. Not just because theyвЂ™re white rap artists, but because they happen to be white rappers whoвЂ™ve dominated the R&B/Hip-Hop music charts in recent years and along the way have claimed Billboard MagazineвЂ™s top honors in the rap and combined R&B/Hip-Hop categories.

Let me start by acknowledging that rap music and R&B are clearly not the same in terms of the issue IвЂ™m about to discuss,В but the recent successes of rap artists like Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Iggy Azalea have raised several eyebrows in the R&B/Hip-hop community. At the end is a link to my Spotify playlist containing the songs mentioned in the article.) Iggy Azalea: 2015 BBMAsвЂ™ Top Rap Artist

(Spoiler Note: Included in this article is a ranking of the greatest blue-eyed soul singers in music history: the women are covered this week, the men next week.

Youtube nikka costa first love