Drake was everywhere.
Seriously, if you lived through that year, you couldn't escape the OVO sound if you tried. 2018 was weird. It was the year streaming finally, officially, and somewhat violently took over the charts, leaving the old guard of radio-driven pop stars scratching their heads. When we look back at the 2018 Billboard Top 100, we aren't just looking at a list of catchy songs; we’re looking at the exact moment hip-hop became the undisputed heavyweight champion of American culture.
It felt like a tidal wave.
Suddenly, the "Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2018" wasn't dominated by the usual Katy Perrys or Taylor Swifts of the world. Instead, it was defined by a kid from Florida with colorful dreads, a tragic figure from the SoundCloud rap scene, and a Canadian superstar who figured out how to game the Spotify system better than anyone else.
The Year Drake Ate the Charts
Drake’s dominance in 2018 wasn't just impressive; it was borderline annoying for anyone who wasn't a fan. "God’s Plan" didn't just sit at the top; it camped out there for 11 weeks. It was the number one song of the year for a reason. People loved the "I only love my bed and my momma, I'm sorry" line, but more importantly, the song was perfectly engineered for the streaming era.
Then came "Nice For What" and "In My Feelings." Remember the Shiggy Challenge? You couldn't walk down a street without seeing someone hop out of a slow-moving car to dance. That specific viral moment basically proved that Billboard rankings were no longer about what DJs played on the 5 PM commute. They were about what was happening on Instagram and a nascent TikTok.
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But it wasn't just Drake. Post Malone was right there with him. "Rockstar" and "Psycho" were massive, blending that blurry line between pop, rap, and whatever "vibey" genre Posty occupies. If Drake was the king, Post Malone was the crown prince of the 2018 Billboard Top 100.
What the Numbers Actually Tell Us
If you look at the top ten of that year, the diversity of genre is almost non-existent compared to a decade prior.
- "God's Plan" – Drake
- "Perfect" – Ed Sheeran
- "Meant to Be" – Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line
- "Havana" – Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug
- "Rockstar" – Post Malone ft. 21 Savage
- "Psycho" – Post Malone ft. Ty Dolla $ign
- "I Like It" – Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin
- "The Middle" – Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey
- "In My Feelings" – Drake
- "IDGAF" – Dua Lipa
Wait, Ed Sheeran’s "Perfect" was technically number two? It feels like it belongs to a different era. That song’s longevity was fueled by wedding playlists and adult contemporary radio, proving that while streaming was the new king, the "traditional" audience still had enough buying power to push a ballad to the top. Same goes for "Meant to Be." That track was a monster on country radio, staying atop the Hot Country Songs chart for an absurd 50 consecutive weeks.
The SoundCloud Rap Invasion
You can't talk about the 2018 Billboard Top 100 without acknowledging the elephant in the room: SoundCloud rap. This was the year it went from a niche internet subculture to a chart-topping juggernaut.
Juice WRLD’s "Lucid Dreams" was a revelation. It sampled Sting, felt like an emo-rock anthem, and spoke to a generation of kids who were feeling particularly nihilistic. It peaked at number two, but its impact was arguably larger than almost anything else on the list. Then there was XXXTentacion. "SAD!" spiked in the wake of his death in June 2018, becoming the first posthumous number-one single for a lead artist since The Notorious B.I.G. in 1997.
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It was a grim, heavy time for pop music. The sunniness of the "California Gurls" era was long gone, replaced by "Lucid Dreams" and "XO Tour Llif3" (which was still lingering from late 2017).
Why We Still Care About These Specific Songs
Some years have hits that vanish. 2018 didn't.
Cardi B’s "I Like It" was the definitive "song of the summer," and it did something crucial: it brought the "urban-regional" sound of Latin trap into the mainstream. Without the success of that song in 2018, we might not have seen the absolute global explosion of Bad Bunny in the following years.
Also, let’s talk about "The Middle." That song was everywhere because of a Target commercial during the Grammys. It’s a perfect example of a "Franken-hit"—a song written by a committee, shopped around to a dozen different female vocalists (including Demi Lovato and Camila Cabello), and finally recorded by Maren Morris. It was clinical, catchy, and perfectly tuned for radio play.
The Forgotten Middle of the List
The bottom half of the 2018 Billboard Top 100 is where things get interesting. You find tracks like "New Rules" by Dua Lipa, which actually peaked higher in late 2017 but had such long legs it stayed on the 2018 year-end chart. You see the rise of K-pop with BTS starting to make their presence felt, though they hadn't yet reached the "Dynamite" levels of chart saturation.
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You also see the "Migos era" in full swing. "Walk It Talk It" and "Stir Fry" were staples. The triplet flow was the law of the land. If you weren't rapping in triplets over a trap beat in 2018, were you even making music?
The Takeaway from 2018
Looking back, 2018 was the year the "gatekeepers" lost control. The labels couldn't force a hit down people's throats anymore because the data showed that kids in their bedrooms were the ones deciding what was popular.
If a song blew up on a meme, it went to the top.
If a rapper died, their catalog flooded the charts.
If Drake dropped a 25-track album, he took up 25 spots on the Hot 100.
Billboard actually had to change their rules after 2018 because of this. They realized that "passive listening" (looping a playlist while you sleep) was skewing the data. But for one glorious, chaotic year, the 2018 Billboard Top 100 was a raw, unfiltered look at what America was actually listening to, for better or worse.
How to Use This Knowledge Today
If you're a creator or a marketer, the lessons from 2018 still apply. The monoculture is dead, but "moments" still matter.
- Study the "Vibe": 2018 proved that mood often beats melody. "Lucid Dreams" isn't a complex musical composition; it's a mood.
- The Power of the Feature: Look at how many of the top 100 were collaborations. Cross-pollinating fanbases is still the fastest way to the top.
- Viral Loops: The Shiggy Challenge wasn't an accident; it was a blueprint. If you want people to care about your work, give them something to do with it.
The 2018 Billboard Top 100 wasn't just a list of songs. It was a cultural shift. It was the year we stopped letting radio tell us what was cool and started letting the algorithm do it instead. We're still living in the world that Drake, Post Malone, and Cardi B built that year. Honestly, we probably will be for a long time.
If you're looking to build a playlist that perfectly captures the "late 2010s" aesthetic, start with the top 20 of 2018. It’s a snapshot of a world that was just beginning to understand how much power the internet really had over our ears. Dig into the deep cuts of that year's chart, and you'll find the DNA of almost everything on the radio today.