Rap Genius Trends: Q1 2015 lyrics

Genius analytics provide an insight into which songs and what artists fans are searching for. While an artist may receive heavy radio play and millions of streams, Genius page views offer a fresh metric in a constantly evolving music industry. Below are the lyric driven trends for the first quarter of 2015.Most viewed songs: Q1 2015The first quarter of 2015 was one of the most exciting starts to a year in recent times. Hip-hop heads were blessed with a plethora of new releases and some fans compared the events to March Madness, but the artists weren't playing. Drake's beloved Kentucky may have lost out in the semi finals, but he hit the number one spot on Genius with "Know Yourself" - the mega hit has already amassed a staggering 1,865,000 page views.

Last year's new comers and runners up Fetty Wap & O.T Genasis enjoyed success in the new year, winning fans over with their street inspired ballads. And although Nicki Minaj held the female vote down with two spots, it wasn't enough as Drake & Kanye West were unstoppable - both artists appearing three times.

A final takeaway is hip-hop's most improved. Big Sean snagged two spots, and in comparison to our 2014 trends his song - "I Don't f*ck With You" was the only track to make the list again.1. Drake - "Know Yourself"
2. Fetty Wap - "Trap Queen"
3. O.T Genasis - "CoCo"
4. Kendrick Lamar - "The Blacker The Berry"
5. Nicki Minaj ft. Drake & Lil Wayne - "Truffle Butter"
6. Big Sean ft. Drake & Kanye West - "Blessings"
7. Nicki Minaj ft Beyoncé - "Feeling Myself"
8. Kanye West ft. Paul McCartney - "Only One"
9. Big Sean ft. E-40 - “I Don’t f*ck With You”
10. Kanye West ft. Allan Kingdom, Paul McCartney & Theophilus London - "All Day"
Most viewed artists: Q1 2015Hip-hop listeners were blessed with more major releases in the first quarter of 2015 than the first six months of 2014. The quality was top notch and fans were soaking up dream collaborations, however three names kept popping up - Drake, Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar. Rap's holy trinity were in a league of their own.

In the end it was Drake who retained his crown as the most viewed artist on Genius. His surprise mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late was viewed almost 9,000,000 times on Genius, or 165,000 views per day since release. While these are mammoth figures in their own right, the second placed Lamar and his masterpiece To Pimp A Butterfly was viewed over 6,000,000 times, or 260,000 times per day since release - growing at a rate considerably faster than Drake.

The focus now shifts to the second quarter of 2015 and two possible outcomes: will Kendrick surpass Drake by the end of June to take the number one spot, or will Kanye release an album and "tuck they whole summer in?" Rap Stats thinks it's going to be close...


1. Drake
2. Kendrick Lamar
3. Kanye West
4. Nicki Minaj
5. J Cole
6. Big Sean
7. Eminem
8. Lil Wayne
9. Fetty Wap
10. The WeekndWhich lyrics have you searched for recently, surprised not to see something on the list? Let us know in the comments.