According to the BPI; the UK's association of independent and major labels, a fifth of all songs streamed in 2020 were rap and hip hop.When the association started collecting data like this, rap music only accounted for only 3.6% of the singles market.

That has since changed as it now represents a staggering 22%. In the album market, the genre's growth has gone from 2.7% in 2014 to 12.2% in 2020.Some of the artists that received the biggest plays include; Headie One, Dave and AJ Tracey who got up to 50 million plays in the UK each.[

AJ Tracey[/caption]

The big names

Unsurprisingly, Stormzy topped both albums and singles figures for the year, with "Heavy Is The Head" sitting at 331,454 sales and "Own It" with Burna Boy and Ed Sheeran sitting at 1,406,276 sales. Following close behind in the singles chart were S1mba's "Rover", Aitch & AJ Tracey's "Rain" and AJ's "Dinner Guest" with MoStack.Meanwhile, J Hus' Big Conspiracy and Dave's Psychodrama rounded out the top 3, on the album front, with M Huncho, Nines and AJ Tracey all appearing prominently.

The BPI also named new female artists making an impact in the UK rap scene, like Bree Runway; who recently made the top 10 on the BBC's Sounds of 2021 list, as helping drive streaming figures for UK rap.The UK's rap scene has seen tremendous growth in the past decade, and it is expected to grow even further as it racks up international attention.