Each day, millions of music fans come to Genius to read lyrics and learn about their favorite artists—our Top Songs Chart reflects what the world is listening to all day, every day. With over one billion pageviews in 2017, Genius data tracks the artists, songs, and projects that music lovers cared about the most this year, measured from Dec. 16, 2016 through Dec. 15, 2017.
The data is broken down into the following categories: Top Artists, Top Songs, Top Lyrics, and Top Albums.
Go deeper into the data below:
Kendrick Lamar had a banner year, earning his first double-Platinum album with DAMN., and Genius users took notice. Lamar was the most-viewed artist of the year, earning 41,893,000 pageviews across all his songs. Drake wasn’t far behind, largely thanks to the success of his “playlist” More Life, while Ed Sheeran took third with his massively successful ÷ (Divide). In fourth was Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee, earning 20,276,000 pageviews on a single song and easily besting Genius’ all-time record.
Despite receiving just a single Platinum plaque this year for his 2016 song “Look At Me!,” Florida rapper XXXTentacion was the site’s fifth most popular artist, beating out the likes of Eminem, The Weeknd, Migos, Future, and more. Other artists like Lil Uzi Vert, Logic, Post Malone, and Kodak Black experienced breakout commercial success this year and earned a Top 20 slot thanks to their ascendant stardom.
All four lists are notably light on female artists, reflective of a year where men experienced outsized success on the Hot 100 chart. While Top Songs, Top Lyrics, and Top Albums have at least one female artist, there are no women on the Top Artists list. Taylor Swift finished one slot away at No. 21, while SZA, Lana Del Rey, and Beyoncé occupied Nos. 25 – 27.
- Kendrick Lamar (41,893,000 views)
- Drake (39,817,000 views)
- Ed Sheeran (24,727,000 views)
- Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee (20,276,000 views)
- XXXTentacion (20,049,000 views)
- Eminem (19,333,000 views)
- Lin-Manuel Miranda (17,963,000 views)
- Logic (15,621,000 views)
- The Weeknd (15,498,000 views)
- Migos (15,433,000 views)
- Kanye West (14,860,000 views)
- Future (14,817,000 views)
- Lil Uzi Vert (14,002,000 views)
- J. Cole (12,724,000 views)
- Post Malone (12,300,000 views)
- JAY-Z (10,807,000 views)
- DJ Khaled (10,697,000 views)
- Travis Scott (9,995,000 views)
- Frank Ocean (9,989,000 views)
- Kodak Black (9,426,000 views)
No song was bigger in 2017 than the remix of “Despacito,” which spent a record-tying 16 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart and smashed Genius’ all-time record for pageviews on a single song on its way to 20,276,000 total pageviews. Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” also had a banner year, with over 10 million pageviews, while major rap hits like Kendrick Lamar’s “HUMBLE.,” Migos‘ “Bad and Boujee” featuring Lil Uzi Vert, and Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow” rounded out the Top 5.
U.K. comedian Michael Dapaah (a.k.a. Big Shaq) turned viral fame into a hit song, with “Mans Not Hot” earning 4,759,000 pageviews to become the ninth-biggest song of the year on Genius. XXXTentacion, Lil Pump, and Lil Uzi Vert, all of whom trace the roots of their popularity to SoundCloud, also earned Top 20 slots, while pop hits like Sam Smith’s “Too Good at Goodbyes,” Dua Lipa’s “New Rules,” and Charlie Puth’s “Attention” appeared on the charts, too. Perhaps most surprisingly, YouTube star Jake Paul and his fellow Team 10 stars decided to try their hand at rapping and earned a massively successful hit in the process with “It’s Everyday Bro.”
- Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber “Despacito (Remix)” (20,276,000 views)
- Ed Sheeran “Shape of You” (10,847,000 views)
- Kendrick Lamar “HUMBLE.” (8,663,000 views)
- Migos feat. Lil Uzi Vert “Bad and Boujee” (6,342,000 views)
- Cardi B “Bodak Yellow” (5,295,000 views)
- Lil Uzi Vert “XO TOUR Llif3” (5,289,000 views)
- Sam Smith “Too Good at Goodbyes” (5,147,000 views)
- Logic feat. Alessia Cara & Khalid “1-800-273-8255” (4,919,000 views)
- Big Shaq “Mans Not Hot” (4,759,000 views)
- Future “Mask Off” (4,554,000 views)
- DJ Khaled feat. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance The Rapper, & Lil Wayne “I’m The One” (4,520,000 views)
- Kendrick Lamar “DNA.” (4,022,000 views)
- KYLE feat. Lil Yachty “iSpy” (3,940,000 views)
- Post Malone feat. 21 Savage “rockstar” (3,701,000 views)
- Jake Paul feat. Team 10 “It’s Everyday Bro” (3,670,000 views)
- XXXTentacion “Look At Me!” (3,406,000 views)
- Lil Pump “Gucci Gang” (2,964,000 views)
- Dua Lipa “New Rules” (2,857,000 views)
- Luis Fonsi “Despacito” (2,811,000 views)
- Charlie Puth “Attention” (2,796,000 views)
Unsurprisingly, Kendrick Lamar’s much-loved DAMN. was the most popular album on Genius this year, averaging 1,836,000 pageviews across its songs fueled by positive reviews and multiple Grammy nominations. Artists like Ed Sheeran, Migos, and Drake rode the success of multiple huge singles to high chart placement, while Lil Uzi Vert earned two slots with Luv Is Rage 1.5 and Luv Is Rage 2, both of which were propelled by his smash hit “XO Tour Llif3.” XXXTentacion also appears twice thanks to his compilation of loosies Revenge and his debut album 17, the latter of which took the No. 1 spot on Genius’ Monthly Top Albums chart from August through October.
EDM artists like Calvin Harris and Kygo earned slots with their respective projects, as did breakout R&B stars like SZA and Khalid. Four late-2016 albums also managed to make the cut: J. Cole’s 4 Your Eyez Only, Bruno Mars‘ 24K Magic, The Weeknd’s Starboy, and Post Malone’s Stoney. All four projects had singles chart months after their initial release, with Stoney earning significant hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart nearly a full year after it dropped.
- Kendrick Lamar, DAMN. (1,836,000 average views)
- Ed Sheeran, ÷ (Divide) (1,284,000 average views)
- Lil Uzi Vert, Luv Is Rage 1.5 (1,134,000 average views)
- Migos, Culture (981,000 average views)
- Drake, More Life (808,000 average views)
- XXXtentacion, Revenge (694,000 average views)
- XXXtentacion, 17 (635,000 average views)
- Logic, Everybody (603,000 average views)
- Kygo, Stargazing EP (518,000 average views)
- Calvin Harris, Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 (487,000 average views)
- Harry Styles, Harry Styles (475,000 average views)
- SZA, Ctrl (475,000 average views)
- The Weeknd, Starboy (471,000 average views)
- Bruno Mars, 24K Magic (459,000 average views)
- Sam Smith, The Thrill of It All (450,000 average views)
- Lil Uzi Vert, Luv Is Rage 2 (428,000 average views)
- Post Malone, Stoney (406,000 average views)
- J Cole, 4 Your Eyez Only (400,000 average views)
- DJ Khaled, Grateful (381,000 average views)
- Khalid, American Teen (380,000 average views)
Lil Uzi Vert’s ambigious “XO TOUR Llif3” chorus inspired a ton of debate about its true meaning, so it’s not surprising that it was the most popular set of lyrics on Genius this year. The song peaked at No. 7 on the Hot 100 chart and was eventually certified five-times Platinum. With fans flocking to Genius for both interpretation and translation, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito (Remix)” featuring Justin Bieber earned the No. 2 slot, while Kendrick Lamar’s second-verse opener on “HUMBLE.” took No. 3. In a year filled with rapping about drug use and abuse, the biggest solo hit of Future’s career “Mask Off” earned a spot for its drugged-out chorus, too, and Childish Gambino’s sleeper hit “Redbone” rounded out the Top 5.
Suicide and mental health were common topics on this year’s Top 20 chart, including “XO Tour Llif3,” XXXTENTACION’s ode to his deceased friend “Jocelyn Flores,” and Logic, Khalid, and Alessia Cara’s much-discussed suicide prevention anthem “1-800-273-8255.” Themes of identity also popped up frequently, from JAY-Z discussion of black capitalism and race relations on “The Story Of O.J.” to Camila Cabello ode to her home country of Cuba on “Havana” and Kendrick uplifting his heritage on “DNA.” Despite not releasing an album this year, Frank Ocean’s “Chanel” and guest verse on “Slide” also cracked the Top 20, showing that interest in the dense lyricism of the R&B singer exhibits no signs of slowing down. “Chanel” also put identity front and center, representing the latest in a long line of Frank Ocean songs with queer lyrical themes.
- Lil Uzi Vert, “XO TOUR Llif3” (832,000 views)
2. Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee, “Despacito (Remix)” (731,000 views)
3. Kendrick Lamar, “HUMBLE.” (713,000 views)
4. Future, “Mask Off” (586,000 views)
5. Childish Gambino “Redbone” (481,000 views)
6. Migos, “T-Shirt” (453,000 views)
7. Migos, “Bad and Boujee” (441,000 views)
8. Ed Sheeran, “Shape of You” (439,000 views)
9. Big Shaq, “Mans Not Hot” (435,000 views)
10. Kendrick Lamar, “ELEMENT.” (413,000 views)
11. Logic f. Alessia Cara & Khalid, “1-800-273-8255”
12. JAY-Z, “The Story of O.J.” (327,000 views)
13. Frank Ocean, “Slide” (323,000 views)
14. Kendrick Lamar, “DNA.” (314,000 views)
15. Frank Ocean, “Chanel” (296,000 views)
16. Travis Scott, “goosebumps” (293,000 views)
17. XXXtentacion, “Jocelyn Flores” (292,000 views)
18. Kendrick Lamar, “LOVE.” (275,000 views)
19. Camila Cabello, “Havana” (257,000 views)
20. Post Malone, “rockstar” (244,000 views)