There were a lot of big releases from black artists in 2013 — Jay Z and Kanye West, for starters — but not one had a number one hit single, according to Billboard. It’s the first time in Billboard’s 56-year history of tracking number one songs that not a single black artist has topped the list.
From WYNC:
The top spot on the Hot 100 — today’s version of the singles chart — was dominated by white acts throughout the past year. Perhaps even more intriguing is the fact that white artists even sat atop the R&B and Hip-Hop Songs chart for 44 out of 52 weeks of 2013. Compare this to ten years ago, when every No. 1 Hot 100 single was performed by an artist of color.
And in a final interesting twist, there are no living black artists being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 — although Clarence Clemons will be inducted posthumously as part of the E Street Band. That’s only happened once before in Rock Hall history.