Take Hip-Hop's "Exit" From Billboard's Top 40 With Grain Of Salt

Nothing about Biz Markie ’s unapologetically wacky, is-this-guy-for-real? 1989 hip-hop love song “Just A Friend” screamed POP HIT!

The “vocalist,” a Long Island, New York MC, deejay and beat boxing jokester , was laughably out of key. Yet the beloved “Just A Friend,” with its absurdly infectious chorus— “Youuu got what I neeed!” —would go on to become 1990’s most unlikely sing-along, eventually peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard 100.

It’s an intriguing flashpoint when juxtaposed with current headlines declaring hip-hop’s alleged commercial demise.

After Kendrick Lamar and SZA ’s 13-week No.1 “Luther” was removed from the Oct. 25 Hot 100 following a Billboard rule change (any song that ranks below the top 25 is automatically displaced if they have spent 26 weeks on the ch