Rapper Badshah has become the fifth most-viewed hip-hop artist globally on YouTube with more than 26.1 billion views, making him the only Indian artist in a list otherwise dominated by Drake, Eminem, Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne, according to music analytics platform Chartmasters.
The ranking puts Badshah in a bracket no other Indian artist has reached. Though fellow Indian artistes late Sidhu Moosewala and Karan Aujla feature on Chartmasters’ broader list of the 1,000 most-viewed hip-hop artists on YouTube, neither has broken into the top five.
The achievement comes at the two-decade mark of Badshah’s career, spanning more than 150 releases that have collectively drawn more than 25 billion streams across digital platforms.
On Spotify, he currently leads Indian hip-hop artists with 19.9 million monthly listeners, ahead of Yo Yo Honey Singh, AP Dhillon, Karan Aujla, Shubh and Hanumankind.
Alongside Arijit Singh, Shreya Ghoshal, Neha Kakkar and Lata Mangeshkar, Badshah also ranks among India’s most successful YouTube performers across genres.
The achievement marks a significant milestone for Indian hip-hop, signaling the genre’s growing weight on world stage.