Transcending boundaries of language and geography, new data from Spotify shows that hip-hop is the most pervasive genre of music worldwide. The revelation comes from the launch of the streaming app's "Musical Map" feature, which is updated biweekly to list the top tracks in major cities around the world.
Spotify's findings come as a bit of a surprise, as previous polls have found that rock tends to be the most popular music genre. The Independent notes that a variety of other factors could contribute to hip-hop's prevalence on the streaming service, "including the relationship of hip-hop labels with Spotify, the inclusivity of the genre, the playlisting of it, the use of Spotify in social settings (where, let's face it, the trap bangers are going to come out) and the strong sense of narrative arc on hip-hop releases that lead to longer listening sessions."
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