Megan Thee Stallion’s fiery rise to rap’s mainstream core as a college student and top-rated lyricist gleamed brightly in 2019. The highly anticipated release of her sultry mixtape, Fever, propelled the 24-year-old to the front ranks of rap’s next generation and she’s been burning up the charts. In 2020, her star has burned even brighter. In late April, Megan dropped a remix to her hit song, “Savage,” that came embedded with a feature from none other than Mrs. Knowles-Carter herself. The track instantly went viral across social media and surged up the charts, earning Megan her first-ever chart-topper. It remains one of the defining songs of the 2020 summer season.

In one of rap and R&B’s most unlikely team ups in recent memory, Chris Brown and Young Thug joined musical forces on their collaborative mixtape, Slime & B, which dropped on the R&B crooner’s 31st birthday, on May 5. While the album was a modest success, “Go Crazy” has maintained a presence on the charts, climbing to the top spot on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.

DaBaby stormed onto the public’s radar with “Suge” from  his debut album, Baby on Baby, and the North Carolina-bred MC has continued to maintain a presence on the charts. He kept his momentum rolling in 2020 with a steady string of releases before he dropped his third studio album, Blame It On Baby, in April. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, earning him his second No. 1 record. From the record, “Rockstar” featuring Roddy Ricch emerged as a clear favorite amongst fans. Billboard crowned the track as the 2020 song of the summer. DaBaby and Roddy Ricch later performed a BLM-inspired rendition of “Rockstar” at the virtual 2020 BET Awards.

Just when it seemed 2020 couldn’t get any crazier, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion teamed up to release “WAP” in early August. The track was an immediate monster hit and gleefully invited controversy. The mega-hit has since broken numerous records while being lauded as a cultural moment for women in rap. “WAP” had the biggest  first-week streams for any song in 2020 and was certified gold a week after its release. The track also extended Cardi’s record for the most No. 1 hits by a female rapper and has continued to remain on the charts. “WAP” has also pretty much taken on a life of its own, being turned into everything from a PSA reminding folks to wear a mask amid the coronavirus pandemic to a Phantom of the Opera-inspired remix and coffee drink from a Philadelphia-based Starbucks.

Drake has been teasing that his next album is about to drop any day now and has steadily been building up anticipation for his sixth studio album by dropping tracks and an entire EP, Dark Lane Demo Tapes. Anticipation rose even further after the OVO honcho teased a 2020 summer release date. While that has come and gone, Drake re-upped in August with the release of “Laugh Now Cry Later,” featuring  Lil Durk. The track marks the first single off of his forthcoming studio album, Certified Lover Boy. Though the song debuted at No. 2 behind Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s mega-hit, it claimed the top spot in its second week, earning Drake his ninth chart-topping single, and was certified platinum status three weeks after it’s release.

The 2020 BET Hip Hop Awards will air on BET October 27 at 9/8 PM EST.