No Solo Number 1 for our Internation Artists ince 2008

No #1 Solo Single for Beyonce, Drake or
Kanye West Since 2008

When exploring the commercial success of Kanye West, Drake, and Beyonce, we noticed an interesting trend occur and wondered if was representative of rap and hip hop in general. The commercial success to which we are referring is the performance of their singles, as both a lead
and featured artist, on the Billboard Hot 100, compared to the performance of their LPs on the Billboard 200.

The technology-savvy Kanye West's last time on top of the Billboard Hot 100 was as a featured artists in Katy Perry's "E.T." in 2011. The last number one single he achieved as the lead artist dates back to 2007's "Stronger."
Drake, who is in some people's eyes the leading rapper in the world, had his only number one single is as a featured artist on Rihanna's "What's My Name?" of 2010.
Despite dominating the Billboard charts, he has never managed a number one as a lead artist. Isn't that slightly odd?

2008's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"
by Beyonce, whose "Jealous" was remixed by Chris Brown , represents her last time at the head of the charts, meaning the first six years of her solo work produced all five of her number ones, leaving her with none after 2008. Not even 2013's "Drunk In Love," featuring Jay Z, with whom she hinted at an upcoming collaborative album, made it to the top.

How about the performance of their studio
albums? All five of Beyonce's full length projects have made it to number one on the Billboard 200. Her TIDAL co-owner , Kanye West, has had six of his seven LP's achieve the feat, with only his debut, The College Dropout , falling one place behind. All four of Drake's studio albums – If You're Reading This It's Too Late included –
have topped the Billboard 200.
What does this mean? Do rap and hip hop acts have a tough ride when it comes to topping the singles chart? Is it because their albums are more respected than their singles? Are these results a sign of the spending habits of rap and hip hop fans? Or are these three examples anomalies?