YouTube’s Director of Black Music & Culture Tuma Basa recently published a blog revealing several interesting statistics related to hip hop music’s growth on the video sharing platform. In a post titled “If you don’t know, now you know,” Basa explained that last year’s pandemic “didn’t stop [hip hop] fans from connecting and engaging with artists on YouTube.”

As the pandemic forced people to spend more time inside, over two billion viewers took to YouTube to watch music videos each month. And of the top three genres on YouTube — hip hop, rock and pop — hip hop is the fasting growing, according to the site’s internal data. In addition to the rise in viewership for hip hop related content, rappers also claimed all ten spots in YouTube’s top 10 most-viewed artists in the U.S. list last year. YoungBoy Never Broke Again topped the list, which also consisted of Rod Wave, Lil Baby, Drake, Future and Eminem.

Based on the stats, Basa believes hip hop’s “influence on culture is not just here to stay, it’s increasing.”

“That’s why we’ve introduced an expanded YouTube Select music lineup that includes even more popular, verified hip hop music,” he wrote. “We’re also adding more hip-hop artists to our dynamic hip hop music lineups across the globe.”

Statista, a market and consumer data company claims YouTube’s global advertising revenues reached $19.7 billion in 2020. Basa’s blog explains that the rise of hip hop on YouTube “presents advertisers with a tremendous opportunity to reach music fans where they’re watching, and support diverse creators and artists.”

Levi’s and BET are two companies currently leveraging hip hop’s expansion on the video sharing site. Levi’s is using sounds and videos from YouTube’s Black Voices Class of 2021 to promote the indie film “Beauty of Becoming” and BET’s investments have earned the channel a 4% increase in consideration and a 21% spike in searches for the 200 BET Hip Hop Awards.

“We’re proud to offer brands more opportunities to reach hip hop fans on YouTube, and support diverse creators and artists at the same time,” Basa wrote. “And we’re reaching for the stars.”