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Feud between the two rappers dominated headlines and streaming platforms this year
Maria ShermanWednesday 03 December 2025 14:47 GMTComments
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The infamous rivalry between rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar has been somewhat settled by this year’s Spotify Wrapped results.
Although Drake achieved more streams than Kendrick Lamar globally, the “Not Like Us” rapper had two songs among the most listened to songs in the United States this year.
Overall, Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny claimed the title of Spotify’s most-streamed global artist for 2025, marking his fourth time at the top and dethroning Taylor Swift.
The reggaetón artist dominated the global charts, amassing over 19.8 billion streams. He leads a formidable lineup that includes Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Drake, and Billie Eilish.
In the United States, the landscape shifts slightly, with Taylor Swift retaining her position as the most-streamed artist.
Despite Drake being Canadian, he was the second most listened to artist in the United States with Kendrick Lamar placing in fourth. The rest of the top five in the US was rounded out by country star Morgan Wallen and Bad Bunny, who finished fifth.
open image in galleryDrake and Lamar continue to be two of the biggest rappers in the world despite warring fanbases (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)Globally, Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos was the most-streamed album. Other top albums included the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack, Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft, SZA’s SOS Deluxe: LANA, and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet.
In the US, Morgan Wallen’s I'm The Problem took the top album spot, ahead of releases from SZA, Bad Bunny, the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack, and Kendrick Lamar’s GNX coming in fifth place.
The most-streamed song worldwide was Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga’s collaboration, "Die with a Smile," which garnered over 1.7 billion streams.
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It was followed by Billie Eilish’s "Birds of a Feather," Mars’ and Rosé’s "APT.," Alex Warren’s "Ordinary," and Bad Bunny’s "DtMF."
Lamar dominated for songs streamed in the US with his song Luther, with SZA, topping the charts. “TV OFF” which he made with Left Gunplay was the fifth most streamed song in the US in 2025. "Die with a Smile," "Ordinary" and "Birds of a Feather," completed the top five.
This year’s Spotify Wrapped introduces several new features designed to enhance user engagement. These include "Top Albums," a fan leaderboard to show users their standing in an artist’s streams, a "Listening Age" feature comparing streaming habits to age-group peers, and "Wrapped Party," an interactive tool for comparing Wrapped results with other Spotify users.
open image in galleryBad Bunny was Spotify’s most-streamed artist globally for the fourth time (Getty)Following user feedback regarding a minimalist 2024 Wrapped, features such as "Top Genres" have been reinstated for 2025, alongside an updated "Top Songs" that now displays the number of times users streamed their top 100 tracks, and a "Top Song Quiz."
The prominence of these global artists on Spotify Wrapped underscores their significant presence across the platform’s influential playlists and their dedicated fanbases.
For independent artists, achieving such global recognition would necessitate billions of streams. Streaming remains the primary revenue driver for the music industry, accounting for 84 per cent of earnings in the United States, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
Spotify, the largest platform in the market, commands roughly 31 per cent of the total share, boasting 713 million users and 281 million subscribers across more than 180 markets, an increase from 626 million users and 246 million subscribers reported last year.
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