August 07, 2017
Chris Szagola/AP
Nicki Minaj looks on from the sidelines following the second half of an NBA game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Philadelphia 76ers, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016, in Philadelphia.
For anyone too young to have ever purchased a CD or to shell out $12 for a monthly Spotify subscription, YouTube is key to listening to songs of your choice, on demand, for free.
With this in mind, The New York Times compiled 50 maps of the United States to see just what artists are the most streamed via YouTube in different regions across the nation. Pulling from a Billboard Hot 100 list from April, the Times selected the 50 that were most watched on YouTube (according to YouTube’s geocoded streaming data) between January 2016 and April 2017.
From there, the maps were compiled, with each one showing where in the country different artists dominate. What’s even better, the Times then created custom playlists (via YouTube, of course) for every ZIP code in the country based on their findings.
So what dominates the Philly playlist?
Nicki Minaj, Drake and lots and lots of Michael Jackson.
"Nicki Minaj is the world's biggest female rap star," the Times writes. "She is popular across the South, especially in cities... but also across the urban corridor of the Atlantic coast, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York."
Beyoncé's "Lemonade" also gets a lot of love from Philly, though the city's music taste – like a lot of things – is an outlier compared to the rest of Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia-based rapper Lil Uzi Vert also does well here, and throughout much of the Eastern Seaboard, the maps show. The Times describes him as "one of the more notable examples of rap's burgeoning lo-fi underground," noting his recent single "XO Tour Llif3" went viral when it was released in February.
Tyga and Chris Brown appear on the Philly playlist as well.
Browse through the maps on The New York Times and try to guess where country-rap band Florida Georgia Line gets the most love (hint: It’s not in Philly).
