History OneHitWonder / Rap

* '''Biz Markie''' is known almost entirely for his 1989 hit "Just a Friend", which remains his only top-40 hit to date. While he had other hits on the rap charts, they've largely been forgotten.

* '''Stakka Bo''' had a hit across Europe in 1993 with "Here We Go". In addition to being a #4 hit in his native Sweden, it also reached #13 in the UK and #20 on the alternative chart across the Atlantic in the US. Stakka Bo never had a hit again outside of Sweden, but he's been quite successful as a music video and television director. He has directed acclaimed videos for artists like Music/{{Madonna}}, Music/NewOrder and Music/DavidBowie and episodes of ''Series/BreakingBad''. He even won an Emmy in 2019 for directing the miniseries ''Series/{{Chernobyl}}''.

* Hip hop icons '''Music/{{NWA}}''' are not considered one-hit wonders in the rap community and by general listeners, ''especially'' after Music/DrDre, Music/IceCube, and Music/EazyE broke up and had successful solo careers. However, they only had one top 40 hit… in 2015, long after they broke up, when "Straight Outta Compton" made it to #38. How? A combination of several new rules added to the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 (streaming and [=YouTube=] plays being integrated into the Hot 100 and older songs are now allowed to chart as long as they make it above #50) and a resurgence of interest in the band due to to the popularity of the biopic ''Film/StraightOuttaCompton''. Because of the "stars aligning" nature of this entry, and because the band is no longer active, it's unlikely they'll ever have another top 40 hit.

* Detroit TrapMusic duo '''Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion [=McCall=]''' had a viral hit in early 2017 with “Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem)”, which hit #5 on the Hot 100, before fading into obscurity (their article on Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} used to redirect to the song’s article).

* Latino/Black rap group '''Terror Squad''' had a #1 hit in 2004 with "Lean Back", which introduced the easy-to-use dance move of the same name. Like many other songs that introduced a new dance move, they faded into obscurity afterwards, with their follow-up "Take Me Home" only peaking at #62. Any chance they had of scoring a comeback was lost when they broke up completely in 2006. They still have a cult following in the rap community, however; plus the group was fronted by Fat Joe, who is not a one-hit wonder.

* The only hit for actor/rapper '''Creator/NickCannon''' was "Gigolo", his 2004 duet with Music/RKelly. Cannon was also married to Music/MariahCarey from 2008-2016, managed the Ncredible Entertainment label, and became the head of [=TeenNick=]. Cannon's infamously terrible diss-tracks towards Music/{{Eminem}} (most notably the infamous "Imma Music/SlickRick"), combined with many people seeing his rap career as a complete joke ([[SelfDeprecation something he acknowledges]] on his hit Creator/{{MTV}}[=/=]Creator/{{VH1}} show ''Wild 'n' Out'' multiple times), is the reason why his rap career never took off.

* '''Music/{{Chamillionaire}}''''s "Ridin'" was a #1 hit in 2006 (generating the infamous "they see me rollin'… they hatin'!" meme and providing the basis for Music/WeirdAlYankovic's most commercially successful song, "White & Nerdy"). While he was popular in his native Houston thanks to the dozens of mixtapes he released throughout the 2000s, his only other top 40 hit was "Good Morning", which peaked exactly at #40. He also had another top 10 hit as a feature on Music/{{Ciara}}'s "Get Up", but it wasn't ''his'' hit (nor is it well-remembered today) so it can't really disqualify his one-hit wonder status.

* '''Lil Xan''' is known for his song "Heartbreak", which, despite charting on #64, would end up being certified platinum. Any attempt of having any other hits halted due to receiving lots of backlash online over calling [[Music/TupacShakur 2Pac's]] music boring in a interview and becoming an massive punching-bag afterwards, thanks to his critically-panned debut album ''Total Xanarchy'' topping many worst albums of 2018 lists, and his many social media antics and incidents alienating what fanbase he could've had. His only other song to chart was "Betraied", although it didn't peek very high.

* Despite eventually having a huge cult-like fanbase online, '''Music/{{Afroman}}''' had his only hit with "Because I Got High", which hit #13 in 2001. His other famous song, "Crazy Rap", did not chart.

* Rap duo '''Chiddy Bang''' scraped the bottom of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 2010 with "Opposite of Adults", based off of the Music/{{MGMT}} hit "Kids". They never charted again and broke up in 2013.

* '''3rd Bass''' reached #29 on the Hot 100 in 1991 with "Pop Goes the Weasel", a diss track against commercialized pop rappers of the day like Music/MCHammer and Music/VanillaIce. The song's video even featured the band's members beating up a Vanilla Ice parody played by punk rocker Music/HenryRollins. "Pop Goes the Weasel" was 3rd Bass' only Hot 100 entry or Gold single, and the group disbanded about a year later. Members Pete Nice and DJ Richie Rich attempted a solo album in 1993, ''Dust to Dust'', but it produced no singles and largely went unnoticed, and MC Serch would go on to become a disc jockey in Detroit, and later hosted ''Ego Trip's The White Rapper Show'' and ''Ego Trip's Miss Rap Supreme'' on [=VH1=]. While three attempts at reunions were done in the late 1990s and mid-2010s, nothing came of them, and any attempts at another reunion were dashed when Nice was convicted of misdemeanor tax fraud in 2014.

* Music/{{Eminem}} is definitely not a one-hit wonder, and collaborator Royce da 5'9" is a NoHitWonder. Together they formed the duo '''Bad Meets Evil''', which in 2011 had a #4 pop hit with the Music/BrunoMars collab "Lighters" from their reunion EP ''Hell: The Sequel''. While the EP's lead single "Fast Lane" did chart at #32, it dropped off the chart very quickly and is all but forgotten today[[note]]That being said, a previous single from their first run, 1999's "Nuttin' to Do", had scraped the bottom of the charts; its BSide "Scary Movies" was featured in ''Film/ScaryMovie''[[/note]]. The duo never released any more music since then, both Eminem and Royce largely returned to their solo careers. Royce guested on Eminem's ''Kamikaze'' album track "Not Alike", which reached #24 on the Hot 100, but the two were credited separately and not under the Bad Meets Evil moniker.

* Music/{{Eminem}} is definitely not a one-hit wonder, and collaborator Royce da 5'9" is a NoHitWonder. Together they formed the duo '''Bad Meets Evil''', which in 2011 had a #4 pop hit with the Music/BrunoMars collab "Lighters" from their reunion EP ''Hell: The Sequel''. While the EP's lead single "Fast Lane" did chart at #32, it dropped off the chart very quickly and is all but forgotten today[[note]]That being said, a previous single from their first run, 1999's "Nuttin' to Do", had scraped the bottom of the charts; its BSide "Scary Movies" was featured in ''Film/ScaryMovie''[[/note]]. The duo never released any more music since then, both Eminem and Royce largely returned to their solo careers.

* Miami duo '''Tag Team''' had a massive #2 hit in 1993 with "Whoomp! (There It Is)" but never saw the charts again outside a couple alternate versions of their only hit. A month prior to the release of "Whoomp!", another Miami group called '''95 South''' released a very similar song called "Whoot, There It Is". That song was also successful, and reached #11 on the Hot 100, but was 95 South's only Hot 100 entry and has fallen into obscurity compared to the more popular "Whoomp!".

* New York rapper '''Mims''' had a chart-topping smash with his 2007 song "This Is Why I'm Hot". His follow-up "Like This" fizzled out at #32, and afterwards he faded into complete obscurity. In fact, most people today probably don't even remember "Hot".

* British-Sri Lankan recording artist '''Music/{{MIA}}''' had a massive crossover hit in 2008 with "Paper Planes", which reached #4 on the Hot 100, and was also a hit on the dance, rap, R&B and alternative charts. It's also her only song to enter the Hot 100, apart from a feature on Music/{{Madonna}}'s #10 hit "Give Me All Your Lovin'" which also featured Music/NickiMinaj, and her feature on "Franchise" by Music/TravisScott and Music/YoungThug. They weren't her hits however, so it doesn't discredit her one-hit wonder status. Although she has been a favorite of critics around the world since the beginning of her career, she never had another hit as big as "Paper Planes". Her only other UK Top 40 hit was 2010's #23 entry "XXXO", which was quickly forgotten and [[ChartDisplacement is not as well remembered]] as singles like "Galang" or "Boyz" that weren't hits. "Bad Girls" was popular as well, having been featured in media numerous times, but it wasn't a major hit anywhere.

** Young Money member '''Cory Gunz''' is only remembered for being a guest feature on Lil Wayne's "6 Foot 7 Foot", which peaked at #9 on the Billboard charts and later certified 3x-platinum, and pretty much nothing else. His only other appearances since then is being a guest artist on Lil Wayne mixtapes and scattered features on other rappers' albums. He would have had another hit if his guest verse on the leaked version of "A Milli" wasn't removed in the final product. Not helping his case is the fact he has admited that he dislikes attention and wants to distance himself from the spotlight. He is also known for being in the 2009 XXL Freshmen Class. His father Peter Gunz was one-hit wonder himself as half of the duo '''Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz''' whose Music/SteelyDan sampling "Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)" also peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 but was [[OneBookAuthor only single from their only album]].

** Young Money member '''Cory Gunz''' is only remembered for being a guest feature on Lil Wayne's "6 Foot 7 Foot", which peaked at #9 on the Billboard charts and later certified 3x-platinum, and pretty much nothing else. His only other appearances since then is being a guest artist on Lil Wayne mixtapes and scattered features on other rappers' albums. He would have had another hit if his guest verse on the leaked version of "A Milli" wasn't removed in the final product. Not helping his case is the fact he has admited that he dislikes attention and wants to distance himself from the spotlight. He is also known for being in the 2009 XXL Freshmen Class and for being the son of '''Peter Gunz''', the one-half of duo '''Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz''', who also ended up being one-hit wonders themselves as their only charted single "Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)" peaked at #9 at the Billboard charts and eventually faded into obscurity after splitting-off in 1999.

* '''Bobby Shmurda''' had a #6 hit in the fall of 2014 with "Hot Nigga," popularized by its viral Shmoney dance, which would be done by A-list celebrities like Music/{{Rihanna}} and Music/{{Drake}}, and [[FountainOfMemes far too many memes to count]], such as "Mitch caught a body about a week ago" and Bobby throwing his hat in the air and not falling down. He later became one of the most promising new rap stars of 2014, and the song was being remixed by various rappers, primarily from the Chicago drill scene. Soon afterwards, he was arrested on murder conspiracy and drug trafficking charges. In October 2016, he was sentenced to seven years, which he would later be released on parole on December 2020 after serving 5 of his 7 year sentence. Time will tell if he can get another hit following his release.

* '''T-Wayne''' scored a viral hit in 2015 with "Nasty Freestyle", which hit #9 with practically no radio airplay. The song featured the Texas hip-hop artist freestyling over the beat of "Nasty" by Bandit Gang Marco. However, it only became a hit because of MemeticMutation -- the line "first let me hop out the motherfucking Porsche" spread across the internet. Since it only became a hit because of a meme, and not him, he quickly faded back into obscurity.

* British-Sri Lankan recording artist '''Music/{{MIA}}''' had a massive crossover hit in 2008 with "Paper Planes", which reached #4 on the U.S. pop chart, and was also a hit on the dance, rap, R&B and alternative charts. It's also her only song to enter the ''Hot 100'', apart from a feature on Music/{{Madonna}}'s #10 hit "Give Me All Your Lovin'" which also featured Music/NickiMinaj, and her feature on "Franchise" by Music/TravisScott and Music/YoungThug. They weren't her hits however, so it doesn't discredit her one-hit wonder status. Although she has been a favorite of critics around the world since the beginning of her career, she never had another hit as big as "Paper Planes". Her only other UK Top 40 hit was 2010's #23 entry "XXXO", which was quickly forgotten and [[ChartDisplacement is not as well remembered]] as singles like "Galang" or "Boyz" that weren't hits. "Bad Girls" was popular as well, having been featured in media numerous times, but it wasn't a major hit anywhere.

* Despite eventually having a huge cult-like fanbase online, '''Music/{{Afroman}}''' had his only hit with "Because I Got High", which hit #13 in 2001. His other famous song, "Colt 45", did not chart.

* '''Kid 'n' Play''' were one of the most well-known rap groups to mainstream audiences during the early 1990s, owing to their starring roles in the hit 1990 film ''Film/HouseParty'' and having their [[CelebrityToons their own cartoon show]], and they even had two Gold-selling albums. As a chart act however, their only major pop hit was 1991's "Ain't Gonna Hurt Nobody", which didn't even make the Top 40 and had a Hot 100 peak of #51. That was it for Kid 'n' Play on the pop charts, although they had a string of R&B and rap chart hits (which ended with "Nobody", their last single to chart anywhere).