Joe Rogan attributes hip-hop's chart decline to USAID defunding

Podcast host Joe Rogan has claimed that the decline of hip-hop on the Billboard charts is linked to the defunding of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). During an episode of ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’, Rogan suggested that the agency had previously funded radical, anti-government rappers overseas to facilitate regime change.

While the Trump administration did significantly reduce USAID, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio announcing in March 2025 that over 80 percent of its programs were canceled, there is no evidence linking these foreign assistance cuts to the commercial performance of the rap music industry.

Industry data shows a shift in music trends, including a rise in country music's dominance on the Billboard Hot 100. In October 2025, the chart lacked a rap song in its Top 40 for the first time since 1990, reflecting a broader change in market share rather than a connection to international development funding.