2024 was a historic year for music tours, more specifically female rapper tours. Big-name acts like Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat, Missy Elliott and Megan Thee Stallion took full advantage of the uptick and raked in big numbers for their cross-country jaunts.
Precedent Setting Year for Female Rappers
Four years after COVID-19 shook up the live entertainment industry, concerts are back thriving. For the first time ever, multiple female rappers rank in the top 100 of the year-end Top Tour chart, Billboard reports.
Nicki led the way among female MCs at No. 31, while Doja clocked in at No. 61. Missy closed out in the No. 70 spot and Megan earned a No. 76 ranking. On the Top Rap Tour chart, they came in No. 2, No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7, respectively, with Nicki only bowing out to Travis Scott.
This year, the touring industry grossed a record $9 billion among its top 100 performers, according to Billboard. Rap is up three percent from last year. Female rappers on the chart outnumbered their male counterparts for the first time on the all-genre list, which includes Travis Scott (No. 15), $uicideboy$ (No. 48) and 50 Cent (No. 49).
Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 Tour broke records and grossed just under $100 million for the tracking period Oct. 1, 2023 – Sept. 30, 2024. She closed out the tour with $108 million with 788,000 tickets sold. Doja Cat’s fall tour pulled in $46 million. Missy’s headlining tour with Ciara and Busta Rhymes brought in $41 million, while Megan’s Hot Girl Summer Tour was close behind with $40.2 million.
In total, for the tracking period of 2024, Nicki, Doja, Missy and Megan grossed a combined $227.8 million from 1.7 million tickets across 148 show dates.
2025 is already setting up to be another big year on the road for hip-hop, with tours from Tyler, The Creator, Kendrick Lamar, Drake and others scheduled for next year.
