Tags and topics realted to this article include Sean Paul, Murphy Lee, Chingy and Black Eyed Peas.

For the first time in the 50-year history of the Billboard charts, all Top 10 songs in the country this week are by black artists - signaling the culmination of hip-hop's ascent as the dominant force in popular music and culture.

Billboard, the trade magazine for the music industry, compiles charts of sales and airplay in many genres of music. The Billboard Hot 100, which measures the popularity of songs from every pop music format, is compiled from a national sample of sales reports provided by SoundScan, as well as from radio playlists and radio monitored by Broadcast Data Systems. In the Oct. 11 issue, which hits newsstands today, the top 10 songs range from the R&B stylings of Beyonce's ``Baby Boy'' (at number one) to the now ubiquitous rap collaborations such as ``Shake Ya Tailfeather'' by Nelly, P. Diddy, and Murphy Lee, and ``Into You'' by Fabolous featuring Ashanti. Also on the list is ``P.I.M.P.,'' by rapper 50 Cent, who has the year's top-selling CD to date

``If it was the entire Top 10 on the album charts that would mean hip-hop had really taken over the music business,'' said pop music historian and industry analyst Paul Grein. ``That's where the money is made. The singles chart reflects what's being played on hit-oriented stations which are predominantly listened to by young people.'' In other words, people who are more inclined to download singles from the Internet than pull out their wallets at a record store. While album sales have historically been the gauge of an artist's popularity, in the era of online file-sharing it's not nearly as reliable an indicator as the powerful appetite of the youth culture that's tuning in.

``The reason radio stations are playing it is simple: it keeps listeners on their station listening to the McDonald's ads,'' said George. ``It's the best way to reach Generation Y. The commercial prospects are wide open, and that's what really strikes me. The battle's been won. Hip-hop is the new American music.''

Here are the BillBoard Top 25 for This week according to the Billboard website:

1. Baby Boy, Beyonce Featuring Sean Paul

2. Shake Ya Tailfeather, Nelly, P. Diddy & Murphy Lee

3. Get Low, Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz Featuring Ying Yang Twins

4. Right Thurr, Chingy

5. Frontin', Pharrell Featuring Jay-Z

6. Damn!, YoungBloodZ Featuring Lil Jon

7. P.I.M.P., 50 Cent

8. Into You, Fabolous Featuring Tamia Or Ashanti

9. Stand Up, Ludacris Featuring Shawnna

10. Where Is The Love?, Black Eyed Peas

Find out more about Sean Paul. Other items you may find on Sean Paul include updates, news, multimedia, chat, links and more. Click here...

Find out more about Murphy Lee. Other items you may find on Murphy Lee include updates, news, multimedia, chat, links and more. Click here...

Find out more about Chingy. Other items you may find on Chingy include updates, news, multimedia, chat, links and more. Click here...

Find out more about Black Eyed Peas. Other items you may find on Black Eyed Peas include updates, news, multimedia, chat, links and more. Click here...

Boston.com