The music business is largely unpredictable. Cardi B faced all the odds stacked against her, as a woman in hip-hop, a woman of color in a hostile industry, and a new artist in a fierce market. But she still got to No. 1 in September. She proved that exceptions are possible, and that this current gender disparity could be nothing more than a coincidence. “It will take a couple years until we know if this is just a phase, or whether this reflects a greater shift that’s reflective of digital music taste,” Blake concluded. “I think there are many possible explanations and time will tell.”

Blake noted that Next Big Sound’s Predictions chart (which monitors artists’ traction on Pandora and social media) has seen an influx of women in 2017, who could make a play for the Billboard Hot 100 in the near future. “R&B singer Jorja Smith has been #1 the Predictions Chart for weeks. Other women on that chart include U.K. rapper Stefflon Don, R&B singers Ella Eyre and Mahalia, and pop singer-songwriter Charlotte Cardin.”

Gary Trust, Billboard’s co-director of charts, agreed: “The current state is likely just a short-term situation. About three years ago, Taylor Swift, Meghan Trainor, Iggy Azalea, and Ariana Grande were consistently holding for several weeks in the Top 10. [Back] then, the question became, ‘Where are all the men these days?’ So, it feels like it is very cyclical.” He also noted that Alessia Cara and Camila Cabello are showing signs that they could be coming for the top spot in the near future. (Cabello is currently No. 1 in the U.K. and No. 2 in the U.S. with “Havana.”)

A lot of trends have come to a head in 2017, changing the shape of our charts: firstly, there’s seemingly a gap between the Rihannas of the world, and the up-and-coming Jorja Smiths. Women in pop who once ruled the Top 10 are either out of cycle or no longer interested in playing that game, and nobody else is yet filling their shoes. Meanwhile, streaming is skewing everything towards EDM and hip-hop, which both have their own gender representation problems. But if the industry puts its support behind those burgeoning women stars, and allows them to flourish without being pigeonholed, we might see more shock successes like “Bodak Yellow” and “New Rules” — hopefully, we’ll see them so much they no longer feel like a shock.