25 Best Rap Albums of 2025

In a year that had no rap songs in the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 40 for the first time since 1990, rap thrived in so many other ways. This list of the 25 best rap albums of 2025 includes grand statements from young hungry rappers, long-awaited comebacks from legends, and all kinds of great records from rap’s ever-esoteric underground. The definition of “rap” in 2025 is wider than ever, and even the vast array of styles and subgenres included on this list couldn’t possibly represent all of it.

Read on for the list…

25. Slick Rick – Victory (Mass Appeal)

On his first album in over 25 years, one of hip hop’s first great storytellers is in remarkable form. The entire art of rap storytelling wouldn’t exist the way it does without his influence, and this comeback record finds him sounding like the Slick Rick you know and love. He keeps you on the edge of his seat as he weaves his tales over a backdrop that swings from head-nod-inducing boom bap to clubby dance beats and connects the dots between Rick’s birthplace of London and his adopted hometown of NYC. The album isn’t perfect (“Landlord” is a dud that sticks out like a sore thumb) but any lows are more than made up for by Victory‘s many highs.

24. Saba & No ID – From the Private Collection of Saba & No ID (self-released)

From the Private Collection of Saba & No ID is a meeting of the minds between one of Chicago rap’s most important pioneers (producer No ID) and one of the city’s more recent stars, Saba. Saba wasn’t even born yet when No ID produced the first Common album, but Saba’s an old soul, and his style fits perfectly with the organic backdrop of soul/jazz/funk-inspired instrumentals that No ID crafted for this timeless LP.

23. Danny Brown – Stardust (Warp)

With Stardust, Danny Brown goes full hyperpop. It’s a guest-filled album including collaborations with Quadeca, underscores, Jane Remover, Frost Children, Femtanyl, JOHNNASCUS, 8485, and Ta Ukrainka, and it feels as much like a Danny Brown album as a showcase for all of his collaborators. And it never sounds like Danny is latching onto a hot new youth genre; Danny Brown albums like Atrocity Exhibition helped pave the way for hyperpop in the first place and Stardust finds him rightfully claiming his place as a pioneer of it.

22. Ghais Guevara – Goyard Ibn Said (Fat Possum)

Ghais Guevara’s Fat Possum debut is a concept album split into two acts, with act one highlighting “the triumphs of being a rapper” and act two highlighting the “tragedies” of the experience, and he uses his story arc to talk not just about the lives of rappers, but about the greater Black experience within white America. The mostly-self-produced album’s wide musical scope ranges from lush gospel-soul samples to smoky boom bap revival to abstract experimentalism to modern trap and drill to one song with a baroque harpsichord and string arrangement (“The Apple That Scarcely Fell” ft. McKinley Dixon). Sometimes Ghais’ message is weaved into layers of wordplay, and other times it jumps out at you, blunt and direct. He’s clearly thought about what it means to be an artist an activist, and an entertainer, and on Goyard Ibn Said, he’s frequently all three at once.

21. Pink Siifu – BLACK`!ANTIQUE (Dynamite Hill)

One of this year’s most interesting, overwhelming rap albums was Pink Siifu’s BLACK`!ANTIQUE. In its first three songs alone, the hour-and-17-minute album swings from the kind of wall-shaking rap song that Timbaland or The Neptunes might’ve produced in the 2000s to eardrum-bleeding noise punk to heart-pounding club-rap, lurching like a ship in a treacherous storm that never capsizes. Eventually, the waters settle, and we find ourselves drifting between dimly-lit trap, smoky psychedelia, and deconstructed boom bap, with more than a few glitched-out shakeups in between.

See also: the companion LP ONYX’!.

20. Open Mike Eagle – Neighborhood Gods Unlimited (Auto Reverse)

Open Mike Eagle originally imagined Neighborhood Gods Unlimited as a TV show but ended up turning it into a concept album instead. It’s inspired by childhood trauma that he “spent the majority of [his] life not knowing” about, and in classic Open Mike Eagle fashion, it’s melancholic and reflective but also clever and funny. It’s also great rap music, a post-boom bap album with vintage soul samples, jazz excursions, and too many ear-catching hooks and punchlines to count.

19. JID – God Does Like Ugly (Dreamville/Interscope)

Atlanta rapper JID is always shooting for the moon and God Does Like Ugly is no exception. It’s a grand, ambitious album fueled by a melting pot of trap, boom bap, chipmunk soul, and actual soul, with JID delivering autobiographical storytelling at a rapidfire pace. You can tell from every word, rhyme, cadence, and syllable how obsessed JID is with the art of rapping, and his love of the game also comes through with the album’s incredible cast of guests, which ranges from underground rap icon Westside Gunn to R&B vet Ciara to the idiosyncratic Vince Staples to the comeback story of the year, Clipse.

18. Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist – Alfredo 2 (ESGN/ALC)

Freddie Gibbs is at his best on his projects with just one producer, especially when that producer is either Madlib or The Alchemist. Freddie and Alchemist’s 2020 album Alfredo was our #2 album of 2020 and it remains one of the best albums by either party, so it’s exciting that five years later we get a sequel. It has a lot of the same charms as the original; The Alchemist samples an array of jazz pianos, electric guitar solos, and grainy soul samples that make for the kind of laid-back, smoky setting that Freddie sounds best in. Freddie is once again in verbose wordsmith mode, catching you off guard with blink-and-you-miss punchlines instead of worrying about easily-digestible hooks. And like the first Alfredo, guest verses are well-chosen and well-executed, this time from Anderson .Paak, Larry June, and JID.

17. MIKE – Showbiz! & Pinball II (10k)

The leader of NYC’s hazy rap underground returned this year with not one but two great new projects. The first was the immersive, 24-song Showbiz!, which found MIKE turning his abstract stream-of-consciousness storytelling and woozy beats into an oddly comforting fever dream. The second was his second collaborative album with producer Tony Seltzer, Pinball II, which picked up where the first Pinball left off and found MIKE going in a little more of an upbeat, trap-inflected direction, with help from Earl Sweatshirt, Niontay, Sideshow, and Lunchbox. He’s as prolific as ever, and he’s still got that feathery touch.

16. Armand Hammer & The Alchemist – Mercy (Backwoodz)

Armand Hammer (aka billy woods and ELUCID) and The Alchemist’s 2021 album Haram was a match made in indie-rap heaven, and their chemistry is even stronger on Mercy. Alchemist’s production ranges from twinkling jazz keys to eerie atmosphere, and woods and ELUCID remain masters of bouncing off of each other with rhymes that blur the line between everyday observations and profound statements. Haram contributors Earl Sweatshirt and Quelle Chris reprise their roles with standout guest verses on standout songs, and this time Pink Siifu, Cleo Reed, Kapwani, and Silka came along for the ride too. Mercy finds all of these artists using familiar tricks in fresh ways, with enough memorable one-liners to make this album feel just as essential as the last.

15. Earl Sweatshirt – Live Laugh Love (Tan Cressida/Warner)

10 years after I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside, Earl Sweatshirt’s mood has clearly lifted; his latest album is unironically titled Live Laugh Love. “What started as a tongue-in-cheek critique of the irony in the phrase,” he said, “developed into a genuine examination of the nostalgia of joy and the simplicity of genuine connection.” That mood permeates the entire LP, which injects an uplifting maturity into the hazy, abstract rap vibes that Earl has been honing since Some Rap Songs.

14. McKinley Dixon – Magic, Alive! (City Slang)

McKinley Dixon’s Magic, Alive! would be one of the year’s best hip hop-infused jazz albums even if it didn’t have any vocals. It was made with a collective of musicians that come off like a modern-day Soulquarians, including trombonist Reggie Pace, harpist Eli Owens, guitarists Sarah Tuzdin (illuminati hotties) and El Kempner (Palehound), co-producer Sam Koff on trumpet, a string section, and more, and the result is one of the liveliest rap albums in recent memory. The 30-year-old McKinley Dixon uses the stirring backdrop to reflect on the life-altering experience of grieving for someone your own age as a young person, and he does it with help from likeminded rappers Blu, ICECOLDBISHOP, Pink Siifu, Ghais Guevara, Quelle Chris, Teller Bank$, and Alfred., plus a melodic touch from indie guest singers Anjimile and Shamir. Multi-layered, genre-blurring rap albums have become the norm for McKinley Dixon, and Magic, Alive! is one of his tightest and sharpest yet.

13. Little Simz – Lotus (AWAL)

One of the most fulfilling creative partnerships of the last decade — whipsmart London rapper Little Simz and visionary producer Inflo — came crashing down last year and while there’s no doubt they made magic together, Little Simz is doing just fine on her own as Lotus proves again and again. Working with producer Miles Clinton James (KOKOROKO), the album isn’t far removed from the lush grooves of 2021’s Mercury Prize–winning Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, but this time Simz sounds more grounded, more street-level. Playful standout “Young” nods to Amy Winehouse, the irresistible “Enough” features Yukimi of Little Dragon, and opener “Thief” addresses Inflo head-on: “Know you thought my career right now would be failing / But my ship won’t stop sailing.” Lotus may not have the total focus of Introvert, but it’s lighter on its feet, more fun, and gives hope that with Little Simz, the best is still to come. [Bill Pearis]

12. PremRock – Did You Enjoy Your Time Here…? (Backwoodz)

It’s been a hell of a year for NYC-via-Pennsylvania rapper PremRock. ShrapKnel, his duo with Curly Castro, released three albums, and Prem released one of his most enduring projects yet with Did You Enjoy Your Time Here…?. The psychedelic, post-boom bap production is immaculate (with beats from Blockhead, YUNGMORPHEUS, Child Actor, Controller 7, ELUCID, Willie Green, and more), and the cast of guests alone could turn heads (Pink Siifu, Cavalier, Nappy Nina, Illogic, AJ Suede, Prem’s Backwoodz label boss billy woods, and his aforementioned ShrapKnel partner Curly Castro), but it’s PremRock’s own thought-provoking, ear-catching bars that made Did You Enjoy Your Time Here…? stand out from the many other likeminded underground rap releases that came out this year. Even more so than on his other recent solo and ShrapKnel albums, PremRock on this record is purely magnetic.

11. Ovrkast – While the Iron Is Hot (IIIXL)

Five years and two EPs removed from his breakthrough 2020 album Try Again, Ovrkast returned with a new album that finds him operating on a totally different level than Try Again‘s hazy, abstract vibes. The production ranges from organic jazz to glitchy electronics to pitched-up soul samples, and Ovrkast shows off a melody-infused rapping style that fits perfectly with the guest verses from Vince Staples, Saba, MAVI, and very promising newcomer Samara Cyn. While The Iron Is Hot is Ovrkast’s most fully-realized project yet, a testament to him as a rapper, producer, and curator with something to say.

10. Preservation & Gabe ‘Nandez – Sortilège (Backwoodz)

After appearing (alongside Boldy James) on billy woods’ Preservation-produced 2022 album Aethiopes, NYC rapper Gabe ‘Nandez made his own album with Pres–which billy woods released on his Backwoodz label and appeared on two songs of–and the pair ended up having a ton of chemistry of their own. Preservation (who’s also a frequent collaborator of the late Ka, as well as Yasiin Bey, Roc Marciano, and others) is a master of eerie, slowed-down boom bap, and Gabe brings a knack for gripping, detailed bars that fit Pres’ production perfectly. The album title (French for magical spell, witchcraft, etc) is a reference to the duo’s shared francophone ancestry (Preservation is half French and Gabe is half Malian), and the songs are steeped in the tradition of underground New York rap at its darkest and most somber.

9. De La Soul – Cabin In The Sky (Mass Appeal)

With 20 songs in 70 minutes, De La Soul leave no stone unturned with their first album in nine years and first since the death of Dave (aka Trugoy the Dove), who has posthumous verses and production scattered throughout. The group also roped in production from boom bap pioneers Pete Rock and DJ Premier, longtime De La collaborator Supa Dave West, and others; as well as standout guest verses from Killer Mike, Black Thought, Nas, Common, Slick Rick, and others; and it finds De La Soul doing what they do best, staying true to the kind of jazzy, ’90s-style, alternative hip hop that they helped pioneer in the first place.

8. Bruiser Wolf – Potluck & Made By Dope (Fake Shore Drive)

Bruiser Wolf sounds ridiculous, but he’s no joke. In his outlandish, exaggerated voice, Bruiser Wolf finds some of the most absurd ways to tell you how cold he is, and he makes sure you believe him. In 2025, he did it across two albums; the multi-producer Potluck (with Knxwledge, Nicholas Craven, Sango, Squadda B, Harry Fraud, and others) is overall about as zany as you’d expect from Bruiser Wolf, while the Harry Fraud-produced Made By Dope juxtaposes Wolf’s antics with a calm, cool, jazzy backdrop and an especially cool list of guests (Benny the Butcher, Curren$y, Mick Jenkins, Zelooperz, and Yung Mehico).

7. redveil – sankofa (Fashionably Early)

Nearly four years after his breakthrough album learn 2 swim, redveil returned to make a case for himself as the rightful heir to the lush, melodic rap throne previously occupied by good kid, m.A.A.d city-era Kendrick, Acid Rap-era Chance the Rapper, and the prettier sides of those early Tyler/Earl records. sankofa finds redveil maintaining auteur status, handling rapping, singing, and all of the production, but this time he also brought in live session musicians that made sankofa sound even more lush and multi-layered than its predecessor. From nasty bars to choral vocal harmonies to glitch hop beatmaking to lively jazz, it feels like there’s almost nothing that redveil can’t do.

6. Backxwash – Only Dust Remains (Ugly Hag)

Following a trilogy of industrial-tinged rap albums, Backxwash changed it up with Only Dust Remains. The self-produced album is less caustic but even more powerful, with devastatingly personal tales of trans life and terrifying snapshots of war and fascism over the lush, soulful, organic backdrop of albums like To Pimp A Butterfly and Electric Circus. And even while drastically toning down the abrasiveness, the edges of Only Dust Remains are never too sanded. As grand and fleshed-out as its arrangements are, Only Dust Remains retains the grit that Backxwash has always had.

5. Aesop Rock – Black Hole Superette & I Heard It’s A Mess There Too (Rhymesayers)

Aesop Rock is still living in his own world. This year, he released two new albums, both of which showed off entirely different sides of the underground rap lifer’s approach to art. Black Hole Superette is a sci-fi concept album that sounds like it was written and recorded in an entirely different universe, while I Heard It’s A Mess There Too is much more down to earth, proof that Aes excels when he’s just rapping hard over hard beats. He sounds as obsessed with fucking with the English language as he did 25 years ago, and the fire under his ass is burning a lot more brightly than we tend to see from rappers who have been in the game as long as he has. With Armand Hammer and Open Mike Eagle features on Black Hole Superette, Aes reminds you that he helped influence some of the most prominent corners of the current underground rap world, but it’s Aesop’s own tongue-twisters and production flairs that have us just as excited about him today as we were at the beginning of this century.

4. Tyler, the Creator – Don’t Tap the Glass (Columbia)

After releasing four gargantuan, conceptual albums in a row, Tyler, the Creator was craving something a little more down to earth. He semi-surprise-released the 10-song, 28.5-minute Don’t Tap the Glass in the middle of his CHROMAKOPIA tour, and his last few albums set such a precedent that he even told fans to “get them expectations and hopes down” because the album “aint no concept nothing.” It would have been understandable if the album went down as more of a “side project,” but Tyler is too good for that. Everything he’s touching lately is turning to gold and Don’t Tap the Glass is no exception. It’s an album that’s as refreshing to listen to as it sounds like it was to make. Its brief runtime is split between his danciest songs yet and some of his hardest rap songs. It sounds small for Tyler’s standards but big because it’s him.

3. John Glacier – Like A Ribbon (Young)

Like A Ribbon goes down as one of 2025’s best rap albums and one of its best electronic albums, and sometimes it’s home to some of the year’s best post-punk and bedroom pop too. It transcends easy categorization, and rarely does an artist make transcendence look this coolly effortless. John Glacier deadpans so casually that you wonder if she even realizes how massive her hooks are. Her delivery is so muted that, if she were a lesser rapper, she would get drowned out by the hypnotic haze that Kwes Darko, Flume, Evilgiane, and the album’s other producers create. Instead, she comes off as one of the UK’s most commanding newer MCs, and certainly one of the least try-hard.

2. billy woods – Golliwog (Backwoodz)

I always say that my favorite billy woods album is the latest billy woods album, and that’s especially true with Golliwog. It’s one of the best of his very prolific career, and it already feels like it’s got a lot of staying power. It’s a semi-concept album with roots that can be traced all the way back to a short story about an evil golliwog–a racist caricature rag doll–that woods wrote at 9 years old. On this album, we find woods in the middle of a nightmare on one song and navigating everyday waking life on the next, and it’s never clear which is scarier. The production (from Steel Tipped Dove, Conductor Williams, Kenny Segal, The Alchemist, Preservation, and others) is equally haunting, and standout guest verses from Bruiser Wolf, Despot, and woods’ Armand Hammer partner ELUCID are as essential to the vision as woods himself.

1. Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out (Roc Nation)

With Let God Sort Em Out, Clipse released a comeback album like no other. For Malice, it’s not just his return to rapping; it’s the story of his entire journey from coke-rap trailblazer to converting to Christianity and denouncing his past to coming back to rap with a vengeance (“I done disappeared and reappeared without a voilà!”). For his brother Pusha T, who followed Clipse’s initial run with a triumphant solo career, it’s at least the third time he’s reinvented himself, and it’s a reminder that Push just has a different aura to him when his older brother’s in the studio with him. For sole producer Pharrell Williams, it’s one of his best batches of beats in years, with one foot in the aughts-era work he did with Clipse as a member of The Neptunes and the other foot in the future. It’s an album with a cast of guests that help celebrate Clipse’s important and influence; you can just feel the admiration in their voices as Kendrick Lamar and Tyler, the Creator both deliver career-best guest verses. On top of all that, and most importantly, it’s just a great rap record, with some of the most addictive rap songs of the year.

**

Honorable Mentions
* All 6 million Boldy James albums released this year

* All the Griselda-related albums that came out this year (four from Westside Gunn, two from Benny the Butcher, one from Conway the Machine)

* Nas’ entire Legend Has It Series (with the aforementioned De La Soul and Slick Rick albums, plus Mobb Deep’s first album since Prodigy’s death, a posthumous Big L album, Ghostface Killah’s Supreme Clientele sequel, Nas and DJ Premier’s collab LP, and Raekwon)

**

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* 55 Best Albums of 2025

* 50 Best Punk Albums of 2025