Best Rap Albums of 2024

I listen pretty exclusively to three music genres: Contemporary R&B, Pop, and Rap. I will be ranking my ten favorite albums of the year from each genre here on this blog. Starting off with Rap, because I don't believe there's anything else coming out in December I have to listen to before declaring my faves. Best Rap Albums of 2024

1. Ehhthang Ehhthang / Glorilla "That independent shit be cool but you be needin' people "
   

   Glorilla truly gave us so much to turn up to this year and it's a shame I don't still go out, pregame, and turnup smh. But I do walk everywhere and like to scowl to aggressive rap from a female point of view lol. Ranking this above Glorious (and Alligator Bites tbh) is provocative tbh but I had to be honest with myself at just how much I wore out "Yeah Glo!" "Wanna Be" "Aight" " All Dere" and (embarrassingly, as I am Caucausian) - "No Bih"
   

2. Alligator Bites Never Heal / Doechii "Whoopsie, made a oopsie. One-hundred thousand dollar "oops" made me loopy." I really think Doechii is on track to be my generation's female like rap God - to be widely consumed and goatly considered the way rappers like Nas, Wayne, Kendrick are. This album debut gives masterpiece vibes and was one where after I heard it I had to listen to it again and really read the lyrics to certain songs. It's refreshing to hear a female in the game take a more unique approach to storytelling in something like "Denial is a River" and still deliver bangers like "Nissan Altima," "Catfish" that feel so unique from what most of the other females are delivering right now.
   

3. City Cinderella / JT " I'm the one buddy love - ass fat - Professor Klumps, On my Queen Bey shit - he in love and he drunk"
   

JT is so petty and unreasonable but I love her lmao. This album was GOOD.. it also reminds me of a really fun period from this year driving around with my LA bestie Sy.. She looks just like JT and we were hype for this release.. Also a period in LA where we weren't constantly breaking up (it's complicated). Two nights ago Sy came over to meet my new boyfriend- I was tired but had no choice in the matter- but when she texted me "JT Coming" I got so excited to see her and put this album on the speaker. I'm not sure why cuz as soon as she showed up we immediately started fighting? But no I wore out "90s Baby" "Servin" "Lemon Pepper," "JT Coming" this summer-- and recently "Okay" (which I didn't care for when I first heard it weirdly). Yeah, I really appreciate all the fun bangers JT gave us even if it pained me to see her and Miami beefing this year. I think JT and Miami are better together and The City Girls are more fun to stan as one artist... I don't like them pitted against one another. However... I like this album better as a whole compared to any other City Girls record surprisingly. 90s Baby was so exciting because it samples my favorite male vocal ever recorded "All the Things Your Man Won't Do" by Joe.

4. Glorious / Glorilla "He a dog for the pussy, and you know I got the treat" This is honestly probably the better project than Ehhthang Ehhthang (I'm standing by my ranking tho) and I was PISSED when I thought Glo was shut out of the grammys (this album actually wasn't eligible). The Grammys will probably still ignore Glorilla for some Common album no one's listening to and it's a shame... I hate that mainsteam pop culture & media isn't more interested in being inclusive of more females because she's my favorite female right now who's doing the fun-club-banging-fuck-your-man-female-empowerment rap right now.
   

5. How TF Is this a Mixtape? / Dababy "I did some' wrong, okay, I admit it"

   
   

   DID YOU DABABY?? I took a lot of heat when defending this controversy at this time but I still don't think it was that big of a fucking deal and it bothers me how hard DaBaby was shut out and cancel-lited at the rise of his stardom for one brief statement made at HIS OWN CONCERT ABOUT CELEBRATING HIS OWN FANS... that sure, it sounded pretty ignorant out of context in regards to LGBT community.. but yall, Dababy isn't thinking about being sensitive to the AIDS crisis during his concert sksksksk. please give some more grace to some of these harder small-town-raised black straight artists who are incredibly talented but thrust into stardom and still clearly learning to be like more sensitive public figures. The funniest thing about that controversy is Dababy like 'shoutout to my gay fans my gay fans are classy not sucking dick in the bathrooms full of diseases" lmao A) that sounds like something provocatively gay hating and internalizing of homophobia that I would say if I were famous and B) like that's actually exactly Dababy's demographic of gay fans lol - gay Dababy fans are here to like roll on molly and shake ass on our boyfriends, my guy, but its okay - we still love you.

   I get so hype for "Gimme a Reason," "Phat," "Did It," "Can't Stop Keisha" off this album and some of the later ones blur together but start-to-finish I'm always living and dancing for everything. DON'T KNOW WHY I JUST LOVE EVERYTHING THIS MAN RECORDS its random lol but I just love his flow, energy, the beats are always fire... Also, I implore Dababy haters to look up his feature on the remix of Million Dollar Baby on youtube as well his freestyles over Doo Wop & Not Like Us.
   

6. The Last Doll / Kash Doll "Only baggage that I Came with was a Louis Your chest would cave in if I did you how you do me" Don't sleep on KD!! I haven't listened to Kash Doll since like 2018 when I used to wear out "Where the $$$ at" and "Chanel Sides" at Big Chicks during closing.. but I saw she had a new song with Tink (a fave), loved it, and realized every other single available was straight fire? Listen to: "Comfy," "Kash Kommandments," "Power," "Jump" The whole album is out and perhaps this is recency bias but I love it so much it's going high on this list.
   

7. Texas Technician / That Mexican OT "Matter of fact, I'm in a Cadillac, riding real clean. Bitch, I started from the bottom, now I'm living like a clean." I don't listen to too many male rappers but I had to look this guy up because I initially thought his verse on the Million Dollar Baby x Whip It remix was Dababy... and when I realized those verses were different artists/features I was curious to seek him out. I just love his flow and energy. Check out: "Twisting Fingers," "Point Em Out," "Bull Riding." The whole thing is just easy to bump and get you in that right mood to tackle going into work and argue with your coworker who's wrong and hates you for it.
   

8. Sugar Iced Honey / Latto "More than a lover, we tighter than friends, ain't gotta explain, you know what it is" Shoutout to my friend Jasmine who stans her and made me re-visit this album. I initially played it once at work while I was doing other shit and walked away from it just thinking "Brokey" and "Sunday Service" are all I care about but no I listened again with headphones and was like... Latto's pen actually goes the hardest? Lol. Latto is like Doja Cat to me in the sense of they write a lot of fun bops SO SECRETLY cleverly like you almost have to look at some of their spits written out to fully appreciate how smart a lot of their writing is.

   
   

   Sunday Service & Brokey are still my faves but I also bump "Ear Candy" a lot as well as "Look What You Did" and "Squeeze."
   

9. The Death of Slim Shady / Eminem "Been lettin this TEC spray, From that day that I met Dre, So you liable to catch strays, From the second you press play." Not another problematic fave lol. Gay guys hate on me for loving eminem bc of his use of the word "faggot" and "retarded" in a lot of his music. I don't find it as homophobic or bigoted just more a product of his Detroit rap battle upbringing. Also Eminem's thing is being intentionally provocative. His spits about getting popped like Halyna Hutchins and the Alec Baldwin Rust controversy had me dead. and My thing with the Eminem is problematic criticism is OF COURSE IM GONNA LIKE EMINEM - I'm white, in recovery, grew up on the movie 8 Mile, have a Kim of my own.. so much of his music is about his toxic relationship with his high mother Kim, about him tryna recover from drugs, be a good dad to Halie... so stop @ing me lol! While this album wasn't exactly the return of Slim Shady that fans were hoping for.. I agree it still feels still very contemporary eminem sonically.. I know people were hoping for more late 90's/early aught sound like The Slim Shady LP / Marshall Mathers LP / The Eminem Show.. However, this album is still VERY good. I fucking love "Fuel" and all the remixes of it and that should have been the lead single over "Houdini." "Brand New Dance" is great and really the only one that feels truly slim shady esque and like it could have lived on one of the early records. "Somebody Save Me" is so touching. "Evil" is great. The whole things great like all of his recent albums its just not quite what people expected/wanted.
   

10. Cocky on Purpose 2 / Erica Banks Repeat after me- STOP SLEEPING ON ERICA!! Erica Banks takes so much shit on the interenet and in the comments for being a try-hard and a one-hit wonder but I swear people just aren't listening to these albums. Her pen and flow goes harder than anyone who ever appeared on Love & Hip Hop tbh lol (and I love Renni and old Cardi). This album is a fantastic turn-up-at-3AM-after-the-bars close vibe. It's not as thoughtful and personal as her masterpiece Erica Banks, and not quite as hype as Diary of the Flow Queen but.. it's still a great album to turn on and dance to start to finish. ----------

    
    

    Honorable Mentions: Megan - Megan Thee Stallion, Never Lose Me - Flo Milli, Better Me Than You - Big Sean