Halfway There: The 100 Best Albums of The Half Decade

Folks, we are at the halfway point of the 2020 decade, and let's be honest...this decade has been among the best half decades on record.  While 2020 was mainly known for the crippling pandemic that turned the entire world upside down, as well as the very tragic death of NBA icon, Kobe Bryant, and his daughter, as well as the other passengers on board the plane, musically this year was as hot as ever with all things considering.  Albums from the likes of Nas, Busta Rhymes, Run The Jewels, and Boldy James were constant bumpers and showed that this would be at least one hell of a year. The very next year would replicate it in every way musically with highly acclaimed efforts from the likes of Armand Hammer, Tyler The Creator, Nas, and Earl Sweatshirt, thus making the 2020s so far quite an excellent decade so far. Once we hit 2022, all levels went up, big time. Albums from Clipse, Nas, Mobb Deep, R.A.P. Ferreira, Common, De La Soul, Killer Mike, Rapsody, Doechii, and Kendrick Lamar were not just year-end bangers, but all-timers. One would say generational shifts, as Grammy Awards and universal acclaim would be prevalent with these and more artists.  We also had artists such as JID, Doechii, Benny The Butcher, D Smoke, and Little Simz break out with monumental efforts that put more eyes on them and got them within hip-hop's consciousness, while longtime vets like Nas, Common, Busta, De La Soul, Black Thought, and Clipse/Pusha T showed these young cats how it really is supposed to be done in the booth and with the pen.  Out of several tens of thousands of good to classic-worthy albums that got released from 2000 to 2025, we managed to find one hundred of the best albums to emerge throughout this half decade, and this was not an easy list to compile.  From Pop fans to the dirty and grungy underground, hip-hop has been incredibly represented so far in the 2020s, and here's a look at one hundred of the best albums to get released so far this decade.  Let's get into it shall we?

 100. JID

God Does Like Ugly (2025)

Production: Childish Major, Thundercat, Boi-1nda, Vinylz, Lex Luger, Jay Versace, others

Guests: Clipse, Westside Gunn, Don Toliver, Ty Dolla $ign, Ciara, EarthGang, 6LACK, Vince Staples, Mareba, others

The evolution of Atlanta's JID has been nothing short of awesome. Regarded as one of the game's most incredibly technical spitters in all of hip-hop, the cool, yet fiery, lyrical bullet sprayer has had quite the discography over the last several years. Signing to J. Cole's Dreamville after his dope effort, DiCaprio, JID has been steadily growing in his appeal and his fanbase, not to mention being a very in-demand guest rhymer as well. Collaborating with everyone from Eminem to Westside Gunn, JID became a star in front of our eyes on the silent. His Dreamville debut, The Never Story, put himself in a bigger spotlight under the guidance of Cole and the results were quite dope, as was the just as cold DiCaprio 2.  However, it was his third release, The Forever Story, in which JID officially arrived as the star we saw him eventually become.  While serving us his best technical offerings and going crazy over more ambitious and varied production, he was also more personal and open in terms of subject matter. His primary focus was his family and his upbringing, but other topics such as Black identity and hood struggles.  Capitalizing off this newfound stardom, he delivers God Does Like Ugly (which was ironically the original title for The Forever Story), in which this is every bit as ambitious and bumping as its predecessor.  JID explores the good, bad, and complicated all throughout this album, and most results hit and hit hard.  Take for example the Gospel-tinged, "Glory", which contains vocal backings from a choir out of Memphis, JID realizes his walk as a man even through the burnt feelings of his angst and grief dealing with his brother in prison.  He conjures the introspective and social commentary on the Clipse-assisted, "Community", which has the VA brothers flexing their lyrical stances on what the ghettos of AmeriKKKa have been to our...well...community. JID does a hell of a job keeping up with No Malice and Pusha, but ultimately, they provide the most accurate and vivid depiction of everyday life in the hood, and it comes off practically flawless.  He likewise keeps this momentum of hardship and blunt realities on the Vince Staples-guested, "VCRs", which has both these incredibly talented young emcees speaking on survival and how to navigate through the obstacles they face every day as Black men.  Plus, on the head-nodding duet with singer Jessie Reyez, "No Boo", these two have a basic argument on wax that's as relatable as any complicated relationship out here, especially when it comes to posting beef on social media.  However, not everything is heavy, which is a great thing. The bump goes up...WAY up...on cuts like "WRK", the Pastor Troy (remember him)-assisted, "K-Word", and the adrenaline-fueled "On McAfee", featuring young upstart, Baby Kia whose verse is quite ferocious.  Also, he takes to the old booty bass days of Luke and Poison Clan on the Ciara and EarthGang-featured, "SK8", which is an instant body mover, as well as "For Keeps", in which he details his life as a father. On one cut, however, we get a myriad of sounds, lyrical delivery, and stylistic crossovers with "Of Blue". The cut is separated by three different beat selections and stylings. The first one features Spillage Village singer and songwriter, Mareba, singing very angelically over a sweet melody that sounds like it could easily be placed on an Elevation Worship or Hillsong Music album, but then, we get funk, soul, and jazz all in one on the second part with him recycling Pastor Troy's chorus (of sorts) from "Vice Versa" and the bump is unfathomable. The third piece is as knocking as the second and closes the cut very impressively.  JID may not break any new ground per se with God Does Like Ugly, but he also doesn't need to. This Grammy nominated album continues to show JID as one of the A's most excellent overall talents and writers, not to mention straight up emcees.  His star power continues to excel and the more we learn about him, the more we know the layers will be exciting to view and hear.  His late grandmother (who's behind the title of the album) is looking down very happy towards her grandbaby. It'll be interesting to see how this highly anticipated collab album with mega producer Metro Boomin, God Don't Like Ugly, will come off as well. Could be another interesting year for JID.

99. Boldy James & The Alchemist

The Price of Tea in China (2020)

Production: The Alchemist

Guests: Vince Staples, Benny The Butcher, Evidence, Freddie Gibbs

With his very well received debut album, My 1st Chemistry Set, still in rotation, Detroit's Boldy James kept momentum going in his favor once again teaming up with The Alchemist as he did with M.1.C.S. and their fantastic 2019 effort, Boldface, with 2020's The Price of Tea in China.  It was obvious that Uncle Al saw something in Boldy even back in 2013 when M.1.C.S. first dropped, and then doing i9t again with Boldface so one would imagine they keep that same energy for this effort, and not only did they keep it, but they also raised it up a level.  From the onset, the cut "Carruth" lays the foundation for what would end up being quite the addition to Boldy's discography.  Over rather sinister production, Boldy provides a dark narrative of friends getting locked up, keeping a stash of bricks in his grandmother's house, and how a lot of things and people he loved got lost to gun violence. This track serves as a premise to the rest of the album.  He maintains this with the next cut, "Giant Slide", which has him "sliding" on his opps, and being unapologetic about it all.  The street life consumes him in both dramatic and compelling ways on cuts like the high-speed chase narrative "Slow Roll", "Run-Ins", and the borderline sadistic, "Mustard".  When guests appear, they only further contribute to his almost nihilistic ways of thinking. Freddie Gibbs appears on the dumb dope "S.N.O.R.T.", while Vince Staples appears on the crazy "Surf & Turf", Benny the Butcher rips it on "Scrape the Bowl", and Evidence shows up impressively on "Grey October", in which both emcees reminisce about their areas of formation growing up and how much double lives they led while trying to make it.  Evry bit as minimalistic as Boldface and maybe more, Alchemist provided Boldy with a soundtrack that fit him almost perfectly considering his delivery, his baritone vocal spitting, and the subject matters of coke, the streets, and gunplay.  With The Price of Tea in China, Boldy didn't have to reinvent the wheel. He did an excellent job letting us in with even more vivid depictions of his day-to-day life and what he's seen or experienced.  Make no mistake about it: other albums that followed such as Bo Jackson and Super Tecmo Bo elevated their fluidity even more, TPOTIC was one hell of an effort that showed how these two artists can present enough heat to cause full infernos for your entertainment systems when they get together.

98. Larry June & The Alchemist

The Great Escape (2023)

Production: The Alchemist

Guests: Slum Village, Action Bronson, Ty Dolla $ign, Big Sean, Evidence, Boldy James, Wiz Khalifa, Curren$y, Joey Bada$$, Jay Worthy

San Francisco emcee, Larry June, has been making plenty of waves in hip-hop for over a decade.  His laid-back, almost lazy, delivery sounds more grown folk than rah-rah but it somehow works, and he pulls it off.  Most of his content and subject matter relates to hustling, getting rich, investing, and roughly anything that involves smart money and the finer things in life.  With an already dope discography, he decided to collaborate with one of the game's current production GOATs, The Alchemist, for their first full length album together, The Great Escape.  One thing that really makes Uncle Al such a brilliant producer is his niche for finding and tuning the right sound for the right artist.  He doesn't ask the emcee to adjust to his style, he adjusts to their style and thus the production here is fairly smooth, almost Sunday morning type production.  Nothing menacing here folks.  Cuts such as the Slum Village-assisted, "Orange Village", "Turkish Cotton", and the breezy "Ocean Sounds" are reflective of this. Hustling and grinding is a major part of his makeup, but also with it came success. Cuts like "What Happened To The World" and "Summer Reign" are joints that show the victory of the hard work, but in relatable fashion.  As these mixes between a how to get rich manual and cooling to the lavish life, LJ and Uncle Al show a chemistry that is cohesive and polished for this to be their first full effort together. This would not be the last time these two would get together, as these two got with ATL legend, 2 Chainz, to deliver 2025's Life Is Beautiful to much acclaim as well.  With The Great Escape, this is such riding music, and this is a producer-rapper duo to be on the legit lookout for hopefully with more projects between the two to come.

97. Skyzoo

Views Of A Lifetime EP (2025)

Production: Cartune Beatz, Camouflage Monk, Thelonious Martin, The Other Guys, others

Guests: N/A

It wouldn't be a dope year within this decade without the lyrical craftsmanship of Brooklyn born and bred, Skyzoo.  Throughout the span of two decades, Skyzoo has amassed among one of the most impressive discographies amongst his peers.  Not a single album has been underneath above average and tends to outdo a lot of his contemporaries best works. From simply tremendous offerings such as The Salvation, Cloud 9: The 9 Day Theory with 9th Wonder, In Celebration Of Us, Music For My Friends, The Easy Truth with Apollo Brown, Retropolitan with Pete Rock, All The Brilliant Things, and his highly acclaimed 2023 effort, The Mind Of A Saint that had him playing the role of Snowfall's main character, Franklin Saint, Sky has been simply undefeated.  His last full-length project, 2024's Keep Me Company, continued this incredible run that few can only dream of keeping up with in terms of quality material throughout.  One could only imagine what else Sky can present to the masses that will keep outdoing his previous projects.  Just before his birthday hits (Christmas Day), he wanted to deliver an EP for his loyal and devoted fans.  This 2025 project, Views of A Lifetime, continued to present topics that most of your average nine to five father, hustler, and hip-hop connoisseur can easily relate to.  Seen as an extension of Keep Me Company, the effort has Sky delivering bars that seem as such like the Camouflage Monk-crafted opener, "Tags At The MOMA", where Sky is hustling to make ends meet, whereas the very next track, "Pardon Me", has him up and on his feet as a man and as an emcee.  While spitting about subjects that are more personal such as the blissful, "Love Day" and the dedication to a former flame of some kind, "Hope & Pray" that come from places of respect, love, and peace.  Of course, Sky has to keep it hip-hop, and it gets no more hip-hop then his admirable attempt at recreating one of his heroes, Nas', most significant cuts, "Nas Is Like" with "Sky Is Like".  With DJ Grazzhopper providing the production and cuts, shouts to him doing his best Preemo impersonation on the boards and the scratching, as Sky was blistering this track in much the same way his hip-hop role model did the original.  The closer, "Half Bloom" has him talking about how much more he's had to take on and how much he feels he has obligations and responsibilities that tend to drain him.  With the Conductor-crafted, "Devotion", the bumping "The Soloist", and the dumb dope "The Wager" filling in the rest of the nine-track EP, Skyzoo keeps showing how very needed he is within the culture. This latest effort of Views Of A Lifetime, keeps up the subject last left on Keep Me Company in terms of growing up in a new environment and new world while reflecting on the world that he knew, Sky is one of those few artists that could be considered an emcee's emcee. One that takes you on the same ride as him and continuously making it about the culture at the same time.  Just as he considers Nas is his hip-hop hero, you can best believe he's someone's as well.

96. The Alchemist & Hit-Boy

GOLDFISH (2025)

Production: artist

Guests: Conway The Machine, Havoc, Big Hit, Jay Worthy

Two of the most prolific and acclaimed producers of the past decade have been two of Cali's legit finest, Hit-Boy and The Alchemist.  Although Uncle Al relocated to NY, he still calls Beverly Hills home.  Little rumblings of a full-length collab between these two incredible artists happened when they came together for the EP, Theodore & Andre, in 2024. Hearing both producer-emcees rhyme over each other's tremendous production was a throwback to the likes of Jaylib's underground treasure, Champion Sound.  After the already monstrous year Uncle Al has had working with everyone from Yasiin Bey to Erykah Badu, Armand Hammer, and Freddie Gibbs, he still made room to collab with Hit-Boy, who hasn't had a lazy year himself working with the likes of Splash Daddy and working on his solo album, Software Update, which will emerge soon. These two promised us a full-length, and we got one in the form of 2025's GOLDFISH.  With an accompanying movie starring these two, as well as the likes Danny Trejo and others, these two went blow for blow on the boards and the booth, and the results were excellent.  Hit-Boy's snapping [production and effective samples combined with warm and fuzzy grooves underneath hypnotic loops and soulful melodies make both emcees step their respective games up.  The first single, "Business Merger", was evidence of how much of a energy these two have together lyrically.  Over the very dope H-B instrumental, both guys spit about how two big names in the came together to become a force to be reckoned with, and they definitely are.  They don't stop there. Far from doing so. The follow-up single, the Havoc-assisted, "Celebration Moments", has these two taking time to smell their respective roses over a very fitting, slow melodic Alchemist track, as does the Boldy James-assisted, "Not Much". Conway goes for dolo on the menacing, "Mick & Cooley", but anytime Al and Conway get together, it's ridiculous. Just look at their past crazy effort, LULU, for a full example.  As for other standouts, the best ones are those that have them in introspective mode and opening up some.  The quintessential example of this is "Ricky", as Hit-Boy spits about his tumultuous upbringing in comparison to Al's fairly simple and uncomplicated upbringing other than the occasional domestic disputes between mom and dad.  Over a slow, melodic and slightly haunting piano loop, storytelling  mode is the zone here, and Hit-Boy, especially, does a great job letting us in about how his upbringing played a role in to the man he has become today.  Also, on "God Is Great", both cats rhyme about how grateful they are to be in the ;positions they're in and how motivated they still are to keep being great.  With "Home Improvement", both speak about their vulnerabilities and what they must improve upon to be better men, fathers, emcees, and the like, while "Walk In Faith" channels "God Is Great" a lot here, both musically and thematically.  With other sizzlers such as "Show Me The Way", "Doing My Best", and "Recent Memory", The Alchemist & Hit-Boy crafted a gem in GOLDFISH. This album was basically very symmetrical. An album that relies on its simplicity and for the joys of just being that damn good.  These two Grammy Award winners are big parts of what makes a lot of today's sound so incredible, and these two together are as outstanding together as they are separate.

95. Lupe Fiasco

Samurai (2024)

Production: Soundtrakk

Guests: N/A

For over two decades, Chi-town's own, Lupe Fiasco, has been considered amongst the elite of pure hip-hop lyricists.  With his pen game being so abstract yet so mathematically on point and his verbal abilities being so technical and calculated, Fiasco as an emcee is in a class of emcees that demands all the respect and flowers. As a writer that is outside the box and left field, he's just as up there. His prodigious debut, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor, was considered a classic by today's standards and showcased his knack for storytelling and clever bars.  He followed that up with the just as engaging, The Cool, and we definitely had an emcee on our hands that was having quite the future ahead of him.  However, as a lot of artists have done before within their careers, he fell victim to critics mixed reviews of his next album, Lasers, due to the more pop sound the album had and how it lacked the complexity that he had brought from his prior two albums.  Subsequent albums such as Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 and the two installments of the DROGAS series: the less-desired Light and the more imaginative and stirring Wave would re-establish his gifts of the storytelling and abstract vision. With Tetsuo & Youth, it was a return to the form that made him a household name and was the strongest effort since his first two efforts, as evidenced by one of the most defining cuts of his career, "Mural". In 2022, he delivered the stellar Drill Music In Zion, a ten-track complete project that had him providing commentary on the sad and angering state of hip-hop by focusing on commercialism, clichés, and lack of hope for the youth.  Many stated that this was, in fact, the album of his career even more than his first two albums, or even Tetsuo & Youth.  Whatever the opinion, it was clear Lupe was tired of messing around and got to being the innovative thinker and profound lyricist we know he could be.  He continues his left-brained approach to themes within his music with his 2024 offering, Samurai.  The story behind the album had Lupe imagining the late, great Grammy Award winning singer, Amy Whinehouse, being transformed into a battle rapper. This was by design as he reportedly obtained this idea from a quote in the Whinehouse documentary, where she said she had "battle raps coming out of her".  Fiasco capitalized on this, and the result was a collection of cleverly detailed cuts that exemplified Fiasco's penchant for going left when everybody else wants to go right.  Over mostly jazzy soundscapes, mixed with the occasional slick to subdued drum programming, Fiasco is in a lane of his own and cuts like the opener title track, "Cake" and "Palaces".  Even if you don't really connect the dots of the concept of the album, one can just get enthralled by the sheer talent of Fiasco and his ability to be a technical machine all throughout the album.  He gets straightforward, yet esoteric at times, with his cadence and a rhyme scheme that plays in between dense and calculated. This is especially evidenced on the track "Mumble Rap", where he performs at his technical best and has such effortless breath control it's virtually insane.  While it's very likely he's channeling Whinehouse in the context of the structure of the album, there's a lot to himself within this conjuring of her, as he spits about the battles between his art and the business of the art on "Outside" but also denounces sacrificing one's own self for the advancement of fame on the excellent, "Bigfoot".  Lupe is an emcee's emcee, and continued to display that on Samurai, but he also displayed the need to educate people on how innovative the mind can be in a conceptual and inventive form.  He clearly plays chess when others play checkers out here, and with Samurai, we continued to see some of the absolute best work this brilliant emcee could craft.

94. Boldy James & The Alchemist

BO JACKSON (2021)

Production: The Alchemist

Guests: Benny The Butcher, Stove God Cook$, Curren$y, Freddie Gibbs, Earl Sweatshirt, Roc Marciano

The year 2020 was a coming out year for Boldy James. Four distinctive projects dropped in the forms of the jazzy-yet-sinister Manger On McNichols, the Jay Versace-produced Griselda offering, The Versace Tapes, the Real Bad Man-crafted, Real Bad Boldy, and especially the crazy Alchemist-paired effort, The Price of Tea in China.  In 2021, he dropped a pair of excellent albums, both of which were with the aforementioned Alchemist: Super Tecmo Bo and BO JACKSON. The former project, however, somewhat served as an extension of BO JACKSON. Following the rollout of the simply dumb dope "First 48 Freestyle", it was clear Boldy and Al weren't playing around with this project and they weren't. Filled with bleak and melancholy production that enhances the atmosphere of the album, Boldy spits narratives of the drug game and the cold streets on scintillating cuts like the opener, the trap-happy sounding "Double Hockey Sticks", "Turpentine", and "EPMD" (trust me, this has zero to do with Erick & Parrish Making Dollars).  His storytelling abilities aren't to be slept on either such as the case with "Illegal Search & Seizure", but his macroscopic first-hand accounts on cuts like the closer, "Drug Zone", and "Flight Risk" are compelling and really make you dwell in his shoes and see what he sees.   Capitalizing off their...ahem...chemistry from previous efforts like My 1st Chemistry Set, BOLDFACE, and The Price of Tea in China, BO JACKSON may be even a little grittier than the aforementioned efforts.  Boldy's highly street-laced narratives over Alchemist's unbelievable boardwork makes these two one of the best emcee/producer marriages in hip-hop currently going.  Their much-anticipated reunion will drop in 2026, and based upon past history, you can believe it will be another sensational win for the pair.

93. Bronze Nazareth & Apollo Brown

Funeral For A Dream (2025)

Production: Apollo Brown

Guests: N/A

When it comes to producers from the D (Detroit, that is), nobody is more aligned with the Detroit sound than the late, great J DIlla. Heralded amongst the greatest hip-hop beatsmiths of all-time, Dilla left a legacy that few have even been able to be in distance with. However, in the case of the likes of Black Milk and Apollo Brown, they have made for worthy apprentices to the heir of Dilla Dawg. In the case of the latter, his boom-bap soul has lent its niche to everyone from Skyzoo (the incredible The Easy Truth) to Guilty Simpson (Dice Roll), Joell Ortiz (Mona Lisa), Planet Asia (Anchovies and Sardines), O.C. (Trophies), Ras Kass (Blasphemy), and Philmore Greene (Cost Of Living).  In 2025, you could add two more names to this already impressive list. The first being Bronze Nazareth and the other being Ty Farris. With the former, the one-time Wu-Tang affiliate and Wisemen member (R.I.P. Kevlaar 7), he and Apollo grew up together in the D. Bronze has stripes in the game with albums such as his most noted piece, The Great Migration, as well as his collab with Roc Marci, Ekphrasis, and Termanology for Things I Seen. The time seemed right for these two to make a full-length together, and it damn sure delivered in the form of Funeral for A Dream.  Apollo doesn't fall short of haunting samples and thick percussion on cuts like "Banshee Walk", the philosophical "Blue Albacore", and "Wheels of Misfortune". Even when Apollo goes drum-less, he shines likewise on the cuts "Right There", which delves into Bronze describing a friend he has that had the world in his hands and screwed it all up with stupid decisions, and "The Quiet Years", which is a testament to making it and overcoming. Both are tracks all of us can relate to in some sort of fashion.  On deeper cuts, the melancholy vibes take over and they have Bronze at his most honest and raw. With "Meeting In The Clouds", he dedicates the somber track to his deceased brother, Kevlaar, and holds him down as a true sibling should, while "Enough Lord" has Bronze showing the wear and tear of his life and how frustrated he has become over a snapping track with a fitting gospel sample going along with the thick drum kicks.  While Bronze slightly lightens things up in terms of subject matter on cuts like "Smorgasbord" and "Lavender", Funeral For A Dream counts as yet another big win for Apollo and showed Bronze's talents behind the mic just as much as one would expect from him behind the boards.  Could this be considered Bronze's best effort to date? Absolutely.  Have we seen the best of what Bronze can bring still? Chances are we may be just getting started, especially with albums from he and Apollo like this one.

92. Conway the Machine

Won't He Do It (2023)

Production: Daringer, Conductor Williams, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Khrysis, JR Swiftz, Graymatter, Juicy J, E. Jones, others

Guests: Westside Gunn, 7XVETHEGENIUS, Jae Skeeze, Ransom, Goosebytheway, Dave East, Benny the Butcher, Fabolous, Sauvce Walka, Juicy, others

Many had scoffed that 2023 wasn't as critically acclaimed of a year as previous years have been for them.  While there may be a small bit of truth to that, it's more the exception than the rule.  The music they did put out, however, was FAR from wack folks.  Perhaps the most overall bumping of any of the Griselda projects was Conway's follow-up to his INCREDIBLE Shady release, God Don't Make Mistakes, Won't He Do It. Although this slightly lacks the purposely confessional and somber lane of GDMM, this is still a very cohesive effort that still has Conway bringing raw honesty in his music.  Instead of moody, dark production like what we heard on GDMM, this is still very street, but occasional radio touchups are present here as well such as the powerful J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League-produced "Kanye" "The Chosen", and the southern bounce of "Super Bowl". It's no secret that Conway has been expanding his sound and his rap stylings, thus cuts like the aforementioned venture into trap and radio overtones.  However, Machine is still gutter, and cuts like "Brick Fare", the Graymatter-produced "Tween Cross Tween", and the crazy "Monogram" all exhibit this, as gunpowder is still in the Buffalo air on these cuts.  Other cuts like "Kill Judas", "the Gunn-assisted "Brucifix", and the ominous collab with Ransom "Stab Out" are customary Conway with threatening rhymes over very gritty production from Daringer and frequent collaborator, JR Swiftz.  Having one of his most prolific runs currently with numerous features and efforts in 2023, Conway is nowhere close to tired.  With SFK that dropped in 2024 along with other follow-ups such as his excellent collaborative effort with Conductor Williams, Conductor Machine, his label Drumwork's first compilation album, and '25's outstanding, Can't Kill God With Bullets, Conway was on a takeover, and Won't He Do It showed that Conway had earned the right to belong on your top ten favorite emcees list.

91. Gangrene

Heads I Win, Tails You Lose (2024)

Production: artist

Guests: Evidence, Boldy James, ANHKLEJOHN

The duo of Alchemist and Oh No are one that are as unconventional as they are supplemental to each other.  While Uncle Al has emerged as one of the game's all-time best producers over the last twenty-five years, Oh No has slowly been creeping up to the level of his brilliant brother, Madlib, on the boards himself. As emcees, both guys are fair enough on the mic to hold their own with others.  Their first album together as Gangrene was Gutter Water in 2010, and this displayed their decent collaborative chemistry with plenty of fire to hold you down while getting as high and drunk as you needed to be.  This was similar on their follow-up, Vodka & Ayahuasca, which was even more psychedelic and multicolored in texture and production than their debut.  Follow these up with their EPs of Odditorium, their outstanding collaborative effort with Roc Marciano, Greneburg, and the searing, You Disgust Me, and clearly Gangrene became a duo to not sleep on whatsoever. After nine long years apart, Dr. No and Uncle Al decided to give it another shot, as they reunited on Alchemist's Flying High 2 EP with the cut "Royal Hand" (that also appears on this new album). This cut was the official reintroduction of the duo, and the announcement was made that the album was coming. They finally delivered 2024's Heads I Win, Tails You Lose, and they were clearly back to their high, drunk, left-field, and psychedelic best.  Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this album is how much Oh No stepped up on the boards, to the point where, in cases like cuts such as "Cloud Surfing", the opener "Congratulations You Lose", and "Watch Out" are sounds that one would mistakenly believe Al put together.  Sonically, this is their best work together since Greneburg, and that's a high bar.  Both emcees/producers bring a vibe of murky, hallucinogenic, and bizarre production that works very way possible.  Of course, Al delivers his brand of outstanding and wonderfully cooked production on cuts like "Dinosaur Jr.", the Evidence-assisted "Magic Dust", and "Muffler Lung", but Oh No, as was previously mentioned, easily ranks right with him on the tracks he constructs like the aforementioned tracks, as well as the spacey first dingle, "Oxnard Water Torture".  On the mic, Alan and Michael show themselves as sharp as they've ever been known to do.  Their chemistry (ahem) is in sync, and they definitely play off each other's imagery of being zooted and witty at the same time.  This is apparent on cuts like "Espionage", the aforementioned "Royal Hand", and "You Should Join the Army".  They get help from the likes of AHNKLEJOHN ("The Gates of Hell") and Boldy James ("Just Doing Art") and these guests help enhance the talents of the two and neither one gets outshined.  In the spirit of Gutter Water with the unconventional boom-bap of Vodka & Ayahuasca and the straight-forward nature of You Disgust Me, Heads I Win, Tails You Lose was a fantastic conglomerate of the previously mentioned. Alchemist had a particularly busy year in 2024, and one of the best efforts he put his foot in was this one, only he had his cohort Oh No riding shotgun right with him to deliver an effort that reminded heads from ten years ago that this was a duo that simply couldn't go wrong, and you don't have to be stoned in order to enjoy them.

90. Larry June, 2 Chainz, & The Alchemist

Life Is Beautiful (2025)

Production: The Alchemist

Guests: N/A

If there's one thing we learned about Larry June from his past few releases is that he's among the most relatable hustlers around. His laid-back flow provides virtual instruction manuals of how to make it and the importance of the grind. This was especially apparent with his joint album with producer extraordinaire, The Alchemist, for 2023's The Great Escape, an excellent soundtrack for those that didn't mind hearing the ropes of how to succeed but also the results of that hard work.  In 2025, these two came back together for the same type of game and luxury living. The only thing is now they had someone join them on this grind. ATL legend, 2 Chainz, collaborated with them, and the result was Life Is Beautiful.  Typically, when one thinks of the artists formerly known as Tity Boi, they see his ridiculously trunk-rattling releases such as B.O.A.T.S., Pretty Girls Love Trap Music, Rap or Go to The League, and 2022's Dope Don't Sell Itself, in which his trap stylings were as synonymous with dirty south culture as anyone else during his peak.  That's not to say he doesn't still have that same drive and determination as he did almost twenty years ago by any means. In fact, it steps up in ways we haven't heard in a long time just by teaming up with LJ and flowing over Uncle Al production that relies on laid-back melodies, luxurious atmospheres, and overall easy listening.  The first single, "I Been", is an example of what type of chemistry LJ and 2C have together on the mic, as their styles, while initially complex, ends up being a worthy tag team cohesion.  Over the type of production you can sip champagne to on a yacht on a warm sunny day, these two boast about self-care, getting healthy, and being successful.  This is basically the theme of the album as a whole, and very rarely do they stray away from this lane.  One such example is "Bad Choices", in which Al provides a great vocal soul sample and strings that sound halfway ominous.  LJ and 2C paint pictures of the good life while looking for women that made...well...bad choices.  This cavalier attitude of riches, luxury, and grinding is represented in impressive ways on cuts like "Munyon Canyon", "Epiphany", and especially the flute-showered title track.  However, sexual escapades aren't very far off the menu either. Take "Jean Prouvé" for instance, as 2 Chainz especially goes back to his nature of menage a trois jump-offs and juggling thirsty women in all of his ghetto classiness.  They spit about showing off and making the most out of their hustle on "LLC", but they take it to the south with the dumb bouncy "Any Day, in which they aren't afraid to boast about driving with expired tags because they have their lawyer riding with them.  While hearing LJ over these types of Alchemist productions isn't new at all, hearing Chainz spit over them was different, yet worked well. If LJ was the attitude of the duo, Chainz was the mascot. He was easily the look and aura of the project, while LJ's grown man-styled bars represented the foundation of the effort. With Life Is Beautiful, Larry June, 2 Chainz, and Uncle Al dropped an album full of grown man raps to learn from in terms of what success looks like. However, they also deliver an album that equally relishes in the flowers of what they have earned throughout their careers.  For Alan the Chemist, this was just another example of why he is in an entire class by himself in today's hip-hop production world.

89. Skyzoo

Keep Me Company (2024)

Production: JR Swiftz, MarcNfinit, Vader, others

Guests: Chuck D, J Rose

It's no question that one of BK's esteemed lyricists, Skyzoo, has one of the game's most undeniable discographies.  With every album, mixtape, and EP he drops, Sky keeps elevating his mystique and reputation as one of the most gifted emcees over the past decade and a half.  Efforts such as his debut with Grammy Award-winning producer, 9th Wonder, Cloud 9: The 3 Day High, The Salvation, Music For My Friends, the Apollo Brown-blessed, The Easy Truth, the excellent Pete Rock- collaborative piece, Retropolitan, his magnum opus, All The Brilliant Things, and 2023's fantastic conceptual epic, The Mind Of A Saint, all are exemplary projects that exhibit Sky's knack for cutting rhymes that are sensible, thought-provoking, well-crafted, and conversational.  With average albums of his, there's usually a point or an ideal that he comes with for every project. He dove into gentrification on All the Brilliant Things, conjuring the character of Franklin Saint of Snowfall on The Mind of a Saint, and growing up in Brooklyn and wanting to make it on Music for My Friends.  In 2024, he dropped the deluxe edition of TMOAS with eight outstanding cuts that kept the story of Franklin going.  However, the word was dropped that he was entering the booth for another full-length album, named Keep Me Company.  The album saw the light of day in the fourth quarter of 2024, and once again, Sky steps his game up with grown-man hip-hop that centers around evolving as a man but realizing, in the words of Benny The Butcher, everybody can't go.  The loneliness of growing up can be a hurdle. When you feel you're expanding your mind beyond your current friends and contemporaries. Sky goes into this topic and handles it with relative ease and precision.  The lead-off single, "Courtesy Call" featuring the legendary Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, Chuck D of Public Enemy, providing the hook to this knocking cut, is a cut that shows that Sky's awareness is sharp and clear about community issues and the need to "stand down" when it comes to beef.  Obviously, being a Brooklynite, he has seen some of the roughest imagery one could see, and it's made him deeply appreciative of his growth. The opener, "Community Service" is one such example, as he calls on his community to help with our issues and become a family, while "Home Away from Home" illustrates those that still want you around even when you're not in the same mind state you were once in.  This is reflected also on the cut "Prayers for the Customers", in which we hear him advise those that have overcome their issues to not succumb to them all over again, even if that means changing your environment.  Sky makes it a point to find perseverance in the midst of the changes you're going through, and to stay true to it, even when it feels conflicting and confusing.  This comes across especially poignant on the track "Esoteric", in which he demonstrates how much of a battle it can be to not go back to the ways you have made it past.  With "Wins of The Father", he pins a thank you to his father, as well as to his own son to demonstrate that greatness, although not perfect, is earned and has great pride with it. As for the musically stylish "Jazz in The Projects", Sky wraps up this blissful album with a message of hope for those that are going through internal strife that only they fight through alone.  Being able to experience growth through self-awareness is not easy, but as he paints on Keep Me Company, Sky wasn't afraid to be vulnerable if it means sharing his personal experiences as a form of wisdom for those that are at a crossroads with themselves.  Sky continued his outstanding momentum as one of the games most prolific and consistent emcees of his generation with another album that will be remembered very highly.

88. Rapsody

Please Don't Cry (2024)

Production: Blk Odyssey, E. Jones, Eric G. Hit-Boy, S1, others

Guests: Alex Isley, Erykah Badu, Amber Nabren, Phylicia Rashad, Baby Tate, Lil Wayne, Nicole Bus, others

When it comes to NC emcees, the first name that comes to mind is J. Cole, and rightfully so.  However, another name that needs to be directly up there with him is Snow Hill native, Marlena Evans, otherwise known as Rapsody.  Compared to the legendary MC Lyte for over a decade plus, Rap has delivered some of the most incredible releases over the past fifteen years.  The Jamla artist has been known for heralded mixtapes/EPs such as Thank H.E.R. Later, The Black Mamba, She Got Game, and Crown. Her full-length debut, The Idea of Beautiful, was a fantastic look at what beauty looks like from ideal to practical imagery in all its soulful wonder.  Her 2017 Jamla/Roc Nation debut, Leila's Wisdom, was simply astounding. Many critics and fans alike have regarded as a legit hip-hop classic and even compared it to the likes another all-time great, To Pimp A Butterfly (ironic considering she guested on that album as well).  She followed that masterpiece up with an album that was easily as outstanding, the proudly pro-woman, Eve, and showed all of her contemporaries that she was one of the game's most compelling lyricists.  Her topics typically are as relatable to men as they are to women for the most part, and her around-the-way-homegirl vibe has always made her come across as approachable and grounded.  Five years removed from Eve, she's gone through some professional and personal changes.  She's not associated with mentor 9th Wonder anymore, at least not musically, and she's also endured loss, betrayal, and the pains of self-discovery.  All of these were addressed on her 2024 offering, Please Don't Cry.  The album starts out with a therapy session with none other than the iconic actress, Dr. Phylicia Rashad, overseeing the session.  Very much resembling Kendrick Lamar's Mr. Morale & The High Steppers, this is very much a sonic counseling session in which not only is Dr. Rashad her therapist, but we as listeners are as well.  We get Rap at her most introspective and painfully honest throughout the album. The first single, the snapping Hit-Boy charged "Asteroids", is among the few lighthearted cuts on the album. Lighthearted as in not as deep as the majority of the album, but don't get it twisted, it's clear she has stuff on her mind she needs to let off.  Within this album, she tackles areas she really has s trayed away from or minimized for the most part such as God, her sexuality, domestic violence, heartbreak, and mental illness.  The common element through all these topics is vulnerability, which she courageously displays in many of the brightest moments on the album.  The first track after the intro, "Marlena", is an excellent introduction musically to what we can expect from this release.  It's her rapping about all of her complexities, insecurities, aggravations, and transparency.  From here, we get the cut "Look What You've Done", which has her examining her place within the game by going after male fans that uplift her name by downing more sexually driven rappers.  Also, on "Stand Tall", she addresses things such as her rumored sexuality and her anxiety over a melancholy guitar loop, while addressing self-sensual pleasures on "Lonely Woman", which has sentiments of masturbation that are as bold as they are likely liberating.  She continues her dive into her own consciousness with cuts like the odes to her relationship with the Most High, "God's Light" and the ever soulful "Faith", but explores more hurtful and painful topics such as the gripping collab with the wonderful Alex Isley, "Loose Rocks", which has her painfully describing her plight with her loved one's dementia. Meanwhile, on "That One Time", she openly confesses her first time experimenting with the same sex and how she felt afterwards in quite an auspicious moment on the album.  She turns the volume up on her emotions and becomes more fired up on cuts like the police brutality-cut "He Shot Me" and the highly angst, "Diary of A Mad Black Bitch". Of course, her views of relationships and all her personal knowledge of their ups and downs are highlighted on cuts like the Erykah Badu-assisted, "3AM" and the honest, yet very empathetic, "A Ballad For Homegirls", and "DND", but don't think she's forgotten about the rhyme animal within her, as she goes for broke on cuts like the Lil' Wayne-assisted, "Raw", and her venture into trap-inspired production with "Back In My Bag".  It's not often we get hip-hop albums as raw, open, and vulnerable as what Rapsody presented with Please Don't Cry. Examining more about Marlena than her emcee alter-ego, this album was her own diary that we all got blessed to be able to hear, feel, and absorb.  By the end of this album, it was clear, as outstanding of an emcee as Rapsody is, Marlena Evans is just as human and perfectly complex as the rest of us.

87. Planet Asia & Apollo Brown

Sardines (2023)

Production: Apollo Brown

Guests: Ty Farris, Sick Jacken, Marv Won, Tristate

It's very safe to say Detroit's Apollo Brown is one of the game's most exceptional producers within this generation.  Compared to the likes of a Detroit version of 9th Wonder (the Grammy Award winning 9th Wonder mind you), Apollo has quite the discography in his own right, putting out yearly material that easily are in best year-end album conversations.  His work with the likes of Skyzoo (The Easy Truth), Guilty Simpson (Dice Roll), Joell Ortiz (Mona Lisa), Locksmith (No Question), O.C. (Trophies), Ras Kass (Blasphemy), and Philmore Greene (Cost of Living) are just bananas and show his penchant for soul samples and slick to dusty drum kicks work profoundly.  Not to mention his compilations of Grandeur and Sincerely, Detroit especially highlighted his production with various dumb dope emcees flowing over them.  Another emcee he's worked with in the past was Cali underground legend, Planet Asia.  Their previous effort, 2017's Anchovies, provided enough bump to keep heads plenty satisfied for that year and was definitely among the best projects that year.  They reunited in 2023 for their second album together, Sardines.  As much of a heat seeker as Anchovies was, Sardines was even hotter. Cuts like the chills-inducing "Fly Anomalies", "Panama Sun", and the Tristate-assisted "Wizardry" were all tailor-made for the lyrical sharpness of Asia while also capitalizing off his ability to adopt to any production style and body it.  Asia continues to verbally shine on that mic and how mean that pen game is. Apollo, on the other hand, provided even better soundscapes for Asia to rhyme over.  While many may scoff over the occasional drum-less production Apollo sends him, it doesn't negate the SICK nature of the music within it.  Highlights include the insane "Peas & Onions" (Apollo used the same sample Harry Fraud used for Dave East's "Diamonds" to CRAZY results), the Raekwon-sampled "Get the Dough Off", the Ty Farris-assisted "88 S-Curl", and "Jungle Juice" and trust and believe, the rest of the album is right in tune with these cuts.  Quite easily, Sardines is in the top echelon of both men's careers and hopefully we get more from this duo.

86. Saba & No I.D.

From The Private Collection Of... (2025)

Production: No I.D.

Guests: Raphael Saadiq, Kelly Rowland, BJ The Chicago Kid, Eryn Allen Kane, others

The youthful, yet old soul, insight from Chi-town's Saba is quite intriguing and impressive.  His ability to tap into real issues and relevant cultural topics have him beyond his peer group in a lot of ways. Mix that with a very good pen game and his double-time melodic stylings and we have a classic midwestern star on our hands. While he was somewhat known with his PIVOT GANG crew, as well as his debut album, Bucket List Project, it was his outstanding 2018 offering, Care For Me, that garnered Saba tremendous acclaim.  The album was a real and human look at grief, depression, anger, and hope all brought together by the unfortunate death of cousin, and PIVOT GANG member, John Walt, and officially placed Saba on a lot of people's collective radars.  Following up an album of that incredible magnitude would not be easy, but in the case of 2022's Few Good Things, it came very close.  Not nearly as grey themed as Care For Me, it still hit on a central image of appreciating the simpler things in life and valuing them.  Aside from a PIVOT GANG album in 2019, You Can't Sit with Us, we didn't get a lot more music from Saba. However, that changed when we started getting talk about a collab effort with Chicago production legend and Grammy Award-winner, No I.D., for a joint album. No I.D.'s discography of who he has linked up with reads as a who's who such as Nas, Jay-Z (4:44), Killer Mike for his modern classic, Michael, of 2024, and of course, Common, with whom he had been working with since Com's debut, Can I Borrow a Dollar, in '92.  Not to mention his own solo debut, the heavily slept-on, yet excellent effort, Accept Your Own & Be Yourself: The Black Album showed that he could handle a mic on his as well. The leaks of "Head Rap" and the especially impressive, "How to Impress God", were causing steam to heat up about this possible effort. Originally slated to be a mixtape, this effort ended up becoming a full-length, and after dropping "Weight of The World", the official announcement came that the album, From the Private Collection of Saba & No I.D., was real and was coming. Once it hit in 2025, the album received a lot of acclaim and rightfully so.  The aforementioned singles were enough to be excited, but they didn't do anything but scratch the surface.  We get a great idea of how the remainder of the album will turn out with the opener, the BJ The Chicago Kid and Eryn Allen Kane-assisted, "Every Painting Has A Price", in which we have Saba detailing his upbringing and his goals to be in the rap game, but also details perils that he's had to overcome, including his own mental health.  This kind of introspection is both open and confident.  He doesn't shy away from his insecurities nor his struggles, but he also takes the time to smell his own roses and acknowledges his skilled abilities.  The short, yet to the point, "Stop Playin' Wit Me" is a humble brag of sorts that displays his comfortability of who he is, even to the point of not going outside unless it's with a robe on with slippers. He keeps up this confidence and almost braggadocios appeal on other cuts like "Acts 1.5", but is not afraid to go the charming, romantic route on cuts like the bopping collab with Raphael Saadiq and Kelly Rowland, "Crash", "Stomping", and the Ibeyi duet, "Reciprocate". When it comes to his complicated life, he uses allegory and metaphors to deliver his points in clever fashion at times. Case in point would be the Ogi-assisted, "Big Picture", which has Saba using photography references to critique his life, especially with the fame.  By the time we hit the closing cut, the Ogi, Smino, and Love Mansuy-collaborated, "A Few Songs", Saba's unapologetic self-awareness also bleeds over into an honest opinion of how his life has gone and a shoutout to his home of the Chi, which raised him, whether good or bad, and cultivated him into the man and emcee he has become. With From The Private Collection Of Saba & No I.D., Saba sounded as confident and self-assured as we had ever heard him. From the somber, yet amazingly gripping, vibes of Care For Me to rediscovering his identity and sense of self on Few Good Things, he has emerged as a young emcee that has the world in his hands and is not afraid to tackle everything that comes with it at his own pace and in his own vision. As for No I.D., his knack for soulful loops, melodic textures, and tremendous usage of various instruments has placed him among the most consistent and influential producers of the past thirty years.  Hopefully, this is just the first of several collabs to come from these two distinctive Chi-town representatives.

85. Kid Abstrakt

Higher Vibration EP (2022)

Production: PK Beatz, Phoniks, others

Guests: N/A

Los Angeles native, Kid Abstrakt, is one that's under most people's radars, and honestly shouldn't be.  With a throwback to west coast easy going acts such as People Under The Stars, Jurassic 5, and Pharcyde, Abstrakt is a very mellow emcee who's often times very PG with his his content and lyricism.  In 2018, he delivered his debut, Daydreaming, complete with jazzy production and laid-back rhymes. He returned in 2020 with Jazzy Vibes, which was a tad more street sounding, but still heavy with jazzy production and easy-going undertones.  He returned in 2022 with his EP, Higher Vibration. Abstrakt has a laid-back and mellow delivery that rivals old school LA emcees like Slim Kid Tre of The Pharcyde, and it makes the listener just steadily bob their head to the easygoing, yet inviting, production. Cuts like "Timeless" and "Feel this" are simply about bars and beats: no muss, no fuss. A back-to-basics approach is what it's about with him, not to mention another profanity-free project just like Jazzy Vibes was as well.  With the closer, "Imagine", he goes into introspective mode and tackles topics such as God, family, and peace (or the lack thereof).  Cuts like these are refreshing and deep without being too over-the-top preachy and with similar jazzy aesthetics like his previous work. Filled with more of the same aforementioned themes while also bringing forth positivity and optimism, Abstrakt is definitely an emcee that one could listen to around their parents or children, as his PG stylings make his brand of hip-hop very comfortable yet still very legit, and Higher Vibration was an example of feelgood hip-hop that can be both dope and relaxing in today's age.

84. Philmore Greene & Apollo Brown

Cost Of Living (2022)

Production: Apollo Brown

Guests: Evidence

When one mentions impeccable and undefeated producers in hip-hop right now, it's hard to not include Detroit's Apollo Brown in the conversation.  For over a decade, Apollo has been supplying heat with his brand of soulful samples and thumping percussion, very similar in approach to the likes of 9th Wonder, and he has collaborated with the likes of O.C., Guilty Simpson, Planet Asia, Joell Ortiz, Che Noir, Journalist, Skyzoo, and Locksmith for overall blistering efforts.  Of course, his own compilation albums of Grandeur and Sincerely Detroit remain in rotation as well with being phenomenal efforts themselves.  This time around, he assists up-and-coming Chicago emcee, Philmore Green, with 2022's Cost Of Living.  This was a rather moody, somber, and melancholy effort that painfully illustrated the pressures and hardships of modern-day life over some of the most flawless Apollo production heard to date. On cuts like the excellent first single, "Steep Life", "Day on the Ave", and "Time Goes", they exemplify Greene's narratives that are relatable and highlight strife in such real and open ways.  Greene's minimal optimism coupled with Apollo's unbelievable makes this a big win for both.  On the especially gripping "Just Imagine", he dives into a true story about a friend of his that lost her son to the streets and how one would feel being in her shoes to go through such trauma.  Over an emotional sample from Apollo, it touches, grips, and doesn't let go. Also, on the amazing "This Is Me", he details going through trauma at an early age and how it ended up shaping him growing up and eventually becoming a father.  Meanwhile on the equally compelling "Promises", Greene divides the cut into halves. The first half has him painting a picture of the daily trials living in the hood and how if you have the chance to get out, do so. The other half is especially powerful as he narrates a scene of a shootout that ends in heartbreaking, yet all too familiar, territory. Other cuts like "Immaculate", "Free" and "Nice To Meet You" are some examples of how excellent of a pen game Greene has and how Apollo needs TODAY to be mentioned among the best producers of the past decade and beyond. Basically, Cost Of Living was parts educational, parts empathetic, and parts engaging. As a whole, it's one of the decade's most needed projects.  This was a top to bottom feeler and serves among the best Apollo projects ever.

83. Conway The Machine

SFK (Slant Faced Killah) (2024)

Production: Daringer, Conductor Williams, The Alchemist, Cool & Dre, Camouflage Monk, Swizz Beats, Sadhugold, Cardo, Beat Butcha, others

Guests: Jay Worthy, T.F., Ab-Soul, 2-Eleven, Raekwon, Tech N9ne, Method Man, Swizz Beats, Joey Bada$$, Key Glock, Flee Lord, Larry June, Stove God Cook$, others

We've pointed out that, when it comes to the three-headed monster that goes along with Griselda, Benny is the star, Gunn is the style, and Conway The Machine is the attitude.  Conway's brash, yet no-nonsense, straightforward flow and delivery, is a big reason why he's so in-demand.  Always spitting with an urgency, mixed with menacing threats and imagery, Conway has his own story to tell about what all he's gone through, notably him nearly dying from being shot years ago and leaving him with Bell's Palsy.  He's also quite the prolific emcee and writer as well.  Putting out an average of two to three efforts per year, Conway doesn't know any days off.  In 2024, his biggest offering came in the form of SFK (Slant Face Killah).  Originally slated to be "Side B" of his aforementioned 2023 album, Won't He Do It, he decided to make the project a whole new identity, and make it more customary and traditional Conway, whereas Won't He Do It was somewhat underwhelming due to the lack of hardcore, gritty tracks Conway is typically known for by critics (although personally, I don't think they listened to the right album because the grit sand  grime are definitely there).  We get a true return to form with SFK, and this was apparent with the introductory cut from the album, "Give & Give", as well as his collab with Joey Bada$$, "Vertino". However, it does get grittier from here.  We hear glimpses of Devil's Reject Conway on cuts such as "Milano Nights Pt. 1" and the cold Stove God-collaborated, "Mutty", in which his rhymes of shootings, violence, and how he's the man out here on these streets sound as authentic as anything you'll hear from Conway.  Of course he wouldn't be him without offering plenty of shit talking, and he does so in abundance. He also experiments with sounds here, as lately he's been in his 808 bag, spitting over trap-inspired, bass-heavy production, and he continues this on cuts like the Key Glock-assisted, "Ten", the sizzling Tech N9ne-collaborated, "Raw", and "Dasani", but it all goes back to the boom-bap and the sinister production such as the crazy collab with Larry June, "Kim Xpress", the west coast all-star posse cut, "Surf & Turf" with T.F., 2 Eleven, Jay Worthy, and especially a show-stealing verse from Ab-Soul, the knocking "Meth Back" with SK, Flee Lord, and the legend the cut is named after, Method Man, and the dumb dope Alchemist-crafted cut "The Red Moon In Osaka", which features a monologue closer by the almighty Raekwon The Chef saluting Conway for his accomplishments and successes.  While it's a bit odd that there was no Gunn, Benny, Rome, Armani, Boldy, or anyone from Griselda on this release (unless you do count Worthy), it doesn't take away from how mean this album is.  Noticeably less accessible than Won't He Do It yet not as introspective and personal as his apex God Don't Make Mistakes from 2022, Slant Face Killah conjured up memories of old Conway fireballs such as Reject 2, Look What I've Become, From King to A God, and G.O.A.T.  Conway is still trying to expand his audience, thus the bouncy, 808-inspired cuts here, but the grimy nature of Conway is still prevalent here, and The Machine proves again why he's been such a valued and important of the Griselda family.

82. Nas

King's Disease (2020)

Production: Hit-Boy

Guests: Charlie Wilson, Hit-Boy, Big Sean, Don Toliver, The Firm, Anderson.Paak, others

After the grossly underwhelming response to his prior album, Nasir, with Kanye in 2018, Nas could've easily fell back and just let a few years go by to plot his next move in hopes people would forget the seemingly rushed effort of Nasir. Nope. He got right back in the rat race and got up with Cali production wunderkind, Hit-Boy, to deliver 2020's King's Disease, a thirteen-track platter of what we would typically expect from Nas and then some.  Nas sounds refreshed and revitalized on this album. With the first single, "Ultra Black", Hit-Boy delivers a simple stripped back beat with enough head nodding to make this a bumper.  The cut dissects the multi-layered celebrations and acknowledgments of the color black, from our race to our complexions (the dig towards Doja Cat was a little confusing though).  His affirmations for his Black kings and queens are prevalent all throughout the album, in spite of moments where it can come across questionable. During this time, Nas had allegations of abuse from his ex-wife Kelis that, although addressed in a LOOOOONG social media rebuttal, never made it on bigger platforms for anyone to decipher or even truly care about.  Thus, cuts like the Anderson.Paak-assisted, "All Bad", and the Big Sean and Don Tolliver-featured, "Replace Me", come off dope but still a bit tone deaf for its time, as these cuts have them rapping about how they're irreplaceable or seemingly bitter break up dialog.  Whether or not these cuts are loosely about Ms. Rogers is another story. However, on "Til the War Is Won", a surprisingly charming collab with Chi-town's Lil' Durk, salutes Black women in a way that almost rivals 2Pac's "Keep Ya Head Up" in terms of vulnerability and openness, especially when he wishes God would've taken his father, jazz great Olu Dara, instead of his mother.  Aside from these matters, he travels down nostalgia lane quite often as well, as evidenced on cuts like "Car #85", "27 Summers", and "Blue Benz", and it fits his role of showing his love and acknowledgement to all people and experiences he's encountered over the years.  He also teaches the masses on "10 Points", in which he makes it known that a regular dude can still succeed and that one doesn't have to be a street cat to survive, but perhaps the biggest surprise on the album is the reunion of The Firm, which was a supergroup that consisted of Nas, AZ, Foxy Brown, and Cormega (Nature ended up replacing Cormega in the group which led to a physical confrontation between Mega and Nate) on the cut, "Full Circle", which also has the almighty doctor, Dr. Dre, throwing in some adlibs at the end over a knocking beat.  As Nas closes with the split beat of "The Cure", Nas reminds us of the greatness that he's capable of when tuned in and fully focused.  As a result of the hard work and effort put into King's Disease, the QB emcee won his long overdue Grammy for Best Rap Album in 2021, as he should have.  Hit-Boy brought a new fire that was left behind since Nas' dumb dope Life Is Good, and while this series would only get better with the second and third installments, the first of the series was damn good all in itself.

81. MIKE

Showbiz! (2025)

Production: artist, Thelonious Martin, others

Guests: 454, others

Not a lot of emcees today out of NY have been on the kind of bubbling momentum MIKE has been on. Known for his often misinterpreted "lazy"-esque delivery and a commanding baritone, MIKE has delivered some very damn impressive albums that range from fairly abstract to deeply personal, much like contemporaries such as Earl Sweatshirt, Navy Blue, Wiki, and MAVI.  Such albums like 2018's War with My Pen, 2019's depressing, yet very, very good Tears of Joy, 2021's Disco!, and especially his breakout album, the simply tremendous Burning Desire all showed how much better MIKE was getting that aforementioned pen, and more confident with his writing and storytelling. Although he varied up his sound at times with producer Tony Seltzer with the Pinball series that had him exploring the NetherRealm of trap production, MIKE's overall sound would vary from soulful samples to left-brained, abstract instrumentation.  The previously mentioned Burning Desire was very evident of this. His acclaim was raised even more when he collaborated with fellow NY spitter, former Ratking emcee, Wiki, for the Alchemist-crafted Faith Is a Rock in 2023.  At the beginning of 2025, MIKE decided to drop his ninth album, Showbiz!, to much anticipation and subsequent acclaim. Much like Burning Desire and his previous album, Beware of The Monkey, he varies with different sounds and samples that he could verbally glide over with his systematic rhyme structure while getting, at times, painfully introspective to resonate with the listener.  The opening single, "Bear Trap". is filled with emotional roller coasters, as he struggles with retrospective wisdom stating, "Dreams of getting rich, I was poor then/now I don't pray for shit except more strength". He bouts of somber openness continues with the likes of "Man in the Mirror", "Watered Down", and "The Weight (2K20)", but also professes to the listener that a lot of people couldn't be able to handle the stresses he faces as a daily entertainer traveling to live a dream. One such track that exemplifies this is "Lucky", which has him detailing how much he overcomes mentally just to live the dream, while on "Clown of The Class", he goes after those that think this hip-hop game is just that...a game.  With "Burning House", MIKE maintains his dedication to this hip-hop artform while people tend to want to leave when it gets too hot (pun intended), however, "You're The Only One" has him exploring his grief over his mother again from Tears Of Joy while letting the listener know that his life is definitely more than money, but instead contains moments of moodiness, regret, and that there's some street in him, reminding us: "Don't let this quick life fool you, I don't live right."  Over mostly woozy and jazz-inspired samples, MIKE goes through day-to-day processes with Showbiz! and clarifies how much this game can be as superficial as it can be lucrative.  While battling his own bouts of grief, depression, and inner turmoil, he also finds moments of confidence, pride, and the will to keep going on. After all, that's how life is at the end of the day, right?

80. Skyzoo & The Other Guys

The Mind of A Saint/Deluxe (2023)

Production: The Other Guys

Guests: N/A

Those familiar with the acclaimed FX show, Snowfall, know about one of the central characters of the show, Franklin Saint.  Played by Damson Idris, Saint is a young man that turned from convenient store clerk to a big deal, successful coke dealer that realizes with more money and more status come more problems.  Obviously, a big fan of the show, Brooklyn's own, Skyzoo, imagines himself as Saint and, along with production duo The Other Guys, brought us 2024's The Mind of a Saint. With previous other exceptional efforts such as his Pete Rock-handled Retropolitan, the Apollo Brown-blessed The Easy Truth, The Salvation, Music for My Friends, In Celebration of Us, and 2021's All the Brilliant Things, this one may be conceptually the most special and intriguing.  This album has Sky portraying Saint and how Saint would be if he was an up-and-coming emcee, while still trying to leave the street life alone.  It's quite the interesting mental visual as Sky very eloquently spits personifying Saint and actually makes you believe Sky has transformed into him.  Cuts like the bumping "Straight Drop", "Panthers & powder", and the slick "Balancing Act" all demonstrate how Sky envisions Saint struggling between the streets and the booth, a common thing among most hip-hop artists of today.  It's the final two cuts that fully encapsulates the aura of the album in terms of a morality point of view, with the AMAZING sounding "Apologies in Order" and "Purity", both shows humanity and slight bits of vulnerability (the fact that Sky blends Franklin into today's world meeting the father of the late, great Nipsey Hussle). The deluxe edition knocks as an extension but could honestly be its own EP if needed to be. We get into more depth about the complexities of Franklin on cuts like "Cold Kiss" and "My Crescendo" but manages to keep things in its own perspective on the self-convicting, "Give You Anything". Sky and The OGs really delivered with The Mind of a Saint and its deluxe edition.  It's Sky's ability to not only provide insight to those unfamiliar with Saint, but to provide a different look at Saint to those that are familiar, and it's elements like that which makes Skyzoo such an undefeated emcee.

79. Benny The Butcher

Everybody Can't Go (2024)

Production: The Alchemist, Hit-Boy

Guests: Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine, Rick Hyde, Armani Ceaser, Lil Wayne, Jadakiss, Babyface Ray, Stove God Cook$, Rome Streetz

It was seen years ago that Benny The Butcher would be the likely big star to emerge from Griselda. His authentic tales of hustling and surviving had comparisons to the likes of Kool G. Rap and Biggie and that's no small company whatsoever.  One of the three-headed monster that is Griselda, Benny's unapologetic and gritty narratives of the streets came to a higher level with 2019's breakout Tana Talk 3, which was heralded by some as this generation's Reasonable Doubt, which is nothing to sneeze at. Being compared to an all-time classic like that is quite the high praise, but then it was duplicated with the equally crazy The Plugs I Met EP.  As he was becoming more in-demand, he dropped the dumb dope, yet somewhat polarizing, collaborative effort with Grammy Award winning beatsmith, Hit-Boy, Burden Of Proof.  The flack was that the sound was "too mainstream" and "too radio accessible", thus some scoffed at this otherwise tremendous project. Going back to the hood, his subsequent albums of the Harry Fraud-produced Plugs I Met 2, and the searing Tana Talk 3 were more up to the speed critics and fans were used to from The Butcher.  However, Def Jam exec, Snoop Dogg, made it a point to sign Benny to a Def Jam deal through Griselda and his own B$F label.  Many were hesitant in this news, thinking that this next album would resemble Burden Of Proof, but it was said that Hit-Boy and Uncle Al, himself, would man the boards exclusively for his B$F/Griselda/Def Jam debut, 2024's Everybody Can't Go.  Based upon the first released singles and videos, the bouncy, Alchemist-crafted, Lil Wayne-assisted, "Big Dog", and the dumb dope duet with frequent Griselda collaborator, Stove God Cook$, "One Foot In", this was shaping up to be his biggest project to date, and definitely his most accessible. The question was, would it end up still maintaining his defiant street edge or would it be more catered to Billboard than his core fan base?  Once the opening chords of the album's introduction cut, "Jermaine's Graduation", come in, it's clear Benny is aiming to be on another level, yet still not budging from his roots.  the very next track, "Bron" is a clear radio hit with Hit-Boy's bumping production. That's the yin and yang of this album: Hit-Boy's radio ready production complimenting Alchemist's dark, melodic, and soulful loops, thus having Benny explore both sides of his persona.  the more accessible and accepting content shows in tracks like the aforementioned "Bron", the Snoop Dogg-assisted Cali bounce of "Back Again" and the title track's deliberate attempt to in fact get on to that Billboard Top 200.  However, Uncle Al brings that proverbial "tana talk" out of him with scorchers like the vivid standout, "TMVTL", which has Benny dissecting three different stories detailing the themes of trust, loyalty, and dedication, the duet with Armani Caesar, "Buffalo Kitchen Club", and the mandatory Griselda posse cut, "Griselda Express" worth Gunn, Conway, and B$F artist, Rick Hyde.  Benny has definitely hit a new benchmark with Everybody Can't Go, and truthfully, he should.  His crossover appeal is there but still holding true to who he is.  those that were unfairly scoffing at Burden Of Proof may be a be more satisfied with Alchemist's contributions, but longtime fans know they heard the biggest album of Benny's career.  It's always important to never sell your soul for Billboard, and one can believe based off Everybody Can't Go Benny had no problem letting the money go to him instead of him going to the money and the stardom.

78. Navy Blue

Memoires In Armour (2024)

Production: artist, Budgie, Chuck Strangers, Child Actor, Nicholas Craven, Graymatter

Guests: N/A

Cali avant-garde emcee, Navy Blue, is more of the type of emcee that will make you think AND feel.  While very few remember his initial turnouts from the late tens such as Soul Golden and According To The Waterbearer, he did strike gold with his fantastic effort of 2020, Song Of Sage: Post Panic!  From there, he dropped very good releases such as Ada Irin and True Sky, but it was 2022's Navy's Reprise that further elevated him in terms of acclaim and adulation within west coast underground hip-hop.  He then secured a Def Jam deal in 2023, and dropped the Budgie-produced Ways Of Knowing. Definitely a soulful, introspective experience, Blue was even more personal and raw than before, and the results were certainly engaging.  Although he left Def Jam, it didn't stop his personal and artistic vision.  He reemerged back independent, and in 2024, he delivered Memoires In Armour.  Easily among his most musically stripped down efforts since his early days, Navy lets his emotions through words breathe, as we get a raw and unapologetic glimpse into the mind and heart of Sage Elsesser.  Melancholy at times, yet straight to the point, Navy isn't above being transparent in his approach to subtly preaching about getting better with your life and rising above your thoughts and emotions. If nothing else conveys this message, the opening track, "Take Heed", does and does it well. Over provocative piano keys provided by Budgie, Navy goes through the parallels of life from the timer we are born until we depart.  From here, the focus doesn't shift, but it gets expanded and with layers. Take the first single, "Low Threshold" for example. Child Actor's tremendous production has Navy channeling in to his spirit and examining what matters most in this world: peace or fame? Matters such as God, family, and sustainable joy are crucial for him in this track. He takes solace in allowing God to navigate him on other cuts like "Slow", but it's his facing his demons of depression and self-loathing that make for his most compelling music.  On "Basis", Navy grasps the idea of him navigating through his depression and still believes he can overcome it, no matter how it looks. However, he looks to inspire on the dazzling "Red Roses" and dares the listener to go beyond what your mind conjures in the negative sense. Meanwhile, on the Chuck Strangers- crafted, "Running Sand", Navy paints a grim, yet all to common, picture of fighting with this depression and how even the best of times look impossible, especially when pride becomes the premise and becomes denial.  Very elegantly put together sonically, Navy brought forth some of his most confessional bars on Memoires In Armour, and the result was a spellbinding look at one of hip-hop's most intriguing young emcees that is bringing you more Sage then Navy.  His amazing 2025 offering, The Sword & The Soaring, tackled dealing with grief and sadness by finding solace and power within the tears. In order for one to get there, one has to admit that they're in despair. This soundtrack is what Navy has put together to let the listener know that they're not alone.

77. Westside Gunn

12 (2025)

Production: Daringer, Conductor Williams, Cee Gee, Denny LeFlare, others

Guests: Stove God Cook$, Estee Nack, Brother Tom Sos, Elijah Hooks

Another entry into this list from Alvin Worthy, aka Westside Gunn. The ever-prolific businessman, wrestling promoter, art connoisseur, record label founder, and self-professed "curator" knocked us on our collective asses with his three-part Heels Have Eyes project scattered throughout the year.  The only full-length album he delivered was the aptly titled 12, which is a continuation of his popular Hitler Wears Hermes series. Following up his very acclaimed 2024 offering, Still Praying, Gunn flexes his usual bars over more of the same gutter, ominous, and some of the most screwface-sounding production one could ask for.  Nothing is raised to any higher levels here folks. He's not allowing the listener to be subjected to rocket science. The album is about what he knows the most about: bricks, fashion, the streets, and hustling, with some wrestler name drops scattered within the album and as song titles.  What's notable about this album is that the album has only one solo cut on the album in the form of "Outlander". The rest of the album is guested by frequent Griselda collaborator, Stove God Cook$, new Griselda signee Brother Tom Sos, and Massachusetts underground notable, Estee Nack.  Let's get this out the way: Brother Tom Sos definitely got next. The emcee/producer/singer/songwriter does his thing on the cuts "Health Science" and "Gumbo Yaya" to the point where he may easily be among 2026's most anticipated "new" artists.  From there, Gunn & the gang take care of business on crazy cuts like "Adam Page", "055", and the visceral-sounding Daringer offering, "Veert".  Never shorting his fiends on the coke rap with "Bury Me with A Stove", the track that is perhaps the most surprising is "Dump World", in which we get a surprisingly open and melancholy Gunn shouting out deceased friends and family, yet still finding time to flex his worldly possessions and his haters.  Gunn may not be the breakout star Benny has become or the attitude that Conway embodies, but what he is in fact is the look and feel of Griselda.  The luxurious gangsta that you silently hate but you deep down wish you could be him.  With 12, Gunn only grew his legacy as one of the game's most hard-working emcees and moguls.

76. Little Simz

No Thank You (2022)

Production: Inflo

Guests: N/A

The UK's Little Simz has emerged as one of the single brightest stars from that part of the world and has presented some of the game's most acclaimed and revered albums such as the 2019 Mercury Prize winning, Grey Area, Stillness In Wonderland, and especially the 2022 Mercury Prize winning Sometimes I Might Be An Introvert.  A few weeks away from the end of 2022, she dropped that year's offering in No Thank You.  Raw and honest as always, this album is more of what we had heard from Sometimes...and then some.  With mostly very layered production similar to what you would hear from the likes of thrilling albums like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Late Registration, or even Kendrick's most recent, Mr. Morale & The High Steppers, Simz is a little more about self-affirmation, vindication, and a confidence that was seemingly in discovery on most of her prior albums.  A few of her cuts here like "X", "No Merci", and "Silhouette" are so filled with pride and self-evaluation that you continue to hear Simz' growth as a woman even more so than an emcee.  Choirs and dramatic soundscapes run this album enough for her to come away making the listener root for her and cuts like "Broken" are as vulnerable as it gets and it takes courage that be that self-aware.  With No Thank You, she evolved from a young woman holding on to life's hurts, trying to find her way through, and out of her complexes to showing strength, faith, and a rebirth of a woman who's not gonna stand for what the world and society dish out to her. While it may not quite be the tremendous feet of strength and artistic bravery Sometimes, I Might Be an Introvert is, this effort packs every bit of unapologetic vulnerability and openness to make for quite the journey.  This was another profound victory lap for this exceptional artist.

75. Reuben Vincent & 9th Wonder

Welcome Home (2025)

Production: 9th Wonder

Guests: Ab-Soul, Dinner Party, Kelly Moonstone, Raheem Devaughn, others

Charlotte native, Reuben Vincent, has been a student of 9th Wonder and his Jamla family since he was in high school a few years ago. His debut, Myers Park, showed a young and gifted emcee with promise. Although no real distinctive style or sound with him, he still had a talent that would do nothing but continue to mature and get better.  As time passed, albums such as Boy Meets World and 2024's Love Is War were albums that further showed his skills with the pen and how much of a future he had as an emcee and artist in general.  Earlier in 2025, he and 9th delivered a teaser project for their full-length coming later in the year called Hit Me When You Get Home. The mixtape was dumb dope and presented some of 9th's best work in some time.  If this mixtape was any indication of how their full-length would be, we would be in for a treat, and indeed we did get that treat. Vincent's third full-length, Welcome Home, is a love letter to his hometown, but also a return to his love of the game and where his passion came from in the first place.  The opening cut, "Homecoming", is a very fine opener to bring the listener into his world of remembering his roots over a snapping R&B sampled groove provided by the Grammy Award winner.  Vincent has a personal connection to God and he makes this clear on cuts like "Day By Day" and the Heather Victoria-assisted, "So I Pray", while also appreciating the loveliness of a good solid relationship with charming tracks like "Anything" and the syrupy "Sweet & Good", with Wale-assisting him on the funky "Get It Girl". The album's closer, "In My Life" has Reuben eloquently summarizing his life through all of its ups, downs, and in-betweens over Gap Band's signature cut, "Yearning for Your Love" that Nas, Heavy D (R.I.P.), and Paris all rhymed over as well throughout the years. Another highlight is "Queen City", in which he floats over a reworking of Donell Jones' famed hit, "Where I Wanna Be" and he reminds himself that he must be rooted to what he knows and who he is in very relatable manner.  We've witnessed Reuben Vincent grow from a young boy emerging to a young man continuing to elevate his talent.  With big bro, 9th Wonder. guiding him as an artist and lyricist, Welcome Home served as his best outing yet. His need to always be connected to his roots comes across as genuine and sincere, while also realizing that the rap game can be crazy and hectic. As long as he has the right people and right leadership helping him, Reuben will be just fine, and this album was another indication of the growth of which he has elevated towards.

74. Conway The Machine

Can't Kill God With Bullets (2025)

Production: Daringer, Conductor Williams, The Alchemist, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, AraabMuzik, Beat Butcha, E. Jones, Apollo Brown, others

Guests: KNDRX, Roc Marciano, Tony Yayo, Heather Victoria, others

Much like Griselda head honcho (and brother), Westside Gunn, and cousin, Benny The Butcher, what would a year without Conway be like? It's doubtful you'll ever get that experience, as The Machine has been among the most prolific emcees over the past decade. Every year he has dropped at least one full project, and all or most have been sizzlers.  A very potent discography that consists of monsters such as The Devil's Reject, 2016's Reject 2, The Blakk Tape, From King To A God, the absolutely outstanding offering of 2023, God Don't Make Mistakes, its follow-up, Won't He Do It, and 2024's SFK (Slant Faced Killa). All of which have received lots of acclaim and showed that Conway could certainly hang with any top emcee out here.  Ready to unload more bullets upon the listeners, he delivered 2025's Can't Kill God with Bullets, a sinister, yet open, follow-up to SFK, and man did he deliver.  After the thumping J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League-produced, "Lightning Above the Adriatic Sea", is a victorious cut that has him confidently explaining how much he's proud of what he's accomplished and that he's still not done. This cut, along with the cuts they did on Won't He Do It, make one really anticipate the collab album, KING, in 2026 (hopefully it'll drop).  Afterwards, the single, "BMG", has him solidifying the impact of the Black man within culture and society.  Ever confident and sure of his pen game, he comes through hard on the surprisingly dope Timbaland-produced cut, "Crazy Avery") (whether or not it's an AI beat by him is still up for debate) and the lead-single, one of two Conductor-crafted, "Seventeen5ive". However, Conway wouldn't be true to himself if he wasn't on his gangsta grizzly. He demonstrates his rugged, cold-hearted persona on chilling cuts like the Daringer-blessed, "The Painter", the trap-sounding collab with G Herbo, "Nu Devils", and the ominous, JR Swiftz-crafted, "Otis Driftwood", however, unlike most other albums from him, the album isn't fully drenched in violence, coke bars, gun references, and retaliation.  In fact, the latter part of the album is where he's at his most introspective. The crazy dope, Apollo Brown-concocted, "Never Sleep", has him reflecting upon his ill ways and how, at times, he express remorse for them, while the hitting "Hold Back Tears", has him somberly expressing how much he misses the fallen in his life.  He closes the album expressing what success has meant to him in both the good and the not so good on the Uncle Al-blessed, "Organized Mess" and the snapping, yet very soulful, "Don't Even Feel Real" showing his gratitude, humility, and sometimes unpredictable lifestyle he's garnered over the years.  With other dumb dope blows to the body like the Roc Marci-assisted single, the Conductor-crafted, "Diamonds", the Tony Yayo-assisted, "Hell Lets Loose", and "Persian Nights", Conway has delivered his best overall project since God Don't Make Mistakes with Can't Kill God With Bullets. That's certainly not a knock whatsoever on SFK nor Won't He Do It, but one can tell that the same focus and patience he had to deliver the album of his career with GDMM is relevant to CKGWB, and when it comes to his success, don't even think The Machine is anywhere close to slowing down. In fact, with rumors of a LULU 2 with Uncle Al, Reject 4 (his much discussed REJ3CT has been leaked to the public with INCREDIBLE acclaim), the aforementioned KING with J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, and possibly Hall & Nash 3 with Gunn all in 2026, get comfortable with Conway, for he isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

73. Evidence

The Unlearning Vol. 1 (2021)

Production: artist, The Alchemist, Sebb, Khrysis, Daringer, Mr. Green, V DON, Nottz

Guests: Navy Blue, Fly Anakin, Conway The Machine, Boldy James

Longtime west coast emcee/producer Evidence has been a fixture in the west coast underground since the early start of the century with his Dilated Peoples groupmates.  From his debut album, the simply excellent Weatherman LP, we knew Evidence had the talent and lyrical ability to hang and bang with anyone within the west coast upper echelon to go beyond the underground.  Albums later such as Cats & Dogs and Weather Or Not continued to show his ability to put out very dope material enough to keep him in the talk of best artist from Cali.  In 2021, his offering was The Unlearning Vol. 1, which in terms of theme-wise, is showing his honesty and sincerity much like his aforementioned efforts.  Among the standouts are the Alchemist-blessed "Better You", "All Of That Said", and "Talking To The Audience", all of which show how true to this game Evidence is, but even more so, how true to himself he is. Ev slightly dives into old head observations and subsequent ornery thought processes like on cuts such as "Pardon Me", but also emphasizes the need to be transparent more as he states on "Taylor Made Suit", he realizes his son one day will want to know where his mother is (Ev's girlfriend and mother of his child unfortunately passed away a few years ago) and he's mentally trying to prepare for that moment.  He also makes it known on the Conway The Machine-assisted, "Moving on Up", that he knows the difference between friends, enemies, and acquaintances, thus further acknowledging his sense of self-awareness based upon personal and professional experiences. With 2025's Unlearning Vol. 2, he kept this self-discovery and introspection going in excellent forms, thus showing Evidence delivered another great addition to his already impressive discography with The Unlearning Vol. 1.  The one-time Dilated Peoples member has more than shown he can stand on his own and deliver some of the best music of the decade, and one would be advised to know he won't stop anytime soon making music that's true to who he is more than what anyone else wants. That's one major aspect of learning: self-acceptance.

72. MIKE, Wiki, & The Alchemist

Faith Is A Rock (2023)

Production: The Alchemist

Guests: N/A

In another of Alchemist's highly acclaimed efforts, he worked with MIKE and former Ratking emcee, Wiki, for Faith Is a Rock.  This under ten track EP is top to bottom a scorcher and both MIKE (whom as we've already stated had quite a year with his Burning Desire album) and Wiki sound very comfortable over Uncle Al's stunning production.  Wiki and MIKE are no strangers to collaborating with each other, but for a project to this magnitude is telling, as cuts like "Cop's A Mayor" and "Thug Anthem" show their ability to hold more than one cut together and sound like they've been rhyming together for a pretty good while. The fluidity that the two emcees display are almost Erick and Parrish-like, as cuts like the hypnotic opener, "Stargate" and the haunting "Odd Ways" exemplify well. Personal rhymes and illustrations help Wiki and MIKE balance each other out to where they really are quite the complimentary pairing. They acknowledge regrets and shortcomings and how they deal with them on the dope "Scribble Jam", while on "Memory Loss", they highlight the downsides of toking the greenery as much as they do. One might not conceive MIKE's seemingly high and almost lazy-sounding delivery, and Wiki's nasal-like vocal texture with a delivery that somewhat resembles Evidence, to work, but they actually complement each other very well. If there's a full-length coming between these three, and Faith Is The Rock was a teaser, as fantastic as this EP was, imagine a whole full-length!  Both emcees' autobiographical rhymes and their distinctive deliveries sound very hand-in-glove with Uncle Al's sparse, yet engaging, sample-heavy production.  Don't sleep, as it's possible that we may get more from these two together. Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later.

71. Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist

Alfredo 2 (2025)

Production: The Alchemist

Guests: Larry June, Anderson.Paak, JID

For the past five years, heads have been waiting for a sequel to the outstanding collaborative album between production legend, The Alchemist, and Gary, IN's finest, Freddie Gibbs, Alfredo. The Grammy nominated album hit acclaim across every board, blog, and publication, as it showed with Gibbs' impeccable technical deliveries over Al's painfully soulful samples that delivered a new level boost for Gangsta Gibbs that his collabs with Madlib, Pinata and Bandana, set a standard for.  Fast forward to 2025 and both Uncle Al and Gibbs have evolved even more since their debut collab effort. Al has cemented himself as one of the game's all-time legendary production wizards and Gibbs has delivered high quality efforts including $ouls $old $eparately, as well as last year's You Only Die 1nce.  With as busy of a year as Alan The Chemist has had working with the likes of Yasiin Bey (we still need that FORENSICS effort), Erykah Badu (see prior comment), Mobb Deep, Larry June & 2 Chainz, Evidence, Armand Hammer, and the aforementioned album with Hit-Boy, he managed to fit Gibbs in to construct 2025's Alfredo 2, the long-awaited sequel to an already career benchmark effort for both artists. Would they replicate the magic of their first edition? Well let's dive in.  From the first single, "1995", this is already a super positive step in the right direction, as Gibbs has his typical fiery technical rhyme scheme over a meticulous soul loop as if this was left off the first Alfredo.  As this cut is a sequel of its own of Alfredo's "1985", it contains much of the same gritty bravado only the cut is divided into two parts musically. The first half is a smooth soulful drum-less package, while the second part is an excellent guitar loop that brings even more of a fool out of Gibbs on that mic in which he goes after people biting his style. While he excels in his kingpin hustla status on tracks like "Skinny Suge", "Lemon Pepper Steppers", and the immerse density of "Mar-A-Lago", it's when he lets the listener in that we get some of best work. The track, "Lavish Habits" has him examining the heights of being famous, but also the paranoia and anxiety with who's against him and who's for him.  There's an ounce of depth here that really makes his tension legit and relatable.  Also, on "Gas Station Sushi", he briefly salutes his late homie, Mac Miller, and mentions that he's contemplating hanging it up (oh yeah, he threw a slight jab at Curren$y on here too as he did with Benny The Butcher on "Empanadas").  Gibbs and Uncle Al definitely picked up where Alfredo left off with Alfredo 2. Maybe a bit grimier, maybe a bit rawer and a bit more unapologetic, but to say this was a ridiculous follow-up to the first one would be an understatement.

70. Nas

Magic (2021)

Production: Hit-Boy

Guests: N/A

What a past few years for Nasir Olu Bin Dara Jones.  The "God's Son" emcee has delivered some of his most fantastic music we've heard from him in years thanks to his newfound musical relationship with highly talented west coast producer, Hit-Boy.  In 2020, they dropped King's Disease, which was met with a lot of critical acclaim and was considered one of Nas' best recent efforts.  It even gave him his first ever Grammy win for Best Rap Album.  He followed that up with the EXCELLENT King's Disease 2 and one would wonder, "How the hell do you follow that up?"  The answer came out of the blue in the form of a 2021 Christmas present called Magic.  This project knocks in the same fashion their prior collaborations do. Plus, Nas gets down to the dirt under the fingernails more than with King's Disease. From the opener, "Speechless", Nas makes it known that, while haters and critics were counting him out years back that he was stacking his bread and never lost his desire.  Reminiscing on his nostalgia is prevalent with a lot of Nas albums as of late, but truthfully, it's where he tends to shine the most while also reveling in his OG status. He continues this on "The Truth", in which he warns this generation about how the game really is, and what these execs and even fellow rappers will tell you that is falsified information. Stuff he had to learn the hard way. He addresses haters and the jealous types on other tracks like "40-16 Building", but it's right back to spitting gems to the youth on other cuts like "Wu for The Children" and "Hollywood Gangsta", while examining the cost of the gritty streets of today on "Ugly".   Although a tad more stripped down and more raw-sounding than KD2 and the original, Magic is another tremendous exhibition of one of the greatest emcees of all-time over production that fits him hand-in-glove.  Many considered KD2 easily an easy candidate for Album of The Year in 2021, but Magic simply continued where KD2 left off. While KD3 came forth months later to incredible acclaim, this was a damn solid teaser to it.

69. billy woods & Messiah Muzik

Church (2022)

Production: Messiah Muzik

Guests: ELUCID

Among the most fascinating emcees in the game today is NY native, billy woods.  His discography contains some of the most exemplary efforts of the past decade with incredible works such as Today I Wrote Nothing, History Will Absolve Me, Hiding Place, Known Unknowns, and Anger Management.  This doesn't even include his work with ELUCID as the powerful duo, Armand Hammer, who presented one of hip-hop's most exceptional releases in 2021 with The Alchemist in HARAM.  Seen as an astounding writer, billy woods' work ethic in bringing us in his chaotic sense a world and social structure gone mad, he delivers to us two unbelievable offerings in 2022.  The first one was Aethiopes, and the second was Church.  The latter album was sonically orchestrated with frequent Armand Hammer collaborator Messiah Muzik and the results are grade A. He comes straight from perspectives of love, failures, regrets, and what faith looks like to him. He challenges Christianity of sorts and the hypocrisy those that practice it can be subject to on the excellent cut, "Paraquat", but gets as real as can be about his views on hope and faith on "Artichokes". He includes his Armand Hammer partner in rhyme, ELUCID, to spit about Christian and Islamic wisdom on "Fuchsia & Green", as both are familiar with spiritual guidance through each one's upbringings. Trying to search for hope in messy times is a central figure throughout this album, but especially on "All Jokes Aside", but further explores getting caught up in being sheep and not being true to themselves on "Swampwater".  Although a little more accessible in sound and content than the bleak and heady nature of Aethiopes, it doesn't make this album any less potent. Messiah Muzik provides woods with his brand of psychedelic textures and meticulous layers that woods easily spits over, as these two are far from strangers of each other.  Mr. Woods (or woods as he stylizes his name) is as left-brained as you can imagine on here, as he uniquely goes the introspective route on this release and shows more of a vulnerable side than we're overall used to from him.  Sonically, Messiah Muzik brings perhaps his best overall work that we've seen from him and this album from woods stamped his flag as one of modern hip-hop's true greats.  With Church, we get more into woods' stance on those things that, on the surface, may not appear hopeless and bleak, but do take on angles of these matters that surely can be. Regardless, woods and Messiah crafted a piece that makes a case for one of woods' most intriguing efforts this decade.

68. Kendrick Lamar

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (2022)

Production: Sounwave, Beach Noise, Tae Beast, Boi-1nda, DJ Dahi, DJ Khalyl, Cardo, The Alchemist, others

Guests: Kodak Black, Ghostface Killah, Summer Walker, Sampha, others

If there's one thing we can say about Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, it's that the Compton emcee is among the most gifted emcees with a pen possibly ever.  His unique insight on the world and his own life is both courageous and engaging.  From his excellent Section.80 mixtape to his major label debut, the unforgettable good kid, M.A.A.D. City, its follow-up, the breathtaking and jarring To Pimp A Butterfly, the phenomenal Untitled. Unmastered to the massive DAMN, Kendrick has been that reluctant star that's a generational talent.  Anytime we hear of a full project from him on the way, the world pays very close attention.  After five years since DAMN got released to the masses, he finally dropped Mr. Morale & The High Steppers.  This twenty track double release was a roller coaster of emotions more than any album he's done.  Dealing with subjects like depression, anxiety, confronting trauma, and his own complexity, Kendrick has clearly gone through it on this effort.  From the moment we get into the opener, "United In Grief", we are on a ride.  With enjoyable cuts like "Die Hard", "Rich Spirit", and "Crown" that are dope bumpers in themselves, there are far other cuts that exhibit the stunning nature of his brilliant concepts combined with spitting his own type of diary on the mic.  The cut, "We Cry Together" with actress Taylour Paige is startling.  A depiction of an extremely toxic relationship that reaches cringe status but is reflective of so many relationships within our community behind closed doors.  Also cuts like "Auntie Diaries" and "Mother I Sober" tackle homosexuality, homophobia, family secrets and how family tends to deal with all their issues in such sad and poisonous ways.  These ways and these images helped shape Kendrick to the man he would end up becoming and prompting brutal self examinations within himself. Production is mostly soulful, occasionally jazzy, but with elements of trap, 808 synth, and funk, which Kendrick does amazingly well.  His need to be a better partner to his woman (who does a great job narrating a portion of the album) and to his family has him tackling these hard truths.  The acceptance of his flaws and faults is exhibited on the great cut "Savior", while other cuts like the engrossing "Count Me Out" sees him reaching into his confessional, yet proud, bag for anyone who doubts him in life.  Kendrick's newest epic is definitely his most ambitious, but also is most intriguing.  For Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, Kendrick was showing us what's in his raw, unfiltered mirror and although it's not for the faint of heart at times, from a conceptual level or a lyrical level, it's his most brave attempt at stripping everything down to where he's "nobody's savior", but he's as human as everyone else.

67. Roc Marciano

Mt. Marci (2020)

Production: artist, Jake One, Chuck Strangers

Guests: Action Bronson, Schoolboy Q, Stove God Cook$, Kool Keith

Not quite a full year after dropping one of 2019's best offerings in Marcielago, Roc Marci delivered Mt. Marci, another lesson is luxurious G-shit over stripped away, dense production mixed with fitting soul samples and finely chopped loops. Considering other monuments within his discography like his groundbreaking debut, Marcberg, his phenomenal and dark follow-up, Reloaded, Behold A Dark Horse, and Marci Beaucoup filled with more multisyllabic bars containing pimping, being a street boss, kitchen tales, and gunplay, Marci reminds us as to his importance on tracks like "Downtown 81", "Butterfly Effect", and "Crockett N Tubbs", all of which have certain ounces of humor and bleakness at the same time over soulful tunes that sound like they came straight from the Blaxploitation era, which is very fitting.  When he's not dicking down his hos and showing them that pimp hand on cuts like "Pimps Don't Wear Rabbits" and "Baby Powder", he still lets the listener know he keeps an Uzi in his army jacket lining on other cuts like "Wicked Ways" and the crazy title track.  It's been said before that if Nino Brown ran into Superfly in the seventies, you have Roc Marci, and plenty of his material reflects this.  In the slight moments where he gets a tad bit personal, such as "Steel Vagina", he reflects upon times when even the pimp got swerved with lines like: "Two diamond crucifixes for the times I got double crossed/but ain't no love lost/I just cut you off like some cut-off shorts."  Even with guests like Kool Keith, Schoolboy Q, Stove God Cook$, and Action Bronson, Marci is center stage, and his presence is the appeal.  From his ever-witty punchlines to his serious-as-a-heart-attack bars, Marci keeps it Marci on remaining cuts like "Wheat 40s", "The General's Heart", and "Garbage Pal Kids". Marci reaffirms his throne placement with Mt. Marci, and the evidence is how a lot of other albums like to mimic his style and sound but still can't do it justice compared to the architect.  Roc would later drop outstanding releases such as the two classic efforts with The Alchemist, The Elephant Man's Bones and The Skelton Key, Marciology, and his bumping link up with the almighty DJ Premier, The Coldest Profession, but never ever discount the impact of Mt. Marci kicking off the twenties, and how it was one of the first big benchmarks for this decade.

66. Evidence

The Unlearning Vol. 2 (2025)

Production: artist, The Alchemist, Graymatter, Conductor Williams, Khrysis, Sebb, others

Guests: The Alchemist, Larry June, Domo Genesis

Always good to see "The Weatherman" drop a new one for the masses. The Cali representative had delivered a very formidable discography throughout his solo run apart from his former crew, Dilated Peoples.  From his solo debut of '08, The Weatherman LP, all the way up to his most recent previous project, Unlearning Vol. 1 in 2023, Evidence and his "Mr. Slow Flow" delivery is as talented of a producer as he is a writer, and isn't afraid to be open, honest, and vulnerable.  With Unlearning Vol. 2, Ev continues his theme of learning new lessons about himself and life in general.  With the majority of the album being without hooks, we have Ev just rhyming. Nothing pretty, just dope.  Self-reflection is highly apparent on cuts like "Plans Change", the woozy sounding, "Different Phases", and "Top Seeded". He gets raw and the most open on the Conductor-crafted, Blu-assisted, "Stay Alive", in which they rap about persevering through pain, but also on "Rain Every Season", he and his Stepbrother, Alchemist, get motivational and basically points out to seize moments even when it's uncomfortable (Ev's verse especially points this out).  Arguably, Unlearning Vol. 2 is the most tightly and consistently packed album since 2018's fantastic, Weather or Not, and definitely a coming-of-age album for Ev.  His Unlearning series sheds the gimmick of his "weather" themes, and go more into self-discovery as Michael Perretta, and more efforts like this will keep Ev in people's mouths as one of hip-hop's most unapologetic and transparent emcees.

65. ELUCID

Revelator (2024)

Production: artist, August Fanon, Child Actor, others

Guests: billy woods, Skech185

As one half of the unbelievable duo, Armand Hammer, NY's E L U C I D is among those cats that one would consider "different".  Not in the all-so-often used phrase, "I'm different", but in the real sense in terms of emcees, he's very different, but that's a great thing.  His baritone voice dishes out a technical structure that's very left of center and contains imagery filled with introspection, caution, bits of paranoia, and very sharp observation.  His style is one of not so much trying to ride the beat, but rather the beat rides him.  He flows in and out purposely so that there's a hidden method of abstract fluidity that's highly unconventional.  His discography is one of unique and acquired tastes. Sonically, he's always against the grain, but clearly blending elements of jazz, occasional EDM, and psychedelic.  His previous solo project, I Told Bessie, was a soulful look into the heart of a man that was trying to find peace in the midst of pain.  There was an optimism that was hidden in plain sight that E L U C I D was determined to discover so that he could do his grandmother (the album was named after her) proud.  With his latest album, Revelator, this goes completely left of that.  This album revels in chaos, despair, and disarray. Only thing is that he's determined to be the aggressor and not the victim.  Musically, this is easily his most ambitious project yet.  Mixing live instrumentation with elements of industrial, EDM, sharp bass, and ominous soundscapes with melodies straight from a bone yard, Revelator is an album that truly blends the aura of his lyrics with the musical ambiguity it encompasses.  Take for instance, the jolting "The World Is Dog", in which he gets the sense of this album very early. With it's hard industrial sounds and a rage that is like a miniature bomb, E L U C I D compares the world and his outlook of it to a ferocious dog, and he attacks the track as such.  He looks into the eyes of the storm valiantly being that he's a family man and decides to weather it all, especially on head-heavy cuts like "Slum of A Disregard" and "Bad Pollen".  On the forceful "CCTV", he strikes back against oppression and control while examining the horror of the very thing that playing puppet master with our intelligence. The second verse, especially, is haunting, apocalyptic, and unapologetic.  We get more of this type of alarming imagery on other cuts such as "Voice 2 Skull", "14.4", and "SKP", but get a brief change of pace and spirit with the more easy-minded "Hushpuppies".  He makes his best-known presence on "Ikebana", in which the atmospheric backdrops provide E L U C I D with his commentary of trying to maintain as a family man while pushing through the shadiness of society.  While constantly stating "Everybody knew but me", E L U C I D clearly was misinformed about the pressures of raising children in today's climate.  The highly abstract and unique perspectives of E L U C I D generally take several spins to fully digest his words and his meanings.  His writing style is one that's not straightforward in vocabulary, but brutally poignant in imagery, as any great verbal painter would exploit.  It must be said Revelator was the next level of E L UC I D, and his propensity to be atypical from the average writer and emcee is second nature and not forced.  Much like his Armand Hammer cohort, billy woods, his words and writing style are as poetic and aesthetically brilliant as they are esoteric and full of ambiguity.  Haunting by nature, but determined by design, E LU C I D and his booming, command delivery brings Revelator as an unsettling look at a harrowing society but hope for the future with undeterred vision. An ideal highly measured on the terms of his own career.  Ladies and gentlemen, E L U C I D had arrived.

64. MIKE

Burning Desire (2023)

Production: artist

Guests: Earl Sweatshirt, others

NY emcee, MIKE, has been an artist many in the underground have heralded, but there are critics that have compared his lax, almost a cross between high and lazy, delivery as another Earl Sweatshirt.  That isn't a "criticism" per se, as we clearly know how dope of an artist Earl is.  However, being able to find your own voice in this totally over-bloated genre of abstract rap is an occasional challenge.  That being said, MIKE is a nice one.  His style of delivery may not necessarily be for everybody, but with his new effort, Burning Desire, he attempts to create more waves with his name and talent.  Previous outings such as the somber Tears of Joy, Weight of The World, God Bless Your Hustle, and his standout collab with Wiki and Alchemist, Faith Is the Rock were all demonstrative of MIKE's pen game, but 2023's Burning Desire takes things more on an ambitious level.  His production game alone has been elevated as, under his DJ Blackpower alias, he experiments with different sounds, samples, and occasional stripped-back production, especially on cuts like "African Freak Sex Fantasy", "Zombie", "Dambe", and the title track.  While clearly the standout cut here, stylistically and lyrically, has to be the ever intriguing collab with Earl on "Plz Don't Cut My Wings" as clearly these two need to do a whole project with each other (Navy Blue could fit in good here too), but the "Should Be" interlude could be in talks as most mesmerizing and stunning instrumental of that year with the haunting vocals of Lila Ramani.  MIKE's Burning Desire is one more big step into getting him into a bigger consciousness among people above the subterrain, however he does so without compromising who he is as an artist and as a man.

63. Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist

Alfredo (2020)

Production: The Alchemist

Guests: Benny The Butcher, Rick Ross, Conway The Machine, Tyler The Creator

Of course, one of the decades dopest acts has been Gary, IN native turned L.A. resident, Freddie Gibbs.  Gangsta Gibbs has evolved from an underground rumble to one of hip-hop's most in-demand emcees based upon his otherworldly technical ability and his authenticity on the mic.  Prior to this decade, he broke out with producer extraordinaire, Madlib, to deliver two of the past decades most fantastic releases: Pinata and Bandana.  Released in 2014 and 2019 respectively, these albums especially showed the star appeal Gibbs was capable of, and why Madliberator is in fact that "evil genius" behind the boards.  One album that was also among the best within the 2010s was his collab with New Orleans low-key legend, Curren$y, and legendary production wizard, The Alchemist, for the short but dynamite, Fetti.  Although very acclaimed, issues arose between Spitta and Gibbs that ended up showing themselves on cuts and interviews from each.  Never standing in the way of money on the table, Gibbs knew there was something with Uncle Al, and just a year after Bandana, they dropped their first collaborative effort together by themselves in the form of Alfredo.  Aiming to reach the heights they did with Fetti and even the first link between them on Curren$y's cut "Scottie Pippen" from his Covert Coup album, by evidence of the opener, "1985", they were well on their way.  Al's airy layers mixed with excellently constructed samples and melodic textures served themselves well over the course of this album while perfectly providing the ridiculous flows and deliveries of Gibbs.  We get a little bouncy (shouts to Je'Von Evans) on "God Is Perfect", while getting back to menacing with the mean-mug sounding, "Baby Shit", as we hear Gibbs providing details of getting rich, how gets these chicks on his jock, and he handles his business with them.  Al's knack for outstanding soul sampled loops gets demonstrated again on the drum-less "Look At Me", as Gibbs flexes his boss levels, while "Skinny Suge" has him expressing how much he compares himself to the disgraced, yet still feared, Deathrow Records former CEO, Suge Knight, but also demonstrates a bit of regret and fear over his choices in the street game.  He collaborates with Griselda heavy hitters, Conway The Machine for "Babies & Fools" and former collaborator-turned-rival, Benny The Butcher, "Frank Lucas" for tremendous results, but he actually hits his peak with Tyler The Creator on the sleeper, "Something To Rap About" and even Ricky Rozay delivers a decent verse on "Scotty Beam" over a breezy, elevated track.  This Grammy nominated album (it lost to Nas' King's Disease that year for Best Rap Album) is the closest thing Freddie has to matching the excellence of Pinata and Montana.  It was clear that Freddie and Al weren't playing fair with Alfredo, and this was easily among the single best albums of 2020 hands down.  The much-anticipated sequel, Alfredo 2, dropped in 2025 and it met expectations and maybe even surpassed some, thus showing Gibbs and Al is one rapper/producer combo that everyone should put respect on.

62. MAVI

Shadowbox (2024)

Production: Monte Booker, Beach Noise, others

Guests: Mayala

Charlotte, NC native, MAVI, has an underground following that goes back to his 2019 album, Let the Sun Talk.  The gloomy vibes of this album presented a young man trying to find sunshine in the rain and it resonated with emo rap fans, but also fans of melodic rap, as MAVI is a product of both subgenres.  He continued this with his moody End of The Earth, and especially the wonderful Laughing So Hurts, It Hurts. With its inte4nsely poetic delivery and hopeful-in-the-midst-of-depression overtones, MAVI presented a jarring effort that resonated with people that know a thing about surviving the blues.  He reemerged in 2024 with his latest full-length effort, Shadowbox, and this album was perhaps his darkest, least optimistic effort to date.  His issues of drug/alcohol abuse, grief, depression, and helplessness are not as profoundly thick throughout this album as opposed to Laughing So Hard, It Hurts, but in all its esoteric display and moody atmospheres, it also finds a sonic beauty within the gloom.  His delivery blends MIKE with the late Juice WRLD, often balancing the slow, lazy flow of MIKE with the melodic, emo lyricism and style of Juice.  With the track, "I Did", this is an exemplary track that demonstrates his emo style at such a decent level, one would swear that he's about to break down off and on throughout the cut.  The autobiographical "Thether" is a slightly syrupy-sounding cut that shows his reality of mortality but also just trying to press through in the meantime, especially with the line of his "Only true guardian angel was his babysitter".  On the slightly mid-tempo and bouncy "Latch", he has a slight bit more animation within his delivery and tone as he goes through his ability to overcome, even with his addictions and street living, while on "Grindstone", he admits he has a problem with "too many tomorrows" in terms of his quitting drugs while imagining he had a family member in his arms but admitting it wasn't in the cards yet.  He bounced all the way through that track, and he does that a few times on the album.  We get an early depiction of the highly introspective guilt, fears, and sadness with the intriguing, yet sonically and thematically beautiful, "Open Waters", in which this drum-less track and the split beat of hard rock strings on the first half and almost angelic synths on the second half, MAVI gives you a magnifying glass to his vulnerabilities much like anything on Laughing So Hard, It Hurts.  He's also not above displaying his heart over a breakup on the piano-laced "The Giver" but imagines himself as God so as to he wouldn't MAVI drown or sink on the simply incredible opener, "20,000 Leagues" over stunning strings and orchestration with him flowing within a walkie talkie device of sorts.  Other outstanding cuts like "Too Much to Zelle", the astounding "Drunk Prayer", and the hopeful "My Own Way" all display ambiguity of MAVI's complexity to maintain through the powerful struggles of his life and especially his mind.  Over some of the gorgeous production you'll discover, Shadowbox was a truly revealing moment for MAVI in terms of career benchmark levels. Ever forthcoming with his vulnerabilities and his vices, MAVI still realizes that the biggest war is inside your head, and if you can overcome yourself, the world won't stand a chance. You just have to trudge through, and light will appear before you know it.

61. Roc Marciano

Marciology (2024)

Production: artist, The Alchemist, AniMoss

Guests: Larry June, Knowledge The Pirate, Flee Lord, T.F., CRIMEAPPLE, Jay Worthy, GREA8GAWD

What would a year be without Rakheim Meyer, aka Roc Marciano? The Long Island native has been a constant fixture within hip-hop since his underground classic of 2010, the highly influential, Marcberg, and the equally, if not more. deadly follow-up, Reloaded, a year later.  Since then, Marci has been heralded as one of the single most influential emcees and writers within the NY underground scene and being acclaimed to ushering in the old nineties NY gritty sounds that made NYC rise to prominence and had a significant hand in developing the likes of Action Bronson, Meyhem Lauren, Willie The Kid, and especially Griselda.  With undisputed treasures under his belt such as Rosebudd's Revenge, RR2: The Bitter Dose, Behold A Dark Horse, Marcielogo, and especially the phenomenal collab with frequent collaborator, The Alchemist, The Elephant Man's Bones, basically anything Marci touches turns to hip-hop gold.  After the stellar outing that was TEMB, he followed that up with 2024's Marciology.  Although Uncle Al didn't produce every track here, it didn't stop this from being among Marci's finest within his already undefeated discography (by the way, Al does in fact deliver two efforts on this album).  Marci, himself, is a hell of a producer.  His sounds often flirt with the Alchemist sound in terms of haunting keys, bleak-sounding melodies, and clever use of soul and jazz samplings, often without drums or percussion.  We get a lot of that here as well.  The lead-off cut, "Gold Crossbows", is a great example of Marci's vivid rhymes of being the street's king with a Hermes bathrobe on.  The piano-laced brooding cut sets the tone for his elegant gangsta. The ball continues to roll nicely with cuts like "Bebe's Kids", "True Love", and the straight-up brooding collab with CRIMEAPPLE, "Killin' Spree".  His ability to deliver multi-syllabic rhyme patterns together while illustrating his lust diamonds and guns is impeccable.  He demonstrates this knack on cuts like "Tapeworm" and the dire sounding "Goyard God", as he spits that "cowards didn't wanna give him his flowers", which is highly doubtable at this point in his career.  He gets into dramatic storytelling mode with west coast underrated emcee, Jay Worthy, on the outstanding sample chopped and looped, "On the Run", as he taps into his street lord characterization. Meanwhile, on the Larry June-assisted, "Bad Juju", he flaunts his highly expensive and flashy lifestyle over an otherwise spooky instrumental provided by the aforementioned Uncle Al.  Marci's ability to balance gangsta with the finest champagne and expensive women money can buy is strong in itself, but the fact his rhyme style is so distinctive with multi-syllabic structure and still trying to find his way through every single sector of the beat is to be studied.  It doesn't take much to realize Marciology is yet another monster of Marci to be proud of and to once again proclaim his status on top of NYC's underground rap subgenre that he reinvigorated.  There truly is nobody in a league quite like he is, and as you'll see later, this was far from what we would hear from Mr. Mayer throughout this decade thus far.

60. billy woods & Preservation

Aethiopes (2022)

Production: Preservation

Guests: Boldy James, ELUCID, Quelle Chris, Denmark Vessey, El-P, Despot, Fatboi Sharif, Breeze Brewin, others

Earlier, we covered the profound dopeness that was billy woods' second contribution to 2022, Church.  However, his first offering, Aethiopes, edges the two albums out in every single way.  This album isn't as accessible sonically as Church is, and with Preservation's atmospheric production, it's actually very brooding and filled with woods' usual content of a fucked up society, the illuminati, governmental control, and overall the decay of humankind in such honest and poetic fashion. The opener, "Asylum" is a brooding piece that has woods playing the role of a child growing up in Zimbabwe within an affluent family and sees the downward spiral within the family as well as his surrounding environment.  With "Wharves", woods has himself in Africa observing horrible treatment of slaves in such a dark manner that it would almost resemble a horror movie of its own over mystifying production.  Another intriguing cut is "The Doldrums", in which woods compares the lack of movement of ships due to the minimal wind that surround it to the drug game, and how vital it is for movement to occur between supplier and dealer, but without "movement", it's impossible for either to get what they want.  However, he gets more inventive on the track, "Christine" featuring Mike Ladd, as woods conjures up the demon-possessed car from the novel of the same name, and brings it into today's times in all its illustrative glory over a mundane guitar loop.  Sonically, Preservation incorporates different cultures from the Eastern hemisphere and translates them into some of the most compelling production sounds of this particular year. Using a hypnotic sample from late polish singer/songwriter, Czeslaw Nieman, on "Remorseless", woods becomes a person that trades his morality for riches and wealth as a means of survival over what could be the most exotic sounding cut on the album.  Also, Preservation churns out dark textures on cuts like the Boldy James and Gabe 'Nandez-assisted, "Sauvage", the murkiness of "The Doldrums", and the essential Armand Hammer track with partner-in-rhyme, ELUCID, along with Crown Nation members, Quelle Chris and Denmark Vessey, "NYNEX", in which a psychedelic harmonica is tossed in for even more of a surreal experience. The pen game of billy woods is damn near unmatched in today's subterranean hip-hop other than possibly the likes of Ka, Roc Marci, or his Armand Hammer partner ELUCID and it shows in incredible fashion here.  Easily among his top albums ever, Aethiopes is another example of why billy woods is low key one of the most brilliant and penmanship heavy emcees walking the planet today. While his collab with Backwoodz in-house producer, Messiah Muzik, Church, hit a few months later in the year, and other albums that followed such as the stellar collab with Kenny Segal, Maps, and the ungodly amazing horror movie on wax, GOLIWOG, in 2025, Aethiopes is another example of woods bringing his God-given talent of eloquent and vivid writing to an area where woods can be free to be his own king of his own mountain.

59. Doechii

Alligator Bites Never Heal (2024)

Production: Kal Banx, Devin Malik, DAEDAEPIVOT, Monte Booker, Childish Major, others

Guests: N/A

The year of 2024 delivered a number of notable newcomers and up-and-comers to the scene. Some have been critically acclaimed, and others have been just here for a quick spin to say they've garnered notice. Not really caring about longevity and impact, but more so about fame and money.  When it comes to L.A. resident (by way of Tampa, FL), Doechii, she may easily be among the top newcomers with among the brightest futures.  The newest star of the TDE camp made a name for herself with her mixtape, Oh The Places You'll Go, along with other guest appearances and a couple of EPs.  With her third mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal, this was her first official mixtape under the TDE banner, and what a fantastic showing she made.  Her style has been compared to the likes of Missy Elliot, Lauryn Hill, Azaelia Banks, and Tierra Whack, mixing very nice singing vocals with just as impressive rhymes and delivery. She also blends various musical styles as well, with a range that expands from pop influence to hip-hop, some Gospel, and soul.  One can truly imagine her doing a Pop cut with Taylor Swift, go do a cut with Kid Cudi, and turn around and do a cut with Jay Rock all in one day on the same project.  With "Boom Bap" being the first official release from this mixtape, one could tell there was promise there, and for anyone that didn't sleep on her previous works knew what the rest of us didn't know: this was only the beginning.  The sounds on this mixtape are almost as versatile as she is herself, although the majority of the project is R&B/Soul centered.  She adopts her hip-hop passion and expresses it out loud on very notable tracks like the aforementioned "Boom Bap", "Stanka Pooh", and "Bullfrog".  Never one to shy away from choices she's made or lifestyle she embraces, she stouts her open bisexuality on "Nissan Altima", but also mentioning label issues on the repeat-worthy "Boiled Peanuts" and the tale of her being cheated on by an ex-lover with the same sex on "Denial Is a River".  She has fun when she shit talks and delivers playful sass and attitude on "Catfish", in which she channels her inner Busta Rhymes for a spell on the cut but turns around and questions why she's even friendly within the business as she ends up doing nothing but regretting it on the intriguing "Death Roll".  She switches to melodic and full-on singing on tremendous cuts such as the sexually charming "Slide", the breakup ode "Beverly Hills", and "Bloom", which has her differentiating between her dreams and her realities.  While not a top to bottom perfect mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal was still a stellar project from the "Swamp Princess".  The talent that dwells in this young lady is star- making, and this is obvious as she has been nominated for a few awards at the upcoming Grammy Awards, including this particular project here.  Her knack of honesty, poignancy, and effortless charisma shines in the land of SZA, Jay Rock, Schoolboy, and Soulo.  Expect even better things when her official full-length drops in 2026. We haven't seen ANYTHING yet.

58. Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine, & The Alchemist

Hall & Nash 2 (2023)

Production: The Alchemist

Guests: N/A

Back in 2022, there was a rumored sequel to the Griselda favorite, Hall & Nash, the dumb dope EP by Westside Gunn and Conway The Machine from 2016.  Hailed as a classic within the Griselda camp, there were certainly talks of a sequel happening but the certainty of when was unknown.  From there, the almighty Uncle Al himself alluded to the fact that he had, in fact, finished up a Hall & Nash sequel around 2020-2021 time.  It never saw the light of day...until now.  This blistering 2023 offering, Hall & Nash 2, had Conway at his hungriest and Gunn as sharp as we had heard him in a couple of years himself.  Tons of cocaine talk, threatening bars, and vengeful attitudes are all over this monster of an effort, with Alchemist providing production that range from menacing to haunting.  Old leaked favorites such as the Schoolboy Q-assisted "Fork In The Pot", "Rey Mysterio", and the insanely grimy and bumping ";94 Ghost Shit" are represented well on this project.  Unreleased cuts, however, such as the title track "Budz", and the ominous "Michaelangelo" give this album more momentum of it being arguably the year's best effort from the Griselda camp.  As bananas as this effort is, Al further stated that they were working on "the real" version of Hall & Nash 2 with frequent in-house producer, Daringer. Until this becomes officially released, if it does, this effort alone is worth the highly anticipated wait, as not a single minute of the nine-track effort is wasted. Many say the glory days of Griselda are becoming behind them, but releases like this showed people that notion was far from the case.

57. Roc Marciano & DJ Premier

The Coldest Profession EP (2025)

Production: DJ Premier

Guests: N/A

What's a year without the genius of the revitalized NYC underground sound, Roc Marciano.  Needless to say, anything Marci touches becomes among the most excellent around. From his 2011 monster debut, Marcberg, to his even meaner follow-up, Reloaded, to other fantastic outings like Marci Beaucoup, Behold A Dark Horse, his collab with DJ Muggs, KAOS, Mt. Marci, and his most recent solo outing, Marciology. Not to mention his two CRAZY efforts with The Alchemist, The Elephant Man's Bones and The Skeleton Key, which rank among his most outstanding efforts.  As if Marci hasn't made enough underground folk heroism as it is, the word got out that he and the god among insects himself, DJ Premier, would collaborate for the first time ever in 2025. Not just for a song, but for an EP, which is quite enough.  The EP, The Coldest Profession, dropped with the first single, "Armani Section" and over some thick percussion and a vocal sample mixed with Preemo's signature chorus scratching which incorporated Lil' Kim's "You wanna buy diamonds and Armani suits" part of Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s "Get Money" fit tremendously underneath Marci's multisyllabic rhyme structure that revolves around his fly sense of fashion. The rest of the effort is as crazy as advertised.  The very next track is the snapping "Prayer Hands", which has him spitting that pimp shit like how Superfly or Huggy Bear would do in their days, while "Good To Go" may arguably be the hardest beat on the entire album with Preemo constructing a hard drum percussion with menacing piano keys while scratching some EPMD in the chorus and Marci bringing that hard street godfather flow. He continues his pimp stylings on the thick bassline funk muses of "Glory Hole". The cut "RocMarkable" sounds like something the late, great Guru could easily glide over in those Gangstarr days, but Marci sounds almost as hand-in-glove while the closers of "Travel Fox" and "Executioner Style" end the effort slicker than a can of oil on a marble floor.  Marci can just blend with everybody, and as with The Coldest Profession, he passed the ultimate test of bringing the goods with the almighty Preemo, and passed quite successfully.  Some have scoffed at the fact that this didn't measure up to the two Alchemist collab albums, but folks, name another producer that could make Marci's imagery of pimp slapping, ho-strolling, and bitch-better-have-my-money narratives better than Preemo? The fact is that this is quite the combo and hopefully there's a whole lot more where this came from.

56. Schoolboy Q

Blue Lips (2024)

Production: Kal Banx, The Alchemist, Cardo, Childish Major, DJ Khalyl, Devin Malik, Sounwave, Tae Beast, Beat Butcha, others

Guests: Freddie Gibbs, Rico Nasty, Devin Malik, Ab-Soul, others

Many were concerned about the future of TDE once Kendrick left them to pursue his own label, pgLANG.  If you ask Punch or Top Dawg, they knew the label would be just fine.  We already know SZA is the biggest star of the label, but in terms of hip-hop, Schoolboy Q definitely had next.  The L.A. native dropped his breakout album, Oxymoron, to which the album was Grammy nominated and garnered him a platinum plaque.  Seen as an album meant for even bigger things, he returned with The Blank Face LP, which was a little darker, but sonically even better than Oxymoron.  More psychedelic in nature, while also holding onto that groovy, gangsta element throughout, Blank Face LP earned him another Grammy nomination, and rightfully so, with the cuts of "Groovy Toney" and the Kanye-assisted, "That Part" leading the charge of this dumb dope album.  Unfortunately, the momentum slowed with its follow-up, Crash Box, as it was a decent, yet not quite up to par, effort that was good enough for a rotation, but falls short of the past few Schoolboy efforts we had grown to know and definitely love.  After a few teaser cuts, Schoolboy, after five years, returned with his 2024 effort, Blue Lips.  From the ad teaser of the album, the sound was bumping and provided promise. What we got was a return to form for Quincy, as this album is very reminiscent of Oxymoron with a small bit of Crash Talk that worked.  Schoolboy goes several different lanes throughout this album, thus making this album a must-listen for anyone.  His lead-off singles of "Yeern 101" and the Devin Malik-backed "Black in Love" were dope choices to give us a high expectation of what Q's going for here.  Sliding over thumping, yet snapping and occasionally melodic, tracks, Q shows off his thirst to keep his name among the enjoyable on cuts like the somewhat moody sounding "Funny Guy", the very brash "Thank God 4 Me", and "Cooties".  He turns the decency level down on the pretty risqué collab with Rico Nasty, "Pop", but becomes strategically engulfed in duality with "First", as he goes from braggadocios rhymes to realizing his lifestyle was to fill a void in his life.  It's when he goes into a melancholic introspective that the album hits its highlight with the beautiful, piano-laced "Blueslides".  The jazzy instrumental serves a melodic background for Q to go in dedication mode to his friend, the late, great Mac Miller (as the title is an ode to Miller's Blue Slide Park album title).  He reminisces on the need to drop out of school to pursue the fast life and the girls while trying to become a rapper on the cut "Nunu" but salivates over drugs on the Ab-Soul assisted "Faux", which is the fourth installment on their "Druggies Wit Hos" series.  Along with other blazers like the Freddie Gibbs-assisted, "Ohio", the autobiographical and intriguing "Germany '86", and the dope closer "Smile", Schoolboy Q brings us into his life in an honest way yet still showing his love of having fun and cooling out, however that looks like.  He hit a home run with Blue Lips and much like Oxymoron that showed his ambiguity, Blue Lips showed Q's evolving ascent into maturity while balancing time for the fun, ignant, and stress-less life.

55. Cavalier & Child Actor

CINE (2024)

Production: Child Actor

Guests: ELUCID, Quelle Chris

Someone that had a damn good year critically in 2024 has been New Orleans native, Cavalier.  Although he's more know by being associated on the mic with frequent collaborator, Quelle Chris, he's no stranger to delivering his own material.  Aside from his projects with quelle such as the acclaimed Death Tape 1 in 2023 and this year's Death Tape 2: We Gon' Need Each Other, he has dropped fairly good stuff such as 2014's CHIEF and 2018's very good, Private Stock, and its follow-up, Lemonade.  However, earlier in the year, Cav dropped what has to be considered the album of his career in Different Type Time.  Cav's abstract, yet thematically relevant, ideas and lyrics, mixed with fantastic jazz-meets-psychedelic production made this album one of the single best projects of 2024.  Capitalizing off the tremendous acclaim from Different Type Time and the aforementioned Death Tape 2, he collaborated with underground production marvel, Child Actor, to deliver CINE.  Dedicated to the neighborhood he came up in, this album brings you right on in to how his upbringing was and everything he saw, did, and recollected.  He gets his singing on with the first single, "Sacrifice", but gets personal with cuts like "Sojourn", "Minthe", and "Dassit".  It takes a very touching turn on the somber "Judy Is Forever", which is a tribute to an important woman in Cav's life who played a great deal in his younger upbringing who's no longer with us.  Over one of the sweetest melodies you'll find all year, Cav says a virtual thank you to this special woman and promises to "get the coffee and the cornbread".  He also details how the streets almost took him under and decided to head on the right path on "Gifted & talented", while giving props to his lady on the sensual "Pole Position".  The track, "Moonlight Crush" has him, Quelle, and ELUCID spitting over a moody yet fitting beat and each man bringing their own brand of abstract dopeness and tremendous penmanship, especially the ever-astounding ELUCID.  While noticeably shorter than Different Type Time at ten tracks, not a single track is wasted. Child Actor, with all his previous work with the likes of Armand Hammer, Open Mike Eagle, ShrapKnel, and others, may have provided some of his single best work on CINE, and Cavalier presented us a personal and insightful look at the makings of how he came to be within his old Brooklyn community.  Actor provided an outstanding score that represented each chapter in his life that was of substance sonically, and Cav ended up being three out of three for best work in 2024.  

54. Black Star

No Fear of Time (2023)

Production: Madlib

Guests: Black Thought

One of hip-hop most treasured pure hip-hop albums possibly of all-time dropped in '98 when Brooklyn's Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) and Talib Kweli came together as Black Star and dropped Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star to universal acclaim and praise.  For over two decades, heads wanted a follow-up to that magical album.  Twenty-four years after their debut, they finally give us what we've been waiting for in the form of 2023's No Fear of Time.  Before we get started here, yes, this isn't solidly mixed as this was reportedly done on the road with Madlib and not much time to do proper mixing, so it does sound...for lack of a better term bootleg at times.  However, the spirit of this album, with the evil genius himself, Madlib, sonically crafting this effort, was as solid as it could get.  Times had changed for both men within their professional and personal lives, as this album is a little heavier in content and admittedly at times the chemistry is a tad off, or at least not as cleverly meshed as their debut, but with this being their first album in over twenty years, some slack may be needed to cut.  The brilliant "Loop Digga" blessed them with some of his trademarked style of jazz meets avant-garde style production on cuts like "So Be It", "The Main Thing Is to Keep the Main Thing The Main Thing", and especially "Sweetheart, Sweethard, Sweettod" which are all as soulful as they are excellent backdrops for Black Star for these particular cuts.  Those looking for a sequel of their debut will be disappointed, but as a standalone album, No Fear of Time was a great return for two modern hip-hop legends and an equally legendary producer.  Their brand of socio-political commentary and community uplifting is as poignant now as it ever was musically as well as off the mic.  As excellent as this album was, imagine if this album were to have been crafted with more time?  

53. Black Thought & El Michel Affair

Glorious Game (2023)

Production: El Michel Affair

Guests: N/A

While we all knew the brilliance of Black Thought as an artist, lyricist, and overall mic decapitator, it was the now legendary freestyle session with Funk Flex in 2019 that made the world get reminded of why we should now and forever put some respect on his name.  The lead emcee of The Roots is among the most verbally gifted emcees to ever touch a mic, and past collab albums such as his Streams Of Thought series with 9th Wonder, Salaam Remi, and Sean C & LV, as well as his phenomenal collab with Danger Mouse in 2022, Cheat Codes, all demonstrated he could excel beyond Quest-Love and the crew.  Enter 2023, and this time he gets assisted by musician and arranger Leon Michels and his cinematic soul band, El Michels Affair for Glorious Game.  Viewed somewhat as a more personal and unsettling hip-hop musical, Thought delves into this project full force with this being arguably his most personal and deeply rooted effort to date.  Diving into his youthful days growing up in Philly, this album is full of gems that are meant to both, confess and teach. From the onset, the opening track "Grateful", paints the picture of surreal street life and the unsettling imagery of unrest within the hood. Similarly, the track, "Hollow Way" is a brooding and visceral look at the harsh realities of today's slums.  He lets it be known that it's nothing nice out here and to watch what you say and do. Cuts such as "Alone", "I Would Never", and especially the heavy "The Weather" are examples of how much Tariq cares about presenting himself as an elder statesman to spit "game" to today's culture. Perhaps the most stirring cut on the album is the cut, "Miracle", in which he personifies Philly as a woman he had a crush on, only to be disappointed into what "she" had become and he reminisces on the old days with a smile, yet pour s liquor out what those same old days growing up.  Along with the stunning production of the El Michels Affair, Glorious Game is a triumphant musical endeavor of Black Thought and the El Michels Affair that puts us in the shoes of one of hip-hop's lyrical giants in such a personal way that it feels so real.  This wasn't an album to make you feel cute and warm. This was raw, vivid, and damn sure poignant, as Thought presented an album with El Michels Affair that is so candid, you're virtually put in the same shoes as him, and what a revealing, yet painful, journey it was.

52. Nas

King's Disease 3 (2022)

Production: Hit-Boy

Guests: N/A

As if this man needs an introduction.  Nasir Jones did it again folks.  Like a fine wine, Nas gets better with age seemingly. The man that made the greatest rap album of existence in Illmatic makes it look easy nowadays. These last few years, since 2020 especially, has seen a career resurgence like we've never seen before for someone near fifty years of age.  After the intriguing, yet admittedly very rushed, letdown that was the Kanye-crafted Nasir, he linked up with (at that time) Grammy nominated producer Hit-Boy to deliver 2020's King's Disease, and the album was a very promising return to the Nas of at least the Life Is Good days with overall very dope production.  From there, he dropped the near-classic sequel King's Disease II in 2021 and was lyrically fully recharged and focus as we've heard from him in years over some of the best Hit-Boy production to date, only to follow that up with a surprise album around the holidays with Magic that was more stripped down but was equally as crazy.  It was clear Nas was back and back with a vengeance.  After winning the Grammy for King's Disease, both Nas and Hit-Boy absolutely knew they were on to something special.  After KD2 and Magic, the anticipation was on for KD3, and guess what folks? They delivered in grand fashion in 2022.  Nas and Hit-Boy presented King's Disease III in perhaps the most varied production of the series plus Magic.  The always wise and painfully intelligent emcee spits like he's in his twenties again and damn near for the fun of it. Hit-Boy's sounds vary from slightly trap-esque sounds to boom-bap to west coast synths to soulful slickness, and Nasir sounds incredible over all of them.  Take for instance his NASTY sampling of The Five Heartbeats "A Heart Is A House For Love" with Eddie King Jr squalling and put a snappy drum lick underneath on the BANANAS cut, "Legit" (YES GOD!). Nas fit that production like hand-in-glove.  Picture this all over the album. Conceptually and lyrically, Nas is in grand form here.  With "Once A Man, Twice A Child", he examines the process of aging, and how we become the ones being cared for as we get older just like we were as children.  Also, on "Beef", he personifies the concept of the term that means having issues that are personal over menacing production, while "First Time" examines how much listening to people and their projects for the first time can impact one's life and their outlook. Although the effort reflects growth and OG status, there are certain parts of him that can't sit still and he has to address. The best example would be "30", in which he spoke up about Pete Rock's lawsuit over his contribution to the ageless and timeless epic, Illmatic.  He compares the chemistry between him and Hit-Boy to another iconic duo on "Michael & Quincy" but also realizes that he's in a lane all to himself on cuts like "Thun" and the socially conscious "Don't Shoot".  Nas has always been arguably the most gifted emcee of his or any generation, but KD3 reminds us that he hasn't let up one single bit, in fact, he's more dangerous than ever before as he's a ton more mature, a ton wiser, and a ton sharper.  Along with Hit-Boy, they may have been the best emcee-producer pairing in all of hip-hop so far this decade. 

51. Mobb Deep

Infinite (2025)

Production: Havoc, The Alchemist

Guests: Clipse, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Nas, Big Noyd, H.E.R., Jorja Smith

When the hip-hop world lost Albert Johnson, aka Prodigy of Mobb Deep, in 2017, it easily ranked among the saddest and most shocking deaths ever in hip-hop. P was a legend. An influential emcee whose gift of macabre and vivid street narratives and chilling threats made anyone who listened get an idea that he wasn't the one to cross.  Along with partner-in-rhyme, Havoc, Mobb Deep became arguably the most respected and impactful duo out of NYC in the mid to late nineties. While their 1993 debut, Juvenile Hell, was decent at best, it was 1995 when they presented one of the game's most iconic and sinister classics, The Infamous.  Led by an all-time anthem in "Shook Ones Pt. 2" and followed up with the just as memorable "Survival of The Fittest", QB's most infamous officially became a whole new level since their teenaged, troublesome tyke days of Juvenile Hell.  With nearly a million units sold, Mobb Deep had arrived, and arrived with tons of momentum. Little did we know they were just starting. They followed this monument up with '96's Hell On Earth, an even darker and more ice-cold sounding album in which many feel P was in a lane all by himself lyrically at this time. Along with Havoc's boneyard sounds of vocal wails, stunning organs and pianos, harps, and knocking basslines, it's been argued that this was to Infamous like It Was Written was to Illmatic, in which the follow-up was either as legendary, or even better than the prior album.  Too raw for the radio, they tuned it just a tad different for their '99 monster, Murda Muzik by making it an equal balance of more radio play yet staying true to their customary gritty sound thanks to cuts like "Quiet Storm" (especially the heavily rotated remix with Lil Kim), the Nas-assisted, "It's Mine", and "A'ight Then".  This album officially saw them break the million copies mark and put them as not just platinum artists, but triple platinum artists. Nobody was more in demand at this time than the Mobb give or take the likes of Nas, Busta Rhymes, or Eminem.  Once the Jay-Z beef started, they started to lose some steam as albums like Infamy, Amerika'z Nightmare, and their G-Unit debut, Blood Money, sounded musically and lyrically uninspired and not on the same level as their prior three powerhouses. While they did make a better attempt on their last album, The Infamous Mobb Deep, there was something still missing. There was a sound of nihilism and grimy stories that would make Martin Scorsese applaud. Mix in their multiple solo efforts and even a brief beef between the two and the aura of the Mobb was becoming iffy.  When the world lost P, we knew there had to be more offerings from the two and we couldn't just leave their legacy as nineties juggernauts and that was it.  Thanks to Nas and his Legend Has It series through Mass Appeal, P's estate allowed Hav, Nas, and Uncle Al to create in 2025 what could rightfully be their final album, Infinite.  No kiddies, these are not already heard and recycled verses from P that have been floating around on mixtapes for almost two decades. These are never before heard recordings that never saw the light of day until now. Quite honestly, the mixing and engineering of this album is so profound, it literally sounds like P was in the booth right with Hav during this process.  While Guru sounded like he had a few verses in the bag, yet some stuff still sounded copied and pasted on Gangstarr's final album, One of The Best Yet, P's verses all sound surprisingly very fresh and crisp.  All it takes is just peeping the first single, "Against the World" to listen to how "alive" P sounds with a focused Hav.  While the end of the track leaves listeners in chills as he shouts out Hav saying "I love you. See you on the other side", this isn't the first time we get reminded of P's passing and almost prophetic bars of his time being up soon.  Until then, we get doses of classic Mobb on cuts like "Gunfire", "Easy Bruh", and the Clipse-assisted, "Look At Me".  P gets especially bleak on "Mr. Majik", in which he compares himself to a magician and being able to make enemies disappear. The Mobb chemistry continues on other dumb dope cuts like the crazy rework of BDP's "Jimmy" with "The M, The O, The B, The B" with their longtime unofficial third member, Big Noyd, the Alchemist-laced, "Taj Mahal", and the grimy "We The Real Thing". However, it's when we get personal where this album shines with the Mobb. The haunting collab with Nas, "Pour The Henny" has a verse from P that's as prophetic as it is saddening, while the Raekwon and Ghost-assisted, "Clear Black nights" has P more reflective bars that isn't quite as heavy as "Pour The Henny", but nonetheless just as somber as a fan listening.  They also go the love route on the surprisingly dope collab with vocalist Jorja Smith and yet another assistance from Nas on "Down For You", while the remix with H.E.R. hits just as hard.  If this truly is the final Mobb Deep album, Infinite was exactly the swan song the duo needed.  This was the closest thing we've legitimately gotten to their treacherous trio of The Infamous, Hell On Earth, and Murda Muzik. From P's ridiculous bars to Havoc and Alchemist bringing back a nineties vibe that sounds very relevant today (don't you dare sleep on Hav on that mic either folks), Infinite reminds us of why the Mobb are among the architects of that gritty, hardcore east coast sound that made them legends and heroes of the "violent nigga rap shit" era. P can rest well knowing that Hav will forever carry the Mobb flag proudly and still making folks know that there's no such thing as halfway crooks.

50. Mach-Hommy

#RICHAXXHAITIAN (2023)

Production: Conductor Williams, KAYTRANADA, Quelle Chris, Messiah Muzik, Sadhugold

Guests: Roc Marciano, Your Old Droog, Haitian Jack, Tha God Fahim, Black Thought, 03 Greedo

The ever-allusive enigma known as Mach-Hommy (don't forget that dash homie) has been among the most fascinating talents to emerge within the game over the past decade and a half.  Aside from the fact that his marketing was polarizing in that he would sell his efforts for up to several hundred dollars per project online, his penmanship is not exactly the type you'll immediately comprehend or grasp. However, that can be the brilliance of poets as well. His style is so outside and unique, he doesn't even allow his lyrics to be posted on genius.com.  The Haitian-born Jersey native also has quite the prolific catalog throughout the years as well.  With over four dozen projects to his name, mixtapes, EPs, and full-length studio albums alike, Hommy is among the hardest working emcees in the land.  While with the Griselda camp, he delivered the classic, H.B.O., and from there, he exploded with numerous excellent projects such as Dump Gawd: Hommy Edition, The G.A.T., Bulletproof Luh, Wop Konn Joj!, Mach's Hard Lemonade, and the incredible reunion with Griselda, Pray For Haiti in 2021.  That's not counting the multiple efforts with the likes of frequent collaborator, Tha God Fahim and his collaborative projects with DJ Muggs as Kill 'Em All.  His last full-length offering came in 2023 in the form of #RICHAXXHAITIAN.  Ever the unorthodox and unconventional emcee, Hommy glides over magical instrumentation provided by the likes of Conductor, Sadhugold, Messiah Muzik, and Grammy Award-winning producer, KAYTRANADA, with his brand of switching between English and Haitian/French dialect, as well as rapping to singing and back to rapping swiftly.  Conceived as the final installment of a series first started by H.B.O., you see elements of each installment of the series (which comprises of H.B.O., Wap Konn Joj!, Pray For Haiti, and Balens Cho, which was released just months after the Pray For Haiti) in terms of lyrical dexterity, technically methodical prowess, and calculated cadence throughout, which makes some for some outstanding vocal moments on this album.  Spiting with a pronounced confidence and affirmation, Mach hits with multi-syllabic structure with touches of suggestion and abstract poetry, notably on cuts like "Sur Le Pont d'Avignon", the elegant-sounding, Georgia Anne Maldrow-assisted "Sonje", and the Big Cheeko-assisted, "Same 24".  A master of maneuvering and knowing the important technical lyrical precision within a beat, Hommy is like an architect of his rhyme structure and cuts like "Padon" with Fahim, the stellar "Serpent & The Rainbow", and the Your Old Droog-assisted, "Empty Spaces", are methodically crafted to keep you guessing about the trajectory of where his rhyme scheme and cadence will veer towards next, only for him to go left when you thought he would go in the opposite direction.  As scholarly as he is a written grandmaster, he provided jewels of knowledge culturally and ancestrally on tracks such as the unbelievable collab with Roc Marci, "Antonomasia", "Guggenheim Jeune", and the Black thought-assisted, "Copy Cold", in which this is the only time we ever hear anyone match the precision of craftsmanship the way Mach does with the legendary Philly rhyme animal on board.  Another outstanding cut is the flute-heavy, "Lon Lon", in which he takes great pride in who he is and his unique craft in a way that blends Nas, MF DOOM, and billy woods into a Haitian Kreyol dialect on occasion.  To say Mach-Hommy is as special as he is elusive is an understatement.  Hommy knows how to carefully and systematically stich together phrases and words that are abstract and unconventional to the naked, uneducated ear.  This effort of #RICHAXXHAITIAN was among the best examples of this mathematical approach to evoking George Orwell as a Haitian-born Jersey representative that knows the streets and the most exquisite literary works alike and on the same accord.  Hommy is levels above the average emcee in practically every way imaginable, especially when it comes to artistic lyrical craftsmanship. There's only one Mach-Hommy, and we're just glad we are able to be in the presence of this type of greatness

49. Black Thought & Danger Mouse

Cheat Codes (2023)

Production: Danger Mouse

Guests: Raekwon, MF DOOM, Conway The Machine, Joey Bada$$, A$AP Rocky, Run The Jewels, others

Tariq Trotter, aka Black Thought, is seen as one of the most technical emcees on the planet.  The longtime lead emcee of The Roots has been revered from everything from his penmanship and delivery to his his breath control on the mic, which is an underrated and underappreciated skill to have.  Thought has never been known to not perfectly glide over a beat and make the cut shine instead of the track shining for him.  Over the past few years, the Philly rhyme animal has been collaborating with producers such as 9th Wonder, Sean C & LV, and Salaam Remi for his dumb dope Streams Of Thought series.  While we wait on the next Roots album (Quest, what we looking like for 2026?), we were blessed with an album that had reportedly been a long time in the making and release in 2023.  He got together with Grammy Award winning producer and half of Gnarls Barkley, Danger Mouse, to bring forth Cheat Codes.  For the unaware or sleeping, Danger Mouse is a producer that has worked with the likes of artists ranging from Beck to Red Hot Chilli Peppers to Gorillaz to A$AP Rocky and the late, great MF DOOM for the simply tremendous, The Mouse & The Mask.  In fact it's his first hip-hop album since '05 with the aforementioned Mouse & The Mask.  Black Thought is a scientist over this eclectic, yet exquisite, production from Mouse.  He technically constructs his lyricism to Mouse's varied sounds of 70s psychedelic, 80s synth, dusty drums, and moody production.  Nothing extremely conceptual here, just Thought blazing cuts like "Sometimes", the title track, and "No Gold Teeth" and even with cohorts on this album such as Run The Jewels (can we please get an RTJ/Danger Mouse collab album PLEASE?), Conway The Machine, A$AP Rocky and Raekwon, he stands ten toes in with them to where he still reminds them who owns the track, in spite of great lyrical performances by each of the prior mentioned and more.  There's even a cut that features a posthumous verse from MF DOOM as DangerDoom reunited on the dazzling "Belize" and the thought of BT and DOOM as a duo brings shivers and brings to mind "What would've happened if they would've done a whole project together?"  The occasionally spooky, moody, dusty, psych production mixed with crispy drums and organ sounds of Mouse are the muse for Black Thought's intrinsic lyricism to produce a phenomenal album in Cheat Codes. He followed this up with the El Michael Affair-collaborated greatness of the aforementioned Glorious Game in 2023, and it was almost as fantastic as this effort was, and even more personal. This is hip-hop that belongs for both the purist and curious of the culture that extends beyond the current trends we see today.  Who else to present it to us raw more than one of the greatest to ever touch a microphone?

48. Little Simz

Sometimes I Might Be Introvert (2020)

Production: Inflo, Miles James, Jakwob

Guests: Cleo Sol

British rapper, Little Simz, has been quite the critical darling over the last few years with highly acclaimed albums such as Stillness In Wonderland and especially her exceptional Grey Area album of 2019.  She delivered perhaps her best achievement thus far in Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, an even more honest and personal look into the world of Little Simz, and her vulnerabilities.  Musically, this is a step up for her even more so than Grey Area. Showing her ability to be personal, yet showing her ability to also overcome her odds, both personally and professionally over mostly highly layered and cinematic-style live instrumentation, Simz hits on every single cylinder.  This is arguably best represented on the cut "Introvert", in which this six-minute plus track is filled with all of the above with a vulnerability that is as gripping as it is empathetic.  Similarly, on "Woman", she opens up about how much women and motherly figures played a role in her life and how much she sees her strength from them.  She beats her chest proudly with strength, power, and courage on uplifting cuts like "Fear No Man", the ode to self-care "Protect My energy", and "Point & Kill".  There's also a balance here, as cuts like the mixed bag relationship with her father "I Love You, I Hate You", and the toxic relationship ode, "Two World Apart", which all contain moments of insecurity, yet still contain enough self-reflection to rise above drama, self-loathing, and any long standing pity parties to emerge victorious past her feelings and any type of 'woe is me' mind states.  It's funny that Sometimes I Might Be Introvert is also a double entendre, as it's also a reverse acronym for her real name, Simbi. We get so much of Simbi here even more than we get Little Simz the artist, but two things can be true at the same time. Compared to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in certain areas, especially raw freedom in the vulnerability, SIMBI is a big staple in the catalog the young British emcee.  A career best for her, Simz was another step closer to being a star not just in the UK, but across the pond here in America as well.  She reemerged in 2022 with the almost as astounding, No Thank You, and in 2025 with the very impressive, Lotus, but with SIMBI, the young woman Simbi constructed an album that ironically fit the artist just as much as the woman in grand fashion.

47. Denzel Curry

Melt My Eyez, See Your Future (2022)

Production: Robert Glaspar, Karriem Riggins, Thundercat, DJ Khalyl, Cardo, Dot Da Genius, Kenny Beats, JPEGMAFIA, Kal Banx, others

Young Florida rapper, Denzel Curry, is primarily known for his energetic, rah-rah style raps much like most of today's generation of rappers.  His infectious energy has bled over with occasional glimpses of transparency and honesty with dope albums such as his debut, Imperial, his collab with producer Kenny Beats Unlocked, Zuu, and especially his breakout album, TA1313OO.  Psychedelic mixed with energetic trap is mostly the sound of young Curry.  He wanted to mix it up a bit in 2022 and the resulting album, Melt My Eyez, See Your Future, is an effort most didn't see coming.  Transparent, vulnerable, and self-aware, this album really has him expanding his artistry lyrically and musically.  Aiming for more of an overall jazzy sound and lush arrangements within the production, Denzel goes full grown man with this album that also reflects his maturation as an artist.  From the jump, he has Grammy Award-winning jazz composer/producer Robert Glaspar for the opener, "Melt Session #1" and we can already have a sense of the musical and lyrical direction he's trying to go towards.  While other cuts like "Walking", "John Wayne", and T-Pain assisted "Troubles" don't stray far from his typical style and sound of rap, it's other cuts like the Saul Williams, Bridget Perez assisted "Mental", "The Worst", and "Angels" that are beautifully put together and so honest with his thoughts on these cuts that it almost sounds like a new beginning for Mr. Curry. Diverse sounds and styles are the central element within this effort. The shear ambition of this project has him wanting to be in those conversations of great overall artists that know how to effectively expand his reach while staying true to his craft.  With cuts like "Zatoichi" and "Sanjauro", the unconventional flow of these tracks make for interesting listens, but nevertheless highlight his penchant for wanting to show his expansive artistic nature and does such a great job doing so.  Denzel Curry has made a career album with Melt My Eyez, See Your Future, and  quite truthfully stands as his most ambitious work to date in every capacity.  While his 2024 follow-up, King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2, was more of a return to form in terms of the rowdy, rambunctious sound that got him on, Melt My Eyez was a testament of a young emcee that wanted to be more than a rah-rah rapper. there was substance, lyrically and artistically, that Curry was capable of, and he showed it in grand fashion.

46. Joey Bada$$

2000 (2022)

Production: Rahki, Kirk Knight, Statik Selektah, Chuck Strangers, Sean C & LV, Mike WILL Made It, others

Guests: Westside Gunn, JID, Diddy, Larry June, Chris Brown, Skylar Grey

It had been five years since we had a whole full-length from Brooklyn's Joey Bada$$.  His 2017 endeavor, All AmeriKKKan Bada$$, dropped to lots of acclaim and him being into more socio-political themes and a more expanded sound.  However, the emcee/actor brought it back to the essence with the sequel to his breakout mixtape from just over a decade ago, 1999, 2000.  Much like 1999 was a vivid look into the world and the life of a then seventeen-year-old talented rapper with the old soul of a nineties NYC rapper, 2000 had him more mature lyrically and content-wise but relating it to present day times.  While we still see him living in the moment on cuts like the opening cut "The Baddest", the Westside Gunn-assisted "Brand New 911", and "Welcome Back" with Chris Brown on vocals. Joey  However, the Pro Era representative also shows his clear vulnerability on cuts like "Head High" and "Written in The Stars". Joey has never been afraid to let the listener in when it mattered. With that being said, the album climaxes with the very tearful ode to best friend and fellow Pro Era founder, Capital Steez, "Survivor's Guilt", which also has him eulogizing his cousin/road manager and reveals just how much he still grieves both of their deaths in gutting fashion.  While some tracks on here sound like they're meant for crossover appeal, others sound almost as powered for the streets as 1999.  Mr. Bada$$ is a highly skilled emcee that, along with the likes of Griselda, Roc Marci, and Action Bronson, has brought back a certain aura for NYC hip-hop and 2000 showed him as an ever-important voice in modern day NY hip-hop. His follow-up of 2025, Lonely at The Top, was a decent showing that had him trying to enter even more realms of mainstream accessibility and acceptance but didn't quite pack the power of 2000. That being said, it didn't dilute Bada$$' talent and insight as an emcee. Still repping Pro Era and certainly Steez, Joey is still showing why he's among the best artists of his generation.

45. Curren$y & The Alchemist

Continuance (2022)

Production: The Alchemist

Guests: Havoc, Boldy James, Wiz Khalifa, Larry June, Styles P, Babyface Ray

Spitta had quite a dope year in 2022, as the New Orleans emcee's late entry mixtape, The Drive In Theater Pt. II, was quite the neck snap and laid-back, late-night cruise down the interstate.  As dope as that project was, his earlier project of 2022 was even crazier.  The former Cash Money emcee reunited with Alchemist to provide us with Continuance.  Most likely an homage to their incredible Covert Coup album of 2010 and their equally acclaimed 2016 offering, The Carrollton Heist, this album reminded us of how magical they can be together (we also won't forget the incredible effort these two did with Freddie Gibbs for the effort Fetti either).  Over some truly mesmerizing, melodic production from Uncle Al, Spitta is damn near flawless lyrically.  He presents a presence of confident charisma over cuts like the jazzy "Kool & The Gang", "The Tonight Show", and "No Yeast", while also showing his impressive lyrical stylings over other great cuts like the Styles P-assisted "Whale Watching" and "the opener, "Half Moon Mornings". The grind never stops with Curren$y, but neither do his ambitions of being the best in the game. This is evidenced on other searing cuts like "Jodeci Tape" and "Signature Move", as Spitta glides over Al's minimalist, yet equally engaging production.  While Alchemist has been having the run of his career over these past few years, Curren$y continues to show versatility with his pen game.  Basically put, Continuance exemplified their chemistry (ahem!) once again and the result was another career benchmark in both guys careers. Although it remains to be seen if they'll work together in the near future (there's apparent low-key issues between the two), but for the efforts we do have with these two together, they never missed one time.

44. Pusha T

It's Almost Dry (2022)

Production: Pharrell Williams, Kanye West

Guests: No Malice, Jay-Z, Pharrell, Kanye West, Lil Uzi Vert, Don Toliver

As formerly one half of the duo Clipse, with brother (No)Malice, Pusha T has been knocking out dope effort after dope effort since his solo debut, My Name Is My Name.  The now former President of Kanye's G.O.O.D. Music has been in the kitchen delivering more than potent follow-ups like King Push: Darkest Before Dawn, and especially the epic Grammy nominated offering, DAYTONA.  After a four-year absence, Pusha dropped his highly anticipated album of 2022, It's Almost Dry.  Mostly produced solely by Kanye and Pharrell, this album, while not breaking any new ground in his coke rap arena, has him coasting over arguably the best production of his solo career. With the rollout single, "Diet Coke" making heads snap in abundance, there was this feeling that Pusha was looking to replicate the commercial and critical acclaim of DAYTONA, and he was right there with it. Cuts like the Donny Hathaway vocal sampled "Dreaming of The Past", "Open Air", and the Jay-Z assisted, "Neck & Wrist" are classic Pusha and once again shows why he's among his generation's best, yet slightly underrated, emcees. Spitting with a confidence that oozes out the speakers, Pusha keep the pedal to the metal with the opener, "Brambleton" and "Let The Smokers Shine the Coupes", and even collabs with unexpected talents like Lil Uzi Vert on the otherwise knocking "Scrape It Off" while reuniting on the mic with Kanye on "Rock N Roll", which also features Kid Cudi. The surprise was the closing track, "I'll Pray For You", which had him reuniting with his brother to tease what ended up being the long-awaited Clipse reunion.  While delivering an album that could match or even outdo DAYTONA would've been quite the feat for the average emcee, Pusha delivered a mighty blow with It's Almost Dry to where this definitely can be in the argument of Pusha's best album to this very day.

43. R.A.P. Ferreira

Purple Moonlight Pages (2020)

Production: Kenny Segal & The Jefferson Park Boys

Guests: Open Mike Eagle, Mike Ladd

One of the game's most interesting and unique emcees within the underground over the past two decades is Wisconsin's own R.A.P. Ferreira. The artist formerly known as Milo has a discography that has been overall heavily acclaimed and praised with his abstract lyrics and his spoken word delivery over primarily warped jazzy production.  Most notably, his most acclaimed project up to this point was 2015's So The Flies Don't Come, a multilayered and colorful ambiance of woozy production and left-brained themes and rhymes that really showcased his imagination mixed with down to earth realities.  His follow-up, Who Told You to Think?!, was almost as intriguing and pushed genres beyond its boxed in limitations.  After two other decent yet slightly underwhelming projects, he resurfaced in 2020 under the new pseudonym R.A.P. Ferreira.  His first album under this new name was Purple Moonlight Pages, which has him reunited with the primary producer of So the Flies Don't Come, Kenny Segal, and almost picks up where So the Flies Don't Come and Who Told You to Think?! leave off at, only with more lyrical and musical freedom and expansiveness.  While Segal and his band provide vivid jazz quirks, Ferreira dives into his own space of multisyllabic, yet conversational, rhymes and flows that has the listener perplexed yet engaged on cuts like "Noncipher", "Ro Talk", and "Cycles".  Milo was very immersed in somewhat gray material, fluctuating between the subdued and the cathartic, while Ferreira is more in a docile space of relaxed observation.  Cuts like the lead single, "Doldrums", "Leaving Hell", and "Laundry" are so filled with day-to-day mind states and plain-Jane aesthetics that it feels like a front porch conversation you're having with a young person who's wise beyond their years.  He continues his lack of verbal and vocal tension on other herbal tea-drinking inspiring cuts like "Omens & Totems", "Golden Sardine", and the fitting collab with another left-brained emcee, Open Mike Eagle, "Pinball".  One can definitely expect a sublime, yet esoteric, experience with Purple Moonlight Pages, as the newly christened R.A.P. Ferreira has showed his more amicable perceptions since his last few albums. With the jazzy sonic escapades of Kenny Segal and his band, this makes for quite a hypnotic ride and one that he would only improve upon with his 2025 offering, The Night Green Side of It. Ferreira isn't for everybody, especially his overtly spoken word, conversational style. However, if you're one that is a fan of avant-garde music with colorful production and intriguing themes, Ferreira is one that is worth the rotation.

42. Nas

Magic 3 (2023)

Production: Hit-Boy

Guests: Lil Wayne

Earlier in the year of 2023, Nas dropped Magic 2, and it was as excellent of a follow up to his prior Magic effort as you could imagine.  Then, out of the blue some months later, teases started emerging of another Nas album. It turned out to be Magic 3, and it was revealed that this was not only the closing of the Magic series, but it was also the final full length from he and Hit-Boy together.  As so many were bummed out to hear the news, the only way to go out is with a memorable album to let people know just how undefeated Nas and HB are together.  Folks, 2023's Magic 3 did its job and did it well.  Over some of Hit-Boy's most knocking and scintillating production yet (and that's saying a mouthful), Nasir rips into the production with superior delivery and rhymes that has him sounding like the emcee during his Stillmatic or Life Is Good days.  Everything on this effort is special and has meaning, as only your average Nas album would be.  Cuts like "Japanese Sushi Bar", "Superhero Status", and "I Love This Feeling" highlight Nas' effortless ability to engage the listener with every bar he delivers.  The vivid two-part "Based on True Events" and the Lil' Wayne-assisted "Never Die" ranks among some of his best work in the past decade, as Nas brought the mid-00s Wayne out on the latter. He devotes some time, as he usually does, to the ladies on cuts like "Pretty Young Girl", "Jodeci Member", and the aforementioned "Based on True Events", but class and hood sophistication are dazzled as a whole throughout this entire project.  People tend to debate which was the overall better series, King's Disease or Magic? Neither answer is wrong. Both series catapulted Hit-Boy into one of the game's most sought-after producers and put Nas in a four-year run the likes of which we may never see like this again.  A newfound fire was lit under Nas and with Hit-Boy's guidance and sonic assistance, Nas went from legend to icon.  While we were in VERY high anticipation of his collab with DJ Premier in 2025, Light Years, Magic 3 reminded you of just how high and his greatness extended, and he hasn't slowed down yet.

41. Stove God Cook$ & Roc Marciano

Reasonable Drought (2020)

Production: Roc Marciano

Guests: N/A

From the little-suspected city of Syracuse, NY comes Aaron Cook$, later known as Stove God Cook$.  Cook$ first appeared on Roc Marciano's "Puff Daddy" on Marcielago, and the buzz started from there.  His animated, yet straight in your face, delivery made him an intriguing find for Mr. Marci.  Based off the buzz, he dropped his debut project, Reasonable Drought, and immediately there was a seismic shift in the NY underground scene.  Produced entirely by Marci, Stove's brazen, and at times hilarious, brand of coke bars and charismatic hooks made this emcee one of those that we didn't expect to be amongst the most talked about new artists of 2020.  Marci is primarily known for his soulful vocal loops and minimal to no percussion and a style that can at times resemble seventies Blaxploitation feels, and trust and believe, he does his complete thing here on this album.  You have to love someone that titles their album as close as possible to arguably Jay-Z's all-time best effort and delivers as if he completely rebranded the entire aura of Jay's debut.  Sure, cuts like "Cocaine Cologne", "Jim Boheim", and "Lava Lamp" are so musically crazy, Roc should've kept those beats for himself, but Stove eviscerated those tracks with his delivery and sharp tongued flow.  Very similarly, on the horn-laced, RZA circa '97, "Rolls Royce Break Lights", Stove is delivering that murda music spitting on topics such as bricks, guns, and Bentleys with such charisma and star appeal that it's easy to see how Roc acquired him.  The album is so strung together so cohesively that every track effectively flows together like fine water, and with other cuts like "John Starks", the crazy "Crosses", "Break The Pyrex", and "Bread Of Life" all have him going in not moving too much from his field of bricks of coke, guns, and the streets overall, only with a charm that can possibly only be matched by the late, great Ol' Dirty bastard.  Folks, it's not hard to see why this was heralded an underground instant classic.  With Reasonable Drought, it signaled the new era of coke bars and delivered one of the most rotated coke albums in recent years. With a standout character that makes him unique but a mic presence that certainly distinguishes him from most of his peers, it's no wonder he's become among the most in-demand emcees of this decade thus far. As for Marci, whether it's behind the boards or the mic, Marci is clearly in a league of his own, and discovering talents like him and later Harlem upstart, Errol Holden, Marci can spot a star when he sees and hears them.

40. Rome Streetz & Daringer

Hatton Garden Holdup (2024)

Production: Daringer

Guests: Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine, Schoolboy Q, Cormega, Meyhem Lauren

The man responsible for underground bangers like HeadCrack, the Noize Candy mixtape series, and his collaborative effort with DJ Muggs, Death & The Magician, delivered not just one of the single best debut albums in Griselda's decade-plus history, but one of the single best albums of 2022.  Earlier in the year, he dropped his EP, Buck 50, with frequent collaborator, Wavy Da Gahwd, and it was as gutter as anything you'd expect from Rome (as we had reviewed earlier).  However, Rome stated later he had a project lined up with Griselda's go-to in-house beatsmith, Daringer, and the streets were practically frothing at the mouth. Daringer's signature dusty, lo-fi, boneyard boom-bap would be custom made for Rome's no-nonsense street narratives. We finally got the album in 2024, Hatton Garden Holdup, and it instantly elevated Rome's status in the game a little more.  Filled with the haunting and sinister production Daringer is frequently known to construct, Rome just abuses these tracks on cuts like "Jimi's Headband", the ScHoolboy Q-assisted, "Sage", "Drive By", and the drum-less, "Spike".  When left to his own vices, Rome isn't trying to expand his thematic horizons, but over this consistently impressive, production, he doesn't need to. He can easily stick to the gameplan by crafting tales of revenge, drug sales, shootouts, and hustling and he does them as good as anybody you'd hear from when this type of hip-hop flooded the airwaves in the nineties. The first single, "STARBVXKS", is a prime example of how Rome can bring in occasionally witty rhymes but stick to the script of the grittiness and dirt-under-the-fingernails aura of the cut.  His taste for the good life is also on display on the outright bumping "!00 Schemes", while bringing merciless rhymes with fellow Griselda-mate Conway The Machine on the ominous "Pro Tro", which has more of a traditional Daringer sound than most of the cuts on here.  While other cuts like the Meyhem Lauren-assisted "Cadillac Smoke", the Cormega-collaborated "Weight of The World", "Heavy Traffic", and the knocking "Space X" all exemplify the magic Rome and Daringer possess, Hatton Garden Holdup as a whole was simply stunning in terms of sonic precision meeting gully storytelling and penmanship.  While it's not far off to compare this album with Death & The Magician with Muggs, this album has Rome more in his bag and even more confident in his abilities.  It was clear Rome could be the next big star of Griselda, picking up where Benny and Conway left off at within the label itself.  Plus, this was another example that Daringer won't be just considered a Great Value version of The Alchemist. He was a monster in his own right, and respect on his name continues to be mandatory.

39. Clipse

Let God Sort 'Em Out (2025)

Production: Pharrell Williams

Guests: Nas, John Legend, Pharrell, Kendrick Lamar, Tyler The Creator, Stove God Cook$, others

It's been over 15 years since we've heard anything from the Thurston brothers, aka Pusha T and (No) Malice, collectively The Clipse.  The Virgina-bred brothers introduced more stylized and accessible means of the coke rap genre with their dumb dope debut, Lord Willin', in '02 exclusively produced by The Neptunes (pre-Chad Hugo splitting from Pharrell). The album spawned an all-timer in "Grindin'", but also delivered other thumpers such as "Virginia", "When's The Last Time", and "Hot Damn". The album was enough to earn them a gold plaque and an official full welcome into the game.  Their follow-up, Hell Hath No Fury, dropped four years later to even more acclaim. The album was darker, more focused on the streets and hustling, and less on blatant accessibility, despite The Neptunes providing exclusive production on this one as well. Many compared Hell Hath No Fury to the likes of Mobb Deep's Hell On Earth and Nas' It Was Written in which it's debated that the sophomore effort may be even better than the classic debut.  The singles of "Mr. Me Too" and "Womp Womp" were arguably the most radio-accepting cuts on the entire album, as hustling, drugs, and paranoia dominated the themes of the album.  Their final album together happened to be Til The Casket Drops, which dropped three years later, and was almost every bit as great as their prior two albums.  This would be the last Clipse project for over a decade, as Malice became No Malice due to him giving his life to Christ and embracing Christianity.  His solo efforts, notably his solo debut, Hear Ye Him, was filled with enough good joints that showed he still has substantial bars only with less coke references and more vulnerable and honest rhymes while embracing and praising God.  Pusha, meanwhile, was becoming a beast of his own linking up with Kanye to be the president of G.O.O.D. Music and dropping tremendous efforts like his mixtape offerings of Fear of God and Fear of God II: Let Us Pray.  Both led the way to his debut full-length, My Name Is My Name, which received well-rounded acclaim and showed Pusha's talent without his brother and vice versa.  His follow-up, King Push: Darkest Before Dawn, was every bit the bumper his debut was with his collab with Jay-Z, "D.D.A." being the most rotated of all the tracks on this album. However, it was his follow up in 2018, Daytona, that made a Pusha a star if he already wasn't before, as this became arguably his biggest and best overall project as Kanye provided some of the best production work he had done in years at this time.  His last album, 2022's It's Almost Dry, had him reuniting with Pharrell and his brother on a track and was easily as crazy as Daytona with Kanye and Pharrell providing all the album's outstanding production. With his brother on a track, whispers were that they were getting back together for a project, and in 2024, rumors were confirmed, as they were working on their album, Let God Sort 'Em Out. The album finally dropped in '25, and with the teaser cuts of "So Be It", "Ace Trumpets", and "M.T.B.T.T.F.", it was clear we were in for something special, and we definitely had expectations met and surpassed.  With Pharrell taking over the entire production duties, and being featured on a few cuts as well, if Lord Willin' ever sounded grown and mature, this is what it would sound like.  In fact, maybe even closer to Hell Hath No Fury.  We get less coke rhymes than ever before, and way more introspection and personal bars, as cuts like the Gospel-tinged collab with John Legend, "The Birds Don't Sing", "All Things Considered", and the closer, "By the Grace of God".  It's clear that No Malice still infuses his spiritual rhymes within the album, but he also does so in a non-preachy way and more of a Lecrae-meets-Chance The Rapper type lyrical imagery.  The streets aren't totally ignored, however, as the Stove God Cook$-assisted, "F.I.C.O." definitely demonstrates. One particularly interesting cut is the Tyler The Creator-collaborated cut, "P.O.V.", in which Pusha and Tyler throw darts at certain emcees and talent that they have issues with (while Drake and Jim Jones have been speculated, it hasn't been confirmed), while No Malice stays away from all that and stays on his introspective and spiritual route.  Even the almighty Nas shows up on the snapping "Chandeliers", which is the other half to the title track which also is one to reflect on. These guys approach this album not in the same way they did with Lord Willin', in which they realize it's not about competition anymore. Not amongst themselves nor amongst their contemporaries.  This confidence, mixed with a renewed chemistry and a clearer vision of their successes, resulted in Let God Sort 'Em Out to quite possibly being the best album of their careers, solo or together.  It's apparent both men took subjects such as God, the deaths of their parents, and the coldness of the music industry to heart and it was reflected all throughout this album. All the while still showing these younger jacks out here to never ignore them when it comes to conversations about the best duos in hip-hop over the past twenty years. This is because Clipse deserves to be right up there with anyone else.

38. Roc Marciano & The Alchemist

The Skeleton Key (2024)

Production: The Alchemist

Guests: N/A

Earlier, we reviewed Roc Marci's fantastic effort from earlier in 2024, Marciology, and the meticulous nature of that album.  We thought we were done with Marci for that year, but boy oh boy were we wrong.  In a very pleasantly surprising twist, Uncle Al stated that "This year wasn't over yet" on his social media account, which immediately perked our ears up, as Alchemist was completely undefeated that year (as well as the next year).  When the announcement was made that it was another Marci & Al album, without having to hear a single track, heads already knew what time it was and that we would be in for another awe-inspiring effort from these two legends.  In 2022, these two delivered one of the best albums this decade with The Elephant Man's Bones. An album that was either at or near the top of most people's year-end lists for very good reason. The chemistry (ahem) between the two is simply magic. An aesthetic that very few emcee/producer duos can reach and sustain.  With this announcement, heads were immediately predicting another instant classic with The Skeleton Key.  Did we get one with this like we did with The Elephant Man's Bones? Let's break it down.  Marci on this effort comes off more methodical and strategic than he did on TEMB.  He was more pizzazz and luxurious gangsta, much like the likes of Meyhem Lauren and Westside Gunn. On 2024's The Skeleton Key, he was more Conway and Rome Streetz.  He's more cold-blooded and calculating here, and the perfect backdrops for him, as Al provides him with more sinister, ominous samplings and minimal percussion at times.  Case in point would be the first single and video, "Chopstick", in which we get a two-note horn sample and a brooding backdrop for Marci to talk his shit effectively.  On the track, "Make Sure", we get a minimal percussion track with dramatic strings as Roc spits flashy thug rhetoric as is typical Marci but gets just as flamboyant hoodsta on other haunting sounding cuts like "Rauf", "Knock it Off", and the psychedelic-sounding, "Cryotherapy".  He flaunts his diamonds and guns on "Chateau Josue", while proclaiming "heads fall on the floor like spaghetti sauce" on the drum-less beast "Street Magic".  As he continues his aesthetic of crime boss meets Dolemite on other cuts like "Acid", "Steak Skirt", and "Mystery God", it's clear his message is the same no matter how elegant or sinister the production is.  Marci is the cat that will spray off a whole round with Gucci shades on and his wrists frostbitten with ice, and The Skelton Key is just another example of this in its most outstanding way.  With The Elephant Man's Bones sounding lusher and more elegant in nature thanks to more jazz nightclub-oriented sounds mixed with soul sprinklings, The Skeleton Key is grimmer and more perilous in sounds, thus making it sound more gangsta than luxurious fly shit.  Make no mistake about it, The Skeleton Key is another instant treasure and affirms the epitome of how much Marci and Uncle Al bring the best out of each other.  Since their days of tracks like "Papercuts", "Flash Gordon", and "The Turning Point" in the early 2010s, there's always been something unique and special about these two together. With albums like TEMB and The Skeleton Key, it's apparent there aren't too many more dangerous of a hip-hop duo, than Rakheim and Alan together.

37. D Smoke

Black Habits (2020)

Production: artist, Mike & Keys, Battlecat, others

Guests: Snoop Dogg, SiR, Jill Scott, Ari Lennox, others

Fresh from the streets of Inglewood, CA came a special type of emcee in the form of D Smoke. Smoke was the winner of the inaugural Netflix hip-hop reality contest show, Rhythm + Flow, and it was no shock as to why. Not only did he possess a smooth, yet confident, delivery based off his life in Inglewood, but because his prior history came with being a Spanish teacher for the Inglewood school system, he would often skate right into Spanish dialect while rhyming and back to English in much the same way traditional Hispanic/Latin rappers would such as Pitbull, Termanology, and the legendary Frost.  Aiming to not go any type of gang route or dive into played subject matter like bitches, blunts, hustling, and gun play, Smoke speaks from an innermost place with his debut full-length album, Black Habits. It also doesn't hurt that his brother is TDE star, SiR, and he makes two appearances on the album, "Lights Out", and "Closer to God".  At the time, Cali was in a bit of a slumber. Many of the same troupes that made the west such a prized region became somewhat stale with the exception of the TDE camp and faves like Evidence, Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler The Creator, and Domo Genesis.  With Black Habits, we get fixtures of that old G-funk that the likes of DJ Quik and Warren G were so known for, and Smoke manages to bring about a nostalgia about his section of the country while also letting us in to his life in all its pain, fame, and glory.  Starting with the intro that has the two brothers and their mother praying while getting ready for school, the album gets it in with "Bullies", an alarming cut that examines the real bullies of this country and how these "bullies" got incorporated into our way of life.  From gangs to incarcerations, this cut is a virtual call to arms against the powers that be.  He continues his socio-political stances on "No Commas", in which he examines gentrification and other systemic economy schemes that hold the Black man/woman back from succeeding, even if we are in our own way.  He makes it a point to be an encourager while being transparent and subsequently talking to himself as much as he was spitting to his people.  On the cut, "Top of The Morning", he optimistically looks at a good day, while not being blind to the daily strife he faces as a young Black man, while he expresses his sorrow for letting a good lady go on the sentimental "Fallin'".  It's these moments of vulnerability and poignancy that he shines the most, as we get more into this tremendously talented emcee, poet, and teacher.  On the delightful cut with Jill Scott and vocalist Iguocho, "Sunkissed Child", Smoke speaks from the eyes and pen of a man that is in full observance of the world as an educator while speaking to today's parents about how today's child is trying to maintain out here. Once he hit the last four cuts on the album, we reach peak Smoke. He breaks down three different ways of escaping reality, for better or worse, on the intriguing "Free", saluting his father despite him being incarcerated and leaving the family to be raised by their mother on "Like My Daddy", his relationship with God on the outstanding, SiR-assisted, "Closer To God", and the sequel to part one of the title track, in which he goes in even deeper into the complexity of Black culture's complexities and nuances that strike nerves and makes one reflective at the same time.  This album is not your typical, run-of-the-mill west coast album from D Smoke. With Black Habits, Smoke takes us on a ride within Inglewood where he provides insightful, gripping, and very honest commentary that aims to celebrate our culture, while realizing we still have so far to go within our own community and for the world at large to pay attention to our joys and our sufferings.  This was such an excellently flowing album that all told stories of Smoke being a reporter of today's generational highlights and our albatrosses simultaneously. While he hasn't delivered a project that has measured up to quite this acclaimed level, there's no denying Smoke is tremendously talented and deserves to be among Inglewood's most respected emcees.

36. Benny The Butcher

Tana Talk 4 (2023)

Production: Daringer, The Alchemist

Guests: 38 Spesh, J. Cole, Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine, Boldy James, Stove God Cook$

Out of the proverbial three-headed monster of Griselda (Gunn, Conway, Benny), it's been said Benny The Butcher may be the star of the bunch.  With an appeal that puts him among NYC greats and legends such as Jay, Biggie, Nas, Prodigy, and Kool G, Benny's undeniable ability to bring you into his world of hustling and gunplay brings chills to those that have needed this type of gangsta shit since the nineties was done.  His 2018 debut full-length album, Tana Talk 3 was heralded as this generation's Reasonable Doubt, and that's supremely high praise.  From there, he's dropped knocking efforts such as The Plugs I Met, The Plugs I Met 2, his collab with Grammy winning producer extraordinaire Hit-Boy, Burden Of Proof, and Pyrex Picasso, along with other mixtapes and collab efforts.  It was clear his star appeal was climbing steadily, but the streets were in need of the fourth installment of his Tana Talk series.  The result was indeed 2023's Tana Talk 4, and much like his previous entry, this one shows a burgeoning legend.  With Daringer and Alchemist manning the boards just like TT3, he blazes over cuts like "Back 2X" with Stove God, "Uncle Bun" with 38 Spesh, his DOPE unofficial sequel to Biggie's legendary "10 Crack Commandments", "Ten More Crack Commandments" (with a special appearance at the end ironically enough with Diddy speaking), and the lead single "Johnny P's Caddy" featuring a surprising appearance from J. Cole who blisters this cut himself. Whether it's moving bricks and pies or letting people know what happens when you cross him like an idiot, Benny scored big with this album.  With his BSF/Griselda/Def Jam debut coming in 2023, the spotlight is on Benny to take Griselda and his BSF crew to new heights. His Def Jam debut 0f 2024, Everybody Can't Go, officially put Benny in hip-hop's commercial mainstream, and was certainly dope in its own right. Plus, he kept his name in people's mouths with mixtapes like his Summertime Butch series, but TT4 was a true return to form for him.  It was clear with TT4 that his building stardom hadn't changed what he does with a fork yet.

35. PremRock

Did You Enjoy Your Time Here?!??! (2025)

Production: Child Actor, ELUCID, Fines Double, Controller 7, Jeff Markey, Blockhead, Sebb, others

Guests: Cavalier, Curly Castro, billy woods, Pink Siifu, AJ Suede, others

In a time where systems at play are trying to force us to conform in areas that we're uncomfortable with, not used to, or never planned for, the anxiety and paranoia of it all makes one doubtful of a hope and future we can't see or determine.  When it comes to Backwoodz Studio artist, PremRock, he explores this concept in 2025's cleverly abstract, yet highly engaging, piece of work entitled, Did You Enjoy Your Time Here?  Trying to survive in a consistently changing world without enough time to digest the changes you had to settle with is one that most neurodivergents hate: the concept of frequent change and how time keeps being linear.  The deep, left-brained chamber that is the PA native's leading weapon explores how there's no such thing as permanent in this existence.  From the opening tack alone, "Angel's Share", you can already tell this is going to be a heavy dose of theoretical idealism mixed with sobering realities that will either fly over your head or totally immerse you in his thought processes.  In this cut, he contrasts procreating as a blissful moment, while also adding duality to it by him stating he's surviving because he hasn't procreated.  Being able to see the complimentary angles of that concept is what makes PremRock, well, PremRock. The ability to see two sides of the same coin while never ignoring the juxtaposition within the subject matter.  This continues with cuts like the self loathing, yet very relevant, "Doubt Mountain", the robbing-the-poor-to-get-their-kicks-in ode "Plunder", and the metaphysical aspects of "Void Lacquer".  One particularly interesting cut is "California Sober", in which Prem explores the rocky and disoriented stages of a shrinking relationship that subsequently has no finality or any type of resolution, except that he's at an acceptance with there being no finale.  Things get bleaker with the billy woods-assisted, "Receipts", in which there's more of a harrowing look at the decaying world around both of them that they still have to find their ways through knowing the existential cost on the inside.  Production-wise, this album is filled with psychedelic textures and cleverly used samples with either drum-less melodies or dusty percussion that fits an atmospheric ambience that creates both chaotic tranquility or a peaceful chaos; either way, they're one in the same.  Whether it's the dreadful feelings of the aforementioned "Receipts" or the gritty, yet very effective, horns of the ever thought-provoking, "Love Is A Battlefield Simulation", or even the lo-fi avant-garde soul of the Cavalier-assisted, "A Good Man Is Hard To Find", in which both emcees explore the concept of time being passed in relevance to internal and mental distance, The album is evocative throughout the entire piece. Also, the ambiguity of "Potemkin Village Voice" is one of mixing the ideal with the actual, which in and of itself is something we as humans tend to fight daily at times.  It has been four years since his last solo album, Load Bearing Crow's Feet, but it certainly places himself as even more evolved, but even more observational and introspective.  While he tends to be at a healthy competition, both lyrically and thematically with his ShrapKnel partner, Curly Castro (who makes a strong appearance on the album as well), Prem delivers one of the year's most provocative and abstract efforts of the year with Did You Enjoy Your Time Here?  This album is a very fitting title, as it serves as a variety of subjective meanings, but truthfully, there's no right or wrong here. Whether musically, in life, your career, or your ambitions, the question remains the same. With PremRock, it's clear he was still trying to figure it out but sounded damn good doing so.

34. Tyler The Creator

Call Me If You Get Lost/The Estate Sale (2021, 2023)

Production: artist, Jay Versace, Jamie XX

Guests: Lil Wayne, Pharrell, Lil Uzi Vert, Jay Versace, 42 Dugg, Youngboy NBA, others

Grammy Award winner, Tyler The Creator is an interesting artist.  The former Odd Future lead guy has become quite the intriguing emcee whom we have seen grow from deliberate shock emcee to artistic juggernaut.  His Grammy nominated, Flower Boy, was one of hip-hop's most fascinating albums of  2017, stripping down his public shock and awe-type persona and displaying an introspective vulnerability that we hadn't seen before and was refreshingly welcomed.  The 2019 follow-up, IGOR, won a Grammy for Best Rap Album and many feel rightfully so.  The album was a risk-taking conceptual album that continued his need to get deeper into his personal side through synths, elements of funk to go alongside the R&B/Neo-Soul vibes from Flower Boy, and him singing virtually throughout the entire project.  In 2021, he delivered what many consider to be his absolute best hip-hop centered effort with Call Me If You Get Lost.  This is almost like a good gumbo of Flower Boy, IGOR, previous stuff like GOBLIN and Cherry Bomb, and some whole new elements that put Tyler under a microscope again to be an outside the box artist. In 2023, he struck again with his deluxe edition that he called, The Estate Sale.  This deluxe edition contained an additional eight cuts that, for some reason, didn't make the finished album and made it to the cutting room floor.  Lucky for the listeners, these tracks emerge and we were all the much better for it.  While cuts like "Everything Must Go", "Sorry Not Sorry", and "Dogtooth" are all very worthy tracks in their own right, the standouts are the two that he gets more introspection with. The FABULOUS sounding, Madlib-crafted, "What A Day", has Tyler in a fix with how hectic his day-to-day life is and how he needs a break from it all. Also, on "Heaven To Me", Tyler paints pictures of what Heaven looks like to him currently, what it looks like in the future, and what it represented to him growing up.  Over John Legend's excellent "Heaven" from his acclaimed second album, Once Again, Tyler describes his Heaven as everything from not having a boss to having a wife and kids to Portishead albums dropping.  His cuts with Vince Staples ("STUNTMAN") and A$AP Rocky ("Wharf Talk") are also very dope and very enjoyable, thus making this extended project even more worthwhile. He would follow this up with the highly ambitious, Chromakopia, and 2025's equally colorful, Don't Tap The Glass, but neither of these quite touch the fluidity and cohesiveness of this effort.  Balancing between vulnerability, romance, shit-talking, and braggadocio, Tyler knocks it out the park with yet another highly ambitious release in Call Me If You Get Lost and his deluxe edition, The Estate Sale, and solidifies Tyler as among the best artists, regardless of genre, of his generation. Bar none.

33. Roc Marciano & The Alchemist

The Elephant Man's Bones (2022)

Production: The Alchemist

Guests: Boldy James, Ice-T, Action Bronson, Knowledge The Pirate

Has there been anyone within the past decade and a half that has brought NYC the type of underground resurgence that Roc Marciano has?  He started the past decade in 2010 with his debut, Marcberg, and was immediately hailed as an instant classic with thumper after thumper, and his follow-up, Reloaded, was even harder, as people were comparing these two albums to the likes of Mobb Deep's classics, The Infamous and Hell On Earth in terms of thunderous breakout and the follow-up that made as much of an impact.  From there, Marci has dropped fantastic efforts such as Marci Beaucoup, Rosebudd's Revenge, RR2: The Bitter Dose, his Muggs collab Kaos, Behold A Dark Horse, and Marcialago.  However, anticipation was building as Uncle Al announced he was collaborating with him and it finally dropped with 2022's The Elephant Man's Bones.  From tracks they had done together such as Reloaded's "Flash Gordon" to the Greneburg EP with Alchemist and Oh No as Gangrene linked with Marci for a KNOCKOUT EP, one can kind of imagine the magic these two would have for a whole project, and the result was arguably Marci's most ridiculous project in years, and that's saying a lot.  Alchemist provided Marci with the production of his career (as Alan The Chemist tends to do with artists, ask the likes of Armand Hammer, Curren$y, and Larry June).  Marci sounds as refreshed as we had heard him up to that point.  He sounds even more cocky, yet deliberate and psychological, on here with cuts like "JJ Flash", "Deja Vu" the absolutely elegant sounding title track, and "Quantum Leap".  His ability to be as vivid with his Ron O' Neal meets Nino Brown persona is at times fascinating when done right, not to mention his wit and humor on most tracks.  Al's usage of 80s synth mixed with a snapping drum lick on the humorous assisting with Action Bronson, "Daddy Kane", is a fun cut that still has its undertones of Dolemite within it.  Simply put, The Elephant Man's Bones is special. Marci and Al are a union that hip-hop needed to have a long time prior to this effort and the results of their first full album together is one that we'll be going back to over and over again. They returned two years later together with The Skeleton Key to make more magic, and the hope is that Roc & Al will keep delivering together for these next few years.

32. Kendrick Lamar

GNX (2024)

Production: Sounwave, Tae Beast, Mustard, others

Guests: Lefty Gunplay, SZA, Roddy Rich, others

There may have been no other gripping and constantly intriguing hip-hop news issue throughout 2024 (sans the whole Diddy scandal) than the on-wax beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.  As was stated during the Might Delete Later review, the issues were brought to the surface as a result of Drake referring to him, Cole, and Kendrick as the "big 3". Kendrick, tracking exception, called out Drake and Cole on "Like That" with Future and Metro Boomin.  Everything became a snowball from there, as Drake delivered diss tracks, "Taylor Made Freestyle" and "Push Ups". This spawned a series of scathing and heatseeking responses from Lamar, including "Euphoria", the Alchemist-blessed "Meet The Grahams", and what would become the biggest hip-hop single of the year, and one of the commercially successful singles of the last few years, "Not Like Us".  While it's been clear the issues between he and Drake go back since possibly Drake's Take Care album, this has reached enormous levels (thank God this has stayed on wax), and this whole issue, along with possibly some of his critics concerning Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, spawned Kendrick to return to his "Kung Fu Kenny" persona in abundance.  Out the blue, Kendrick dropped a surprise effort in the form of 2024's GNX, which is named after the Buick Grand National Experimental, and set the entire hip-hop world on fire.  Folks, if you were expecting conscious, introspective, deeply lyrical Kenny here, this isn't for you. In short, he was pissed! Pissed, yet refocused and as driven as we had ever seen and heard from him.  The opening track alone, "Wacced Out Murals" is arguably the best example of this.  Over some low-riding g-funk, Kenny addresses various topics such as Snoop seemingly siding with Drake, Nas being the only one congratulating him on procuring the Super Bowl Half Time Show gig, and Lil Wayne's disappointment being in Kendrick's shows for the Halftime show, Kendrick pulls no punches and rips into this cut like a hungry animal.  In no way does he take his foot off the gas with other knockers like "Squabble Up", "TV Off", and the somewhat menacing sounding "Hey Now".  The latter, especially, has him rapping in a sneaky low voice and tone for almost half the cut while addressing how he had to "choke out a GOAT".  However, Kendrick is still a fan of hip-hop and a student of the game.  He salutes Nas by reinterpreting his own version of "One Mic" with "Man At The Garden" in a way Nas has to be tremendously proud of and excessively stating "he deserves it all", while Kendrick conjures up the spirit of his idol, the late, great icon 2Pac, with "Reincarnated", which has him spitting with the same ferocity and passion as Pac did over the same cut Lamar reinterpreted, "Made Niggaz".  Dipping into his soulful bag, he and his former fellow TDE-mate, SZA, shine brightly on their collaborative cuts, "Luther" and "Gloria", while eloquently rhyming over SWV's "Use Your Heart" for "Heart Pt. 6", in which he covers his stint within TDE, from its beginnings to him leaving to start his own label, pgLang.  Among the many rewind-worthy points he makes, he states that he got some of his lyrical inspiration from Ab-Soul and how he was the hold up of why Black Hippy never recorded a group album.  A profound way to explain his discography was stated on social media.  As an X/Twitter user stated: "good kid, M.A.A.D. City was an album about his generation being fucked up. To Pimp A Butterfly was an album about his country being fucked up. DAMN was an album about his community being fucked up. Mr. Morale was an album about his mental health being fucked up. GNX is an album about fucking around and finding out."  This was a fantastic summary of not just his discography, but GNX period.  As he states in "Wacced Out Murals", "This isn't about being lyrical or double entendres, he wants you to feel this shit."  This is Kendrick at his most lethal, determined, and angst best.  Clearly, the Drake issue lit something up within him and raised a new benchmark for every emcee in the game.  As far as sounds and production go, this is definitely the most west coast sounding album within his discography in terms of the classic west coast, primarily provided by TDE in-house producer, Sounwave, and the man behind "Not Like Us", DJ Mustard.  Synths, bass, hand clap snares, and slinky melodies dominate this album, and Kendrick sounds as comfortable of these tracks as he does with any other type of production.  Kendrick reminded those that doubted him and his reign from Mr. Morale on GNX and ended up bringing all the momentum he needed going into the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show, as well as delivering another classic for the heads.  With multiple Grammies that he's nominated for, it's no doubt he will continue his reign as King Kendrick.

31. Busta Rhymes

Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God (2020)

Production: artist, Nottz, 9th Wonder, DJ Premier, J Dilla, Swizz Beats, Pete Rock, DJ Scratch, Rockwilder, Rick Rock, others

Guests: Kendrick Lamar, Rah Digga, Min. Louis Farrakhan, M.O.P., Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Rapsody, Anderson.Paak, Rick Ross, Q-Tip, Rakim, Chris Rock, others

When it comes to all-time legends in hip-hop since the nineties, a name that MUST come up amongst everybody across generations is the mighty Busta Rhymes.  Since his Leaders of the New School days in the early nineties, Busta has been one of hip-hop's most appealing starts, both on and off the mic. His magnetic persona and almost over-the-top charisma are only matched by his animated, yet fantastic, mic delivery and presence.  His first three albums of The Coming, When Disaster Strikes, and Extinction Level Event have all been seen as Busta classics and catapulted him into a major star in music overall.  With subsequent albums such as Anarchy, The Big Bang, It Ain't Safe No More, and Genesis, Busta was continuing to cement his legacy and crossing into pop music favorite circles without sacrificing his edge, his roots, or his love of his culture.  While his discography hasn't been spotless, especially over the past decade, Busta realized that the younger generation was coming in and the danger of making him be seen as a fossil was not going to be tolerated by the Long Island native.  Critics vehemently slammed efforts like Year of The Dragon and Back on My BS for sounding too generic and too trendy more than being his authentic self that hadn't been fully heard since '06's Big Bang.  Aiming to silence any and all naysayers that think Busta was comfortable being the trend chaser to keep up with the youngsters out here, he dropped his anticipated Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God, a sequel to his aforementioned dumb dope effort of '98. Predictions were a tad iffy when we heard promo singles such as the Anderson.Paak-featured, "YUUUU" and the reggae-tinged collab with Vybez Kartel, "The Don & The Boss", as while they weren't necessarily wack singles, they were also around the same type of quality he had been dropping lately at the time and it was hit-or-miss. Once we heard the explosive seven-minute intro, opinions started to change.  Historically known for his outstanding intro cuts throughout his earlier albums, he went back in time and brought the same aura, as we got a tremendous feature from the god himself, Rakim, as well as Pete Rock dabbing into one of his legendary cuts, Nas' "The World Is Yours" with its highly recognizable piano loop.  With Grammy Award-winning comedian, Chris Rock, narrating the album, he throws in his comedic barbs in this intro and throughout the album. Don't let this fact distract you from the heat we would experience.  After the triumphant intro, we got complete bangers in the form of the Pete Rock & DIlla-crafted, "Strap Yourself Down", the searing Swizz Beats- constructed, "The Purge", and the rambunctious M.O.P.-assisted, "Czar". While ever animated and rowdy, he's also deep into his Muslim faith, and the title track has a soundbite from the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, as well as Busta spitting some of his most knowledgeable third eye rhymes we've heard in quite some time from him.  Aiming to conduct a track for every type of fan, he dabbles into different arenas with mostly dope results.  He goes the trap route with "Oh No" but goes the storytelling route with Rapsody on the sickeningly soulful battle of baby mama vs. baby daddy, "Best I Can", brings the streets to prominence on the DJ Scratch-finessed "Boomp!" as well as the brief, yet impressive, DJ Premier offering, "True Indeed".  However, it's his collab with Kendrick Lamar, "Look Over Your Shoulder" that has the album at its most pivotal moment with Buss-A-Bus and King Kendrick going bars crazy over Nottz' exquisite production and his Jackson 5 "I'll Be There" sample.  It wouldn't be a Busta album without two key elements: something for the ladies and something for the clubs.  With the former, he reunites with Mariah Carey for "Where I Belong", while also getting up with Mary J. Blige on the affirming "You Will Never Find Another Me".  As for the latter, the award undeniably goes to the Bell Biv Devoe-sampled, "Outta My Mind", which directly snatches the percussion and bassline of their iconic smash, "Poison" for one of the most anthemic club smashes Busta has done in a long time.  He closes out the album on rather serious notes with "Freedom" and "Satanic" respectively. With the former, he addresses passionately socio-political issues such as police brutality and discrimination with vigor and anger, while on the latter, the ominous Rockwilder production scores the backdrop for what he sees as evil within the world and how the world will end because of these messed up attitudes and spirits.  Folks, it's rare that the sequel is better than the original in anything. While many would state The Godfather Pt. II was better than the first one, almost nobody says Rocky II was better than the first one. In music, it's even more rare, but with ELE2, it fits. Sounding more complete and cohesive than its first one, this by all accounts is more Big Bang and When Disaster Strikes than ELE, and not only showed that Busta still had a lot more in the tank for today's age, but that he still can craft very high quality music when he sticks to what he knows best: being that dungeon dragon. While his follow-up, BlockBusta, was clearly an attempt to keep up with this younger generation, as it came off terribly trendy and inauthentic, his 2025 two-out-of-three-part entry, Dragon Season, showed promise of another potentially tremendous showing once part three hits later this year.  It can be argued that this is Busta's best album, and not many would argue that sentiment, but one thing is for sure, he delivered a new career benchmark with this one.

30. Rome Streetz

Kiss The Ring (2022)

Production: Daringer, Conductor Williams, The Alchemist, Sadhugold, Sovren, Camouflage Monk, Denny LeFlare

Guests: Benny The Butcher, Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine, Armani Ceaser, Stove God Cook$, Boldy James

Queens-raised, Brooklyn bred underground phenom, Rome Streetz, has been an in-demand rapper for the better part of a decade and a half now.  With previous mixtape efforts like his Noize Candy series caused stirs in the streets, as well as other efforts like his debut, Streetz Keep Calling Me, it was his collaborative efforts with the likes of AHNKLEJOHN (Genesis 1:27), Futurewave (Razor's Edge), DJ Muggs (Death & The Magician), and Ransom (Coup De Grace) that made the heads anticipate more from him.  When it was reported that Gunn had signed him to Griselda, it was off to the races, and his official Griselda debut, Kiss The Ring, dropped in 2022. Plainly put, GOTTDAMN did it deliver.  With WSG as the curator as always, he gave Rome an album that was very Griselda-esque in nature, and that's a great thing.  His brand of street narratives and gritty rhymes blend in perfectly with the land that made Gunn, Conway, and Benny.  Blistering cuts like "Big Steppa", "Tyson Beckford", "Soulja Boy", and "In Too Deep" are among the best cuts Rome has ever presented to the masses with their menacing, chilling production mostly handled by the Griselda in-house team.  While he and Armani are like a new aged Bonnie & Clyde on "Armed & Dangerous", he also describes the life of a hustla that didn't end well on the Alchemist-crafted "Long Story Short" and keeps you in suspense upon every word he spits. Pound for pound, Kiss The Ring is one of the hardest debuts in recent memory and Rome Streetz, if you didn't know who he was before, had arrived. With later heaters such as Buck 50, Noize Candy 5, and his collabs with Big Ghost LTD (Wasn't Built in A Day), Daringer (Hatton Garden Holdup), and Conductor (Trainspotting) all further proved how tremendously talented and focused Rome is. However, with Kiss The Ring, he formally invited you to know him because this effort let everyone know he wasn't going anywhere.

29. Spillage Village

Spilligion (2020)

Production: Christo, Olu, Sounwave, Benji, Mike Dean, Monte Booker, others

Guests: 6LACK, Ari Lennox, Chance The Rapper, Mereba, Ant Clemons, Lucky Daye

Among the many talented acts J. Cole has within his Dreamville collective are Atlanta reps, EarthGang and JID.  We've already highlighted JID in this countdown and will again, while EarthGang have definitely contributed very good music during this decade, especially their 2022 release, Ghetto Gods.  These two acts are co-founders of a bigger crew called Spillage Village, which also consists of singers Mereba, 6LACK, and Jurdan Bryant, while also featuring emcees Benji and Hollywood JB.  Together, this crew delivered their first major label offering in 2020 called Spilligion, which followed up their independent series, Bears Like This.  As this was released during the insurgence of the Pandemic, the themes of this album mostly revolve around an uncertain future, but putting elements of religion , spirituality, last days rhetoric, community, and afro-centric ideology to create an environment that was as much of a family reunion as much as it was a church service in the hood. This was evidenced on the lead single, "End of Daze", which put a light on the albums spiritual and occasionally religious themes, spitting about how they would fare if the world ended, but this was just the beginning.  From the onset, the cut "Baptize" leans into problems that plague the Black community using Biblical themes to bring their points home, while "Mecca" is a celebration of their African roots and their awareness of how we all as a culture should put Africa as the "mecca" of our existence.  While cuts like Mereba's solo offering, "PsalmSing" places her relationship on a pedestal but compares it to weed's intoxication, the cut "Ea'alah" celebrates its meant term of "family" by highlighting highs and lows, but recognizing strength within the sufferings over a soulful, upbeat track.  It gets a little more stern on the track, "Judas", in which the crew collaborates with former Dreamville artist, Ari Lennox, and Chance the Rapper highlighting betrayal and selfish mind states. As we get to the triumphant-sounding closer, "Jupiter", we have the whole crew rapping and singing in unison leaning on faith to get them through these times and whatever the world wants to do in the future.  Easily conjuring up images of the legendary Dungeon Family due to the overtly soulful aesthetic of this crew, Spillage Village (or Spill Vill for short) is a family of tremendous talents that dive into areas that ground them such as family, God, spirituality, community, and socio-political issues that have helped or hurt our culture.  With Spilligion, we take a fantastic and joyful ride with a group of men and women that, although they're uncertain of what the future of the world holds, they're also moving on the faith of God, their ancestors, and each other to make it and make a difference while still here.  This was arguably the most overall feelgood album during a time where there was nothing to feel good about, and for that we thank Spill Vill for not just one of the best albums of 2020, but one of hip-hop's underrated treasures of this decade thus far.

28. Skyzoo

All The Brilliant Things (2021)

Production: Kenny Keys, Thelonious Martin, MarcNfinit, JR Swiftz, STLNDRMS, Tuamie, others

Guests: BJ The Chicago Kid, Raheem DeVaughn, Blakk Soul, others

Brooklyn's own Skyzoo has among the most stellar discographies in all of hip-hop.  Every single album, EP, mixtape of his is highly acclaimed.  Since his '09 full-length debut, The Salvation, Skyzoo has shown himself to be an emcee's emcee, quite possibly on your favorite emcee's favorite emcee list.  Highly intelligent and a clear lover of jazz music, Skyzoo mixes his love of jazz with classic NYC boom-bap and displays his gift with the pen with relative ease.  Following up his unbelievable 2019 offering, In Celebration of Us, he delivered 2021's All The Brilliant Things, an album that focused on issues in the hood such as integration, hustling, and gentrification.  Cuts like "Bed-Stuy Is Burning" and the knocking "Free Jewelry" show his awareness and insight to the ills of the hood beyond just a drugs and murder level.  He also professes showing love to people while they're still here with "Bodega Flowers" and other cuts like "Plugs & Connections", "I Was Supposed to Be a Trap Rapper", and "St. James Liquor" demonstrate Sky's fantastic lyrical abilities and knack for dropping introspection and dimes for the listener to take with them throughout that particular album.  Sky may not be the most known emcee on a mainstream level, but he can outshine your average mainstream emcee with ease, and with albums like In Celebration of Us, Skyzoo constructed quite possibly the album of his career and among the most intelligent albums of 2021.  The album title is appropriate considering its author is as brilliant as the 'things' he mentions.  As time would go along, he would drop other excellent aforementioned offerings such as his tremendous 2023's The Mind of a Saint, 2024's Keep Me Company, and his most recent EP, Views of A Lifetime, but with ATBT, Sky reached new heights with his bars and his imagination that was rooted in real life sociopolitical issues. We all know the only thing scarier here in the United States of AmeriKKKa besides a Black man, is an INTELLIGENT one, and Sky is among this country's worst nightmare.

27. Apollo Brown & Che Noir

As God Intended (2020)

Production: Apollo Brown

Guests: Black Thought, Skyzoo, Ty Farris, Planet Asia, Blakk Soul

Buffalo's own, Che Noir, has become among the most hard-working emcees in the current game of hip-hop.  Putting out an average of three to four albums per year, Noir is as tough with the pen as many of her contemporaries.  Her low tenor, almost baritone, delivery contains bars that are filled with autobiographical rhymes and vivid imagery of what she's experienced within her young years of life.  As part of the TRUST crew with 38 Spesh and Ransom, it's only right her bars are to be on point at all times.  In 2020, she linked up with Apollo Brown, Detroit producer extraordinaire, to distribute to the world, As God Intended.  Apollo's signature brand of soulful boom-bap is a bit different from fellow soul boom-bapper, 9th Wonder's, type in which AB's contains a bit more of an atmospheric approach and feel.  This effort is no exception, and when couple with Noir's true to life bars and confident delivery, this was quite the gem for 2020.  Starting off with the dumb dope, "Anti-Social", Noir is seemingly remorseless, as she goes after her haters and those that oppose her, getting Almost sadistic at times.  This would not be the last time you'd hear her in a grisly type of mind state, as the haunting track, "12 Hours", has her playing the role of a scorned woman who goes after the man who was accused, mistakenly, of cheating on her with her friend by killing him. Easily up there with some of the best and engaging storytelling cuts in recent years, Che has you on the edge of your seat with every bar she spits.  With the majority of this album, one is caught up in the uneasiness of what she experiences in the streets. From betrayal to revenge; From reflection to coming of age.  We see it all from Che throughout this album.  We hear her address her issues with her father on "Daddy's Girl", as she goes after the toxic issues they have with each other, while on "Money Orientated", she tackles the way this capitalist society affects the poor and socially vulnerable, especially within the Black households.  However, she gets even more socially conscious on the outstanding "Freedom". Over thick percussion and stunning wind instrument effects, Che examines the plight of the Black man and the judicial system that frequently incarcerates them in both gripping and saddening detail.  She furthers this on the cut, "Blood Is Thicker", in which in the first verse, she personifies the ghetto, as she's speaking from its perspective in all of its unsettling glamorization and false glory, while she spits from her own narrative on the second verse of what the hood really does to someone, especially from her own experiences.  One thing about Che is that she isn't afraid to be poignant and vulnerable with her bars and storytelling.  Such is the case with "Winter", a cut about her being that ride-or-die girlfriend to a man that's about to face trial and how she's done with all the rumors, lack of phone calls, and other nonsense.  If we see any ounce of the results of her introspection, it would be her tribute to the year she was born, "'94", in which she examines how much hip-hop has impacted her ways and movements within this game, even to the point of her being born the same day Illmatic dropped (picture that).  Arguably seen as Che Noir's best project to date, As God Intended showed a fantastic chemistry between the very fitting production from Detroit's Apollo to match the gritty and realistic rhymes from Che. The album reflects the cold atmosphere of both of their respective cities of Buffalo and Detroit, but harsh realities aren't meant to be fuzzy and warm.  With subsequent albums that followed such as The Color Chocolate, The Color Chocolate 2, Food For Thought, Lotus Child, The Last Remnants, and 2025's offerings of her collab with fellow Buffalo emcee, 7XVETHEGENIUS, Desired Crowns, and her link up with The Other Guys, No Validation, Che Noir has established herself as quite the prolific artist and with an impressive overall discography, Che is one of those emcees that effectively knows how to mix poignant honesty with gritty realities.

26. Conway The Machine

God Don't Make Mistakes (2022)

Production: Daringer, The Alchemist, Hit-Boy, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Beat Butcha, Bink!, others

Guests: Jill Scott, Westside Gunn, Benny The Butcher, T.I., Novel, Beanie Segal, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, others

While Griselda had clearly had another stellar year of releases in 2022 with fiery offerings from Rome, Benny, Gunn, and Armani, there was one effort that was the true standout above every other Griselda effort, and that distinction goes to Conway The Machine.  The forty-year-old Buffalo native has progressively earned more and more of a following.  Since his breakout mixtape, Reject 2, Conway has been on more and more radars.  With other projects such as The Blakk Tape, Look What I've Become, Reject On Steroids, and the most recent full-length From King to A God, Conway has not only been evolving as a lyricist, but also as an overall artist.  He finally hit his zenith with his Griselda/Shady 2022 offering, God Don't Make Mistakes.  He promised this would be his best album and boy did he live up to this statement.  While still incorporating his threatening gun talk on cuts like the Beanie Sigel-assisted "Lock N Load", the obligatory WSG/Benny/Conway cut "John Woo Flick", and the very eerie Alchemist-blessed "Piano Love", it's the more introspective moments that are truly the calling card here.  On the cut, "Stress", this cut is jarring just in terms of how in detail he goes of what causes his depression and how he deals with it all.  Raw and very honest, Conway exposes his mind and heart in a manner that anyone could likely relate to.  Similarly on "Guilty", he goes in just as honestly and with the melancholy title track, he goes into the day he got shot and nearly killed in what some have referred to as "The Cow Pt. 2", which is a cut on Gunn's Hitler Wears Hermes 4 and what was called the verse of his career and rightfully so.  The frankness and emotion in this cut is wrenching, especially when his mother makes an appearance at the end of the cut.  Other cuts such as the T.I.-assisted, Hit-Boy constructed "Wild Chapters", the surprising Jill Scott collaboration (she spits here y'all) "Chanel Pearls", and the damn menacing "Drumwork" featuring his artists 7XVETHEGENIUS and Jae Skeeze are all indicative of Conway's mixture of gunpowder and tears on this exceptional album.  The most complete and defining album of his career, Conway finally arrived with God Don't Make Mistakes and has this generational album to show for it. Make no mistake about it, his follow-up albums of Won't He Do It, SFK, and the most recent offering, Can't Kill God with Bullets extend his talents and further place him on an upper pantheon, but it was GDMM where we finally saw him take full advantage of his potential, and he hasn't looked back since.

25. Nas

King's Disease 2 (2021)

Production: Hit-Boy

Guests: Lauryn Hill, Hit-Boy, Charlie Wilson, BLXST, Eminem, YG, EPMD, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, others

Following up King's Disease was a hard task.  Nas and Hit-Boy delivered one of Nas' best albums since Life Is Good and showed how cohesive they could be together.  Not to repeat, this album gave Nas and Hit-Boy their first Grammies.  When it was announced a sequel was coming, immediately fans were wondering if they could repeat their...ahem...magic.  The answer was a profound yes, and then some.  With King's Disease 2, he continues his theme of empowering Black men and showing them as kings that are worth more than what society makes them to be but also expand into how to come up in the game.  Tackling issues such as investing, overcoming odds and upbringings, but also showing humility and gratitude.  This is even more of a grown man's album than the first one.  An album filled with jewels, introspection, and honesty, Nas and Hit-Boy presented an album for today's young Black man to eat and digest properly. Tracks like the first single, "Rare", show Nas experimenting with double time flows with moderate success, while "40 Side" has him spitting over a west coast influenced beat that sounds like QB is in L.A. Another intriguing cut is "Death Row East", in which he breaks down the final days of he and Pac together one last time before Pac's untimely death.  He brings it back to the streets with cuts like "Store Run", "Moments", and "Count Me In", but brings his charm for the ladies on "Brunch on Sundays" with singer BLXST contributing a little himself. While the track "EPMD" has Eminem guesting and basically strong-arming the track only after the REAL EPMD show up at the beginning, Nas is on a scientific and methodical lyrical approach with this album and is as flawless as ever.  Perhaps the album's most newsworthy moment is the appearance of the legendary Ms. Lauryn Hill, as they reunite for the first time since '96's "If I Rule The world" from Nas' outstanding, It Was Written.  Simply put, Ms. Hill still got it on that microphone and with her pen game on "Nobody".  It's been argued by some people that this is his best album since Stillmatic.  That's not a reaching statement or argument.  This was a new benchmark for Nas and his career.  As for Hit-Boy, Nas has brought him more notoriety than ever and in turn has supplied him with some of the best production of his career up this point.  Although many argue KD3 may be easily as fantastic, as well as the third and final installment of his Magic series, KD2 had arguably more soul and charm than the others, but with Nasir Jones, it was just another day in the booth.

24. Jay Electronica

A Written Testimony (2020)

Production: artist, The Alchemist, Swizz Beats, Hit-Boy, James Blake, No I.D., AraabMuzik, others

Guests: Jay-Z, The Dream, Travis $cott, James Fauntleroy

In what seemed like an eternity, Magnolia Projects representative, Jay Electronica, finally dropped his debut full-length to the masses, A Written Testimony.  Having recorded material since the mid thousands, Elec has been one of hip-hop's biggest mysteries.  Aside from his Act I: Eternal Sunshine mixtape and his highly anticipated full-length project, Act II: Patents of Nobility (The Turn) that didn't see the light of day until 2020 even though it was originally supposed to be released in 2010, Elec was aloof.  Heads knew he was one of the game's most incredible and insightful writers, as well as quite the producer, but we didn't know much about him beyond these areas.  This changed in 2020, when he delivered his official debut of A Written Testimony, as it was supposedly completed within forty days and forty nights to be released to the public. As with most Jay Elec content, the majority of the album is filled with conspiracy theories, psychedelia, and NOI wisdom and jewels.  One big thing concerning this album is that, while deliberately uncredited, friend and co-conspirator Jay-Z appears on every track in ways similar to when Raekwon dropped Cuban Linx as Ghostface was literally presented as the co-star of the album.  This is very much the same path and trajectory.  After the Louis Farrakhan intro, we dive into "Ghost of Soulja Slim", which is a knocking cut that shouts out late, great No Limit rapper, Soulja Slim, and does his name proud as the two Jays obliterate the mic they share. With "The Neverending Story", Elec imagines himself as a young boy with mystical powers similar to the boy in the story of the same name, only his magic book is the Holy Quran and his fight against materialism and the commercialism of the music industry.  With cuts like "Universal Soldier" and "Flux Capacitator", Elec goes militant spiritual as he examines himself within the false glamour of hip-hop and basically warns summons his inner Black Panther to seek out those that have done his people wrong.  The only song he does by himself is the minute and a half long "Fruits of The Spirit", which is an exquisite rundown of all that is wrong with AmeriKKKa and how we as a people must rise above with the strength of our ancestors.  While it's no shock that Hov outshined Elec on pretty much every track, Elec held his own with his own deep and heavy bars that will penetrate the spirit and resonate in your head. While A Written Testimony definitely took years rather than days to make, the greater sum of its parts is that Elec is a figure that feels that he's a messenger or prophet for the coming of Allah, both in the world and in music.  An artist rarely seen in the game, Jay Electronica is one of those emcees that can preach, reach, and teach while delivering emceeing gifts that are not as common as we'd like to see out here today.

23. billy woods & Kenny Segal

Maps (2023)

Production: Kenny Segal

Guests: ELUCID, Quelle Chris, Aesop Rock, Danny Brown, ShrapKnel, Hemlock Ernst

As much as we give sincere props to the likes of Nas, Skyzoo, and a very select few others for phenomenal runs through the past several years or even through the past decade or so, you simply can't exclude NY's billy woods from the conversation.  One of the most prolific and fascinating wordsmiths in all of hip-hop, the Armand Hammer member is establishing a legacy of almost unimaginable proportions in terms of constant excellent material and some of the most compelling lyrics ever written among this era.  Stellar efforts such as Today I Wrote Nothing, History Will Absolve Me, his Armand Hammer efforts such as the UNREAL Alchemist-handled HARAM, Shrines, and Paraffin, and woods' own outstanding contributions to 2022, Aethiopes and Church, are all some of the underground's most endearing and celebrated efforts.  He started his yearly assault reuniting with past collaborator, Cali-based producer Kenny Segal, for Maps.  With their prior collaborative effort, Hiding Place, gaining such tremendous acclaim, it was only right for them to repeat the same critical success and did they ever.  Whereas Hiding Places was more grim, dark textured, and walking the brink of excessive paranoia, Maps is more of a look of an artist that's traveling the country just after the pandemic and going from one unknown area of his life to another and how to deal with all of it, while all the while yearning to return to his "home" of peace and solitude.  Remarkable cuts like "Houdini", the moody "NYC Tapwater", and "Hangman" are such strong evidence of how enormously gifted this son of a writer and an English Literature professor really is.  This album is filled with cautionary tales, uncertainties, social awareness, and politically charged narratives, but also woods' insights into the world he sees as he "travels" throughout this life searching for his absolution.  This is another genius effort from woods and Segal, and clearly Maps is a stylized masterwork.

22. Ka

Descendants Of Cain (2020)

Production: artist, Roc Marciano, Preservation, AniMoss

Guests: Roc Marciano

In 2024, the game lost one of its true lyrical craftsmen in Kaseem Ryan, aka Ka. The Brownsville emcee left this physical Earth for as of right now unknown reasons but left quite a dent within the hip-hop community.  The firefighter by day/emcee by night was a remarkable talent with the pen, but even more so with his insight into harsh street living and his own autobiographical commentary that reflected all of his stances.  Furthermore, he was very much into conceptual pieces.  Several entries within his stellar discography reflect this. For his fantastic offering in 2013, The Night's Gambit, he envisioned himself as a chess grandmaster. One who provided wisdom while understanding life was like a game of chess.  He followed that up with the marvelous 2016 effort, Honor Killed the Samurai, in which he was a scorned samurai that observed the world through a very jaded, yet relevant, lens.  He collaborated with tremendous underground producer, AniMoss, for Orpheus vs. The Sirens under the paired name, Hermit & The Recluse. The album was a look at street life through the lens of Greek mythology in what was also on an exceptional piece. He continued his penchant for concepts in 2020 with Descendents of Cain, which was a troubling, yet highly engaging, look at the streets and his upbringing in comparison to the Biblical tale of Cain vs. Abel, and how justice is often time misconstrued through the eyes of the scorned and victimized.  Like most of his previous and subsequent projects, this one is dark, very immersive, stripped back, and requires truly in-depth listening.  Do not expect much in the way of percussion or heavy basslines here folks. This album brings forth an atmospheric and dreadful ambiance underneath some of the most compelling writing of Ka's career.  His almost whispering and subdued delivery is so calming yet chilling at the same time. The first track, "Every Now & Then" has him spitting about duality and ambiguity over a haunting string piece, while the very next track, "Unto the Dust" is a macabre look at the streets and his violent upbringing that ultimately ends with the reminder that all of us shall return from how we entered this Earth.  He continues the comparisons of Cain killing Abel on the gripping "Solitude of Enoch", which in the Bible, Enoch was the son of Cain when Cain was exiled to land of Nod.  This ode to revenge, moving silently, and surviving is an exemplary cut that does not flinch in its depiction of the NYC slums.  The subsequent sequel appears in the cut "Land of Nod", in which he describes Nod as being just like Brooklyn: violent, unrested, and desolate.  On cuts such as "Patron Saints", "My Brother's Keeper", and the Roc Marci-assisted, "Sins of The Father" all show the parallels between the Bible and the perils of responsibility, influence, and accountability in unbelievable fashion.  By the end of the album and we hit the closer, "I Love (Mimi, Moms, Kev)", Ka is in full reflective mode, as he gives salutes and props to his wife, mother, and best friend respectively, and ultimately brings what all matters with him and to him at the end of the day.  Following albums like the fantastic A Martyr's Reward, Languish Arts/Woeful Studies, and his final recorded album, The Thief Next to Jesus all reflected and mirrored the amazing talent Ka possessed within his pen. With an OG wisdom and an insight that makes his narratives painfully authentic, Ka was an emcee's emcee and a storyteller's storyteller.  Brutally honest, yet heavily poignant, Ka showed with Descendants of Cain, he was one of the most gifted lyricists the game had to offer through vivid illustrations and personal observations. The world lost a gem of an emcee, but to his friends and family, they lost a gem of a man. Sleep well brother Kasseem. Until we meet again.

21. Lupe Fiasco

Drill Music in Zion (2022)

Production: Soundtrakk

Guests: Nayirah, Ayesha Jaco

Lupe Fiasco is considered one of the best of his style of rap.  His intelligent and insightful lyricism has been the catalyst for albums such as his classic debut, Food & Liquor, its equally incredible, The Cool, the exceptional Tetsuo & Youth, and the very engaging, yet slightly overlooked and heavy, DROGAS Wave.  The Chi-town native also has had some efforts such as Lasers, Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, and DROGAS Light that although ambitious enough to keep your eyes and ears on him, didn't fare up as well as the other aforementioned ones. However, earlier in the year, his producer Soundtrakk promised Lupe's next album would be "Illmatic-esque".  Stating things like that means you have to have practically a new holy grail of hip-hop with this effort.  With his eighth album, Drill Music In Zion, he was not incredibly far off.  Fiasco spits conscious and at times cautionary rhymes over some of Soundtrakk's best produced work.  With him tackling areas such as the sabotaging, from a cultural and artistic standpoint, of hip-hop, the trickery of consumerism, and the need for us as a people and a community to rise up from the facades of what we're faced with, he's a very needed voice and speaks with passion and a bit of pessimism.  Cuts like "Ms. Mural", "Precious Things", "Naomi", and the closer "On Faux Nem" are so in tune with the dangers of commercialism and how certain styles of our artform are poisonous and likely contributing to the tragedies of our culture like a frustrated and concerned parent.  Over mostly jazzy boom-bap and slick melodies, Soundtrakk gave Lupe a fitting musical backdrop for every single cut on this effort.  Is this album the new Illmatic? I'd say not, but is it in the conversation for his best album ever? One could definitely make that argument.  Gone are the themes and concepts of heady material that he's mostly been known for and now included are just him speaking from his heart and doing so in such brutally honest fashion. He followed this up with the almost as mesmerizing, Samurai, Definitely among the most important albums of 2022, Lupe constructed a phenomenal album needed for times as this.

20. Jay Electronica

A Written Testimony: Leaflets (2025)

Production: artist, Conductor Williams, Evidence, others

Guests: Tone Trezure, DRAM, Quentin Miller

After about five years of little features and guest bars, Jay Electronica was able to drop his much worked on follow-up to his 2020 gem, A Written Testimony, A Written Testimony: Leaflets.  While A Written Testimony was a long overdue look at Jay from an esoteric sense, the "other" Jay, Jay-Z, was playing the role of Ghostface to Elec's Raekwon from Cuban Linx. Therefore, Elec appeared a bit dumbed down because of the fact Jay would minimize his bar game.  With Leaflets, we get way more of Elec spitting raw, unapologetic viewpoints that he stands all ten toes down on, right or wrong.  His stances on religion (especially being that he's a devout Muslim and honorably serves Elijah Muhammad), sociopolitical issues, conspiracy theories, and doomsday prophecies are prevalent all through his three min-albums/EPs (he dropped AWT: Power at The Rate of My Dreams and AWT: Mars, The Inhabited Planet within 48 hours after this album).  With Leaflets, the album starts off with a soundbite from Diddy as he mentions that "Great things come to those who wait.".  Obviously recorded before his conviction, Elec has been open about his support of Diddy and what he was ultimately convicted of. That soundbite led to the "CONDUCTOR WE HAVE A PROBLEM" tag, which indicates red hot producer, Conductor Williams, is up next and the gospel choir-sampled, drum-less track with the ever-soulful croonings of Mika Lett set the stage for a dynamite cut in "Abracadabra".  Indicating his Godly upbringing while also throwing up a middle finger to the industry, Elec is ready for heads here.  His spirituality and last days prophesizing is of utmost importance on other cuts such as the Quentin Miller-featured, "Who Killed Michael Jackson?" and the anti-Caucasian rhetoric of "Four Billion, Four Hundred Million/The Worst Is Yet to Come". The most compelling cut lyrically and thematically belongs to the DRAM-assisted, Evidence-produced, "Is It Possible That the Honorable Elijah Muhammad Is Still Physically Alive?".  With soundbites from the charismatic, yet immensely influential N.O.I. leader throughout the cut, Elec cites the book of Revelations as well as Quaran ideologies that indicate the end of the world in the first verse, while telling the story of a troubled young Black (assumedly) woman and encouraging her and others that know her plight.  The entire three EP series of Leaflets, PATROMD, and MTIP is controversial enough to produce conversation, yet engaging enough to want you to research more of what he's saying, regardless of religious ideology or scripture.  Jay Elec is one of the game's most amazing writers, but his calling to reach, teach, and preach to the masses through hip-hop is a sign that his mission is bigger than him. As we got the almost Detox-leveled mystique of an album, Act II: Patents of Nobility, from the mid-thousands finally seeing the light of day on DSPs in 2025, the sheer beauty of the artistry, bars, and musicianship were clear signs of Elec's otherworldly brilliance, and it got reemphasized here. Of the three, Leaflets is arguably the most accessible, which is not to dumb any of the three efforts down in any way. While his choice of friends and colleagues may be highly controversial, his talent is far from it.  

19. Mach-Hommy

Pray For Haiti (2021)

Production: Conductor Williams, Camouflage Monk, Denny LeFlare, Sadhugold, Nicholas Craven, Cee Gee, Messiah Muzik, Green Lantern

Guests: Westside Gunn, Tha God Fahim, Keisha Plum

Haitian-born, New York-bred emcee Mach-Hommy is one of hip-hop's most mysterious emcees.  With a mask over his face way before it became the unfortunate norm to do in our society today, he also isn't a huge fan of interviews as well.  Known in the underground for his classic, H.B.O. under the Griselda flag, he's another artist that has an enormous discography filled with mixtapes and EPs.  Early in the year, the streets were buzzing about the issues being squashed between Mach Hommy, Tha God Fahim, and Westside Gunn.  Very quickly we were anticipating music between them, and wishes were quickly filled and realized with news of Hommy delivering his first album under Griselda since the aforementioned H.B.O., Pray For Haiti.  Simply put, this was a new benchmark for Hommy.  This is an album for newfound fans of his.  For those that have heard of Hommy but wanted to know what the hype was all about.  Cuts like "Murder CZN", "The Stellar Ray Theory", and "Marie" are next level Hommy, lyrically and musically. Lyrically, Hommy is a grandmaster. One that knows how to brilliantly weave his way in and out of similes and metaphors in such ways that by the time you've caught on to what he means, he's already lapped the listener three times by then. The way he paints such a vivid picture of desperation and bouts of paranoia on "Kriminel" is both engaging and strategic, while the Westside Gunn and Keisha Plum featured, "Folie A Deux", has him navigating a unique world of struggle, success and ambiguity with rather inventive wordplay and entendres.    Going back and forth between English and his native tongue of Creole, his talent and penmanship is quite intriguing.  This may easily be Hommy's best effort to this day, which is saying something considering how impressive his discography already is.  Subsequent efforts such as Balens Cho, and especially #RICHAXXHAITIAN, would further cement Hommy's stance as being among the most brilliant writers and lyricists around, but also exhibited himself as one who's form of art isn't for everyone, but is necessary for the culture.

18. JID

The Forever Story (2022)

Production: Childish Major, KAYTRANADA, Cardiak, Monte Booker, Christo, James Blake, BadBadNotGood, Khrysis, DJ Khalyl, others

Guests: EarthGang, 21 Savage, Baby Tate, Kenny Mason, Lil Wayne, Yasiin Bey, Eryn Allen Kane, Johnta Austin, Ari Lennox, Lil Durk, others

Atlanta's JID is skilled. Very highly damn skilled.  From his writing to his rapid-fire delivery, JID is arguably the most talented emcee on the roster of Dreamville who's name isn't Jermaine Cole.  His debut album, The Never Story, was a very dope inkling into what we would be in for, and DiCaprio 2, was every bit as great and further displayed his ability to keep us in tune just thanks to his penmanship.  With more and more people tuning in to JID and catching on to his burgeoning stardom. He went for the gusto with his 2022 offering, The Forever Story.  A subsequent extension of The Never Story, this album is on another level.  While slightly more in-depth and introspective, he still boasts a great deal of how he belongs in this game and brings humor, wit, honesty, and pride over some of the most ambitious, yet bumping, production of his career courtesy of the likes of Dahi, Monte Christo, Khrysis, and others that has him comfortably handling his business in styles ranging from melodic to rapid-fire to even him letting out some crooning vocals on the cut "Sistanem".  Family is a big part of what makes up the man behind JID, and cuts like the aforementioned "Sistanem", Bruddanem", and "Kody Blu 31" are very reflecting of it. More vulnerable and personal than on albums past, he lets us in while being fearless about doing so.  Other cuts like the surprising yet hot collab with Yasiin Bey, "Starz", the funky collab with labelmates EARTHGANG, "Can't Punk Me", and the sizzling "Raydar" are more examples of how JID is not only an excellent visionary, but how versatile of an artist and lyricist he can be.  JID's ambition on The Forever Story was telling for the future and showed how far he could go as an artist. We saw further examples of how stellar his technical rhyme game and innovative writing talents could go on his 2025 offering, the aforementioned God Does Like Ugly, and he truly became a part of southern hip-hop's conscience. As incredible as this album was, he only scratched the surface on how amazing he would be and will keep being in years to come.

17.Killer Mike

MICHAEL (2024)

Production: No I.D., El-P, Cory Mo, Cool & Dre, DJ Paul, Don Cannon, Da Honorable C.-N.O.T.E., Beat Butcha, others

Guests: Cee-Lo, El-P, Young Thug, Andre 3000, Eryn Allen Kane, Mozzy, Jagged Edge, Curren$y, 2 Chainz, Ty Dolla $ign, Future, BLXST, others

As one half of one of hip-hop's most acclaimed and revered duos, Run The Jewels with El-P, and former member of the legendary Dungeon Family, Killer Mike has always been able to hold his own with anyone on the mic.  His influences were drawn from the likes of Nas, Jay, Scarface, and Ice Cube, and it absolutely shows often.  With a very impressive solo discography that includes his I Pledge Allegiance to The Grind series and his first outing with El-P behind the boards, R.A.P. Music, we've been waiting for that one official classic from the ATLien to drop.  In 2024, enter MICHAEL, an exceptional collection of KM's most personal and heartbreakingly honest tunes over some of the most varied and tremendous production he's ever rhymed over.  We've known a lot about the activist and community leader Killer Mike, as well as the fiery, socio-political emcee with El-P, but he peels back layers of his onions to reveal painful, somber, and emotional stances from his career and his life.  With Grammy Award winning producer, No I.D., supplying most of the boardwork, as well as being Executive Producer of this album, this album has tons of that southern bump that his core audience appreciates such as the DJ Paul-produced "Talkin' That Shit", the trunk rattling "Spaceship Views" with 2 Chainz, Curren$y, and Kaash Paige, and the knocking Cory Mo-crafted cut with Cee-Lo's soulful crooning, "Down By Law".  However, more of No I.D.'s influence shines on other tremendous cuts such as the stellar Andre 3000/Future/Eryn Allen Kane assisted "Scientists & Engineers", the Young Thug-assisted "Run", and "NRich" with 6LACK.  However, it's the more personal cuts that make this album among the best of the entire year.  On "Something For Junkies", he describes the relationship between him and his drug addicted aunt in very honest, yet relatable, fashion.  The standout is the Eryn Allen Kane-assisted, "Motherless", which painfully has him navigating through his thoughts and feelings being without his mother and grandmother (the Robert Glaspar-assisted remix of this on the deluxe edition is simply heartbreaking yet stunning as Mike can barely make it through the cut due to breaking down so much. One of the most wrenching pieces heard in such a long time). With other incredible cuts like the first single with El-P, "Don't Let the Devil", "Exit 9", the ode to his wife "High & Holy", and the Mozzy-assisted "Shed Tears", MICHAEL is head and shoulders above most efforts put out by his peers. Killer Mike became Michael Render for this effort, and we are all glad about it. This album has set a new career benchmark and is the new standard for him in his life and career.  While we still wait for RTJ5, MICHAEL will not only more than satisfy us until then, but it'll place KM further into upper echelon and top tier mentions.

16. Ransom & DJ Premier

The Reinvention EP (2025)

Production: DJ Premier

Guests: N/A

When one mentions fierce and highly respect emcees currently killing it right now, one name that immediately comes to mind is Jersey's Ransom. One of the game's most prolific emcees over the past decade, Ransom has quite the discography, mainly collaborating with the likes of Nicholas Craven, V DON, and other tremendous names.  Ransom also dropped another unexpected, yet excellent, collaborative effort weeks later. This time with Grammy Award winner, Conductor Williams, with The Uncomfortable Truth.  His use of sharp wit and way above average rhyme schemes and word play made him glide over the unorthodox yet tremendous stylings of the Grammy Award-winning producer. However, when word got out that he was collaborating with arguably the GOAT of this hip-hop behind the boards, DJ Premier, all trumpets and horns went out as we were likely about to embark on something special and expectations were obviously very high.  The EP, The Reinvention, is as raw, unfiltered, and bumping as you'd expect from any Preemo project. Very reminiscent of Preemo's last pet project with Royce Da 5'9" as PRhyme for both of their albums, Ransom was no holds barred with his pen game, and just based off the initial cut, "Amazing Graces", the piano-laced cut has Ransom dropping tons of fire in ways that make you reminisce about PRhyme and make you anticipate their next project. The same could be about the next cut, "A Cut Above", in which Preemo incorporates strings to compliment his unfairly knocking bassline. While he continues his battle hungry rhymes on "Chaos Is My Ladder", he gets more into subject depth with the cuts "Survivor's Remorse" and the title track, in which he gets introspective talking about his struggles to get to his risen point within his life and his career and shouts out those that have been around to see him prosper.  This is also heard on the ugly faced, "Forgiveness".  While we definitely wish this effort was longer, what we did get was a nasty reminder of why Preemo is who he is and why belongs on every emcee and listener's Mount Rushmore of hip-hop producers and deejays, while Ransom is clearly becoming your favorite rapper's favorite rapper with another example of why he's such an exceptional emcee. With The Reinvention, these two showed a chemistry that took one back to the nineties with its impeccable boom-bap flair a little differently than the aforementioned The Coldest Profession effort, but certainly a monster album and one of the best, if not THE best, Ransom effort to come out to date.

15. Navy Blue

The Sword & The Soaring (2025)

Production: artist, Child Actor, AniMoss, Chris Keys, Graymatter, Foisey, Sebb, others

Guests: Earl Sweatshirt

Cali native, Navy Blue, is well known for his introspective and dense lyricism.  One that has been known for a delivery that's as relaxing as it is almost on the verge of a full depressive episode.  More poetic than saddening and triggering, Blue has an aesthetic that revolves around a bleeding heart met with a very talented pen and steady delivery.  His full-length debut, Ada Irin, was a promising look into the mind of a young man coming of age over reflective and harmonic production.  His follow-up, Song Of Sage: Post Panic!, double down on this and the results were simply fantastic. Regarded as one of the best albums of the half decade, Navy was becoming an artist that delivered very evocative music while not being afraid to let us in to his occasionally dark areas and internal conflicts. His next couple of albums, Navy's Reprise and the Budgie-produced, Def Jam debut Ways of Knowing, had Navy weaving in and out of sublime, yet not quite as melancholy production, and in such we heard more life come within him.  Although feeling somewhat restricted in sound, Navy had a look of that loner that's more of an observer than an extrovert and he was very comfortable with that, but you could tell something was diluted.  In came 2024's Memoirs In Amour that brought him back to an unfiltered, stripped back approach to letting his feelings off and out for the listener.  Definitely heavier than previous material (and that's saying a lot), Navy dove into feelings of regret, inner torment, depression, and shame.  He struggled to find optimism within any of it although he surely tried at certain times of the album.  However, in 2025, Sage brought forth his emotional and refreshing album possibly of his career with The Sword & The Soaring.  This album deals with sorrow and grief in very human and real aspects (you'll hear this later with De La Soul's breathtaking return album, Cabin In The Sky), but you'll also hear a young man finding peace within the pain and a purpose to acknowledge the heartbreak yet realize that not does life go on, but through it, meaning comes about.  On cuts like "God's Kingdom" and the lead-single, "Orchids", self-discovery is the key. In all their candor, Navy Blue put it best on the latter in which he states repeatedly, "With so many losses, we gotta win."  To a degree, that helps the listener relate very much to him in all forms of grief.  With "Illusions", he tackles finding strength despite the difficulties of doing so day to day. An element we hear on several tracks here in various forms, while on the gripping, "Here & Now", he examines the duality of pain and healing in such an intimate way that one could swear he was spitting from his own diary.  Meanwhile, the simply gorgeous "Sunlight of The Spirit" has him discussing his walk with God and how his spirituality helps him make it throughout his daily struggles and travels.  The other noteworthy aspect of this album is the absolutely beautiful soundscapes throughout the album. The likes of Child Actor, Sebb, Chris Keyz, as well as himself, deliver production that is filled with strings, harps, and otherwise almost heart-wrenching production that fits the aura of this effort.  Perhaps this is the most exemplified on the drum-less track, "Sharing Life", in which he produces this simply divine track that truly incorporates what he has been steadily stating throughout this project. Looking back on the toughness of his life growing up with trauma and death but reminiscing on how his family helped him deal with it all and how it ended up impacting him as a man in truly one of the most captivating moments in Sage's career.  Very similarly is the prior track, "Soul Investments", in which Sebb delivers a fitting guitar lick to match Blue's imagery of seeing his deceased father within his children and him realizing that his Father is in fact still with him. This is in somewhat in comparison to the confessional "If Only", in which he talks to both his mother and father about his childhood and how certain moments of his life were a lot for him to handle but that he has made peace with it all. With the untimely and shocking death of Brooklyn emcee, Ka, in 2023, this still haunts and greatly affects Navy, as we hear certain lines and deliveries echo Ka almost hauntingly.  On the only collaborative cut on the album, the Earl Sweatshirt-assisted, "24 Gospel", Blue and Earl touch on perseverance mixing with sorrow and mental health challenges.  Still confused and hurt by Ka's passing, he still makes it to where he's balancing as best he can. Earl's delivery is very similar ton how we would hear him on his simply stellar, Some Rap Songs, as he could relate very well to what Navy is experiencing.  Folks, The Sword & The Soaring is a look into Sage the man, while hearing Navy the emcee in such a profound and sonically rewarding way.  As human as this is artistic, Navy Blue has delivered an album for the soul just as much as the speakers.  With him, the true measure of a person isn't how much you grieve but how one can find purpose within the perils, and Navy Blue elegantly and courageously finds that space that two things can be real at the same time.  It's not out of the way to call this album the most emotionally stirring album this year and belongs in the same atmosphere as other melancholy classics such as Saba's Care For Me or 2Pac's Me Against The World (see De La Soul later), and after everything Navy has gone through these last few years in his personal life with familial death and death of friends such as Ka, Navy remains more determined to find his perfect imperfections, which is the true measure of peace.

14. R.A.P. Ferreira & Kenny Segal

The Night Green Side of It (2025)

Production: Kenny Segal

Guests: Hemlock Ernst, AJ Suede, others

Wisconsin native, R.A.P. Ferreira, has been quite the fixture in the underground/abstract jazz rap circuit for over a decade.  The former member of Hellfyre Club (which also included the likes of Open Mike Eagle and fellow abstract enigma, Busdriver) has released a number of acclaimed materials throughout his tenure within the subterrain.  Under his previous name, Milo, he delivered one of his most acclaimed and revered efforts in 2015 with, So the Flies Don't Come.  Produced by highly respected underground beatsmith, Kenny Segal, the album was filled with jazzy and psychedelic sounds underneath Ferreira's spoken word-like lyricism and impressionistic imagery.  He continued with the almost as excellent, Who Told You To Think?!?!!!???! two years later, along with multiple other projects with some of the most head-scratching titles known to hip-hop mankind (titles such as Budding Ornithologists Are Weary of Tired Analogies and WHAT THEM DOGS DON'T KNOW THEY KNOW are a couple that come to mind). In 2020, he assumed the new rap name, R.A.P. Ferreira and delivered another delightful project with Kenny Segal along with his group The Jefferson Park Boys, Purple Moonlight Pages, to more well-earned acclaim and props, as was mentioned earlier in this list.  Ever the prolific artist, Ferreira reunites with Segal to deliver his second of two projects in 2025 in the form of The Night Green Side of It.  His earlier work of that year, OUTSTANDING UNDERSTANDING, was certainly an eclectic arrangement of sounds with heavy hypothetical bars along with personal allegories that resonate as tightly as anything he has put out over the past few years.  With this effort, he continues this momentum, only over some of Kenny Segal's most psychedelic and woozy jazz samples he has done all year.  Ferreira's themes mostly revolve around pain, survival, trying to find peace, and an overcast of melancholy reverberance.  From the first single alone, "By the Head", Ferreira is zoning in on relatively human aspects of sadness and depression as he states, "Sky gray, are you sick God, or pissed off?" and it sets the tone for the rest of the otherwise incredible sounding cut.  He gets caught up in Alexithymia (a neuropsychological disorder that makes it impossible for sufferers to be able to verbally express their confused feelings) on the ambiguous "Naming the Feeling", while on "Ruby's Grandchild", he reemphasizes his ability of being an emcee and all of his complexity.  While he properly, yet uniquely, breaks down his self-anointed gifted lyrical gifts on cuts like the intro cut, "Prince Of Peace" and the duality of "Blood Quadrant", he gets vulnerable and open on the sonically fantastic, "Credentials", in which he dives into areas from defending his public persona to being a father and mourning his own grandfather.  However, he hits his apex with the very introspective and honest, "The Night Dreamer's Flu Game", in which he tackles suicidal ideation, depression, and the need to overcome his mental struggles in such a conceptual yet confessional way that it's hard not to root for him in some ways.  Another almost spellbinding cut is "Defense Attorney", in which he basically is standing before God defending his lack of hope for human existence citing examples such as school bombings and hospital massacres and the loss of children's innocence over unbelievable production from Segal.  The closer is "Real Jazz", which features a verse from his former alter ego and performer, Milo, in which Ferreira, for all intents and purposes, is passionate and floated over some warped jazz live instrumentation that ranks among Segal's finest moments. The cut is laced with rambling thoughts that could likely be very ADHD-based, but all of them still come to an eventual point and we get Ferreira closing the cut out shouting out his albums of, So the Flies Don't Come, Purple Moonlight Pages and this one as well.  With all the eclectic and conjectural rhymes from R.A.P. Ferreira and the smoky, multicolored jazz samples and bits of live instrumentation from Segal makes The Night Green Side of It arguably Ferreira's most abstract and sonically intriguing effort to date.  Even with the public issues between him and his ex-wife, as well as dodging off possible rumors of other legal matters, Ferreira was able to shake them off to deliver a deep and layered album that provided the listener with even more of his complex world masked by unique and standout talent.

13. Earl Sweatshirt & The Alchemist

VOIR DIRE (2021)

Production: The Alchemist

Guests: MIKE, Vince Staples

In 2021, Uncle Al stated there was a secret album he and Cali phenom Earl Sweatshirt put together and it was scattered all over YouTube.  As fans were practically fiendish over trying to find this highly intriguing material, eventually, people gave up on trying to locate it.  Fortunately, the ever-allusive Mr. Maman decided to put out this material and confirmed this was the lost collaborative effort between him and Ear.  The results were the album, Voir Dire.  We've heard Earl over Al tracks before like "Old Friend", "Loose Change", "Falling Out The Sky" from Armand Hammer's HARAM, and "Loose Change", and every time we're practically yearning for more.  Quite frankly, Voir Dire is everything we knew the collaborative effort would be and more.  As we all know Uncle Al tends to bring the best work out of anyone he works with, this is especially true with Earl, as cuts like "Dead Zone", "100 High Street", and "Mac Deuce" cleverly demonstrate. He likewise displays a hunger on cuts like "Sirius Blac" and "27 Braids" that makes one remember the teenage prodigy from 2013 over some stripped back, yet no less engaging Al production.  Low on guests, the lone guest spot is reserved for one of the year's rising emcees in MIKE on the vocal crooning sample-heavy "Sentry", but Earl does more than a fantastic job holding his own by his lonesome. Earl closes the album with a rest in peace shout to the late Cali representative, Drakeo The Ruler, "Free The Ruler", in which he gets rather melancholy in his delivery while dropping jewels and encouragement to the listener as a means of capturing the spirit of his "Free Earl" campaign from a decade prior. Over fantastic vocal harmonies, Earl closes this effort in an outstanding manner and reminds the listener that his cope is not all gloom, doom, and grey skies. He can be inspiring and motivating as well, while being reflective in a moving sense.  Al's penchant for crafting the right production for whomever he works with is truly a gift and signs of a genius in music, and Earl is among the most hand-in-glove artists he currently works with.  While Earl's discography is simply spectacular, with albums like Doris, I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside, the simply musically INGENIOUS Some Rap Songs, and his most recent offerings Sick! and 2025's surprisingly low-key yet no less intriguing Live Laugh Love, Voir Dire stands near the top, and begs the question, is there more stuff between these two we have yet to hear??

12. Cavalier

Different Type Time (2024)

Production: artist, Quelle Chris, Wino Willie, Ohbliv, Ahwlee, Child Actor, others

Guests: Quelle Chris, Billzegypt, Black Spade

Earlier, we reviewed Cavalier's CINE, his joint effort with excellent underground producer, Child Actor (whom Uncle Al gave tons of rightful props to in a recent interview).  Cav's need to bring us into his autobiographical world growing up in the CINE community in Brooklyn before his voyage to New Orleans captured a man that had quite the story on him and was seen as a trip down memory lane.  This was not the only project he dropped this year.  In April, Cav dropped what many considered to be the best underground album of the year in Different Type Time.  This being his first effort on the ever-intriguing Backwoodz Studioz label (Armand Hammer, ShrapKnel, Fatboi Sharif, Curly Castro, billy woods, E L U C I D, etc.), we knew this would be an interesting album, given that Backwoodz has already delivered some of the most abstract hip-hop of the past several years.  This friend and collaborator with Quelle Chris dropped off a true gem of an album with 2024's Different Type Time and the evidence was early with his lead-off single, "Custard Spoons" and the follow-up "Pears".  The left-field poetics of the New Orleans-by-way-of Brooklyn resident are certainly to be broken down and repeated in order to fully absorb his message and sentiments at times.  The point of this album is to move at his own pace, not at the pace and timing that the world feels that he should. Basically, it's he vs. himself, and the resulting freedom that comes from this state of mind.  He expresses this on the opening intro track which also serves as the title track.  From there, he stays in this mode with other excellent tracks like "Cojme Proper" and the jewel dropping "All Things Considered", but it's when he gets introspective and open that he truly shines on the brightest moments on the album.  On the cut, "Told You", he reflects on his troubled and saddening upbringing.  Reminiscing on his struggles and his ill-fated choices, it's a track many in the streets can easily identify with if you're a good cat that made decisions they could make given desperate circumstances.  Also, on "Think About It", he deciphers what love can look like in all of its complexities, whether misconstrued, passionate, or distorted in what can only be seen as one of Cav's most poignant and candid moments within his career.  He also gets truly poetic on the mesmerizing sounds of "Touchtones", in which he details a breakup and the ramifications that he's going through emotionally and mentally trying to maintain.  The thing about Cav is that he's very relatable in every aspect.  In some sort of way, we all (especially us men) can identify with him somehow. From his self-identity and respect to heartbreak to lessons learned along the way, Cav spits with innovativeness and forward thinking that if you're not in tune with his technicolor ideologies, his words will fly over your head, much like Quelle.  The unorthodox nature of his lyricism on cuts like "Lazurus" is a fine example of this. Over an outstanding psychedelic-boom bap track, Cav is in his "Purple" mode like Nas was, as he's spitting different concepts and ideas that have no central meaning while stoned, except that he's free-flowing whatever thoughts come into his head. His technical ability in this cut is sharp, and the more you listen to this this track, the more you get a little bit more understanding of how this organized mess actually has a purpose.  Meanwhile, on "Badvice", he spits about not being dumb in the midst of major decisions and adversities with plenty of jewels he can attest to.  By the time we've hit the closing track, "Flourish", it's clear Cav is an outstanding writer, emcee, and visionary.  An abstract mind with poignant, yet at times complicated, vision and lyricism, Cavalier delivered perhaps the single best underground album of the year with Different Type Time.  Over some of the most engaging production of 2024 by the likes of Child Actor, Quelle, Ahwlee, Jacob Lancaster, Lowkey, and Ohbliv (along with himself doing a few tracks co-producing with Quelle), this is an album that meets an entire new benchmark for Cavalier. His view of the world and his life not adjusting to the rules of the society and culture, while being content in the lane he's in is a measuring stick for those that comfortable in the skin they're in and not worried about time passing them by. The only time that matters is your own, and Cavalier's time is right now.

11. Pink Siifu & Ahwlee are B. Cool-Aid

Leather Blvd. (2023)

Production: Ahwlee, DJ Harrison, Butcher Brown, Navy Blue

Guests: Big Rube, Denmark Vessey, Ladybug Mecca, Quelle Chris, Liv.e, others

Birmingham, AL's Pink Siifu is an emcee/artist that is a very interesting figure.  He clearly is a musically inclined and in tuned artist.  His influences range from Mos Def to George Clinton to Death Grips, and all show have showed up in various releases over the years.  His most notable project came in the form of 2021's Gumbo! in which we hear his lazy drawl delivery succeed over elements of trap, soul, and jazz.  He gets back with one of the album's producers, Ahwlee, and they become B. Kool-Aid as they present their debut album under that moniker in 2023, Leather Blvd.  The musical nature of this album blends jazz, neo-soul, and blues.  If D'Angelo, Miles Davis, and the aforementioned Mos Def were in the same building, this is the hodgepodge you get as a result. Siifu's melodic stylings along with Ahwlee's distinctively mellow live instrumentation blends impeccably here.  The ambiance of the album is like a Black owned coffee shop that has a grown folk's lounge night event going in. You can smell the incense and the occasional greenery through the speakers the moment you push play on your device.  The easy-going and relaxed vibe of cuts like the Ladybug Mecca of Digable Planets fame "ChalkRoundIt", "Soundgood", and "Can't Fk Around" This project still has Siifu being highly observant of his culture and community in spots, and in other spots, he just trades them in for good vibes and sense of Black grandeur.  Cuts like the Denmark Vessey/Quelle Chris-featured "Brandy, Alliyah" and "CntGoBack" are such examples of feel-good auras that help make the album what it aspires to present.  While musically, the album sounds and feels like a Soulquarian jam session at times, which is a good thing, this is ultimately about the Black experience in the form of a cultural and musical community.  B. Kool-Aid's attempts at escaping the problems and stress of the world succeeds and succeeds greatly with Leather Blvd, and in today's times, it's always good to escape from our realities sometimes.  If only Leather Blvd was a real place instead of arguably the most feel-good hip-hop album of 2023.

10. Armand Hammer & The Alchemist

Mercy (2025)

Production: The Alchemist

Guests: Quelle Chris, Pink Siifu, Earl Sweatshirt, Silka, Cleo Reed, Kapwani

The ever ambiguous, yet immensely talented duo of superb writers ELUCID and billy woods reemerged this year together not long after woods' astonishing effort, GOLLIWOG, answering rumors of another collab album with Alchemist. These rumors were confirmed, as Alchemist officially announced the follow-up to their ungodly debut collab album, HARAM, in the form of 2025's Mercy.  Where HARAM had Uncle Al absorbing himself in the cryptic and brooding world that is Armand Hammer, Mercy has Armand Hammer meeting him halfway, as Alchemist presents them with an almost as paranoid world soundscape, only with more of an accessible, yet no less sonically gripping, route of ominous keys and psychedelic ambiences.  The first single, "Super Nintendo" has them reminiscing on more fair days where there were less stress and chaos compared to today, over a brilliant Casio keyboard loop that is very reminiscent of old video games like Super Mario World, Super Metroid, and Super Castlevania that is both highly appealing and engaging.  This may honestly be among the most lighthearted cuts on the album, and even then, this is filled with confessions and personal revelations.  From here, it's paranoia, chaos, and the cryptic bars there within from two greatly obtuse lyricists that bring you into their very unique, yet complex, ideologies.  The cut, "Peshawar", is haunting piano key looped track that serves as an ethereal backdrop to the pair's look at a society depending more on technology than human experiences.  The cut, "Glue Traps", is metaphorical for not being able to move higher or get ahead in this Western world as a Black man, and ELUCID and woods such a magnificent job painting the sequences of captivity and being stuck. Meanwhile, cuts like "Moonbow" and "U Know My Body" are so morose in their content that one would think these emcees have slight bits of pessimistic depravity towards the human race, yet are very observant and uniquely dissonant, especially the harrowing bars on "U Know My Body", which is NOTHING like what one would conjure based upon the title.  Darkly abstract bars are as clever as ever, while still remaining alarming and cautious, and this point is evident on otherwise outstanding cuts such as "No Grabba", "Scandinavia", and the murky-themed, "Nil By Mouth".  Frequent collaborator, Earl Sweatshirt, stops by with his slinky drawl, yet no less tremendous wordplay, on "California Games", but it's the Pink Siifu-assisted, "Crisis Phone" that shows the volatile crescendo that the duo relies on to leave the listener feeling anxious, claustrophobic, and suffocating. The cut, "Longjohns" with another frequent collaborator, Quelle Chris, and Cleo Reed, very much mirrors this as well with feelings and visions of a destroyed and decaying culture within today's world.  Alchemist supplies them with enough avant-garde, yet heavily melodic, psych jazz that makes this not as much of a horror flick as HARAM, yet still as aesthetically dizzying.  If the duo's last effort, the tremendously ambitious and widely acclaimed, We Buy Diabetic Test Strips, was the book of the lost, frenzied, and uncomfortable, Mercy may very well be the epilogue, as it seeks refuge between the reluctantly accepting murky world they're navigating through and the need for clarity and light at the end of this never ending dark tunnel. While considering past outstanding efforts from them such as Paraffin, Shrines, and the robustly paranoid, Rome, this album falls in line with them all only on more jaded levels.  Let's face it folks: Armand Hammer aren't here for your enjoyment and fluff. They have insight to the erosion of human civilization and it's up to you take heed or get swallowed up. 

9. Phife Dawg

Forever (2022)

Production: J Dilla, 9th Wonder, Khrysis, Nottz, others

Guests: Q-Tip, Rapsody, Busta Rhymes, Redman, Maseo, Angela Winbush, Posdnous, Little Brother, Illa J, Dwele, Lyric Jones, Darien Brockington, others

The hip-hop community was hurt and deeply saddened by the loss of one of its dopest emcees, Phife Dawg.  The legendary "Five Foot Assassin" was the perfect supplemental emcee to Q-Tip in A Tribe Called Quest and this b-boy at heart was one of the best at his craft.  Due to complications from Diabetes in 2016, his mic was put down for good.  However, before he passed, he was in the process of completing his sophomore solo album in Forever.  His debut, Ventilation: Da LP, was a dope effort and showed how much he could shine without Tip on the mic for a full album.  With Forever, this posthumous album has him ripping up cuts like the Redman and Busta Rhymes assisted "Nutshell", "Only A Coward", and the ode to forgiveness from his lady "Sorry".  Guests like Rapsody, Maseo of De La Soul, and Illa J also lend their hand in making these cuts fit the mold of the vision that Phife and business partner, DJ Rasta Root, had in mind.  The tribute cuts of the previously released, "Dear Dilla" with Q-Tip doing the hook that ended up having him tribute both Phife and Dilla and "2 Live Forever" with Posdnous of De La Soul, Little Brother, and Darien Brockington both signify how much Phife meant to everyone he touched, whether as a friend or a fan.  Malik Taylor was an emcee's emcee.  The type that was about no gimmicks, just a pad, a pen, and a mic.  If this is the only posthumous project we get from him, we will always respect and appreciate his gift to us and both he and Tribe will live on...well...forever!

8. Danny Brown & JPEGMAFIA

Scaring The Hoes Vol. 1 (2023)

Production: JPEGMAFIA

Guests: redveil

Earlier, we reviewed Danny Brown's super introspective and honest work, Quaranta, that pulled the curtain back on a man struggling to find himself past his sobriety and having to face his emotional demons.  However, early in 2023, this was not prevalent at all, as he got up with NY's evil genius, JPEGMAFIA, for the incredibly clever, yet highly dysfunctional, SCARING THE HOES.  The combination of these two is like a marriage we never really knew we needed.  The album fits the left-brained chaos of Danny Brown and the alternative-genre defying stylings of Peggy and the results are unbelievable. While we've gone over how sporadic, yet intriguing, Brown's overall discography has been, Peggy's fan base started building with albums like 2018's Veteran, All My Heroes Are Cornballs, and the highly diverse 2021 offering, LP!  One thing this album isn't is boxed in.  This effort combines elements of hip-hop, soul, jazz, alternative, EDM, and indie rock sounds, which is customarily right up the alley of Peggy.  Concepts are wild, fun, psychedelic, and off the wall, and you'll never hear anything all year quite like this collection of cuts.  Standouts include the title track, "Orange Juice Jones", the lead-off single "Lean Beef Patty", and the eccentric "Fentanyl Tester" and the rest of the project sounds, and feels, like an entire acid trip that's the most fun ride you've ever been on. When they're not being ADHD-riddled kids with moments of brilliance, they're sneaky honor students that like to throw spitballs at the listener. Such an example would be the aptly titled "Run The Jewels", in which they summon the spirt of one of the game's most heralded duos with their unconventional stylings and the ability to make you think you got the method of both artists' madness, but you really have no idea.  Brown & Peggy delivered quite the eclectic mash-up with SCARING THE HOES, but the outcome is one of the most fascinating albums in recent years, and perhaps the most defining album in the career of JPEGMAFIA, especially. His 2024 offering, I Lay Down My Life for You, was a career benchmark, but even that fascinating album was the stepchild to the production and lyrical antics of this effort. For Brown, this was a cross between his drug-induced dive into insanity, Atrocity Exhibition, and his fun, yet off-kilter, XXX. He got way deep on the overall somber tones of Quaranta and leaned into genre-crossing territories with 2025's Stardust, but this is among the most fun we've heard Brown have sincerely in ages.  Both guys win here and win big.

7. Armand Hammer

We Buy Diabetic Test Strips (2023)

Production: Messiah Muzik, Child Actor, Kenny Segal, JPEGMAFIA, El-P, August Fanon, DJ Haram, ELUCID, Steel Tipped Dove, Sebb. Black Noi$e

Guests: JPEGMAFIA, Quelle Chris, Pink Siifu, Cavalier, El-P, Moor Mother, Curly Castro, Benjamin Booker

Throughout this past decade, very few, if any, duos match the written craftsmanship and complex aura of Armand Hammer.  The duo consisting of ELUCID and the ever enigmatic, yet brilliant, billy woods have been among the most critically acclaimed darlings in the underground.  Albums such as Race Muzik, Paraffin, Shrines, and the masterwork that was the Alchemist-helmed HARAM all made people take notice but also examine how methodical their penmanship and among the bloated subgenre of abstract hip-hop.  With both men dropping fantastic offerings in 2022 with ELUCID delivering the fascinating I Told Bessie, and woods dropping two monsters of the Preservation-blessed Aethiopes and the Messiah Muzik-crafted, Church.  It was only right for them to get back together, and the results are practically spellbinding.  Their 2023 offering, We Only Buy Diabetic Test Strips, was their most musically and thematically ambitious project to date.  Mixing eclectic sounds and different musical experiments to push their left field agendas, this album contains more of the same stuff in terms of illuminati references, conspiracy theories, socio-political agendas, and anxiety-driven manifestos that tend to burn their way into your brain.  Where HARAM has been (somehow) seen as their most "accessible" with Uncle Al's seemingly perfect board game, this album darts everywhere musically, and that's the point.  Cuts like "Woke Up & Asked Siri How I'm Gonna Die", "Niggardly (Blocked Call)", "The Flexible Unreliability of Time & Memory" and the El-P-crafted "The Gods Must Be Crazy" are filled with chaos, paranoia, society dysfunction, and glaring observations.  Guests such as Junglepussy, JPEGMAFIA, the aforementioned El-P, and Pink Siifu add more layers to this highly complex, yet amazing, collection of cuts only Armand Hammer can maneuver through with such left-brained wonder.  Armand Hammer clearly dropped another career defining project with We Buy Diabetic Test Strips, and while the casual, outside person would think they're musically, lyrically, and thematically crazy, they're here to remind us, with projects like this, they're crazy like foxes.

6. Talib Kweli & Madlib

Liberation 2 (2023)

Production: Madlib

Guests: Mac Miller, Westside Gunn, Roc Marciano, Wildchyld, Goapele, Meshell Ndegeocello, Pink Siifu, Q-Tip, Jessica Care Moore, Roy Ayers, others

We turn back the clock to 1998.  Brooklynites Mos Def and Talib Kweli become Black Star and deliver one of the game's most epic hp-hop monuments with their debut, Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star.  Seen as hip-hop in its most pure and authentic form, the album was a genuine classic among critics and fans alike and rightfully so. Follow that up with 2000's Train Of Thought with production partner Hi-Tek as Reflection Eternal.  The album hit pretty much every bit as greatly as the Black Star effort, only with Kweli having the primary spotlight and showing up excellently.  From there, albums such as Quality, Eardrum, the highly underrated Beautiful Struggle, Prisoner of Consciousness, and the most recent Radio Silence have all demonstrated Kweli's insightful pen game and the ability to tap into the Black experience while also tackling socio-political issues, his love of hip-hop, and community awareness.  It was in 2007 when he got up with producer extraordinaire Madlib for their debut collaborative mixtape, Liberation, that we got a very promising effort between the two and, while it was sorely slept-on by many, those that tapped in realized how dope of a project it was.  Some sixteen years later, Madlib, who just provided his brand of sonic soul and jazz to the reunited Black star effort of 2022, No Fear of Time, reunited with Kweli for 2023's Liberation 2, and the results are mesmerizing.  Madlib's wonderful blend of soul, jazz, and occasional funk is so elegantly displayed throughout this album, while Kweli displays a vigor and renewed zest within his delivery that truthfully, we haven't quite heard since Radio Silence, and that was in '97 (although he and Styles P did drop that excellent EP, The Seven, that same year).  Cuts like "Air Quotes", the spectacular "Nat Turner", and the elegant "Wild Beauty" are some of the most fantastic cuts within the very extensive discography of either artist.  His subject matter consists of most of the same we've known from him: love of the Black woman, community, Black history, revolutionary imagery, and third eye vision.  Madlib, in comparison, provided some of his best work in some time, and easily matches excellence of his such as his collaborations with Freddie Gibbs (Pinata, Bandana), Declaime (his In The Beginning series), and almost to the level of, dare I even say, the GOAT underground album, Madvillainy  Heavy on the soul, jazz, and his knack for obscure and clever sampling, Madlib creates an ambience worthy of an album such as this with its aforementioned subject matter.  Other phenomenal cuts like "Ad Vice", "One for Biz", and "Something Special" continue the majestic nature of what could be considered a landmark effort for both men.  Along with guests such as Roc Marciano, Westside Gunn, Wildchild, Roy Ayers, a verse from the late, great Mac Miller, Q-Tip, Pink Siifu, Meshell Ndegeocello and his children of Diani and Amani, they don't take away from Kweli and his well-crafted bars whatsoever. If anything, they give each track they're on more flavor for the food, and nothing is off base.  Simply put, Liberation 2 not only respectfully outdid its predecessor, but set a new bar for each man's respective, legendary careers.  Perfectly sequenced, incredibly arranged, and systematically structured to where each track naturally glides off the previous track effortlessly, this could low key prove to be a timeless album for those that need their hip-hop the only way it needs to be...from the soul.

5. Armand Hammer & The Alchemist

HARAM (2021)

Production: The Alchemist

Guests: Earl Sweatshirt, Quelle Chris, Curly Castro, others

One of the underground's most interesting duos is Armand Hammer.  NY Underground critical darlings, ELUCID and billy woods are strong enough on their own (check woods' stellar discography), but then once they came together for Armand Hammer, jeez Louise! Their brand of socio-political commentary and armageddon-esque themes have garnered them a cult following.  However, they reached next level when it got revealed that Mount Rushmore-worthy producer, Alchemist, was working with them, the anticipation was high for their debut collaborative album and DEAR GOD did it deliver! Their debut collab effort, HARAM, may truthfully be Alchemist's best boardwork of the entire year of 2021, and that's saying a mouthful considering how crazy he was that year. Surrounded in some of the atmospheric and psychedelic sounds Uncle Al could possibly provide for their world of decay and society of trepidation, cuts like God's Feet", "Scaffolds", and "Indian Summer" feel hand in hand with the aura that Armand Hammer so eloquently present and paint.  History and patterns tend to inspire these guys' generally dreadful outlook on the world, and cuts like "Roaches Don't Fly" and the sonically colorful, "Pepper Tree" challenges the listener to go outside narrow-minded thinking and go beyond any type of conventionalism in order to see the real enemies out here. With the standout track, "Falling from the Sky", they link up with frequent collaborator Earl Sweatshirt, to paint pictures of abstract images and otherworldly theories over a Jamaican-like soundscape that would make the Marley family proud.  If you're familiar with their prior outings of ROME, Race Muzik, Shrines, and Paraffin, picture these incredible efforts with an Alchemist touch.  That's what you get with HARAM.  The subject matter doesn't really stray too far from what they know best, but these themes over Al's production is borderline perfect.  It's not wrong to label this album one of Alchemist's most prized efforts, but it's also not wrong to call HARAM Hammer's best effort to date.  We got another album from them in the form of 2025's breathtaking Mercy, and it's obvious ELUCID, woods, and Uncle Al are a match made in heavenly hell. 

4. Run The Jewels

 RTJ4 (2020)

Production: El-P

Guests: DJ Premier, 2 Chainz, Greg Nice, Pharrell Williams, Zach de la Rocha, Mavis Staples, others

There arguably wasn't a more in-demand and more in-your-face hip-hop duo than the collective of Killer Mike and El-P, aka Run The Jewels within the 2010s.  Going back to when El-P did all the production on KM's fiery R.A.P. Music album in 2012, these two officially dropped as a duo for their unbelievable debut self-titled album in 2013. However, once we got to 2015, they dropped RTJ2 and not only was it even more of an explosive bomb, both critically and commercially, but it definitely put RTJ into hip-hop's spotlight and they garnered quite the following.  With two legit classics under their belt, they strived to knock another one the park, and in 2016, they did just that with the equally bananas, RTJ3, and they solidified themselves as one of the most critically acclaimed acts of the decade and perhaps in recent hip-hop history with a trilogy of monumental albums that are still god-like in certain parameters. Their content of anti-establishment and conspiracy theories made them quite the controversial, yet tremendously enjoyable, listen. El-P's ridiculously energized basslines along with his lo-fi EDM undertones collided with Mike's booming and sharp vocals, and even El-P's angry, yet high-as-fuck, delivery made for them to become hip-hop's new century answer to Public Enemy and dead prez, only with a Black and white guy.  In 2020, they knocked us on our collective asses again with RTJ4.  Following the formula of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", Mike and Producto stick to the material they know and have been successful with: racist cops, a messed up sociopolitical system, down with the establishment, and corruptive media.  Don't let the fun first single with Greg Nice and the scratches of DJ Premier on "Oooh La La" fool you. This is WAY more protest music than a good time. This is every bit as stinging as their prior predecessors, only this may be more meticulous in detail and less juvenile dick jokes than on RTJ2 and RTJ3.  In the wake of the killings of the likes of Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, and George Floyd, cuts like "Walking in The Snow", "Goonies vs. E.T.", and "A Few Words For the Firing Squad" hit that much harder.  The latter cut, especially, is as personal and as honest as it gets from these two, as they examine the climate of being a Black boy in AmeriKKKa, poverty, and injustice from an introspective standpoint.  They also remember the chemistry they possess on a technical level on cuts like the opening cut, "Yankee & The Brave" and "Holy Calamafuck" featuring an impressive 2 Chainz, but they hit pay dirt on the cuts "Pulling the Pen" and "Ju$t". On the former, they team with guitarist Josh Homme and legendary soul/gospel artist, Mavis Staples, examining the need for us as a people to do better and to realize the dangers of Capitalism in the country. The call-to-action is as jolting as it is soulful, but no less powerful. As for the latter, they team with former collaborator, Zach De La Rocha of Rage Against The machine and Pharrell Williams over a bouncy track that makes one believe Pharrell had something to do with the production. This is another cut concerning Capitalism and the evils that the culture can deliver, referring to corporate business owners as "slave masters" on the hook.  They pull zero punches here, even less than before.  While the previous albums displayed a healthy balance of hostile gospel and juvenile humor, RTJ4 is more screw-faced than any of the priors and that's saying something. Not since the likes of Tribe, De La, P.E. and, well, Kendrick have we had an act that delivered FOUR game-changing efforts in a row, but with Run the Jewels, they clearly became the voice of the disenfranchised and every other beat down community that have been scorned by the powers that be.  While we wait on hopefully RTJ5 in 2026, remember these albums were done during times of chaos, greed, and deliberate capitalism. Imagine how RTJ5 would sound like folks!

3. billy woods

GOLIWOG (2025)

Production: ELUCID, The Alchemist, Conductor Williams, Preservation, El-P, Sadhugold, Steel Tipped Dove, Kenny Segal, Messiah Muzik, Ant, Jeff Markey, others

Guests: ELUCID, Despot, Cavalier, al.davino, Bruiser Wolf, others

It's very, very hard (if not impossible) to size up a subpar, or even average, billy woods project. Every project from the New Yorker (by way of D.C.) is somehow a mixture of fascinating doom, optimistic pessimism, and facetious hope with a demoralizing society.  With him being the offspring of two intellectuals (mother being a literature professor), it's only natural that woods has a vast array of highly qualified knowledge that will cause provocation and intrigue alike.  Known for excellent albums such as Known Unknown, Today, I Wrote Nothing, History Will Absolve Me, and later fantastic efforts such as Terror Management, the Preservation-collaborated Aethiopes, and the two amazing efforts with Backwoodz in-house producer, Kenny Segal, Maps and especially the eerie Hiding Place, all exhibit woods compelling talent of using his pen to illustrate a world in disarray while using dark humor and occasional tongue-in-cheek references that provide discomfort and useful information similarly.  Aside from his Armand Hammer projects with ELUCID, woods has enough paranoia within his rhymes to cause a psychotic social breakdown, and we may have just gotten it in the form of 2025's GOLLIWOG. a reference to the criminally racist rag doll with blackface depictions. With the cover having this rag doll lost in the woods (you might say), it could be symbolic of a caricature of a Black man trying to exist in a world filled with mystery and fear not knowing how much longer he has to survive.  Within this album, we have woods exploring this mantra with some of the most unsettling and uncomfortable imagery he has ever delivered.  Considering Hiding Place and Aethiopes, this is even heavier than those albums, and from the jump with "Jumpscare", a brooding, dense cut produced by another Backwoodz producer in Steel Tipped Dove that has him in search of trying to find himself despite the white man's ever allusive shadow always not far behind him.  The general theme of this album is one of horror. Not in the form of entertainment, but of harsh realities that confront you and makes it known that this will not be a settling ride to be on, but you're forced to endure just like he has to.  With "STAR87", he tries to find a way out of his past torments by using a looped ringing phone as its backdrop, while on the short but eerily hypnotic, "Pitchforks & Halos", woods imagines himself in a slavery-era time period where he is also comparing that time period to the music industry in one of the most imaginative ways heard to date.  He dives into different levels of mental and intellectual depravity at times, exploring cultural and community torture that impacts him in such sensationalized fashion it's almost as if he is the main character in his own psychological thriller.  On the Alchemist-crafted, "Counter-Clockwise", he explores insomnia and sleep deprivation through his own mental images, but on "Misery", he details a love triangle between him, a woman, and her husband, in which she's creeping behind his back but is also a succubus or vampire of sorts that he just can't resist.  Although one of the few humorous moments on the album, this still fits the horror theme of the album.  This gets turned in a complete 180 with the bone-chilling "Waterproof Mascara".  The emcee plays a spirit of sorts observing a woman whose children had been physically abused and the lingering trauma that affected everyone involved in unfortunate mental health challenges.  With some of the most eerie lyrics of the entire album in terms of imagery, the production matches it with Preservation's usage of a drum-less sample using a crying woman as a loop to create perhaps the most haunting and atmospheric cut on this effort. The psychedelic paranoia of "Golgotha" is matched only by the hallucinogenic atmosphere within the production courtesy of Messiah Muzik, and it's the over sensationalized, yet truly relevant, macabre image that propels woods into doing modern day horrorcore that made albums like Gravediggaz' underground classic, 6 Feet Deep such a treasure, only with more socio-awareness and historical suffering, which for our community is a horror movie in itself. He continues driving home abstract narratives with clever idiosyncrasy bars on stellar cuts like the fantastic "Cold Sweat", which is divided into two parts. The first part has him having unsettling nightmares about the music business and imagining himself "dancing on a desk for record execs". The second part of this cut is the most interesting, as woods plays the role of an apartment tenant who's subsequently holding his landlord hostage as the landlord is trying to sell the building but it's woods that is holding the power over the landlord; thus, revealing a flip of the slave/slaveowner story.  It wouldn't be a woods album without an ELUCID featured track or two, and in this case, we have the harrowing psychedelic sounds of "All These Worlds Are Yours", "Lead Paint Test" (which also features Quelle Chris), and the powerful , "Dislocated", in which the Armand Hammer boys constantly accentuate the point that "they can't be located, they can't be located", which is a look at how Blacks are often traumatized so much we tend to camouflage ourselves in time and history while emphasizing survival.  With other incredible cuts like the bumping El-P-produced, Despot-blistered, "Corinthians", the al.davino-assisted, "Maquiladoras", the Bruiser Wolf-featured, "BLK XMAS", and the MF DOOM-saluted "Born Alone", woods has constructed a masterpiece of an album that shows why he's not only one of the game's most allusive emcees, but one of the most gifted and imaginative writers the game has ever produced.  Using history and current racial and societal climates as horror imagery is as real as it gets. Only billy woods can eloquently conjure these images while throwing in dark humor and occasional sarcastic whims to demonstrate a far darker and surreal picture.  The real horror isn't within the creative imagery of the mind, but the actual experience of history that we, as a culture, have had to withstand.  When it comes to painting pictures of the paranoid, traumatized, hopeless and Afro-pessimistic, woods crafts these images better than any revered painter. With GOLLIWOG, this is his best example yet.

2. De La Soul

Cabin In the Sky (2025)

Production: artist, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Nottz, Supa Dav West, Jake One

Guests: Nas, Q-Tip, Yummi Bingham, Black Thought, Bilal, Common, Slick Rick, Stout, Yukumi, Killer Mike, Giancarlo Esposito, Gina Loring, others

What else can you say about the legendary hip-hop act known as De La Soul? These one-day Rock & Roll Hall of Famers from Long Island are within hip-hop royalty.  From the moment Posdnous (Plug One), Trugoy the Dove (Plug Two), and DJ Maseo (Plug Three) incorporated a hippy, bohemian, yet soulfully abstract style that showed the magic they were capable of on their seminal 1989 debut, 3 Feet High & Rising, which sprung the instant classic, "Me, Myself & I". Thinking people considered them as soft or punks, they killed the "D.A.I.S.Y. Age" and made a very bold statement with the simply brilliant follow-up, De La Soul Is Dead, showing that they're not just happy, flower power emcees. They actually can rhyme and presented stories revolving around classicism, racial identity, fakeness in hip-hop and child molestation resulting in murder on the fascinating, yet chilling, "Millie Pulled a Pistol On Santa". With the follow up albums of Buhloone Mindstate and '96's outstanding Stakes Is High, we heard mixtures of jazz, Afrocentric rhythms, and straight up boom-bap while they further demonstrated how consistently their quality was in lyricism and music taste in terms of production value. Their approach to non-gangsta rap and overall, a grounded outlook on the world and the culture has always been their refreshing appeal. These four albums showed it in spades and are considered their epic four. That's not to say that subsequent albums like Art Official Intelligence, AOI: Bionix, the underappreciated, yet highly dope, The Grind Date, and the Grammy nominated, And the Anonymous Nobody weren't special themselves, but the aforementioned four were and remain their calling cards.  Unfortunately, things turned heartbreaking for the crew, as Dave tragically passed away from CHF in 2023.  A year after they were finally able to get their catalog streamed onto DSPs after years long battles over getting samples cleared, the charming Trugoy took his last breath.  One would think this would be the end for the Long Island duo, but much like brothers-in-rhyme, A Tribe Called Quest when they lost founding member, Phife Dawg, they chose to keep the name alive. As part of Nas & Mass Appeal's Legend Has It series, De La was on the roster for their first album since And the Anonymous Nobody, and their first since Dave's passing.  They finally returned with their ninth album in 2025, Cabin in the Sky, a look at life through the eyes of the remaining two members as they expressed grief, sorrow, and sadness over their fallen brother while also examining the joys and pride of life that makes us all relate to them in such human and vulnerable fashion.  The opening intro alone is enough to produce a tear or two as the "teacher" of the classroom, veteran actor Giancarlo Esposito, does a roll call, and when he gets to Dave, there's no answer as the track starts to have an echo fade of him calling out for Dave to no reply.  What follows is the very enjoyable, Dave-produced, "YUHDONTSTOP", which has vibes of Buhloone Mindstate with its sharp horns even with a Dave soundbite at the end to keep people remembering that, in Pos' words, "Even the two will always be three". From there, the first of three DJ Premier tracks appears in the form of "Sunny Storms", in which we have Pos dropping encouraging wisdom all throughout the minimalist Preemo track, and then the first track featuring Dave, "Good Health", which exemplifies the infectious grown man chemistry that made De La the legends they became in the first place. Invoking memories of 3 Feet High & Rising, cuts like "Will Be" and the young love breakup ode, "Just How It Is (Sometimes)" will cause the over forty crowd to have goosebumps and butterflies alike as to how much the sound took them back to 1988 with the feelgood sounds and elements of disco and bubblegum pop.  Another lighthearted cut is in the Q-Tip/Yummi Bingham-assisted, "Day in the Sun", which could easily be a mid-Spring long highway drive cut.  We get back to reflective on the Killer Mike-assisted, "A Quick 16 For Mama", in which Pos and Mike tributes their deceased mothers, while Maseo provides stirring adlibs for the cut. Once we hit the latter half of the album, we hear more emotional and vulnerable rhymes from Pos more consistently.  One cut that exemplifies this is the Pete Rock-crafted, "Different World", in which Plug One examines his journey over the loss of Dave but trying to find peace through the pain.  Another wonderful example is the Bilal-crooned "Palm of His Hands", in which Pos bravely examines his own mortality and hopes that his son "treats a woman better than he treated his mother." Over a fantastic Pete Rock cut complete with very fitting piano keys and Bilal's tremendous, yet minimalist, singing, gives this such a punch. As we reach the end, we get Dave's solo cut, "Don't Push Me", in which Esposito cleverly tosses to "the cabin", in which Dave spits with his usual quirky, yet addictive, style that made us fall in love with him. Only for the track to slowly fade out with Dave's echo fade trailing away with gorgeous harps in arguably the most sobering and tear-jerking moment on the album and Esposito fittingly saying, "Thank you Dave" to close out the album. With other excellent cuts such as the Premo-powered collab with Black Thought, "ENN EFF", the very dope collab with frequent collaborator Common and the iconic Slick Rick on the hook, "Yours", and the outstanding "Patty Cake", it's safe to say De La has presented perhaps the best overall album from them since Stakes Is High, but that's just surface level. De La showed on Cabin in The Sky that they're not only those OGs that truly represent the need to bridge the gap between this generation and their generation in terms of current relevancy with their foundational acclaim much like Slick Rick did with Victory earlier this year.  On top of this, hearing Pos craft perhaps the most introspective writing of his career for obvious reasons is both gripping and refreshing.  It could be very easy to make this a somber album commemorating Trugoy, but doing so would defeat De La's purpose from the offset, thus disappointing Dave's own legacy within the group. Dave is clearly the spiritual driver of this ride, and with spiritual, emotional, reflective, and feel good concepts all throughout, it could be argued that the magnificence of Cabin In The Sky should belong on the same pantheon as their legendary first four releases, as this is an amazing reflection of all their celebrated albums mixed with a current credibility only De La can bring. Best believe, chillin' up in that "cabin in the sky", David Jolicoeur is happy as can be while proudly consuming his favorite dessert in the world, yogurt (thus Trugoy-yogurt backwards). We forever love you Plug Two!

1. Common & Pete Rock

The Auditorium Vol. 1 (2024)

Production: Pete Rock

Guests: Bilal, Posdnous, Jennifer Hudson, PJ

Chi-town's finest emcee, Common, is no stranger to all-time classic albums. We knew he was capable of dropping them when he delivered '94's outstanding, Resurrection, in a year that saw other seminal landmarks such as Illmatic, The Diary, and Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik drop.  He repeated his formula of crafting exceptional releases with 2000's breakthrough, Like Water for Chocolate, which spanned the Grammy nominated-single, "The Light", and he tasted his first bit of platinum success, thus officially becoming a household name.  After getting understandable, yet misunderstood, flack for his follow-up album, Electric Circus, he went back to the corners and the basement of Chicago and collaborated with another Chi-town legend, Kanye West, to deliver Be, an album that has been compared to Illmatic, in terms of fluidity, lyrical sharpness, highly engaging production, and a golden era spirit of beats, rhymes, and no fluff and filler.  Subsequent albums such as Finding Forever, The Dreamer, The Believer, his amazing Black America Again, his August Greene project with Grammy winners, Robert Glaspar and Karriem Riggins, and most recently A Beautiful Revolution Vols. 1 & 2 all would continue to solidify his legacy as one of the most phenomenal talents to ever touch a microphone. Fast forward to 2023 when he announced he was doing a collaborative project with the legendary Pete Rock and buzz and anticipation was swift and high.  After dropping the teaser single, "Tryin", things were already looking great. The announcement was made that their debut collab album, The Auditorium Vol. 1, was dropping over the summer, and just based upon the single "Wise Up" and the follow-up single, "Day Dreaming", it was more than obvious we were in for a very, very special moment.  Did it live up to the hype? If the aforementioned cuts didn't convince you, then all you had to do was peep the first cut on the album, "Chi-Town Do It" and the excellently sampled "This Man" and any questions should be answered profoundly with positivity.  What Pete is able to do is very similar to what Kanye was able to do with Common: bring the beast out of him.  While we absolutely appreciate pro-Black, pro-women, socially conscious Common, it's the exceptional battle tested emcee that is even more acclaimed, and this is none more prevalent than on the monumental cut "Stellar".  Over the most neck-snapping cut on the album, Common blacks completely out and delivers a rhyme pattern where he's trying to keep up with the knocking tempo and does so masterfully. To say this is among the most lyrically exceptional performances we've ever heard from Common is putting it mildly.  The title alone is beyond appropriate, as this is a TRULY stellar cut (not to mention this cut is this reviewer's personal favorite cut of 2024).  It doesn't stop here, however, as cuts like "We're on Our Way", "So Many People", and "All Kind of Ideas" progress his sharp as hell pen over Rock's juicy, funky, and crisp production.  He doesn't lack in meaningful rhymes, as is evidence with cuts like the collab with wifey Jenifer Hudson, "A God (There Is)", the touching Bilal/Posdnous-assisted, "When the Sun Shines Again", and "Fortunate".  Once we get to the tremendous "Now & Then", it's clear Common and Pete Rock delivered an album that not only met the hype but even surpassed it. As extraordinary as Be was, The Auditorium Vol. 1 may be just as special, if not more.  Pete Rock provided Common with some of the best production we've heard from him in a long time, with beats that conjure up some of his most decorated moments such as The Main Ingredient, Soul Survivor, Statue of Limitations, and Center of Attention.  The soul samples he spins are as cleverly used as anything he's ever done and the funky percussion programming fits so well with Common's go for broke style of emceeing.  Not to mention, Rock still has lethal hands on the wheels of steel, as evidenced on cuts like "Stellar" and "Wise Up", where he delivers excellent scratching talents.  Folks, in today's era of hip-hop, to have an album this special is a rare find, but The Auditorium Vol. 1 is just that: special.  If there was such a thing as the quintessential hip-hop album of today's climate, except no substitutes than The Auditorium Vol. 1. Not only is this one of Common's best, one can make an argument that this, after over thirty years of holding and blessing the mic, may very well BE his very best. Did we mention this album is also nominated for a couple of Grammy Awards?? With Vol. 2 coming in 2026, the bar has set unbelievably high for them to replicate, if not succeed, this extraordinary album, but it's apparent that if they did it once, they can do it again. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, for this century, this is what we legit call a FLAWLESS album.

Honorable Mentions

 

Westside Gunn- Still Praying (2024)

Westside Gunn- Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Sincerely Adolf (2021)

Westside Gunn- Hitler Wears Hermes 9 (2021)

Westside Gunn- 10 (2022)

Westside Gunn- 11 EP (2024)

Westside Gunn- Pray For Paris (2020)

Westside Gunn- Flygod Is an Awesome God 2 (2020)

Westside Gunn- Who Made the Sunshine (2020)

Westside Gunn- PEACE FLYGOD (2022)

Westside Gunn- Heels Have Eyes (2025)

Westside Gunn- Heels Have Eyes 2 (2025)

Westside Gunn- Heels Have Eyes 3 (2025)

Apathy- Connecticut Casual: Chapter 2 (2024)

Apathy & Stu Bangas- King of God, No Second (2022)

Armand Hammer- BLK LBL (2024)

Armand Hammer- Shrines (2020)

Blockhead- The Aux (2023)

Mac Miller- Balloonerism (2025)

LL Cool J- The FORCE (2024)

Klassy- Good Seeds (2023)

Aesop Rock- Spirit Filled World (2020)

Aesop Rock- Integrated Tech Solutions (2023)

Aesop Rock- Black Hole Superette (2025)

Aesop Rock- Heard It's a Mess There Too (2025)

Aesop Rock & Blockhead- Garbology (2021)

Eminem- Music to Be Murdered By (2020)

Eminem- Music to Be Murdered By: Side B (2020)

Eminem- The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace) (2024)

Kooley High- All Infinite (2024)

Domo Genesis & Evidence- Intros, Outros, & Interludes (2022)

Domo Genesis & Graymatter- What Don't You Think (2023)

Your Old Droog- Movie (2024)

Your Old Droog- TIME (2021)

Your Old Droog- YOD Stewart (2022)

Your Old Droog- The Shining (2022)

Your Old Droog- Dump YOD: The Krutoy Edition (2020)

Your Old Droog- YODfather EP (2022)

Your Old Droog- YODney Dangerfield (2022)

Your Old Droog & Nicholas Craven- YOD Wave EP (2022)

Your Old Droog- Space Bar (2021)

Your Old Droog & Tha God Fahim- Tha YOD Fahim (2021)

Bad Tofu- Affordable Luxuries (2024)

Gowe- Jazznight (2021)

AHNKLEJOHN- Pride of A Man (2024)

AHNKLEJOHN- The Face of Jason (2020)

AHNKLEJOHN & Cookin' Soul- The Michelin Man (2025)

AHNKLEJOHN- Give Grace (2025)

AHNKLEJOHN- Grace Given (2025)

Raz Fresco & Futurewave- Gorgeous Polo Sportsman EP (2020)

Fatboi Sharif & Steel Tipped Dove- Decay (2023)

Flee Lord & Eto- RocAmeriKKKa 4 (2024)

Killer Mike- MICHAEL: Songs for Saints & Sinners (2024)

JPEGMAFIA- I'll Lay Down My Life for You (2024)

MAVI- Laughing So Hard It Hurts (2022)

Kenny Segal & K-The-I- Genuine Dexterity (2024)

Curren$y- The Drive-In Theater Pt. 2 (2022)

Black Thought & Danger Mouse- Cheat Codes (2022)

Ka- Woeful Studies/Languish Arts (2022)

Ka- The Thief Next to Jesus (2024)

Ka- A Martyr's Reward (2021)

ANTITHESIS- Seven Pt. III (2022)

Kid Abstrakt- Still Dreaming (2023)

Negro Justice- Art of The Craft (2023)

Ice Cube- Man Down (2024)

Pink Siifu- Gumbo! (2020)

Lloyd Banks- Course of The Inevitable (2021)

Lloyd Banks- COTI2 (2022)

Lloyd Banks- Halloween Havoc V (2023)

Lloyd Banks- Halloween Havoc VI (2025)

Sadhugold- The Ballad of D.B. Cooper (2024)

Mickey Diamond & Big Ghost LTD- Gucci Gambinos (2024)

Mickey Diamond & Big Ghost LTD- Gucci Ghost 4 (2024)

Mickey Diamond- Super Shredder (2024)

Mickey Diamond- It's 5 O' Clock Somewhere (2024)

Mickey Diamond- Bangkok Dangerous (2024)

Mickey Diamonds- Nobody Bleeds Like Flair (2023)

Mickey Diamonds & Sadhugold- Death Threats (2023)

Mickey Diamonds- Oruku Saki (2023)

Mickey Diamonds & Camouflage Monk- Capital Gains (2023)

Rome Streetz & Big Ghost LTD- Wasn't Built in A Day (2023)

Rome Streetz- Buck 50 (2024)

Rome Streetz- Noize Candy 4 (2020)

Rome Streetz- Noize Candy 5 (2023)

Benny The Butcher & Hit-Boy- Burden of Proof (2020)

Benny The Butcher & 38 Spesh- Stabbed & Shot 2 (2024)

Benny The Butcher & Harry Fraud- The Plugs I Met 2 (2021)

Eto- The Beauty of It (2020)

Eto & Futurewave- Dead Poets (2023)

Brother Ali- Love & Service (2024)

Tyler The Creator- Chromakopia (2024)

The Alchemist- The Genuine Articulate (2024)

Quelle Chris, Denmark Vessey, & Cavalier- Deathtape 2: We Gon Need Each Other (2024)

Quelle Chris- DEATHFAME (2022)

Quelle Chris- Innocent Country 2 (2020)

Freeway & Jake One- The Stimulus Package 2 (2024)

JasonMartin & DJ Quik- Chapacubra (2024)

Tha Dogg Pound- WAWG (2024)

ShrapKnel- Nobody Planning to Leave (2024)

Big Hit, Hit-Boy, & The Alchemist- Black & Whites (2024)

Mutant Academy- Keep Holly Alive (2024)

Previous Industries- Service Merchandise (2024)

Flee Lord & DJ Muggs- Rammellzee (2021)

Curren$y & Harry Fraud- Regatta EP (2021)

Vince Staples- Dark Times (2024)

Vince Staples- Ramona Park Broke My Heart (2022)

GQ & 9th Wonder- A Midsummer's Nightmare EP (2020)

The Alchemist & Hit-Boy- THEODORE & ANDRE EP (2024)

The Alchemist- This Thing of Ours (2021)

The Alchemist- This Thing of Ours 2 (2021)

The Alchemist- Flying High EP (2023)

The Alchemist- Flying High EP 2 (2023)

Freddie Gibbs- You Only Die 1nce (2024)

Freddie Gibbs- Souls Sold Separately (2022)

Ransom, Conway The Machine, & V DON- Chaos Is My Ladder Too (2024)

Logic- Ultra 84 (2024)

Logic- College Park (2023)

Logic- Vinyl Days (2022)

Logic- No Pressure (2020)

Al-Doe & Spanish Ran- Holy City Zoo (2023)

AJ Suede & Televangel- Metatron's Cube (2022)

RJ Payne, Ras Kass, & Havoc are GUTTR- Everything Is... (2024)

7XVETHEGENIUS- Death Of Deuce (2024)

7XVETHEGENIUS- Self 7XVE 3 (2025)

7XVETHEGENIUS & DJ Green Lantern- The Genius Tape (2023)

Chuck Strangers- A Forsaken Lovers Plea (2024)

Chuck Strangers- The Boys & Girls (2023)

Elzhi & Oh No- Heavy Vibrato (2023)

Elzhi & JR Swiftz- Seven Times Down, Eight Times Up (2020)

Boldy James & Conductor Williams- Across The Tracks (2024)

Boldy James & Harry Fraud- The Bricktionary (2024)

Boldy James & Real Bad Man- Real Bad Boldy (2020)

Boldy James & Nicholas Craven- Penalties of Leadership (2024)

Boldy James & Jay Versace- The Versace Tape (2020)

Boldy James & The Alchemist- Super Tecmo Bo (2021)

Boldy James & Futurewave- Mr. Ten08 (2022)

Boldy James & Sterling Toles- Manger On McNichols (2020)

Boldy James & Nicholas Craven- Fair Exchange, No Robbery (2022)

Boldy James & Nicholas Craven- Criminally Attached (2025)

Boldy James & V DON- Alphabet Highway (2025)

Conway The Machine & The Alchemist- LULU (2020)

Conway The Machine- From King to A God (2020)

Conway the Machine & Conductor Williams- Conductor Machine (2023)

Conway The Machine & Wun-Two- PALERMO EP (2023)

Conway The Machine & Jae Skeeze- Pain Provides Profit (2023)

Conway The Machine & 38 Spesh- Speshal Machinery (2023)

Conway The Machine & Big Ghost LTD- No One Mourns the Wicked (2020)

Conway The Machine & Big Ghost LTD- If It Breathes, It Bleeds (2021)

Conway The Machine & Big Ghost LTD- What Has Been Blessed Can't Be Cursed (2023)

Beneficence & Confidence- Stellar Mind (2020)

DJ Muggs- Winter (2020)

DJ Muggs- Winter 2: Nightmare Before Christmas (2021)

DJ Muggs- Soul Assassins 3: Death Valley (2023)

DJ Muggs & Rome Streetz- Death & The Magician (2021)

DJ Muggs & Rigz- GOLD (2022)

DJ Muggs & Mooch- ROCSTAR (2024)

DJ Muggs & Hologram- The American Dream (2021)

DJ Muggs & Jay Worthy- What They Hittin' 4? (2022)

DJ Muggs & Raz Fresco- The Eternal Now (2024)

Black Milk- Everybody Good? (2025)

Danny Brown- Quaranta (2023)

Santana Foxx- Eye Candy (2024)

CRIMEAPPLE & DJ Muggs- Cartagena (2021)

CRIMEAPPLE & Apollo Brown- This, Is Not That (2024)

CRIMEAPPLE, RLX, & DJ Muggs- Los Ballos Hermanos (2024)

CRIMEAPPLE& Big Ghost LTD- BAZUKO (2024)

CRIMEAPPLE & Preservation- El Lion (2024)

Moor Mother & billy woods- BRASS (2020)

Navy Blue- Song of Sage: Post Panic! (2020)

Navy Blue- Navy's Reprise (2021)

Navy Blue- Ways of Knowing (2023)

Jermaside- The Overview Effect (2022)

Philmore Greene- The Grand Design (2024)

Open Mike Eagle- Anime, Trauma, & Divorce (2020)

Open Mike Eagle- Component System with The Auto Reverse (2022)

Khrysis- The Hour of Khrysis (2021)

T.F. & Khrysis- The Green Bottle (2025)

Tha Musalini & Khrysis- The King & I (2024)

Elcamino & Camouflage Monk- Walk by Faith, Not by Sight (2022)

DefCee & Messiah Muzik- Trapdoor (2021)

DefCee & Messiah Muzik- The Golem of Brooklyn OST (2023)

Dr. Dre- GTA: The Contract (2021)

IAMGAWD- Murda Castle (2022)

M.A.V. & Rob Gates- The Dark Side of Nature (2020)

Styles P & Havoc- Wreckage Manner (2021)

VEGA7 The Ronin & Bodybag Ben- Kawasaki Killaz (2024)

Mach-Hommy- Balens Cho (2021)

Mach-Hommy- Mach's Hard Lemonade (2020)

Mach-Hommy- Bulletproof Luh (2021)

Mach-Hommy & Tha God Fahim- Dollar Menu 4 (2022)

Mach-Hommy & Tha God Fahim- Duck CZN: Tiger Style (2022)

Planet Asia & Evidence- Rule of Thirds (2021)

Planet Asia & Local Astronauts- No Retirement (2024)

Conductor Williams- Conductor, We Have a Problem (2024)

Apollo Brown & Stalley- Bluelight (2021)

Rita J- The High Priestess (2021)

Rigz & Futurewave- Substance Abuse (2020)

Oddisee- To What End (2023)

Awon & Phoniks- Nothing Less (2021)

Awon & Phoniks- Golden Age 2 (2024)

Awon & Parental- Sublime (2024)

Pro Dillinger & Futurewave- Dirtwave (2024)

Pro Dillinger & Futurewave- Dirtwave 2 (2024)

Dark Lo & Havoc- Extreme Measures (2021)

Common- A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 1 (2020)

Ransom & Rome Streetz- Coup De Grace (2021)

Ransom & Big Ghost LTD- Heavy Is the Head (2021)

Ransom- Cabrini Green Project (2024)

Ransom- Se7en (2021)

Ransom & V DON- Chaos Is My Ladder (2022)

Ransom- No Rest for The Wicked (2022)

Ransom & Nicholas Craven- Director's Cut 4 (2023)

Ransom & Harry Fraud- Lavish Misery EP (2024)

Mumu Fresh- Queen of Culture (2021)

Sule- Written on Widen's Corner (2024)

Ty Farris & Graymatter- Sounds That Never Left My Soul (2023)

Ty Farris- Enigma with An Attitude (2024)

Milano Constantine & Body Bag Ben- Write It in Blood (2020)

CZARFACE & MF DOOM- Super What?? (2021)

CZARFACE- Czarmageddon (2022)

Action Bronson- Cocodrillo Turbo (2022)

Action Bronson- JOHAN SEBASTIAN BACHLAVA THE DOCTOR (2024)

Action Bronson- Only For Dolphins (2020)

Isaiah Rashad- The House Is Burning (2021)

Daniel Son & Futurewave- Bushman Bodega (2024)

J. Cole- The Off Season (2021)

J. Cole- Might Delete Later (2024)

Armani Ceaser- The Liz (2020)

Armani Ceaser- The Liz 2 (2022)

Flee Lord- Raised in The Sand (2024)

Flee Lord & Roc Marciano- Delgado (2021)

Jay Worthy & Roc Marciano- Nothing Bigger Than the Problem (2023)

Pro Zay & Sadhugold- Pulled Gold Out the Mud (2024)

Smoovth & Giallo Point- Amongst Wolves (2021)

Hus Kingpin- The Firm (2021)

Hus Kingpin- Portishus (2021)

Hus Kingpin- Portishus 2 (2025)

Hus Kingpin & 9th Wonder- SuperGoat (2024)

Chino XL & Stu Bangas- God's Carpenter (2023)

RJ Payne- Leatherface 3: There Will Be Blood (2021)

RJ Payne- If Cocaine Could Talk 7 (2022)

RJ Payne- Jigsaw EP (2023)

RJ Payne- Beautiful Payne 4 (2022)

RJ Payne & Stu Bangas- My Life Iz a Movie (2022)

Teflon- 2 Sides to Every Story (2023)

Ill Bill- Billy (2022)

Estee Nack & V DON- BRAP (2023)

Estee Nack & V DON- BRAP 2 (2025)

Estee Nack & Giallo Point- Pepitas 2 (2024)

Estee Nack- NACKsaw Jim Duggan (2023)

Estee Nack & Futurewave- Stone Temple Pyrex (2024)

Nas & DJ Premier- Light Years (2025)

Nas- Magic 2 (2023)

V DON- Black Mass (2020)

V DON- Better Than $$$ (2022)

Chyna Streetz- From Hell to Chanel (2024)

Snoop Dogg- Missionary (2024)

Snoop Dogg- Bacc On Death Row (2022)

Fly Anakin- Frank (2022)

Noname- Sundial (2023)

1982 (Termanology & Statik Selektah)- The Summer EP (2021)

Grafh & 38 Spesh- Art of Words (2023)

Cormega- The Realness 2 (2022)

Joell Ortiz- W.A.R. (2024)

Ab-Soul- Herbert (2022)

Ab-Soul- Soul Burger (2024)

Talib Kweli & J. Rawls- The Confidence of Knowing (2024)

EarthGang- Ghetto Gods (2022)

Mayhem Lauren & Daringer- Black Vladimir (2022)

Meyhem Lauren, Madlib, & DJ Muggs- Champagne For Breakfast (2023)

Earl Sweatshirt- Sick! (2022)

Cordae- From A Bird's Eye View (2022)

Cordae- The Crossroads (2024)

Big K.R.I.T.- Dedicated to Cadalee Biaritzz Vol. 1 (2025)

EARTHGANG- Ghetto Gods (2022)

Nuse Tyrant- Juxtaposed Echoes (2024)

Willie The Kid & V DON- Deutsche Marks 4 (2024)

Willie The Kid & V DON- Deutsche Marks 3 (2022)

Willie The Kid & V DON- Deutsche Marks 2 (2020)

Da Beatminerz- Stifled Creativity (2024)

Che Noir- The Last Remnants EP (2022)

Che Noir- Food For Thought (2022)

Che Noir & Big Ghost LTD- Noir or Never (2023)

Che Noir & 7XVETHEGENIUS- Desired Crowns (2025)

Che Noir- The Color Chocolate 2 (2025)

Smoovth & Machacha- Subcriminal Thoughts (2022)

Magna Carta- To the Good People (2021)

Maxo- Even God Has a Sense of Humor (2023)

Maxo- Debbie's Son (2023)

Jeezy & DJ Drama- Snofall (2022)

Smif-N-Wessun- Infinite (2025)

Neak- Die Wurzel (2023)

Recognize Ali- Back To Mecca II (2023)

Recognize Ali- Back To Mecca III (2025)

Recognize Ali- Recognition (2020)

Recognize Ali- Ali (2023)

Recognize Ali- A Kind Word & A Gun (2024)

Recognize Ali- Underground King 3 (2024)

Recognize Ali- As You Sew, So Will You Reap (2024)

Smoke DZA & Flying Lotus- Flying Objects EP (2023)

Skyzoo- Milestones: An Album for Fathers EP (2020)

Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats- Unlocked (2020)

Nicholas Craven- N3 (2022)

Reason- Porches (2023)

Blu & Evidence- California (2024)

Blu & Real Bad Man- Bad News (2023)

Blu & Exile- Love of (The) Ominous World (2024)

Blu & Exile- Miles (2020)

Blu & Nottz- Africa (2023)

Xzibit- Kingmaker (2025)

Statik Selektah- The Balancing Act (2020)

Statik Selektah- Round Trip (2023)

Bun B & Statik Selektah- TrillStatik (2021)

Bun B & Statik Selektah- TrillStatik 2 (2022)

Bun B & Statik Selektah- TrillStatik 3 (2023)

Bun B & Statik Selektah- TrillStatik 4 (2024)

Bun B & Statik Selektah- TrillStatik 5 (2025)

AZ- Doe Or Die 2 (2021)

Dave East & AraabMuzik- Living Proof (2024)

Dave East & Harry Fraud- Hoffa (2021)

38 Spesh & Harry Fraud- Beyond Belief (2022)

Mike Shabb- Sewaside 3 (2024)

Kenny Mason- Angelica Hoodrat (2021)

Tha God Fahim- Iron Bull EP (2023)

Tha God Fahim & Mach-Hommy- Notorious Dump Legends 2 (2023)

Tha God Fahim- Dump Gawd Reloaded (2023)

Tha God Fahim & Oh No- Berserko EP (2023)

Tha God Fahim- Lost Kingz (2020)

Tha God Fahim & Mike Shabb- Rhyme Pays (2023)

Tha God Fahim- 6 Ring Champ (2022)

Tha God Fahim & Cartune Beatz- Machine Gun Massacre (2024)

Tha God Fahim- GOAT 2 (2024)

Tha God Fahim & Your Old Droog- Wolf of Wall St. 2: The American Dream (2022)

Tha God Fahim & Cookin' Soul- Supreme Dump Legend: Soul Cook Saga (2024)

Tha God Fahim & Nicholas Craven- The Myth Who Never Quit Vols. 1-3 (2024)

Tha God Fahim & Nicholas Craven- Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap Vols. 1-20 (2024, 2025)

As you can tell, so far this decade has been thunderous.  When you look back at the first five years of the eighties, nineties, thousands, and tens, they all served as telescopes or crystal balls telling the future of the rest of the decade. They were measurements into what would likely be to come, for better or for worse.  While we unfortunately lost such greats this decade as Ka and De La Soul's Trugoy The Dove, they still left behind unforgettable efforts that will stand the test of time and will be highly remembered as excellence in the speakers. Meanwhile, crews and labels such as Griselda, TDE, and the underdogs of the underground, Backwoodz, delivered spectacular efforts that further cemented legacies and expanded more of their respective fanbases.  Emcees such as Boldy James, Rome Streetz, Gunn, Conway, RJ Payne, and ESPECIALLY Tha God Fahim showed how prolific their work would become with multiple efforts per year and all being dope to stellar.  From the nihilistic to the lyrical to the emotional, we got it all so far this decade musically, and guess what, we still have five years to go including this one.  One would be optimistic to believe that we haven't seen anything yet critically.  This year alone we got efforts from Common/Pete Rock, T.I., Busta, Cormega, Black Smif-N-Wessun (Black Moon & Smif-N-Wessun), Mach-Hommy, and J. Cole just to name a few.  Sit back folks, this will be one hell of a ride to round out the remainder of this decade. Until next time!