MADVILLAIN – Madvillainy
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MADVILLAIN – Madvillainy

That, in the end, is what independent hip-hop turned out to be. Hip-hop's coming of age. A way for its aging audience to replace the fading thrill of discovery with aesthetic pleasure, with a fascination for form. In 2004, two of the movement's greatest heroes embodied that evolution with "Madvillainy", an album that critics and purists alike would go on to revere for years to come.
HUS KINGPIN – Wavo Forever
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HUS KINGPIN – Wavo Forever

The best Wu-Tang Clan album since the glory days is not a Wu-Tang Clan album. It is the one that Hus Kingpin - that great 90s nostalgist - put together by compiling his varied collaborations with some of the group's members, affiliates, and a few others besides, all set to music that, with its string sounds, piano lines and soul samples feels more Wu than Wu itself. Wu-Tang Forever. Wavo Forever.
BILLY WOODS – Golliwog
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BILLY WOODS – Golliwog

Indie rap isn’t dead. By bringing in his longtime producers (El-P, Ant, Preservation, Kenny Segal, The Alchemist) and rappers in his vein (Bruiser Wolf, Elucid, Cavalier), by invoking Company Flow, MF DOOM, and Antipop Consortium, and by delivering a Black, committed, and experimental form of rap, Billy Woods carries on the underground tradition of the 1990s.
TRAPMAT SAVIOR & NICHOLAS CRAVEN – Scottie Trippin
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TRAPMAT SAVIOR & NICHOLAS CRAVEN – Scottie Trippin

Nicholas Craven may collaborate with Boldy James, Tha God Fahim, Mach-Hommy, Billy Woods, and even France's Akhenaton, but he hasn't forgotten his roots. For the second time, the Canadian producer teams up with Montreal-based Haitian rapper Trapmat Savior. And to complement the latter's haunting voice and understated humor, he delivers one of his finest works.
GORILLA GLUE & LIL NAKUR – Russian Trap House
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GORILLA GLUE & LIL NAKUR – Russian Trap House

Long live globalization. It makes this kind of glorious absurdity possible. Trap-A-Holics-style trap music, complete with all the sounds and imagery that come with it, but cooked up by real muzhiks, by backwoods hicks from deep rural Russia rapping about saunas, and eating pancakes. And what's more, their music actually works, as if this style of rap had truly been born over there.
IDK – e.t.d.s. A Mixtape by .idk
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IDK – e.t.d.s. A Mixtape by .idk

Duality is embedded in the very meaning of IDK's stage name: his rap is both "ignorant" and "conscious." On "E.T.D.S.", however, it is the "I" that takes center stage. Its content is devilish and gangsta. Yet in reality, this faux mixtape- which takes us back to the days of DJ Whoo Kid and G-Unit - is a carefully crafted album, one that does not abandon its urge to preach a moral message.
BUNNAB – Bunna Summa (Ice Cream Summer Deluxe)
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BUNNAB – Bunna Summa (Ice Cream Summer Deluxe)

Atlanta rapper BunnaB is more than just "Bunna Summa," the perfect summer anthem for carefree girls having fun in the sun. It's also the entire album of the same name, especially in its Deluxe edition: a playful, exuberant celebration of female pleasure, sexual freedom, and independence that's as funny as it is empowering, while making brilliant use of trap music's oldest tricks.
MCKINLEY DIXON – Magic, Alive!
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MCKINLEY DIXON – Magic, Alive!

McKinley Dixon, this is artistry through and through. A jazz-infused musical framework, with real instruments weaving unpredictable flourishes. Lyrics that tell a story, play with layers of meaning, and explore major themes. Guest appearances from artists rooted in other genres, or from the same school of rap. And in the end, an album filled with standout moments and, yes, a touch of magic.
DOMINO – Domino
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DOMINO – Domino

With his sing-song rap delivery, party-oriented themes, and the hit singles "Geto Jam" and "Sweet Potatoe Pie," Domino represents a key step in the evolution of California gangsta rap toward ever greater smoothness, warmth, and melody. He is the missing link between Snoop Dogg's debut and Warren G's first album, even if posterity will remember those two more than him.
15 of the best rap albums of 2025
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15 of the best rap albums of 2025

Welcome to 2025. Welcome to the postmodern era of rap. The era in which it no longer truly calls the shots or sets the cultural agenda. The era in which it has ceased to be the game changer it was for four decades. But also the era in which it remains everywhere - alive, protean, endlessly mutating, and, for those willing to venture off the beaten path, still immensely rich in satisfactions.
CEO TRAYLE – Happy Halloween 3
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CEO TRAYLE – Happy Halloween 3

Every year, CEO Trayle releases a new edition of his "Happy Halloween" series. The most important is probably that one, in 2020. The one featuring his signature track “OK Cool.” And also the one that runs counter to that breakup song, with a nihilistic, drill-inspired atmosphere, fueled by the rapper’s traumas and by this composite sound that sounds like no one but him.
MEXIKODRO – Still Goin The EP
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MEXIKODRO – Still Goin The EP

MexikoDro, the producer who, together with his Beat Plugz colleagues, created plugg, returns to his roots. Stepping up to the mic, he successfully revisits the motivational trap music of its early days. Except that after all these years, that same motivation has changed in nature: the veteran’s aspiration now is to live a sober, ordinary life, harboring no illusions about anything.