RIO DA YUNG O.G. – F.L.I.N.T. (Feeling Like Im Not Through)

RIO DA YUNG O.G. – F.L.I.N.T. (Feeling Like Im Not Through)

Some come out of prison worn down, but others emerge in top form. In 2025, Rio Da Yung O.G. clearly belongs to the latter category. Dedicated to his city, his second album since his release is a success. Whether solo or alongside RMC Mike, YN Jay, and a few others, its leading figure does justice to Flint rap with a project packed to the brim with his flavorful, off-the-wall antics.
CLIPPING – Dead Channel Sky

CLIPPING – Dead Channel Sky

Clipping still loves its concepts. This time, the trio leaves horrorcore behind to explore the cyberpunk universe and the threats looming over our hyperconnected world. True to its taste for experimentation, the Los Angeles band ventures into the realm of 1990s electronic music. All of this brings to mind the science-fiction-infused indie rap of that same era. And for that very reason, we like it.
LAZER DIM 700 – Sins Aloud

LAZER DIM 700 – Sins Aloud

Freshly inducted as a “Freshman,” Lazer Dim 700 solidifies his position with "Sins Aloud", his second album. Across eighteen short tracks, his thoughts are scattered chaotically over disorderly productions, where the wobbly sounds of plugg seamlessly blend with various other influences. All of it ultimately reflects the strangeness and fragmentation of rap in the 2020s.
EBK JAAYBO – Don’t Trust Me

EBK JAAYBO – Don’t Trust Me

Within the broad spectrum of gangsta rap, Jaaybo focuses almost exclusively on a single theme: murder. The kind through which the EBK gang takes revenge on its enemies. The kind that makes him mourn so many fallen. All of this is unsettling. However, by balancing aggression and melancholy equally, he establishes himself as the new leading figure of the Stockton scene.
NO ID & SABA – From The Private Collection Of Saba And No ID

NO ID & SABA – From The Private Collection Of Saba And No ID

Saba and No ID come from different generations, but they share their hometown of Chicago and a polished, refined approach to rap. Their collaboration results in a blend of jazz, soul, and introspective hip-hop. Enriched by numerous guest appearances and meticulous production, it is an eclectic work, where each track explores a different facet of the rapper, often brilliantly.
AESOP ROCK – Black Hole Superette

AESOP ROCK – Black Hole Superette

Although Aesop Rock writes cryptic lyrics full of complex words and delivers them over science-fiction-sounding beats, his rap is very down-to-earth. It reflects on an ordinary life, on the existence of someone who goes to the supermarket, enjoys gardening and worries about his dog. But once again, nearly thirty years after his debut, Aes excels at making the ordinary extraordinary.
MAC CRITTER – Back Door Music

MAC CRITTER – Back Door Music

Mac Critter, the Memphis rapper, has been signed to the New 1017. However, he has since left the label, and he doesn’t really resemble a disciple of Gucci Mane. His trap music is more serious and more haunted than the master’s. His dragging, pained rap is more threatening than humorous. He is modern, and very much in tune with the times. And sometimes, too, he is striking.
LEFTY GUNPLAY & JASONMARTIN – Can’t Get Right

LEFTY GUNPLAY & JASONMARTIN – Can’t Get Right

2025 is Lefty Gunplay’s moment. Recently released from prison and benefiting from the huge exposure brought by his appearance on Kendrick’s "GNX" album, he releases his highest-profile project yet, in collaboration with JasonMartin. In the end, though, it amounts mostly to routine West Coast rap — but a few gems suggest that the Baldwin Park rapper could do much better.
ABGR LIL CORY – Act Broke Get Rich

ABGR LIL CORY – Act Broke Get Rich

Still unknown a year earlier, ABGR Lil Cory - the rapper from Hattiesburg, Mississippi - releases his debut album, following the success of the single “Old School.” And with this exhilarating release, with its naïve and infectious melodies about money, jewelry, and his hard grind in the kitchen, it brings an entire era rushing back to us: the blessed days of Gucci Mane’s late-2000s run.
G PERICO & DJ DRAMA – L.A. Gangster

G PERICO & DJ DRAMA – L.A. Gangster

DJ Drama is a fantastic curator. On his "Gangsta Grillz" mixtapes, he invites rappers to be fully themselves, right down to cliché and formula, in order to better extract the very essence of their art. And he succeeds once again, even at this late stage in his career, when he teams up for a second time with G Perico and elevates the South Central rapper’s highly referential West Coast style.
FLAGBOY GIZ – I Got Indian In My Family

FLAGBOY GIZ – I Got Indian In My Family

Flagboy Giz is a member of the Wild Tchoupitoulas, a group that has been enlivening New Orleans carnivals for decades while dressed in Native American regalia. Fifty years after his band worked with The Meters and the Neville Brothers, he delivers this Mardi Gras-flavored rap album. In doing so, he highlights the continuity of Louisiana music across genres and generations.
GHAIS GUEVARA – Goyard Ibn Said

GHAIS GUEVARA – Goyard Ibn Said

Signed to Fat Possum and heard during Kendrick’s Super Bowl performance, Ghais Guevara is enjoying a major moment in 2025. But the Philadelphia native remains what he's been since "BlackBolshevik", his breakout release : a committed, politically engaged rapper. His latest album is a critique of rap-as-spectacle, even if, and thankfully so, Ghais Guevara also takes part in it.