Best Rap 2018
This year has been probably the most packed year of all time in terms of the sheer volume of decent rap releases. Due to the huge quantity of releases it’s easy to miss out on a lot of great music and get lost in the mix. With that in mind, I wanted to create a long list that can be bookmarked and returned to for those who slept.
I could have easily created a top 300 and still felt bad about leaving a few good albums out. That said, I've managed to cut it down to a slightly more definitive (but hardly concise) top 150 so this doesn't read like too much of a phone book.
As in previous years, ‘Rap’ is on the banner, but the list is made up of hip-hop, UK road rap, grime, and anything that can adequately be categorised as a rap sub-genre in my mind.
Finally, as usual, don’t get too hung up on the order. The top albums are at the top and the still-quality-but-not-quite-elite albums are towards the lower end, but there’s no use getting too hung up about what appears as, say, my 57th and 61st favourite albums. This is designed and published primarily for myself to look back on in years to come and reflect on the year, but also for anyone who reads it to see it as recommended listening that should keep you very busy.
I would write a blurb for each and every album to explain why I love them, but no-one would pay me and my time is valuable, so instead I’ve linked each album to their Spotify stream…Enjoy, and feel free to let me know if I've missed anything!
Here’s my top 150 rap albums of 2018. Happy new year!
CHILDREN OF ZEUS — Travel Light
GHETTS — Ghetto Gospel: The New Testament
RAE SREMMURD — SR3MM
NOVELIST — Novelist Guy
BARNEY ARTIST — Home is Where The Art Is
EVIDENCE — Weather or Not
OCEAN WISDOM — Wizville
PHONTE — No News is Good News
ROC MARCIANO — RR2: The Bitter Dose / Behold A Dark Horse / KAOS (with DJ Muggs)
PUSHA T — DAYTONA
FREDDIE GIBBS — Freddie / Fetti (with Alchemist & Curren$y)
MAXSTA — Maxtape 2
BENNY — Tana Talk 3 / A Friend of Ours
ARMAND HAMMER — Paraffin
DJ MUGGS — Soul Asssassins: Dia del Asesinato
HERMIT & THE RECLUSE — Orpheus vs The Sirens
MANGA ST. HILAIRE — Outsiders Live Forever
MASTA ACE & MARCO POLO — A Breukelen Story
WESTSIDE GUNN — Supreme Blientele
SABA — Care For Me
DABRYE — Three/Three
D DOUBLE E — Jackuum
KOOL G RAP & 38 SPESH — Son of G Rap
LOJII — lofeye
SLOWTHAI — RUNT
TRAE THA TRUTH — Hometown Hero / 48 Hours Later
JPEGMAFIA — Veteran
JAM BAXTER — Touching Scenes
JERICHO JACKSON (KHRYSIS & ELZHI) — Jericho Jackson
ANKHLEJOHN — The Red Room / Van Ghost / The Yellow House / Ankh Nasty
OCTAVIAN — Spaceman
NONAME — Room 25
ELCAMINO — Elcamino / Walk on Water
JEAN GRAE & QUELLE CHRIS — Everything’s Fine
SHOWBIZ — A-Room Therapy
MILO — budding ornithologists are weary of tired analogies
KEY & KENNY BEATS — 777
SHIRT — Pure Beauty
PLAYBOI CARTI — Die Lit
THA GOD FAHIM — Dump Gawd: Dream Killer / Breaking Through The Van Allen Belts (with C-Lance) / Dump Truck: Think Again / Dumpacolypse Now (with Left Lane Didon) etc etc (stop dropping so much Fahim!)
2U4U — Butter
NIPSEY HUSSLE — Victory Lap
TROUBLE & MIKE-WILL-MADE-IT — Edgewood
21 SAVAGE — I am > I was
TRAVIS SCOTT — ASTROWORLD
FLATBUSH ZOMBIES — Vacation in Hell
MOZZY — Gangland Landlord / Spiritual Conversations
WORLD’S FAIR — New Low
FOREIGN BEGGARS — 2 2 Karma
KIDS SEE GHOSTS — KIDS SEE GHOSTS
ROYCE DA 5'9" — The Book of Ryan
JAY ROCK — Redemption
RAWKID — Grum, Vol. 1
FRISCO — Back 2 Da Lab Vol. 5
MEYHEM LAUREN — Glass
APATHY — Widow’s Son
SUSPECT — Still Loading
CHIP — Ten10
MAXO KREAM — Punkem
BEATKING & GANGSTA BOO — Underground Cassette Tape Music, Vol. 2
SWIZZ BEATZ — POISON
LANDO CHILL — Black Ego
BLACK MILK — FEVER
B-MOVIE MILLIONAIRES — Attack of the 50,000ft Sweg Lawds from Outer Space
808INK — When I’m About You’ll Know Vols 1–2
YOUNG THUG — On The Rvn / Slime Language compilation
SCALLOPS HOTEL — sovereign nose of (y)our arrogant face
TY — A Work of Heart
DENZEL CURRY — TA13OO
CONWAY & SONNYJIM — Death by Misadventure
PAYROLL GIOVANNI & CARDO — Big Bossin Vol. 2
CHUCK STRANGERS — Consumers Park
LIL WAYNE — Tha Carter V
HOMEBOY SANDMAN & EDAN — Humble Pi
VINCE STAPLES — FM!
WILLIE THE KID — Gold Rush (with Klever Skemes) / Things of that Nature / Midwest Willie 2 / Gold Rush 2
EARL SWEATSHIRT — Some Rap Songs
RICH HOMIE QUAN — Rich As In Spirit
ROME STREETZ — Streetz Keep Calling Me / Street Farmacy (with Farma Beats)
CRIMEAPPLE — Aguardiente
MICK JENKINS — Pieces of a Man
MICALL PARKNSUN & MR THING — Finish What We Started
DIRTY DIKE — Acrylic Snail
SMOOVTH & GIALLO POINT — Medellin II: Don Fabio
DJ JAZZY JEFF — M3
FLY ANAKIN & OHBLIV — Backyard Boogie
AWON & PHONIKS — The Actual Proof
J COLE — K.O.D
CARDI B — Invasion of Privacy
MIKE — Black Soap / Renaissance Man / War In My Pen
TRIPPIE REDD — Life’s A Trip / A Love Letter To You 3
BUSU — Deadbeat Boyfriend Diaries
COOPS — No Brainer / Life In The Flesh
CHESTER WATSON — Project 0
NOSTRUM GROCERS — Nostrum Grocers
SKYZOO — In Celebration of Us
PRHYME — PRhyme 2
MAC MILLER — Swimming
38 SPESH & BENNY — Stabbed & Shot
DA FLYYY HOOLIGAN — Roman Abramovich
WILEY — Godfather II
GUNNA & LIL BABY — Drip Harder
HENRY CANYONS — Cool Side of the Pillow
MARLOWE — Marlowe
OC — A New Dawn
CUT CHEMIST — Die Cut
V DON — This Thing of Ours (with Adonis) / Bone Collector
BISHOP NEHRU — Elevators: Act I & II
TY FARRIS — No Co-Sign, Just Cocaine Vols 1–2
JOSMAN — 000$
THERMAN MUNSIN — Sabbath (with Roc Marciano)
AWTHENTIK — Nothing More Nothing Less
FLEE LORD — I Want Out / Loyalty or Death: Lord Talk 2
DJ SKIZZ — High Powered
PAC DIV — 1st Baptist
JAMMER — Are You Dumb? Vol. 5
BLACK THOUGHT — Streams of Thought Vol. 1–2
BIG TWINS — Grimey Life
D-BLOCK EUROPE & YXNG BANE — Any Minute Now
ONE ACEN — SexyOddRose
SMOKE BOYS — Don’t Panic II
BUGZY MALONE — B.Inspired
BISK — Aural FM
FREDO — Tables Turn
NINES — Crop Circle
NOT3S — Take Not3s II
YXNG BANE — HBK
SKENGDO x AM — Greener on the Other Side
YFN LUCCI — Ray Ray from Summerhill
HUSALAH — H
BUDDY — Harlan & Alondra
SHECK WES — MUDBOY
STARLITO — At WAR With Myself Too
COZZ — Effected
JID — DiCaprio 2
RICH BRIAN — Amen
SNOOP DOGG — 220
MIGOS — Culture II
COOL OUT SUN — Cool Out Sun
ROBB BANK$ — Molly World
CYPRESS HILL — Elephants on Acid
VIC SPENCER & SONNYJIM— Spencer for Hire
KILLA KYLEON — Candy Paint N Texas Plates
REASON — There You Have It
APOLLO BROWN & LOCKSMITH — No Question / APOLLO BROWN & JOELL ORTIZ — Mona Lisa
ICYTWAT — Dream Bwoy
IVY SOLE — Overgrown
SMINO — NOIR
KIRK KNIGHT — IIWII
JAY PRINCE — Cherish