Like every year, 2021 was an excellent year for rap music, with so many great albums coming from all across the board. From the poppiest pop-rap to the most experimental interpretations of hip hop, from time-tested '90s revivalism to exhilarating innovation, from rap albums that veer towards vintage soul to rap albums that veer towards black metal, from the West Coast to the South to the Midwest to the East Coast to the UK, there were so many different types of rap albums released this year and every variety we just named shows up on our list of the 30 best rap albums of 2021. As one of the most prolific genres of music in the world right now, 30 (plus 15 honorable mentions) is a very small sample size and there were definitely some heavy hitters we had to leave off. If your favorite rap album of the year didn't make our list, leave it in the comments. Maybe we just haven't heard it yet.
Read on for the list...
- 30
Aesop Rock x Blockhead - Garbology
RhymesayersAesop Rock has remained prolific for his entire 20+ year career, but he hasn't put out an album with production from frequent collaborator Blockhead since 2007's None Shall Pass, and their chemistry is a big part of what made Aesop's 2000s albums so classic. That ended this year with Garbology, the first Aesop Rock album produced entirely by Blockhead, and one of his best post-2000s releases yet. They feed off each other in the same natural, thrilling way that they did 20 years ago, but Garbology isn't a return to form. It's as forward-thinking and futuristic today as classics like Labor Days were back then.
Pick it up on vinyl along with other recent color vinyl Aesop Rock reissues.
- 29
Benny the Butcher - The Plugs I Met 2 / Pyrex Picasso
Black Soprano FamilyLast year, Benny the Butcher released his most polished project yet with Burden of Proof. And this year, it was revealed that, around the same time he recorded that album with Hit-Boy in California, he recorded The Plugs I Met 2 with Harry Fraud in Brooklyn. It's the sequel to 2019's The Plugs I Met, which remains one of the best Griselda-affiliated releases, and it's cut from the same raw cloth as the first one. Harry Fraud incorporates more of a modern production style than the producers on Plugs 1 did, but he still largely provides a dark, head-nod-inducing backdrop that recalls the glory days of mid '90s New York boom bap, and Benny's bars are sharp enough to rival the greats of that era. He's joined by appearances from Fat Joe, 2 Chainz, French Montana, Jim Jones, and more, and as he did on the first Plugs, Benny brings out the most menacing side of all of his guests. Later in 2021, Benny released the quick-and-dirty Pyrex Picasso EP, and it's even more fired-up. It may be brief, but it's some of his best stuff yet.
Pick up the 'Plugs I Met 2' on vinyl and/or get it as part of a vinyl bundle with Nas, DMX and Czarface, and other Benny LPs too.
- 28
Nappy Nina & JWords - Double Down
LucidHausNew Jersey producer JWords has a knack for hypnotic, psychedelic instrumentals, Brooklyn rapper Nappy Nina has a subtle, conversational delivery that's quiet yet impactful, and together, they've crafted one of the most unique rap records of 2021. Joined by Stas THEE Boss (ex-THEESatisfaction), Maassai, ANYANWU KG, and co-production on one song by KeiyaA, the duo have made a record that defies easy categorization and is over way too soon. (It's 17 minutes long.) JWords' production incorporates dance beats and experimental electronics, while Nina looks inwards, lamenting about the fact that her therapist won't text her back, or reminiscing about being up at 4 AM, phoning friends to battle loneliness. It feels like a time capsule of the 2020 lockdown that it was recorded during, and even listening to it now that places have opened back up and human contact is attainable, it's no less impactful.