Staff List: The 20 Best Rap Albums of 2024

Where do we start with 2024?

The elephant in the room, the Kendrick Lamar and Drake feud, was a seismic event that reverberated throughout the year’s pop culture, leaving rap purists scrambling to dissect every haymaker thrown in this illustrious battle. And who could forget when Future soared like MJ, securing a three-peat on the Billboard 200 with his Metro Boomin-assisted, We Don’t Trust You series and his solo effort, Mixtape Pluto?

Meanwhile, how can we ignore the women who avalanched the rap game with their blistering releases?

Hip-Hop watched GloRilla morph into The Comeback Kid, releasing two projects this year with Ehhthang, Ehhthang and her touted debut album, GLORIOUS, which gave her not only a top five entry on the Billboard 200, but also the best-performing debut for a female rapper in 2024. Right up there with Big Glo was Latto, who is mere steps away from superstardom. After a solid project in 2022 with 777, the self-proclaimed Georgia Peach doubled down on her efforts and sweetened her odds as a new school leader with her third studio album, Sugar Honey Iced Tea. Then, the Captain of the Hotties, Megan Thee Stallion, flexed her superstar muscles, delivering her best album to date with Megan, brimming with grit, resiliency, and high-powered raps than ever.

“The women are killing it right now. We are the hardest MCs right now. We going harder than the boys, for sure,” Megan told Billboard in September.

But all wasn’t lost in 2024, fellas, considering we also had several highlight moments courtesy of some West Coast cats named Kendrick Lamar and Tyler, The Creator.

See all these artists and many more in the Billboard staff’s list of top 20 best rap albums of the year, below.