The 10 Best Hip-Hop Albums You Missed in 2024
2024-10-05 · 5 min read
The hip-hop mainstream in 2024 was dominated by the Kendrick and Drake feud, but the genre's most interesting work happened below the headlines. These ten albums represent the breadth and depth of hip-hop that doesn't rely on celebrity beef to get attention.
Billy Woods and Kenny Segal's Maps was a masterpiece of abstract hip-hop. Woods' dense, literary verses over Segal's jazz-inflected production create a disorienting and beautiful listening experience. It rewards repeated listens with new details and emotional resonance every time. Backwoodz Studioz continues to be the most important indie rap label operating.
Armand Hammer's We Buy Diabetic Test Strips, the duo of Billy Woods and Elucid, delivered yet another project that defies conventional rap structure. The production ranges from industrial noise to delicate soul samples, and the bars are some of the most intellectually dense in the genre.
Mavi's Shadowbox proved that the Earl Sweatshirt-influenced school of introspective rap can evolve beyond its reference points. Mavi's Charlotte, North Carolina roots give his music a Southern warmth that tempers the abstract tendencies, and his flow has tightened significantly since his debut.
Vince Staples' Dark Times was a concise, focused record that used minimalist West Coast production to tell stories about survival, fame, and loss in Long Beach. At 35 minutes, every song earns its place. Staples continues to be one of hip-hop's most undervalued voices.
Rapsody's Please Don't Cry cemented her position as one of rap's best pure lyricists. The album's thematic focus on mental health, delivered over lush production from 9th Wonder and others, is hip-hop at its most emotionally articulate. She's been excellent for a decade and still doesn't get her due.
Other essential 2024 releases include Ka's The Thief Next to Jesus for minimalist street poetry, Boldy James and Nicholas Craven's Penalty of Leadership for grimy mafioso rap, MIKE's Burning Desire for experimental New York hip-hop, and Ab-Soul's Soul Burger for a long-awaited TDE return to form.
