The Best Hip Hop Music of 2017

It’s been an amazing year for hip hop music. From Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize win to J. Cole’s amazing new album, there’s been a lot to enjoy. Here are our picks for the best hip hop music of 2017.

Kendrick Lamar- DAMN.

Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. is the best hip hop album of 2017. It is a masterpiece, and Kendrick Lamar is a genius. The album is so good that it has been nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards.

JAY-Z- 4:44

On June 30, 2017, Jay-Z released his thirteenth studio album, 4:44. The album was released exclusively through Tidal and Sprint, and later became available on other streaming services. 4:44 received widespread critical acclaim, with many critics calling it Jay-Z’s best album in over a decade. The album features production from longtime collaborators No I.D. and The Neptunes, as well as new producers Boi-1da, Dave Free, and Vinylz.

4:44 is a deeply personal album that addresses Jay-Z’s infidelity, his strained relationship with his mother, and the death of his friend and fellow rapper, Prodigy. The album was nominated for eight Grammy Awards, winning four.

Migos- Culture

Migos’ Culture was one of the most anticipated hip-hop albums of 2017, and it did not disappoint. The group’s sophomore album is a masterpiece, with hits like “Bad and Boujee” and “Slippery” that will have you dancing all night long.

Cardi B- Bodak Yellow

“Bodak Yellow” is a trap song by American rapper Cardi B. It was released on June 16, 2017, as the lead single from her debut studio album Invasion of Privacy (2018). The song peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming Cardi B’s first US number-one single. It is also the highest-charting single by a female rapper in nearly 19 years. The last one to do so was Lauryn Hill with “Doo Wop (That Thing)” in 1998.

Chance the Rapper- Coloring Book

Chance the Rapper’s 2016 mixtape Coloring Book, was a joyous listen from beginning to end. The tape, which is streaming exclusively on Apple Music, is Chance’s most confident and fully-realized work to date. It’s also evidence that he’s one of the best rappers working today.

On Coloring Book, Chanceperfectly balances joyful religious exuberance with disarmingly honest reflections on fame, fatherhood, and his place in the world. His delivery is effortless and conversational, and his gift for melody is undeniable—the man can sing, and he knows it. This is best evidenced on tracks like “All We Got,” “How Great,” and the gospel-infused “Blessings.”

But where Chance really shines is on the tracks where he dives deep into his own personal struggles. On “No Problem,” he addresses his contentious relationship with his father (“I might not ever see my pops again / I pray for him now more than ever”), while on “Same Drugs” he opens up about his battle with addiction (“And everybody doing them/ But they all do ’em different”). It’s this willingness to be vulnerable that makes Coloring Book so special—it’s an intimate portrait of a young artist who is still figuring out who he is and where he belongs in the world.