Don’t tell Danny Brown he can rap over anything. Even if it’s true—the Detroit rapper has paired his dexterous rhymes and his stretchy, versatile voice on prog rock, EDM, boom-bap, and seemingly everything in between—he’s weary of people making more of his expansive tastes than they are. “I don’t want it to be a gimmick,” he tells Apple Music. “Is the music enjoyable or not?” From that perspective, it makes perfect sense that Brown chose to build his new album, *Stardust*, in the sounds of the hyperpop scene. Not only is it a natural progression sonically from previous albums like *XXX*, *Atrocity Exhibition*, and his *SCARING THE HOES* collaboration with JPEGMAFIA; it’s also the perfect soundtrack for this stage of his life. Brown’s previous solo album, 2023’s *Quaranta*, was largely somber and reflective: While its title was designed to commemorate him turning 40, the lyrics found him picking up the shattered pieces of his life after years of substance abuse, a messy breakup due to infidelity, and music feeling more like a job than a tool of creative expression. But on *Stardust*, he’s confident, excited, and having the time of his life. “Sleeping real good at night, ’cause I’m proud of myself,” he raps on album opener “Book of Daniel.” “Say a prayer when I wake up because that rehab helped.” He says that his drug-addled party raps in the 2010s and early 2020s were initially just a result of trying to rap about something different from the dope-dealing bars that populated his earlier work. “I don’t ever think I heard the word Adderall in a rap before I said it, and now it’s just normal,” he says. “But I’m not proud of that at all. ’Oh, I created drug culture in rap.’ That’s not how I want to be remembered. That’s why I’m off that shit.” A collection of beats and choruses by hyperpop heavy hitters like Quadeca, Holly, and underscores are bright, eccentric, dance-ready, and skittery. But Brown insists that upbeat instrumentals don’t mean the raps lack substance. “If the beats are going to be more poppy than normal, I gotta talk about something. I can’t let it be dumbed down,” he says. “I knew I wanted to say something, but I didn’t just want to repeat myself, And I didn’t want it to be the ‘I’m sober’ album. To me, that’s no different than me making a druggie album again.” These aren’t just mindless pop tunes, even if they go down easy. “Lift You Up” is a dance-ready number with Angel Prost (her Frost Children sister Lulu Prost also shows up on the album) about a toxic relationship, while “Flowers” features a chorus by vocalist 8485 and joyful, triumphant raps about how Brown has persevered through hard times. “Starburst” has Brown landing boastful punchline raps over a discordant, screeching beat, and “1999” pairs more confident bars with skittery synths and metal-heavy shrieks by JOHNNASCUS. “The End” is the most powerful of all, though: a nearly nine-minute journey in three parts, with Danny vulnerably revisiting his years of addiction with candor, clarity, and accountability before making a promise to himself to never go back. The ethereal drum ’n’ bass sound bed and dreamy vocals by Zheani make the song sound like the closing credits on a samurai video game from the 2000s. It’s a fitting conclusion for someone who’s crystal clear about his priorities for the first time in way too long. “50 Cent told me,” Brown says, “that if I just wanted to make music for myself, I might as well just stay in my basement.”
“This is God’s plan/He said it to me.” So opens *The Boy Who Played the Harp*, the third album from Dave, his first full-length offering since 2021’s *We’re All Alone in This Together*, which cemented his legacy as one of UK rap’s most consummate storytellers. “My mum told me what my name really means and the powers just kicked in,” he continues on the James Blake collaboration “History,” aligning himself with the biblical King David—“the boy who played the harp” referenced in the album title. Certainly, Dave has his own giants to face. He lays out his fears most explicitly on “Selfish,” another James Blake joint, reeling off a litany of sins and self-suspicions over ominous chords and haunting vocal samples. “My 27th Birthday” underscores his inner conflicts across almost eight minutes of restrained piano and hi-hat-centric percussion: new money clashes with old, moral conviction with the ethics of consumption, work ethic with the sacrifice of ambition. The state of the world weighs heavy; “How can you be King?/How can you be King?/Don’t speak for the people,” he asks on the title track, closing out the record with a powerful interrogation of his own commitment to social justice and a sage reminder that the push for change is a collective, intergenerational effort. The introspection is admirable but the album’s highlights occur when Dave steps outside of himself, whether it’s to position himself as a narrator—unpicking the psychology of a criminal with “Marvellous,” calmly outlining the reasons women may fear men on “Fairchild”—or to engage with his peers as on the sultry Tems teamup “Raindance” or “Chapter 16,” which sees him form an inquisitive dialogue with grime heavyweight (and *Top Boy* co-star) Kano. And while *The Boy Who Played the Harp* is a more sonically somber affair than his previous works, the standard of observational insight and lyrical wordplay that have so far earned him an Ivor Novello, a BRIT, and the Mercury Music Prize, remains unchanged. Bending the word “Exodus” so that “there’s repentance in the Bible...” lands with the punchline “…God, remind my ex of this” (“175 Months”) is a shining example. It’s a timely record, arriving in a moment where problems seem insurmountable. In the Bible, Dave’s namesake was tasked with playing his harp to soothe a mind plagued by evil spirits—*The Boy Who Played the Harp* rises to the same challenge with aplomb.
When it comes to New York City’s hip-hop history, Big L remains one of the most influential and resonant MCs ever to grace the genre. Though the proud Harlemite released only one studio album in his far-too-short lifetime, 1995’s *Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous*, his impact on generations of rappers continues to this day. While a handful of posthumous projects have trickled out in the two and a half decades since his passing—not the least of which being his DJ Premier-helmed *The Big Picture*—the release of *Harlem’s Finest: Return of the King* stands to become the definitive final statement on his artistic might. Big L’s choice of words here sometimes calls back to slang and slander prevalent in ’90s rap, but the relative timelessness of his lyrics makes this 16-track collection superior to the typical odds-and-sods compilation foisted upon fandoms. The blend of past and present in both beats and rhyme form unquestionably contributes to this, with appearances by his contemporaries, like DITC co-founder Showbiz and fellow Children of the Corn spitter Herb McGruff, coming alongside those by his spiritual successors, including Joey Bada\$$ (“Grants Tomb ’97”) and Errol Holden (“Big Lee & Reg”). Both happen concurrently on “Fred Samuel Playground,” in which producer Conductor Williams lays down a dank boom-bap rhythm for a newly recorded Method Man verse. Blurring things further is the rare and very special Mac Miller verse that opens “Forever,” acknowledging the meaningful breadth of Big L’s sway. Even with these inventive hybrids, the fortunate inclusion of his seminal, downright magical freestyles for the likes of DJ Doo Wop and Stretch & Bobbito—inclusive of a monumental JAY-Z tag-team moment—truly makes this an essential listen.
If the grim hallucinations of billy woods and E L U C I D’s second album with The Alchemist ever feel like too much, just remember the reality that inspired them, from the streets where the ambulance never comes (“Laraaji”) to the resegregated swimming pools where “bleach burn good like menthol” (“Scandinavia”). Is daily life really that relentless for Black America? That’s probably too much to answer in rap, not to mention too much to ask of rappers, which is why they take the time to remind you that despite their air of myth and mystery (not to mention the thickness of the smoke around The Alchemist’s beats), they remain ordinary guys. Unread novels on the nightstand, bacon grease by the stove, and bedtime routines for their kids—you know, the trivialities that make life so defiantly worth living (“Dogeared”).
Westside Gunn fans ought to have known that the Griselda rapper’s *HEELS HAVE EYES* franchise would end up as a trilogy. The Buffalo-bred artist’s well-documented kayfabe tendencies assuredly drove him to execute a dramatic finishing move, which this project most certainly is. After all, his ongoing side quest to build the world’s best new pro wrestling league hasn’t kept him far from the mic this year, dropping installments in this series to correspond with concurrent live 4th Rope events that mix matches with bars. With producers like Daringer and Denny Laflare in his corner, songs like “R Truth” and the Rome Streetz tag-team demonstration “Tito Santana” play to his love for the sport. Others more overtly call back to his dope-dealer lore, deftly navigating the street politics of “Tiffany Blue” and whipping up that work on “Free Roleys” alongside Benny the Butcher. Notably, the presence of departed wrestler Virgil on the album’s cover blends in Gunn’s mind with the late Virgil Abloh, evidenced best on the cavernous “Babas.”
At this point in their respective production careers, Hit-Boy and The Alchemist are responsible for so many hip-hop hits and faves that it seems pointless to try and list them. Their contributions to the culture span generations, with decades in the game and no signs of slowing down for either artist. Yet one area where the two don’t get nearly enough shine is in the vocal booth, their rap talents often overlooked by contrast with their widely recognized instrumental prowess. That’s precisely what makes *GOLDFISH* and their prior duo collabs of the past few years: their skills both behind the boards and on the mic put on proud display. Off the rip, they’re in fighting form with the one-two punch of “Doing My Best” and “Business Merger,” maintaining energetic confidence for the album’s full 50-minute runtime. “God Is Great” snarks at lesser beatmakers and wack wannabes with a pointed use of gospel flair, while “Show Me the Way” covers both parenthood and personal ambition as powerful midlife motivators. Indicative of Alchemist’s lengthy history with Mobb Deep, Havoc’s appearance on “Celebration Moments” emphasizes his own dual lane. Other rapper guests like Boldy James, Conway the Machine, and Jay Worthy offer features that serve to remind listeners of the headliners’ curatorial clout. Yet perhaps it’s the presence of Hit-Boy’s father, Big Hit, on “All Gas No Breaks” that best drives home the intimacy of the core duo’s partnership—one that hopefully has plenty of road ahead of it.
After building a fanbase and a reputation among other artists as an MC of earnestness, emotional depth, and conceptual density, Saba took a different approach. He created 2025’s *From the Private Collection of Saba and No ID*—a collaboration with legendary hip-hop producer and fellow Chicagoan No ID (Common, JAY-Z)—as what he described as a “tasting menu”: a compelling collection of songs whose connective tissue is the artists who made them, not a specific theme or topic. His second project of the year, *COFFEE!*, is a mixture of both approaches. It’s named after his car, a black Bronco Wildtrak that he wrote and recorded the project’s nine songs in over the course of a week. (The vehicle itself is even personified as a character on “don’t be long.”) But while it may seem conceptual by title, the album plays more like a sketchbook than a fully realized artistic vision. That works to its benefit, though: Instead of the studious intentionality that distinguished his previous albums, *COFFEE!* plays like a carefree, jazzy vibe session that gives oxygen to his artistic instincts. Saba’s supple sense of melody and casual introspection means that even his doodles provide just as much comfort as other artists’ complete portraits. “don\'t be long” affectionately describes the intrapersonal relationships between his loved ones with conversational catchphrases. “itachi” starts as a slow, airy reflection of perseverance before shifting into a catchy, percussive set of whispered vocals, all within less than a minute and a half. The best contemporary comparison to *COFFEE!* is Kendrick Lamar\'s *untitled unmastered.*: a brief, satisfying detour for one of hip-hop’s best.
It would have been impossible to predict what would come next when Gucci Mane released his debut album *Trap House* in 2005, leading this century’s most influential hip-hop subgenre and skyrocketing the East Atlanta rapper to stardom. But since his release from prison in 2016, the trap pioneer has been transparent about the mental health struggles that informed the ups and downs of his 20-year career. Released, as per tradition, on 10/17 (which Atlanta officially declared “Gucci Mane Day” in 2023), Gucci’s 17th solo album is accompanied by his second book, *Episodes: The Diary of a Recovering Mad Man*, in which he gets real about his long road to redemption. “I done did all types of stupid shit,” he admits frankly on “Episodes Intro,” summing up his early-career legal drama in a nutshell. Much has changed for the trap icon, but some things stay the same: on “Back Cooking,” he reunites with longtime collaborator OJ da Juiceman for that vintage Guwop feeling.
The early 2020s was a period of leveling up for Daniel Caesar. The Toronto R&B artist signed to a major label, logged No. 1 hits with Justin Bieber and Tyler, The Creator, and with 2023’s *NEVER ENOUGH*, scored his highest-charting album to date and graduated to arena-headliner status. But as a child of the church, Caesar has always seemed less interested in indulging in the spoils of stardom than in forging a deep spiritual connection with his congregation of fans. In the lead-up to the release of his fourth full-length, *Son of Spergy*, Caesar hosted surprise pop-up concerts in various cities, turning up in local parks on a few hours’ notice with just an acoustic guitar—a fitting prelude to his most intimate and off-the-cuff album to date. Named for his gospel-singer father, *Son of Spergy* is a moment for Caesar to recalibrate after years of whirlwind success, and reconnect with family, old flames, and the church. “Lord, let your blessings rain down,” he sings on the opener, “Rain Down,” a hazy-headed hymn that sets the soul-searching tone for the album. Compared to the beat-driven experimentation of *NEVER ENOUGH*, *Son of Spergy* is both a more organic and psychedelic experience, favoring folky instrumentation that Caesar weaves to delightfully daydreamy effect on openhearted serenades like “Have a Baby (With Me)” and the Bon Iver-assisted beauty “Moon,” where jazzy piano wafts through the dulcet acoustic arrangement like a misty drizzle. But *Son of Spergy*’s Zen vibe is counterbalanced by Caesar’s growing confidence at drawing far outside the lines of R&B: “Call on Me” is an upbeat outlier that pairs crunchy alt-rock guitars and reggae riddims, while “Baby Blue” is a beautifully dazed ballad that just turns stranger and stranger over its six minutes, layering woozy strings, chopped-up vocals, and sound-effect samples with White Album-style wanderlust.
Outlandish, volatile, and immensely popular, Kodak Black somehow still rises above it all with each and every new release. After putting out no fewer than four projects in 2024, *Just Getting Started* marks his first substantial release of 2025, a late-in-the-year drop that acts as the promising precursor to a fresh run for the Florida rapper. He’s still living life on his own luxe, individualistic terms on cuts like “All Black Rolex” and “Really Liv’n,” shutting down those who speak ill on his name on “Imma Shoot” and the unapologetic “Project Blue.” With no less than Pharrell Williams by his side, he casually dismisses one of the most tired criticisms of his music on “Mumble Rap,” a bass bin-rattling victory lap boosted by that Neptunes pedigree. The guests here reflect his massive profile and appeal, building up momentum with Chance the Rapper, Gunna, and Lil Yachty, among others. That said, the reflective and ruthless nine-minute solo centerpiece “Prison Deform” offers fans insight and entertainment in equal measure.
A lot has changed in the eight years since Miguel last released an album, from the state of the world to his personal life. (In 2023, his divorce from longtime partner Nazanin Mandi was finalized.) If 2017’s *War & Leisure* hinted at turmoil both personal and political, the fifth album from the R&B auteur lands directly in the thick of it. On *CAOS*, the fight for peace is messy, but cathartic. Previous hits like “Adorn” and “Coffee” reveled in the bliss of intimacy, but here Miguel ventures beyond soulful psychedelia to embrace darker sounds and themes, landing somewhere between P-Funk and Nine Inch Nails. In the dark underbelly of the present, love feels a lot like rage, and vulnerability and anarchy coexist more easily than you’d think. He’s masked, strapped, and ready for whatever on “New Martyrs (Ride 4 U),” a Bonnie and Clyde anthem for uncertain times. He sings in Spanish on the apocalyptic title track, interpolates 2Pac on “The Killing” (“I ain’t a killer, but don’t push me”), and flips a poignant piano ballad into a scuzzy house thumper on “RIP.” A streak of primal lust flashes through the darkness, and on “Angel’s Song,” he swoons amidst the flames (“I forget the world’s unraveling when I look at you”). And on the grungy “Always Time,” he delivers an elegy for his marriage, singing: “Maybe this time, love means letting go.”
In a city where idiosyncrasy comes from even the hardest of rappers, there’s still no one in Detroit doing it quite like Bruiser Wolf. Closely affiliated with Danny Brown and part of the insular Bruiser Brigade, he steps to the microphone with the survivalist savvy of a street poet and the poignant wit of a stand-up comic. He spits game because he’s *been* in the game, translating his knowledge into one-liners and double entendres on this collaboration with veteran hip-hop producer Harry Fraud. The cinematic quality of his life story thus far screens in 70mm clarity through the cheeky opener “Tubi,” though he cautions on “Against the Odds” that there’s enough fodder to fuel a full-blown saga. His provocative couplets on “Connect Four” and “Heart Broke” carry on a legacy that encompasses Rudy Ray Moore’s *Dolemite*, Suga Free, and Too $hort. Given Fraud’s own reputation for scoring rap songs like movie scenes, the ’70s throwback accents on “Eye Owe You” and “The Money Say” serve Wolf’s routines well. And if that weren’t enough, cameos by Benny the Butcher and fellow Bruiser brigadier Zelooperz, among others, add even further filmic thrills.
If you’ve been tracking the career of Detroit’s Danny Brown over the last decade or so, you’d know that he’s one of rap’s most unpredictable characters: a streetwise MC who can go dark, go humorous, go punk, or go techno with the flip of a switch. “You’d be hard-pressed to find another rap artist with a musical range comparable to Danny’s,” DJ A-Trak, who assembled Brown’s *XXX for 30* megamix, tells Apple Music. “I wanted the mix to reflect that. I had to show his full wingspan. It’s truly uncanny.” Across this set, punctuated with drops from G-Unit member Tony Yayo, you’ll catch the full breadth of Brown’s oeuvre—from tracks dating back to his 2000s mixtapes and his debut album, *The Hybrid*, on through to collaborations with ScHoolboy Q, BROCKHAMPTON, Gorillaz, Kendrick Lamar, Fred again.., and more. “Danny is one hell of a rapper,” adds A-Trak. “It’s so fun to sit back and listen to the way he attacks so many types of beats, tempos, styles, and cadences.”
There was a time in New York hip-hop when the mixtape format effectively trumped the album. With this looser format, some of the city’s best rappers delivered their hardest, cleverest verses over quality beats—not infrequently using uncleared samples—as a means to keep the streets fed and the fans hyped. And while the definition of a given project may have lost clear meaning over the past decade, Dave East clearly holds the mixtape spirit in high regard. With producers like Nicholas Craven, Harry Fraud, and HighHonors behind the boards, this fourth installment in the *Karma* series finds the raspy native doing what he loves on his own terms. The skits here draw inspiration from epic crime stories like *Goodfellas*, *Heat*, and *The Sopranos*, largely represented by appearances from infamous hip-hop impressionist Pain In Da Ass. But the most compelling narrative here belongs to East, fully prepared for the worst on “Ahki Store” and revealing all manner of escape routes on the impactful “Runnin’.” Few proper albums bring the lyrical heat the way he does on “Demon” or “Havana,” his pen as sharp as ever. His choice of guests also reflects his stature in the game, pulling from a national talent pool of other seasoned stars and independent winners. He details the rough road to a luxe life with Stove God Cooks, dips into a nostalgic cloud-rap bag alongside Wiz Khalifa, and gives the R&B-meets-rap model a rugged refresher opposite Jeremih and Roc-A-Fella vet Rell. As if that weren’t enough, the posthumous Nipsey Hussle presence on “12 Months” lends even greater gravity to the whole *Karma 4* endeavor.
There’s nothing subtle about cupcakKe’s music, and the Chicago-born rapper delights in how little she leaves to the imagination. After all, her biggest hit to date, “CPR,” is an extended metaphor for oral sex. Her 2025 album *The BakKery* takes things in even more explicit directions. Led by the stunningly titled dance-floor banger “One of My Bedbugs Ate My Pussy,” cupcakKe showcases why no one else in the rap game has her boldness or imagination. While it’s easy to shock, humor propels this album to exciting heights. The way she embraces dance music and the history of house in her hometown of Chicago gives *The BakKery* its electrifying energy, and its one-liners illustrate how thoughtful sex rhymes can really be. As she raps on “Bedbugs,” “It’s givin’ Lady Gaga, standin’ in a shoe/She love tall inches and I do too.”
When the rapper known as Lil Herb broke through in 2012 with his searing Lil Bibby duet “Kill Shit”—an instant classic in the Chicago drill canon—he was a baby-faced 16-year-old with the voice and gravitas of a grizzled veteran. Since then, G Herbo (as he’s been known since 2015) has watched the genre he helped pioneer become a worldwide juggernaut. Meanwhile, he grappled with the trauma of the lifestyle that informed his storytelling on albums like 2020’s *PTSD* and 2022’s *Survivor’s Remorse*, which upped the studio gloss without sacrificing his visceral intensity. Stardom fit the former street rapper like a glove. But for his seventh album, titled after his original alias, the 30-year-old rapper felt drawn back to his past, revisiting old songs like 2015’s “Briks & Mansions” or 2017’s “Street.” “I was just trying to tap into that stage and that era—just trying to find the hunger again,” Herbo tells Apple Music’s Ebro Darden. “I never do that. Once the music come out, I’ve always been on to the next. But listening to my old projects, watching old videos, it just got me in that mode.” The photo on the cover shows a teenage Herbo in one of his early mugshots—a snapshot from a childhood he describes vividly on “Give It All,” juxtaposing school-bus crushes and juke parties with untimely funerals. “It’s tough making it in Chicago,” Herbo says. “Generational curses that just get put on you. Certain people grow up with a chip on their shoulder being from Chicago, because you just experience so much death. You think it’s normal, but it ain’t normal.” “Radar” details nightmarish scenes from his past with writerly precision; on “1 Chance,” he wakes from nightmares about lost friends. Alternately somber and celebratory, with cameos from Jeremih, Wyclef Jean, and Anderson .Paak, Herbo takes time on *Lil Herb* to marvel at how far he’s come. Still, he’s as passionate about his craft as he was when he dropped *Welcome to Fazoland* 11 years ago. “I still read the dictionary,” he says. “I try to learn new words all the time, different kinds of flows. I love rapping, so I don’t ever want to get boxed in.”
Houston MC Monaleo has long draped herself in pink, using the color as both armor and attitude, but as she proves on *Who Did the Body*, beneath all the glam lies true grit. Tracks like “Spare Change” and “Sexy Soulaan” radiate the same fiery confidence that fueled her 2021 breakout single, “Beating Down Yo Block,” while the strip club-ready “Freak Show” (featuring Lizzo) is the MC’s audacity in full form. But don’t for a second believe Monaleo is going it alone. On “Tamron Hall” she declares, “I got God whenever I walk, I can never fail if I lose it all.” Hailing from a hometown that has always honored the ability to flex as a divine blessing, it’s no wonder Houston legends Bun B, Paul Wall, and Lil’ Keke show up on the triumphant closer “We on Dat,” happy to pass the torch to their shared city’s next star.
Sam Gellaitry has spent most of his life thinking about what his debut should sound like. “I’ve been making this album for pretty much 28 years,” he tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. It’s not far from the truth: Since uploading his first tracks as a teenager from Stirling, the Scottish producer, singer, and songwriter has experimented across future beats, house, funk, and pop—a jazz record was even considered at one point—following his creative impulses wherever (and whenever) they called. “I guess that’s why it kind of took this long, because I was jumping around,” he admits. “I have that kind of creative scatterbrain. This is the first time I’ve been very thematic and calculated about the sonics. My other projects have not stuck to one genre. The challenge of this album was to stick to one.” *ANYWHERE HERE IS PERFECT* feels like Gellaitry expanded the bright, prismatic world of his 2021 hit “Assumptions” (which, serendipitously, resurfaced in a viral moment just months before the project announcement) into an album. It pairs funky dance-floor grooves with sparkling synth-pop and runs them through a retro filter. Songs like “START UP A RUMOUR” and “CURIOUS” beam with the French-house sheen of Daft Punk, while “LOVE ON ME” recalls George Michael in its earnest, exuberant sparkle. Elsewhere, swirling synths, noodly guitar riffs, and digitized vocal harmonies add playful hues and textures. And yes, there are even a few beat switch-ups to scratch that scatterbrain itch. The album is as much a personal evolution as it is creative. Across 12 songs, Gellaitry navigates the highs and lows of love with the kind of directness that makes every feeling hit harder. “LIGHTNING,” with its walloping drums and marching-band fervor, captures the intense rush of infatuation when meeting someone new, while “DANGER!” reignites the spark of an old flame. Pushing through relationship paranoia (“ON&ON”), quiet reckoning (“CLOUDS”), and the jagged wounds of past pain (“SCAR / A NEW VOID”), he finds euphoric catharsis in “YOU MIGHT FIND THE ONE.” Gellaitry’s rainbow palette is informed in part by his synesthesia, but he also sees it as a reflection of his Scottish roots, nodding to the country’s cultural exports like happy hardcore and Calvin Harris. “We’ve got so much beautiful nature, but if you’re in a city, like Glasgow, it is a bit gray,” he says. “I feel like a lot of the sounds that come from there are basically painting over the gray. Maybe we’re filling that void that we’re not getting enough sunlight.”
