Rolling Stone's 40 Best Rap Albums of 2016

On this, his first masterpiece, Chance evolves—from Rapper to pop visionary. Influenced by gospel music, *Coloring Book* finds the Chicago native moved by the Holy Spirit and the current state of his hometown. “I speak to God in public,” he says on “Blessings,” its radiant closer. “He think the new sh\*t jam / I think we mutual fans.”

Thugga’s agility and anguish come together in a high-impact performance for the ages. He’s always been lithe, but witness the rapper’s snakelike vocals slide through “Wyclef Jean” and “Swizz Beats,” both built on the subliminal rumbles of dub and dancehall. While he digs into “Future Swag” with wolfish gusto, his fractured croon finds home in the sore-hearted hedonism of “Riri.”

More trauma and travails with the magnetic Detroit MC. Like *XXX* and *Old* before it, *Atrocity Exhibition* plays like a nightmare with punchlines, the diary of a hedonist who loves the night as much as he hates the morning after. “Upcoming heavy traffic/say ya need to slow down, ’cause you feel yourself crashing,” Brown raps on “Ain’t it Funny,” a feverish highlight. “Staring the devil in the face but ya can’t stop laughing.”

On their final album, Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi rekindle a chemistry that endeared them to hip-hop fans worldwide. Filled with exploratory instrumental beds, creative samples, supple rhyming, and serious knock, it passes the headphone and car stereo test. “Kids…” is like a rap nerd’s fever dream, Andre 3000 and Q-Tip slaying bars. Phife—who passed away in March 2016—is the album’s scion, his roughneck style and biting humor shining through on “Black Spasmodic” and “Whateva Will Be.” “We the People” and “The Killing Season” (featuring Kanye West) show ATCQ’s ability to move minds as well as butts. *We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service* is not a wake or a comeback—it’s an extended visit with a long-missed friend, and a mic-dropping reminder of Tribe’s importance and influence.

On the cover of his fourth studio album *Views*, Drake looks down from atop Toronto’s CN Tower, paying homage to the city’s notoriously frigid winter temperatures in a heavyweight shearling coat and high-cut boots. He looks less like the superhero he’d made himself into over the course of a roughly six-year rise as singer-songwriter extraordinaire and more like a troubled monarch. *Views*, which followed two wildly successful projects in 2015 that he’d branded as mixtapes—*If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late* and the Future collab *What a Time to Be Alive*—would confirm him as both, his penchant for immaculate songwriting still fully intact and the pressures of existing as the most popular voice in rap, as well as his hometown’s most successful export, weighing heavy on his mind. “I made a decision last night that I would die for it,” Drake raps on “9.” “Just to show the city what it takes to be alive for it.” Drake’s presence eclipsed Toronto just about as soon as *So Far Gone* dropped, but the city—and what it thinks of him—was never far from his mind. There are references here to specific people (“Redemption”), places (“Weston Road Flows”), and experiences (“Views”), along with nods to the influence of the city’s Caribbean population on “With You,” “Controlla,” and “Too Good” (which just happens to feature Rihanna). He isn’t too much for the world, though, ruminating on his position as one of music’s biggest names—and those who’d rather he wasn’t—on songs like “Still Here,” “Hype,” and “Grammys.” Maybe the the most affecting acknowledgment to this end is the fact that “Hotline Bling,” a strong contender for 2015 song of the summer, was such an afterthought by the time *Views* was released that it appears here as a bonus track. For all intents and purposes, the Drake of *Views* is the same one we got on *If You’re Reading This* and *What a Time*, but if his previous proper album (*Nothing Was the Same*) foretold anything, it’s that the man peering down from CN Tower sees things differently than the rest of us.

From the moment a ratcheting hi-hat introduces “Ain’t No Time,” Future brings fiery intensity to *EVOL*, leaving behind the syrupy laments of *DS2* with confidence and muscle. The Atlanta rapper’s inspirations haven’t changed—he’s still reveling in champagne baths, sexual conquest, and the spoils of fame—but he leans forward with forceful energy on highlights like “Maybach” and “Lie to Me.” The album’s steamiest moment, “Low Life,” adds a seductive guest vocal from The Weeknd.

Brutally honest stories of L.A. street life fill the Compton rapper\'s second album. Like his commanding debut, *Still Brazy* brings together point-blank rhymes and vintage West Coast production. But when YG looks beyond the life-and-death drama of his neighborhood—taking aim at right-wing politics, police brutality, and racial division—his street-level honesty is every bit as biting.

The Baton Rouge rapper Kevin Gates has never been much for jokes. Earnest, unsparing, and intensely personal, his full-length major-label is a downcast trip through tales of the grind (“La Familia”) romantic woes (“Pride”), and the trials of balancing the two (“2 Phones”). He delivers it all with enough charm and hope to keep things from getting too dark or gritty. “Man in the mirror you way outta order,” he raps on “The Truth”—fitting words for an artist who named his album (and his daughter, for that matter) after an Arabic word meaning \"to improve.\"

On the gritty, star-studded *Blank Face LP*, ScHoolboy Q is at his very best. Through 17 tracks of heavy-lidded gangsta rap, the incisive L.A. native joins forces with guests both legendary (E-40, Jadakiss, Tha Dogg Pound) and soon-to-be (Vince Staples, Anderson. Paak). “Robbin’ your kids too,” he says on “Groovy Tony / Eddie Kane,” a haunting double feature. “My heart a igloo.”

At 19, this Pompano Beach native is already one of the best natural rappers of his generation. His effortless style pours from “Vibin in This Bih,” which echoes Juvenile’s flow, Gucci Mane’s wordplay, and Chance the Rapper’s conversational cadence. “Slayed” shows this teenager’s worries go well beyond his years, while Boosie—hip-hop’s ultimate survivor—makes a cameo as the living incarnation of stress and weary perseverance. His Southern pedigree really shows on “Can I,” “Today,” and “Gave All I Got,” a trifecta of bluesy country rap tunes that bear the scars and sensitivity of an authentic street experience.

Every element of Kendrick Lamar’s *untitled unmastered.* tells you something about the Compton MC’s provocative, multi-layered genius. Take the contrast of the collection\'s ultra-generic title and its attention-grabbing, out-of-left-field release. Take the retro-futuristic, Funkadelic-inspired grooves that simmer under tracks like “untitled 02” and “untitled 06.” These are only the beginning of the album\'s hypnotic, nuanced nod to hip-hop’s deep roots and unstoppable political and expressive currency. Songs like “untitled 03” and “untitled 05”—with layered references, wild-eyed jazz solos, and cutting insight—continue Lamar\'s winning streak.

Rugged Atlanta rap gets a new dynamic duo on a murky, minimal EP that brings out the best in its precocious players. For producer Metro Boomin—in-demand architect of Drake and Future’s irrepressible “Jumpman”—it’s a chance to darken his palette with foreboding bells (“No Heart”) and muffled 808s (“Feel It”). And then there’s 21 Savage: dabbling with playful, raspy boasts (“Mad High”) while never losing the hard-edged authenticity of a true trap king.

Lil Uzi Vert’s 2015 breakthrough, *Luv Is Rage*, was a surreal hash of trap beats, strong melodies, and endless personality—a benchmark for rap in the \'10s. The streak continues with *The Perfect LUV Tape*. Like Young Thug, Uzi’s strength is his versatility: one minute he’s dishing out loose, singsongy anthems (“Do What I Want”), the next he’s packing syllables like sardines (the ominous “Money Mitch”), flipping between empathic and opaque, chilly and warm, often in the space of a verse. Another highlight, “Seven Million,” features the godfather of the sound—Future.

Swet Shop Boys pollinate contemporary hip-hop and R&B with South Asian style. Producer Redinho peppers “Tiger Hologram” with Qawwali hand claps and Bollywood tablas, while rappers Heems and Riz MC use “Phone Tap” and “Shoes Off” to convey the culture of fear and suspicion imposed on brown-skinned people worldwide. Intensely political but fiercely entertaining, “T5” is easily the best song about airport security harassment every written.

On his second album, Travis Scott is flying free, enjoying the spoils of fame and spotting the pitfalls. Sharp storytelling and warm synths give *Birds* a surreal, cinematic feel. He brings street anthems in bunches (“way back,” “coordinate,” “through the late night”) and his confidence beams on the intimate “first take” and “guidance,\" a Latin-tinged R&B track à la “One Dance.” If *Rodeo* showed that Travis Scott is comfortable coloring outside hip-hop\'s lines, *Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight* shows he’s capable of creating a masterpiece.

The final installment in the mixtape series that helped launch his career, Young Thug\'s *Slime Season 3* marks the end of an era. Still raucous and raw, these eight tracks capture the slippery, percussive delivery for which the Atlantan is known, complete with barks, wails, woos, and dribbled verses as on the delirious, equally maniacal “Drippin’ and “Digits.\" London on da Track is riding shotgun, lacing each turn with the signature whirrs and slaps that have made him one of the most talked-about producers in 2016.

More than just a protest statement, this politically charged album is at once an exorcism of rage and a constructive healing ritual. Behind a refreshingly inventive beat, “Joy and Peace” allows solemnity, anger, and patience to coexist. In “Pyramids” and “Home,” Common and producer/drummer Karriem Riggins’ fusion of gospel and classic boom-bap cuts a new path toward justice and liberation.

*4 Your Eyez Only* plunges deep into J. Cole’s soul. You can clearly hear it in his voice—pleading, testifying, on the verge of cracking. At center stage with no featured guests, the North Carolina rapper speaks out on social ills, black lives, and doing the right thing in a world of wrong. The music is settled, filled with jazz touches and strings, allowing the words to become the focus. “Neighbors” and “Change” examine imbalances and tension affecting communities of color. “Foldin Clothes” shows that even benign acts can be a source of joy. The two-part suite “She’s Mine” may be the most important songs he’s written, as Cole finds himself overcome by a strange feeling: hope.

While 2 Chainz has become one of the most reliably entertaining personalities in the pop-rap orbit, Lil’ Wayne remains a trickster extraordinaire and rap myth made flesh. A portmanteau of the neighborhoods where they grew up (Chainz in College Park, just outside Atlanta; Wayne in Hollygrove, New Orleans), *Collegrove* is an inspired pairing, from the quiet menace of “Gotta Lotta” (produced by Cash Money legend Mannie Fresh) to the mentholated reggae of “MFN” (produced by Atlantans Mike Will Made-It and Zaytoven) and the sprawling “Rolls Royce Weather Every Day,” where Wayne issues a rare apology: “I do me and love it, Lord I done overdid it.”

Inspired by Sun Tzu’s ultimate guide to combat, *The Art of War*, Memphis rapper Yo Gotti sharpens his battle techniques. “My City” opens the album on a solemn note as he gives a State of Memphis address while K. Michelle lets out exquisite pain. “General” drops Gotti in a war zone, and he responds with chest-beating bravado. The social-etiquette reminder “Down in the DM” will get all the attention, especially the Nicki Minaj remix, but don’t sleep on tracks like “Pay the Price” and “Bible,” which show that success and struggle go hand-in-hand. And if you ever wondered how Timbaland handles a trap beat, “Smile” ends the speculation—and Gotti sounds positively giddy as a result.