5 Best Rap Albums of January 2025
Here are five rap albums not to miss from the first month of 2025.
So much rap music comes out all the time, and especially with frequent surprise releases, it can be hard to keep track of it all. So, as a way to help keep up with all of it, here’s a roundup of the 5 rap albums from January 2025 that stood out to us most. We also probably still missed or haven’t spent enough time with some great January rap albums that aren’t on this list, and we’ve got a list of honorable mentions with more albums at the bottom of this post. What were some of your favorites of last month? Let us know, and read on for the list (unranked, in no particular order).
Ghais Guevara – Goyard Ibn Said (Fat Possum)
The Philly rapper/producer’s Fat Possum debut is an ambitious, two-part concept album with contributions from ELUCID, McKinley Dixon, DJ Haram, and more
Ghais Guevara is the kind of rapper that possesses both a defiantly-underground ethos and sky-high ambition. His first album for Fat Possum–an increasingly-diverse label that also has hip hop representation from El-P, Armand Hammer, and Armand Hammer member ELUCID (who guests on this record)–is a concept album split into two acts, with act one highlighting “the triumphs of being a rapper” and act two highlighting the “tragedies” of the experience, as Ghais told NME. The mostly-self-produced album’s wide musical scope ranges from lush gospel-soul samples to smoky boom bap revival to abstract experimentalism to modern trap and drill to one song with a baroque harpsichord and string arrangement (“The Apple That Scarcely Fell” ft. McKinley Dixon). Ghais clearly sees the value in all different types of rap, and he breaks down musical barriers in a way that looks and sounds damn near effortless. Throughout Goyard Ibn Said‘s two acts, he constantly reinforces another sentiment that he expressed in his recent NME interview, that “hip hop can be fun and intellectual at the same time.” He uses his story arc to talk not just about the lives of rappers, but about the greater Black experience within white America. Sometimes his message is weaved into layers of wordplay, and other times it jumps out at you, blunt and direct. He’s clearly thought about what it means to be an artist an activist, and an entertainer, and on Goyard Ibn Said, he’s frequently all three at once.
Goyard Ibn Said by Ghais Guevara
Pink Siifu – BLACK’!ANTIQUE (Dynamite Hill)
The highly-prolific, impossible-to-pigeonhole Pink Siifu’s latest record is also one of his most earth-shattering
Pink Siifu has released a lot of good albums over the past decade or so, and BLACK’!ANTIQUE instantly comes off as one of his most earth-shattering. As cliché as it is to call an album a “journey” or a “trip,” I can’t think of a more accurate way to describe BLACK’!ANTIQUE. In its first three songs alone, the hour-and-17-minute album swings from the kind of wall-shaking rap song that Timbaland or The Neptunes might’ve produced in the 2000s to eardrum-bleeding noise punk to heart-pounding club-rap, lurching like a ship in a treacherous storm that never capsizes. Eventually, the waters settle, and we find ourselves drifting between dimly-lit trap, smoky psychedelia, and deconstructed boom bap, with more than a few glitched-out shakeups in between. You can find yourself getting even more lost in the calmer moments than the chaotic ones; it’s often this album’s serene vibe shifts that can you leave you wondering, “Where am I?”
Accompanying Siifu on this mission is an ensemble cast of guest vocalists and producers from in and around the world of underground hip hop, including Fatboi Sharif, Liv.e, Bbymutha, B L A C K I E, Ho99o9, 454, HiTech, WiFiGawd, Kal Banx, Turich Benjy, iiye, Big Rube, Monte Booker, Roper Williams, and at least 30 others, and they come together to create something maximalist and communal. The guests come off like they were brought in as collaborators playing a small part in something bigger; not to deliver individualistic guest verses. The album functions as a genre-busting experiment, but it also frequently embraces time-tested hip hop traditions. Out-there records like these sometimes lose their charm after the initial shock wears off, but BLACK’!ANTIQUE sounds even better the second time.
MIKE – Showbiz! (10k)
The NYC underground rap leader returns with another hazy, immersive project
The word “showbiz” usually evokes images of glitz, glamor, fame and cutthroat commercialism, none of which would describe NYC rapper/producer MIKE. Across more than 15 projects in a 10-year span, MIKE helped define an entire wave of hazy, underground rap that’s rooted in New York but has expanded to other parts of the world thanks to MIKE’s wide span of collaborations that range from West Coast rapper Earl Sweatshirt to UK rapper Jadasea. Throughout it all, he’s stuck to his guns, with a near-constant flow of great projects that rarely deviate from his trademark, opaque sound. He’s gradually grown in popularity not because he ever bended to meet mainstream expectations but because his been honing his craft to the point where just about every project he releases is too good to ignore. The aspect of showbiz that applies to MIKE the most, as he implies with the soundbite at the end of “Clown of the Class,” is that he puts in the hard work.
On Showbiz! the album, this all speaks for itself. MIKE rolls out 24 songs in a 47+ minute runtime, several of which were produced by MIKE himself, with just one guest rapper (454) and one guest singer (duendita). Like his other lengthy, immersive works, his abstract stream-of-consciousness storytelling and woozy beats feel like an oddly comforting fever dream. It’s easy to get lost in, and it rewards deep listening. As always, he has a lot to say, and he’s got a good amount of musical variety too, from chopped-up/pitched-up soul singers to skittering electronics to lively jazz workouts.
Central Cee – Can’t Rush Greatness (Columbia/CC4L)
After rising to global stardom, the UK rapper delivers a mass-appeal new album that features Skepta, Dave, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, and Young Miko
In the three years since Central Cee’s last full-length project, 23, he went from one of the fastest-rising stars in UK rap to one of the biggest UK rappers in the world, thanks in large part to singles like “Doja,” “Sprinter” (from his EP with Dave), and “Did It First” with Ice Spice. His new album Can’t Rush Greatness arrives as one of the most globally-anticipated UK rap albums in years; it’s a big deal not just for Cench himself, but for UK rap in general. An article by DJ Semtex on Clash asked, “Can Cench deliver? Is he built for it? Can he truly rep for us on the global stage?” That’s a lot of weight to put on any individual artist’s shoulders, but, Semtex assured, “Of course, he can.” I would agree. Can’t Rush Greatness is inseparable from Central Cee’s fame–he reckons with it multiple times throughout the album–and it’s delivered with the confidence of an all-star performer who knows he has to succeed. He’s joined on the album by two other UK rap greats (Dave and Skepta), and he continues his global takeover by finding chemistry with Atlanta (21 Savage, Lil Baby), Chicago (Lil Durk), and Puerto Rico (Young Miko). Throughout it all, his wide appeal is always evident. He sprinkles his drill bangers with glistening pianos and injects his chest-puffed swagger with self-reflection. He works African and Caribbean polyrhythms into a few songs and R&B balladry into a few others, giving us a little something for everyone without sounding like he’s trying too hard to do so. All outlandish expectations aside, it’s a fun record that speaks for itself.
FearDorian – Leaving Home (self-released)
The rising, internet-bred rapper clouds deep emotion in a druggy haze on his subtly effective new LP
The 18-year-old Atlanta rapper FearDorian had a breakout year in 2024 with the release of his self-titled solo album and a collaborative album with Polo Perks and AyooLii, and now he keeps the momentum going with Leaving Home. From his languid delivery to his woozy self-produced beats, all of Leaving Home is clouded in a druggy haze, but if you’re only focused on the vibey exterior, you’ll miss the deep emotion that runs through so many of his songs. There’s more than initially meets the eye (or ear) to his production too, with tracks that range from noisy IDM (“Pressure”) to emo guitar loops (“Forecasting”) to chipmunk-soul trap (“In Turn For?”). FearDorian’s subtly wide range is also reflected in the album’s guest appearances, which include the aforementioned Polo Perks, RiTchie from the experimental rap group Injury Reserve, UK electronic trailblazer Klein, and internet-fried auto-tunedster quinn. FearDorian himself sounds like a very internet-bred artist, and he harnesses one of the most positive impacts the internet has had on the music world: the ability to access everything all at once.
Honorable Mentions
Boldy James – Murder During Drug Traffic & Permanent Ink
Bossman Dlow – Dlow Curry
Doseone & Steel Tipped Dove – All Portrait, No Chorus
EST Gee – I Aint Feeling You
Lil Baby – Wham
Mac Miller – Balloonerism
OsamaSon – Jump Out
Rio Da Yung OG – Rio Free
ZORA – BELLAdonna