The Best 2010s Hip-Hop Albums
30 albums · Updated
In the 2010s rap became the most-streamed genre in the United States, and the album changed shape around it: free mixtapes counted as major releases, tracklists stretched to game the streaming charts, and the line between rap and R&B mostly disappeared.
The thirty albums below range from Kanye West's 2010 statement piece to Tyler, the Creator's 2019 IGOR, and include mixtapes such as Acid Rap and Faces that mattered as much as any label release. They are ranked by each review's scorecard.
How this list works: Albums and major mixtapes first released 2010–2019 and reviewed on the site, ranked by current score. Scores come from each review's six-part scorecard; see the methodology.
- 1
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly (2015)
Score: 10.0 · Read the review · Kendrick Lamar albums ranked
Jazz, funk and spoken word with Thundercat, Kamasi Washington and Flying Lotus, held together by a poem revealed line by line.
- 2
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
Score: 9.7 · Read the review · Kanye West albums ranked
Recorded largely in Hawaii with a large cast of collaborators, it turns maximalism into a study of fame and self-destruction.
- 3
Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012)
Score: 9.7 · Read the review · Kendrick Lamar albums ranked
Subtitled "a short film", it follows one day in teenage Kendrick's Compton through skits, voicemails and shifting perspectives.
- 4
Kanye West – Yeezus (2013)
Score: 9.3 · Read the review · Kanye West albums ranked
Abrasive, minimal and industrial, made with Daft Punk, Hudson Mohawke and Rick Rubin among others, and stripped back in final mixing.
- 5
Mac Miller – Faces (2014)
Score: 9.3 · Read the review · Mac Miller albums ranked
A free mixtape of druggy, jazz-tinged beats, many self-produced as Larry Fisherman, that many fans consider Mac Miller's darkest and best work.
- 6
Danny Brown – Atrocity Exhibition (2016)
Score: 9.3 · Read the review · Danny Brown albums ranked
Named after a Joy Division song, Danny Brown's off-kilter, Paul White-produced album is about addiction and dread.
- 7
Pusha T – DAYTONA (2018)
Score: 9.3 · Read the review · Pusha T albums ranked
Seven tracks, twenty-one minutes, every beat by Kanye West: no filler and no wasted bars.
- 8
Tyler, The Creator – IGOR (2019)
Score: 9.3 · Read the review · Tyler, The Creator albums ranked
Written, produced and arranged by Tyler, it tells a love-triangle story through distorted synths and soul; it won the Grammy for Best Rap Album.
- 9
Drake – Take Care (2011)
Score: 9.2 · Read the review · Drake albums ranked
40's muted, underwater production and Drake's late-night confessions, with Rihanna on the title track and Kendrick Lamar on "Buried Alive Interlude".
- 10
A$AP Rocky – LIVE.LOVE.A$AP (2011)
Score: 9.2 · Read the review · A$AP Rocky albums ranked
A Harlem rapper borrowing Houston's chopped-and-screwed haze and Clams Casino's cloud-rap textures.
- 11
Chance the Rapper – Acid Rap (2013)
Score: 9.2 · Read the review · Chance the Rapper albums ranked
A free mixtape full of gospel and jazz touches that made Chance a star without a label.
- 12
Future – Monster (2014)
Score: 9.2 · Read the review · Future albums ranked
The mixtape that started Future's dark run with Metro Boomin and others: blurred, melodic and bleak.
- 13
Travis Scott – Rodeo (2015)
Score: 9.2 · Read the review · Travis Scott albums ranked
Travis Scott's debut studio album, a psychedelic trap production showcase with "Antidote" and a long guest list.
- 14
Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels 3 (2016)
Score: 9.2 · Read the review · Run the Jewels albums ranked
Released early on Christmas Eve 2016, RTJ3 pushes El-P and Killer Mike's politics further with a darker tone.
- 15
Dave – Psychodrama (2019)
Score: 9.2 · Read the review · Dave albums ranked
Framed as a series of therapy sessions, Dave's debut won the 2019 Mercury Prize; "Lesley" runs eleven minutes.
- 16
Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels 2 (2014)
Score: 9.0 · Read the review · Run the Jewels albums ranked
El-P's industrial production and Killer Mike's politics, harder and angrier than the first record, with Zack de la Rocha on "Close Your Eyes".
- 17
Kendrick Lamar – DAMN. (2017)
Score: 9.0 · Read the review · Kendrick Lamar albums ranked
Lean and direct after To Pimp a Butterfly, it won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, the first for a non-classical, non-jazz work.
- 18
Tyler, The Creator – Flower Boy (2017)
Score: 9.0 · Read the review · Tyler, The Creator albums ranked
Tyler's turning point: lush, jazz-chord production and a vulnerable album about loneliness and sexuality.
- 19
Noname – Room 25 (2018)
Score: 9.0 · Read the review · Noname albums ranked
Noname's debut studio album sets conversational poetry over live jazz-soul production from Phoelix.
- 20
YG – My Krazy Life (2014)
Score: 8.7 · Read the review · YG albums ranked
DJ Mustard's ratchet production frames a coming-of-age story in Compton, told as a sequence from party to arrest.
- 21
Isaiah Rashad – Cilvia Demo (2014)
Score: 8.7 · Read the review · Isaiah Rashad albums ranked
The Chattanooga rapper's TDE debut is soft-spoken and Southern, full of family history and depression.
- 22
ScHoolboy Q – Oxymoron (2014)
Score: 8.7 · Read the review · ScHoolboy Q albums ranked
Q's major-label debut puts gangbanging and fatherhood side by side; "Man of the Year" and "Collard Greens" were the singles.
- 23
J. Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive (2014)
Score: 8.7 · Read the review · J. Cole albums ranked
Named after his childhood home in Fayetteville, Cole's third album went platinum with no guest features.
- 24
Drake – If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (2015)
Score: 8.7 · Read the review · Drake albums ranked
A surprise release built around Boi-1da and 40's sparse, menacing beats, Drake's toughest-sounding project.
- 25
Young Thug – JEFFERY (2016)
Score: 8.7 · Read the review · Young Thug albums ranked
Every song is named after one of Thug's idols, and the cover's gown made it a fashion statement as much as a mixtape.
- 26
Vince Staples – Big Fish Theory (2017)
Score: 8.7 · Read the review · Vince Staples albums ranked
Vince Staples pulls rap toward Detroit techno and UK garage with SOPHIE, Flume and Jimmy Edgar.
- 27
Rapsody – Laila’s Wisdom (2017)
Score: 8.7 · Read the review · Rapsody albums ranked
Named after her grandmother, Rapsody's Roc Nation debut is mostly produced by 9th Wonder and earned two Grammy nominations.
- 28
Nipsey Hussle – Victory Lap (2018)
Score: 8.7 · Read the review
Nipsey's long-awaited debut studio album, a celebration of independence and Crenshaw, released a year before his death.
- 29
Travis Scott – ASTROWORLD (2018)
Score: 8.7 · Read the review · Travis Scott albums ranked
Named after Houston's closed Six Flags park, it moves through beat switches and guest verses as if through rides.
- 30
Earl Sweatshirt – Some Rap Songs (2018)
Score: 8.7 · Read the review · Earl Sweatshirt albums ranked
Twenty-five minutes of warped, looped samples; Earl's grief for his father shapes the album.