We’ve revealed our favorite albums of the year, along with our favorite songs, plus the best in metal, jazz and reissues. And now we’re continuing our coverage of the best music of 2024 with deeper dives. Today we focus in on the best hip-hop albums of 2024. We saw the return of some old-school icons, the continued streak of some of our favorite rappers of the moment, innovative beatmakers, prolific wordsmiths, and even a handful of surprise releases from some of the biggest names in rap. Here’s what we had on repeat this year.
Blurbs by Adam Blyweiss (AB), Colin Dempsey (CD), Jeff Terich (JT), Patrick Pilch (PP), and Tom Morgan (TM).
Note: When you buy something through our affiliate links, Treble receives a commission. All albums we cover are chosen by our editors and contributors.
454 – Casts of a Dreamer
It’s a wonder as to why 454 hasn’t blown up, but Casts of a Dreamer proves Willie Wilson operates on his own time, his own terms. Casts dropped as a limited cassette earlier this year, and we’ll just have to take loyal heads’ word that the YouTube and Soundcloud versions are more similar than Wilson suggests, because his fans have kept the leaks in check. Lots of love and loss on this tape, as 454’s technicolor melancholy, mercurial styles, and consistent prolificacy remains unmatched. Tracking the musical arc of the skater-by-day has been a marvel to watch, and the quality of Casts of a Dreamer is remarkable considering its mere mixtape status. – PP
Listen: Soundcloud
Common & Pete Rock – The Auditorium Vol. 1
It’s been a surprisingly strong year for godfathers of hip-hop delivering best-in-years sets of effortlessly enjoyable beats-and-rhymes rap. (See also: LL Cool J.) Common and Pete Rock have a collective resume that would put them in the hall of fame several times over, and haven’t had much to prove in a long time. Yet here they are on The Auditorium Vol. 1, providing a lush, feel-good album of jazz-rap grooves with a dose of positivity that’s surprisingly refreshing. This is warm, lived-in, oldheads-showing-us-how-it’s-done rap, and when the duo bring the fire on standouts like “Wise Up,” they remind us that, despite how fast and frequently hip-hop has evolved, this is a sound that remains timeless. – JT
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Turntable Lab (vinyl)
Denzel Curry – King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2
Because of King of the Mischievous South’s wide angle, it shines as a tribute to Southern hip-hop and as a primer for anyone unfamiliar with the style. Miami, Memphis and Atlanta—Curry bestows each of their decades of hip-hop history and wildly different palettes with a track in reverence. As a sampler, it’s a fine selection, but here’s the real treat; Curry seamlessly slides into each of the varied deliveries, some slurpy while others trappy, somehow shining the spotlight on southern hip-hop without diminishing that this is his project. Humility is a rare trait in protagonists with as much aura as Curry. He’s more than willing to adapt to what his forebearers laid before him, both as a flex of his abilities and as a worship piece to those who predated and simultaneously rose with him. – CD
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Turntable Lab (vinyl)
Doechii – Alligator Bites Never Heal
“I’m the new hip-hop Madonna/I’m the trap Grace Jones.” On the rapid-fire rhyme onslaught of “Nissan Altima,” Doechii makes it clear she’s not here to be a runner up. The Florida rapper made her name on a series of promising mixtapes before delivering this year’s breakthrough release, which earned her a Grammy nomination on top of simply being one of rap’s most purely enjoyable records this year. She’s an undeniable wordsmith, rapping both fast and fluidly through production that ranges from the heady psychedelia of “BULLFROG” to old-school snare snaps on “DENIAL IS A RIVER.” She has a fun, playful presence, and an effortless delivery, but what stands out most is her versatility, seemingly perfectly at home whether easing into a low-key groove or at a machine-gun cadence. Doechii’s no longer a rapper to watch—she’s arrived. – JT
Listen/Buy: Spotify | Amazon (vinyl)
DORIS – Ultimate Love Songs Collection
The future of music will be born on Bandlab, Garageband, and cracked copies of FL studio. If there were ever an album representative of the underground obscure, it’s DORIS’ Ultimate Love Songs Collection. Made up of 50 scattered demos and one-offs, the compilation reflects DORIS’ uncanny digital artwork as Frank Dorrey (Noname, Amine, Steve Lacy). Heavily obscured and deeply collagist, these pieces are visual compliments to DORIS’ sonic myopia; the closer you look, the less you might hear. ULCS is the zeitgeist of everything now; the attention economy, analog nostalgia, the desire to return to something Real. And it is nothing short of utterly inspiring. – PP
Listen: Spotify
ELUCID – Revelator
ELUCID is no stranger to abrasive and uneasy sounds, much of his time spent running a gauntlet of surrealistic social commentary and haunted samples as one half of hip-hop duo Armand Hammer with fellow emcee billy woods. Revelator is more like a minefield, riven by moments of piercing noise and unrelenting intensity, a reflection of contemporary dystopia with ELUCID’s own lyrical instrument being delivered with a sharpened poignancy. From the moment “The World Is Dog” kicks off with live drums and a clipped, precise delivery, Revelator is a continuous sprint. But there’s purpose behind the surge, as reflections on family and fried fish on Fridays serve as lighter counterpoints to the darkness creeping over the horizon—a reminder that even when thing feel hopeless, there’s still a lot worth celebrating. – JT
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Turntable Lab (vinyl)
JPEGMAFIA – I Lay Down My Life For You
Rap criticism tends to form meta-narratives around artists and assess albums based on how they align with that outsider-constructed mythos. See the reaction to GNX for an example. JPEGMAFIA’s narrative is laden with contradictions and fueled by provocations, unfortunately evident in incidents like the rapper’s fanboy collaboration with Kanye West earlier this year. His latest record, I Lay Down My Life For You, thrives off contradictory sensibilities and provocative production, and crucially, it’s his most annoyed album—there’s some middle school pettiness in these bars—and the first time he reveals his insecurities. Where previously he made “BALD!” as a male pattern baldness anthem, he now titles songs “i recovered from this” and includes lines like “Everyone that I ever dated deserves better.” The dichotomy of insecurity and outward aggression is key to rock music, and fittingly, Peggy leans on chunky power chords and analog drums. It’s not quite rock, but a more prickly side to the perpetually pissed-off rapper. – CD
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Ka – The Thief Next to Jesus
There are many who weren’t aware of Ka’s run while he lived. The Thief Next to Jesus is their introduction to his world, which is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, many of his characteristics are in top form here, from his production, which is closer to fog than a traditional beat, to his worldly lyrics. On the other, The Thief Next to Jesus is dark and impenetrable, overtly so given its context. It reckons with how Christianity molds Americans, especially Black Americans, best represented by the track “True Holy Water” wherein Ka can barely get his words out over worship samples and a woman’s looped screams. While he is peaceful, the song collapses around him. It’s merely one instance of how uneasy The Thief Next to Jesus is, a facet that Ka honed his entire career.
“Hugs from loved ones keep depression at bay” – CD
Listen: Spotify
Kurious – Majician
Common and Pete Rock weren’t the only veteran rappers to drop a standout record among up-and-comers this year. Kurious’ name might not be quite as well known, but his Columbia Records-released debut A Constipated Monkey arrived the same year as Resurrection, and after a substantial hiatus thereafter, he collaborated with MF DOOM and MF GRIMM before hitting a new prolific streak in the 2020s. Majician is his third record in four years, a playful and animated showcase for his raspy and humorous rhymes, keeping the torch of his late, metal-faced collaborator burning and even bringing back the enigmatic Mr. Fantastik for a feature. But Kurious is his own charming, goofball character, affable and fun, paired with old-school, lo-fi production saturated with comic strip CMYK from producer Mono En Stereo. – JT
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Kendrick Lamar – GNX
It wasn’t enough for Kendrick Lamar to ruin Drake’s year and claim our Song of the Year honors, he went and stole Father John Misty’s thunder and then fucked up everyone’s year-end list deadlines. A surprise drop from an artist known for making ambitious conceptual records with an experimental streak, GNX is a trunk rattler of a rap record—nothing more, nothing less. I don’t mean to sell it short; Kenny’s never been one to approach a new record at any less than 100 percent and GNX is no different, a concise 12-track, 44-minute set of songs that finds Lamar reveling in all the trash talk and victory laps he can muster in under an hour, and he’s more than earned it. He’s one of the most thoughtful, introspective and game-changing voices in hip-hop—but sometimes it’s as satisfying just to hear him spit fire. – JT
Listen/Buy: Spotify | Turntable Lab (vinyl)
Mach-Hommy – #RICHAXXHAITIAN
Mach-Hommy is prolific to the point that a three-year gap between solo projects seemed almost unthinkable at one time. (He dropped four albums in 2017, alone, not counting collaborations.) Yet the Jersey-born, Haitian rapper—still maintaining his anonymity and mystique after all these years, having never revealed his face or birth name—returns with one of his most impeccable and meticulous releases, a linguistic labyrinth that’s warm, lush and luxurious in its production. He’s a master wordsmith whether offering glimpses of his own autobiography or reflecting on why late-stage capitalism is preventing Haiti’s advancement, poignant and good humored in equal measure, and always in the presence of stunning beats, provided by the likes of Quelle Chris, Conductor Williams and Sadhugold. As Hommy put it himself, “I ain’t rappin’ if it’s not dope.” It is, and he is. – JT
Listen: Spotify
Mutant Academy – Keep Holly Alive
Richmond’s hip-hop scene has produced a lot of under-the-radar gems over the past decade from the likes of Fly Anakin, Big Kahuna OG and Henry L.O. All three are part of Mutant Academy, a crew that began with just Anakin and Henry over a decade ago. Their first proper album arrived this year, heavy on hazy and soulful beats from their star roster of producers—Ohbliv, Graymatter and Sycho Sid to name a few—who actually outnumber the rappers in this group. Which is by no means a problem when it results in just under an hour of mesmerizing grooves as each emcee gets ample mic time on this overstuffed, consistently stellar set of hometown heat. – JT
Listen: Spotify
Navy Blue – Memoirs In Armour
Although he made debut for the legendary Def Jam last year, the prolific Navy Blue’s Memoirs In Armour makes no attempt to shave off the more off-kilter edges of his sound. This unusual experimental rap album is obsessed with textures that glisten with the same shimmer as its surreal cover art. “Slow” employs dreamy chimes, “Take Heed” overlays ’80s keys atop modern rap beats, while closer “La Noche” takes coke rap piano samples but infuses them with sincere emotion. Navy Blue’s bars are impressively existential, but it’s the mercurial soundscapes that allow Memoirs In Armour to really take flight, proving another triumph for increasingly-prominent new-ish producers like Child Actor and Nicholas Craven. – TM
Listen: Spotify
Previous Industries – Service Merchandise
An approachable and colorful record, Service Merchandise is a low-key masterclass from its charismatic trio of creators. A supergroup team up of Open Mike Eagle, Video Dave and STILL RIFT, this debut as Previous Industries is a delightful piece of work whose affability belies the serious topics under consideration. Built on a clever central conceit that uses now-defunct chain stores as springboards for explorations of nostalgia and personal histories, tracks like “Braids” and “Fotomat” are soulful and witty abstract rap cuts, soaring through time over unique beats by the likes of Child Actor and Quelle Chris. A warm, thoughtful gem of a rap record. – TM
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Amazon (vinyl)
Revival Season – The Golden Age Of Self-Snitching
Rap rock isn’t exactly a cultural force right now (thank god, you might say), but The Golden Age Of Self-Snitching comes pretty close to replicating its energetic parameters. This excitable, singular debut from Atlanta duo Revival Season, put out by UK indie label Heavenly, is a genre-bending banger; a killer fusion of Run The Jewels, Gnarls Barkley and Beastie Boys and so many others that jumps all over the mark, from the southern bounce of “Chop” to the aggro techno-rock of “The Path” to the reggae of “Propaganda.” However, the giddy energy and immaculate flow of MC Brandon “Bez” Evans ensures that the brilliantly-titled The Golden Age Of Self-Snitching stands tall as one of 2024’s most underappreciated albums, in any genre. – TM
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Roc Marciano – Marciology
Roc Marciano’s been on an enviable streak in the past half-decade, releasing a full eight records since 2020. All of them are good, some of them great—like 2022’s The Elephant Man’s Bones, which we gave best-hip-hop-of-the-year honors—and Marciology might very well be the best. Heavily featuring Roc’s own production, as well as featuring contributions from the likes of The Alchemist and Animoss, Marciology is hypnotic and vivid, crackling with analog warmth and palpable menace. Marci’s flow throughout is both low-key and agile, and while the record features some of his most technically dazzling lyricism in addition to playful wordplay and moments of eerie tension, it’s the sheer sound of it all that proves most captivating. He couldn’t have picked a better album to title as if it were a college course—this is an approach well worth studying. – JT
Listen: Spotify
Seafood Sam – Standing on Giant Shoulders
One of the standout releases on the still-young but impeccably curated drink sum wtr label, Seafood Sam’s sixth record is warm and laid back but unbelievably lush. The Long Beach rapper has an effortless, chill presence, his voice velvety smooth against production that most often sounds like it billowed in like smoke from Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite. Though a handful of guests enhance the vibe, particularly Pink Siifu on the cinematic sounding “Cowboy Leather,” Sam has a cool command over the material, bringing a soulful and funky ’70s-influenced vibe back to West Coast rap while keeping his feet firmly planted in the moment. – JT
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
ShrapKnel – Nobody Planning to Leave
Shrapknel have pared back some of the barbed-wire edges and caustic noise from their industrial-rap 2020 debut but their vision remains no less unsettling. Third album Nobody Planning to Leave finds PremRock and Curly Castro, with producer Controller 7, navigating harrowing dystopian spaces through surrealist imagery while offering reminders throughout of their deep love and appreciation for hip-hop’s past-generational greats, including Black Sheep, De La Soul and El-P. Equal parts dazzling and disorienting, Nobody Planning to Leave celebrates hip-hop by de- and reconstructing it. – JT
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Tierra Whack – World Wide Whack
For a genre so often obsessed with the most or maximum of, well, everything, the hip-hop on this Philadelphia diva’s first official LP is intensely minimal. For songs that have trouble cracking three minutes, the anticipation of hook and lyric creates almost as much drama as that content itself. There’s damn near dangerous amounts of space in her bass-drum beats, jewel-tone ‘70s synths, and percolating vibraphone, sometimes trading fully structured melodies for individual notes. And Tierra Whack can tell quite a story in just a few words—from the leftfield ego trip of “Chanel Pit” to the spare escapist funk of “Shower Song,” from parodying mumble rap to addressing mental and financial struggles. World Wide Whack constructs stories and themes in the same manner as a science fair project might fare with just balsa wood and glue. – AB
Listen/Buy: Spotify | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Tyler, the Creator – Chromakopia
Tyler, the Creator’s an artist in constant motion—reinvention is his M.O. at this stage, and Chromakopia‘s another stunning shift for one of the 21st century’s most vital rappers. Interspersed with snippets of wisdom handed down from his mother, it’s rife with introspection and the bigger questions about life and adulthood, while showcasing the most kaleidoscopic vision of his sound. Where a standout like “Rah Tah Tah” hits with a straight-to-the-dome intensity, “Noid” is steeped in psychedelic maximalism and “Thought I Was Dead” tunnels somewhere in between, mind-bending horns rippling over a massive thump and a standout guest verse from Schoolboy Q. Chromakopia ties together a little bit of everything—mesmerizing production, vibrant wordplay, thoughtful meditations—on a set of songs that feels like a new milestone for Tyler. – JT
Listen: Spotify
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