The Best Rappers Of 2023
Updated September 18, 2023 48.7K votes 5.6K voters 76.6K views
Over 5.6K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best Rappers Of 2023
Latest additions: Young Thug, Logic, Travis Scott
Most divisive: Kodak Black
Rappers have always been at the forefront of pop culture since the ‘90s, but 2023’s hip-hop scene in particular is ready for world domination. Multi-talented artists Bad Bunny, Doja Cat, Drake, and Her Majesty Nicki Minaj remain forces to be reckoned with across the Billboard charts (and they don't plan on slowing down anytime soon). Trap-stars Lil Baby, Future, and Gunna continue to keep it real throughout their fire collaborations; and A-list newcomer Latto refuses to hold back her “big energy” with a Best New Artist Grammy nomination now under her belt. Superstars in-the-making Doechii, GloRilla, and Ice Spice inspire the next generation of female rappers throughout their unique performance styles and empowering verses; and Frank Ocean is slated to headline this spring's highly-anticipated Coachella music festival.
Which trending hip hop artists are you most excited to see live, and whose records are you currently listening to? Vote below for the best rappers of 2023, and be sure to also check out this year's top new rap songs afterwards.
Ranked by
- 12,972 votesShayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph (born October 22, 1992), known professionally as 21 Savage, is an American rapper known for his mixtapes The Slaughter Tape (2015) and Slaughter King (2015) and his EPs Free Guwop (2015) and Savage Mode (2016) with Metro Boomin before the release of his debut album, Issa Album (2017) and its lead single, "Bank Account".
- 22,922 votesAubrey Drake Graham, who records under the mononym Drake, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor. He was born in Toronto, Ontario. He first garnered recognition for his role as Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation. He later rose to prominence as a rapper, releasing several mixtapes like Room for Improvement before signing to Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment in June 2009. Drake's EP, So Far Gone, spawned the hit single "Best I Ever Had" and the moderate hit "Successful". His first studio album, Thank Me Later, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and generated notable singles, "Over" and "Find Your Love". It was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. His second album, Take Care, is his most successful to date, topping charts in the United States and Canada and producing multiple hit singles, including "Headlines", "Take Care", "Make Me Proud", and "The Motto", the last of which is also credited for popularizing the widely used acronym YOLO. In promotion of Take Care, Drake embarked on the worldwide Club Paradise Tour, which became the most successful hip-hop tour of 2012, grossing over $42 million.
- 32,785 votesJermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born on a military base in Germany but raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained recognition as a rapper following the release of his debut mixtape, The Come Up, in early 2007. Intent on further pursuing a solo career as a rapper, he went on to release two additional mixtapes, The Warm Up and Friday Night Lights after signing to Jay-Z's Roc Nation imprint in 2009. Cole released his debut studio album, Cole World: The Sideline Story, in 2011. It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, and was soon certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His next two releases, 2013's Born Sinner and 2014's 2014 Forest Hills Drive, received mostly positive reviews from critics, and both were certified platinum in the United States. The latter earned him his first Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Album. In December 2016, Cole released his fourth studio album 4 Your Eyez Only. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified platinum in April 2017. His fifth album, KOD, was released in April 2018. The album debuted atop the Billboard 200, making it his fifth album to reach number one on the chart. Self-taught on piano, Cole also acts as a producer alongside his hip-hop career, producing singles for artists such as Kendrick Lamar and Janet Jackson, as well as handling the majority of the production in his own projects. He has also developed other ventures, including Dreamville Records, as well as a non-profit organization called the Dreamville Foundation. In January 2015, Cole decided to house single mothers rent-free at his childhood home in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
- 41,035 votesJacques Berman Webster II (born April 30, 1992), known professionally as Travis Scott, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Scott signed to Epic Records before eventually signing to Kanye West's GOOD Music production wing known as Very G.O.O.D. Beats, in November of the same year, as an in-house producer, after appearing on the label's debut compilation Cruel Summer. In April 2013, it was announced he signed with T.I.'s Grand Hustle imprint. He released his first official full-length project, an album titled Owl Pharaoh, on May 21, 2013. He released his most critically acclaimed and commercially successful album Astroworld in 2018; it produced his first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, "Sicko Mode."
- 52,956 votesMarshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, film producer, and actor. He is consistently cited as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time and was labeled the "King of Hip Hop" by Rolling Stone magazine. In addition to his solo career, Eminem was a member of the hip hop group D12. He is also known for his collaborations with fellow Detroit-based rapper Royce da 5'9"; the two are collectively known as Bad Meets Evil. After his debut album Infinite (1996) and the extended play Slim Shady EP (1997), Eminem signed with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and subsequently achieved mainstream popularity in 1999 with The Slim Shady LP, which earned him his first Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. His next two releases, 2000's The Marshall Mathers LP and 2002's The Eminem Show, were worldwide successes, with each being certified diamond in U.S. sales and both winning Best Rap Album Grammy Awards—making Eminem the first artist to win the award for three consecutive LPs. They were followed by Encore in 2004, which was another commercial success, but did not receive the amount of critical success his previous albums had received. Eminem went on hiatus after touring in 2005 partly due to a prescription drug addiction. He released Relapse in 2009 and Recovery in 2010. Both won Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album and Recovery was the best-selling album of 2010 worldwide, the second time he had the international best-selling album of the year (after The Eminem Show). Eminem's eighth album, 2013's The Marshall Mathers LP 2, won two Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Album; it expanded his record for the most wins in the category. These were followed by 2017's Revival and 2018's Kamikaze, the latter being the best-selling hip hop album of 2018.In November 2002, he starred in the drama film 8 Mile playing a semi-fictionalized version of himself, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lose Yourself", making him the first hip hop artist to ever win the award. Eminem has made cameo appearances in the films The Wash (2001), Funny People (2009), and The Interview (2014), and the television series Entourage (2010). Eminem has developed other ventures, including Shady Records, with manager Paul Rosenberg, which helped launch the careers of artists such as 50 Cent, Yelawolf and Obie Trice, among others. Eminem has also established his own channel, Shade 45, on Sirius XM Radio. With over 230 million records sold globally, Eminem is among the best-selling music artists of all time. He is the best-selling music artist in the United States in the 2000s. He has won numerous awards including fifteen Grammy Awards, eight American Music Awards, seventeen Billboard Music Awards, an Academy Award (for Best Original for "Lose Yourself) and a MTV Europe Music Award for Global Icon Award. Throughout his career, Eminem has had nine number-one albums on the Billboard 200, which all consecutively debuted at number one on the chart making him the only artist to achieve this, and five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Rolling Stone placed Eminem in their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
- 62,739 votesJarad Anthony Higgins (December 2, 1998 – December 8, 2019), known professionally as Juice WRLD, was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he was best known for his hit singles "All Girls Are the Same" and "Lucid Dreams" which helped him gain a recording contract with Lil Bibby's Grade A Productions and Interscope Records. "All Girls Are the Same" and "Lucid Dreams" acted as singles for Juice WRLD's debut studio album Goodbye & Good Riddance (2018) which became certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album enjoyed positive critical reception, and contained three other singles: "Armed and Dangerous", "Lean wit Me" and "Wasted", all of which charted on the Billboard Hot 100. After collaborating with Future on the mixtape Wrld on Drugs (2018), Juice Wrld released his second album, Death Race for Love, in 2019 which became his first number-one album on the Billboard 200.
