Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2025

Boldy James & Real Bad Man — Conversational Pieces

On their third collaborative full-length, Boldy James’ measured flow once again meets Real Bad Man's soulful production for a record steeped in nuance and streetwise reflection. 

Bruiser Wolf & Harry Fraud — MADE BY DOPE

Bruiser Wolf has always sounded like he’s floating slightly above the beat, twisting his delivery into styles no one else would ever think to try, and Harry Fraud’s elegant backdrops give him the perfect runway on MADE BY DOPE. 

Confucius MC & Sebastian Keb — Songs for Lost Travellers

On Songs For Lost Travellers, London rapper Confucius MC teams up with producer Sebastian Keb for a record that blends hip-hop, folk, and jazz into something that's spacious and meditative. 

Buy Confucius MC & Sebastian Keb - Songs for Lost Travellers vinyl here

Domo Genesis & Graymatter — SCRAM!

SCRAM! moves quickly but makes a big impact. Domo raps with a relaxed confidence, dropping unforced quotables while gliding over Graymatter's lo-fi, atmospheric beats.  

Earl Sweatshirt — Live Laugh Love

Live Laugh Love is a quick, brilliant maze of memories, jokes, half-formed dreams, and razor-sharp bars, like paging through Earl’s diary while he freestyles under his breath.  

The Expert — Vivid Visions

On this sprawling 21-track odyssey, The Expert weaves together dreamy, psychedelic beats that act as both canvas and playground for an international roster of the underground's finest MCs like AJ Suede, Blu, NAHReally, and Defcee (among others), with every verse landing like a natural part of the album’s kaleidoscopic flow. 

Buy The Expert - Vivid Visions vinyl here

Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist — Alfredo 2

Gibbs and Alchemist reunite with the kind of ease that only comes from deep trust. Alchemist’s beats feel smoked-out and finely aged, while Freddie sounds locked in as he shifts between cold-eyed storytelling and sharp, melodic flows. 

Buy Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - Alfredo 2 vinyl here

Gabe ‘Nandez & Preservation — Sortilège

Preservation’s production has always had a global, archival quality to it, and Sortilège lets his instincts roam, with vintage horns, hypnotic rhythms, and warped samples providing the perfect palette for Gabe ‘Nandez's commanding delivery. 

Grief Club — Good Mourning

Grief Club — the collaboration between Boston’s Esh & The Isolations and UK-via-Philly rapper Andrew — grew out of two longtime friends losing their fathers to cancer within the same stretch of time. Instead of turning inward, they built something expansive, an orchestral-leaning hip-hop record that treats mourning as both a wound and a catalyst. 

Homeboy Sandman & Sonnyjim — Soli Deo Gloria

Sandman’s elastic delivery meets Sonnyjim’s elegant, sharp-edged beats, and the result is both playful and razor-focused, with minimalist production gliding underneath verses that are loose and lively.

Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals — A City Drowned in God’s Black Tears

Brian Ennals delivers each verse like a man pacing a room, while Infinity Knives pulls the floor out from under him at strategic intervals with production that zigzags between industrial noise, avant-rap minimalism, and moments of fragile beauty.

Buy Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals - A City Drowned in God's Black Tears here

Mary Sue & The Clementi Sound Appreciation Club — Porcelain Shield, Paper Sword

Mary Sue drifts between spoken-word calm and quick-edged flows, while the Clementi crew shape a backdrop that pulls equally from lo-fi jazz, bedroom folk, and off-kilter electronics for an album that finds strength in understatement.

Buy Mary Sue & The Clementi Sound Appreciation Club - Porcelain Shield, Paper Sword vinyl here

Nacho Picasso & Televangel — Séance Musique

On Séance Musique, Nacho’s gravelly, deadpan verses cuts through Televangel’s smoked-out loops and ghostly drums for a low-slung, otherworldly reunion built for dim rooms with the bass up. 

Navy Blue — The Sword & The Soaring

Navy Blue pushes further into a spacious, spiritual palette here, stitching together meditative beats and verses that land somewhere between self-examination and invocation. His voice feels steadier, fuller, and more grounded and the production (from Child Actor, Chris Keys, Graymatter and Navy himself) leans into warm basslines and loops, and percussion that rolls rather than snaps. It’s an album that builds upward from a deep internal place, steady and assured.