In March, C-list rapper-turned-podcaster Joe Budden declared that “the lady rapper wave is over,” predicting that the current interval of unprecedented success and visibility for a rising variety of ladies in hip-hop was coming to a detailed. And it felt like virtually each lady within the business spent the subsequent 9 months proving Budden mistaken. GloRilla and Flo Milli have been ubiquitous on radio airwaves, Megan Thee Stallion and Latto headlined profitable excursions, Doechii and Rapsody notched Grammy nominations, and rising stars like Anycia and SkyLar Blatt started showing on Billboard charts for the primary time.
Whereas just a few newer stars like Ice Spice and Sexyy Purple appeared to lose buzz this yr, much more ladies are constructing promising long-term careers in rap and are nonetheless reaching new inventive peaks. With out utilizing any awkward and pointless phrases like “femcee” or “feminine rap,” let’s look again at one of the best hip-hop albums and mixtapes launched by ladies in 2024.
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10. Monaleo – Throwing Bows
In a yr and not using a new Rico Nasty album, Houston rapper Monaleo launched a loud, brash, humorous file that occupies an identical area of interest. Whether or not she’s waking up on a shitty vibe on the hit “Don Who Leo” or turning the string loop from “Poisonous” by Britney Spears right into a combat track on “Wam Bam,” Monaleo retains the vitality excessive all through Throwing Bows. Monaleo had a child final yr with Atlanta rapper Stunna 4 Vegas, however as an alternative of mellowing out or writing in regards to the tasks of parenthood, they rap outrageous punchlines collectively over metallic guitars and 808s on “Queen & Slime,” probably the primary good rap/rock track in years.
9. Flo Milli – Nice Ho, Keep
2019’s “Beef FloMix” made Flo Milli, then a youngster, into the uproarious voice of one million viral “fancam” video edits. On the third installment of what you would name her Ho trilogy, Flo Milli remains to be enjoying the character of a shit-talking, immodest diva on “Bought the Juice” and “Inform Me What You Need.” She’s additionally developed a extra sensual and melodic circulation, although, that resulted in “By no means Lose Me,” the largest hit of her profession, which SZA and Cardi B jumped on for the remix that seems on Nice Ho, Keep.
8. GloRilla – Ehhthang Ehhthang
The Memphis kicked off a 2024 hit parade with “Yeah Glo!” and “Wanna Be” that includes Megan Thee Stallion. The mixtape Ehhthang Ehhthang wasn’t even the largest undertaking Glo launched this yr, nevertheless it options a few of her finest songwriting, together with “Opp Shit,” a gangsta rap twist on an old school story of star crossed lovers from rival households.
7. MC Lyte – 1 of 1
MC Lyte was simply 17 when she made historical past as the primary feminine rapper to launch a solo album, Lyte as a Rock, in 1988. On her first album in 9 years, Lyte remains to be certainly one of rap’s nice flinty realists, giving worldly recommendation on “Change Your Methods” and swapping tales about music business woes with Ghostface Killah and Lil Mama on “Lyte Ghost Lil Mama.” In a yr that has additionally seen late profession gems from LL Cool J and Widespread, 1 of 1 bolsters the argument that hip-hop veterans can nonetheless have one thing to say of their fourth decade within the sport.
6. Latto – Sugar Honey Iced Tea
It was only a yr or two again that the rapper, fortunately now not named Miss Mulatto, had gone all-in on Dr. Luke-produced pop radio fodder like “Massive Power” and “Lottery.” Now that she’s essentially the most profitable feminine rapper from Atlanta of all time, although, she’s pivoted again to Magic Metropolis-ready jams like “Blick Sum” and “There She Go” on her third album. Even with out crossover hits, Latto saved creating memorable moments all through 2024, from taunting Ice Spice to “get within the sales space, bitch” on “Sunday Service,” throwing an surprising beat change in the course of “Massive Mama,” and turning “Brokey” right into a TikTok problem.
5. Megan Thee Stallion – Megan: Act II
Like just a few different nice rappers, Megan Thee Stallion’s mixtapes usually hit a little bit more durable than her albums. With Megan: Act II, the current deluxe model of her third album, you get one of the best of each worlds. The unique Megan, launched in June, has her vicious, score-settling No. 1 single “Hiss,” and extra emotionally cathartic materials like “Cobra” and “B.A.S.” The 13 new tracks on Act II are a throwback to mixtapes like 2018’s Tina Snow and 2021’s One thing For Thee Hotties, filled with cocky bangers like “Greater in Texas” and “Bourbon.”
4. Rapsody – Please Don’t Cry
Rapsody has rightly been hailed as probably the greatest lyricists of her technology since her breakout look on Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly. Most of Please Don’t Cry stays in a heat, languid neo soul lane with songs just like the Erykah Badu collaboration “3:AM.” Often, although, the North Carolina rapper reminds you what else she’s able to, ripping a bombastic horn loop beat on “Again in My Bag” and holding her personal with Lil Wayne on “Uncooked.”
3. Tierra Whack – World Vast Whack
Tierra Whack’s wildly unique 2018 mixtape Whack World was a quick however memorable debut, dashing by way of 15 songs in quarter-hour. Almost six years later, the Philadelphia rapper lastly reemerged with a correct full-length album, and World Vast Whack lets its songs play out for greater than 60 seconds, however usually not by a lot. A self-possessed eccentric within the custom of Missy Elliott, Whack boasts with crazy wordplay on “Invitation,” shares her insecurities in hushed tones on “Troublesome,” and bends her voice into hilarious shapes on “Burning Brains.”
2. GloRilla – Wonderful
GloRilla, born Gloria Hallelujah Woods, grew up singing in her church’s choir, and followers have famous the gospel undertones within the lyrics to her early hit “Tomorrow.” On her debut studio album Wonderful, GloRilla lastly goes all the way in which gospel on “Rain Down on Me” with Kirk Franklin and Kierra Sheard and “Glo’s Prayer,” and it sounds surprisingly good. Elsewhere on the album, although, Glo sticks to the Memphis crunk anthems that made her a fixture on the charts in 2024, just like the rowdy “Hollon” and the ever present summer time jam “TGIF.”
1. Doechii – Alligator Bites By no means Heal
In 2023, Doechii scaled Billboard charts and radio playlists for the primary time as a singer on the one “What It Is” and performed arenas opening for Doja Cat. This yr, she returned with a nominal “mixtape” as robust as anybody else’s album to remind the world why she was signed by one of the vital revered labels in rap, Prime Dawg Leisure. The dexterity of her rapidfire bars on “Nissan Altima” and the self-effacing assessments of her life and profession on “Denial is a River” and “Increase Bap” added as much as a tour de drive launch that just lately earned Doechii 4 Grammy nominations.
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