Grammy Award for Best Rap Album

The Grammy Award for Best Rap Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums with rapping at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".

In 1995, the Academy announced the addition of the award category Best Rap Album. The first award was presented to the group Naughty by Nature at the 38th Grammy Awards the following year. According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award is presented for "albums containing at least 51% playing time of tracks with newly recorded rapped performances". Award recipients often include the producers, engineers, and/or mixers associated with the nominated work in addition to the recording artists. Note: User must select the "Rap" category as the genre under the search feature.

As of 2025, Eminem holds the record for the most wins in this category, with six. Lauryn Hill was the first female artist to win in this category, when she won in 1997 with the Fugees. The duo Outkast and rapper Tyler, The Creator have both received the award twice. Jay-Z holds the record for the most nominations, with eleven. Drake became the first non-American winner in this category when he won this award in 2013. The Roots have received the most nominations without a win, with five. Eminem and Kanye West are the only artists to win the award in consecutive years, with Eminem achieving the feat twice. In 2016, Drake's If You're Reading This It's Too Late became the first mixtape to get nominated for the award, and in 2017, Chance the Rapper's Coloring Book became the first mixtape to win the award. In 2019, Cardi B became the first solo female rapper to win for Invasion of Privacy.

Recipients

1990s + Year Work Artist 1996 Poverty's Paradise Naughty by Nature E. 1999 Eternal Bone Thugs-n-Harmony I Wish Skee-Lo Me Against the World 2Pac Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version Ol' Dirty Bastard 1997 The Score Fugees All Eyez On Me 2Pac Beats, Rhymes and Life A Tribe Called Quest Gangsta's Paradise Coolio Mr. Smith LL Cool J 1998 No Way Out Puff Daddy and the Family Life After Death The Notorious B.I.G. Supa Dupa Fly Missy Elliott Wu-Tang Forever Wu-Tang Clan Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival Wyclef Jean 1999 Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life Jay-Z Capital Punishment Big Pun Harlem World Mase Life in 1472 Jermaine Dupri The Love Movement A Tribe Called Quest

2000s + Year Work Artist 2000 The Slim Shady LP Eminem Da Real World Missy Elliott E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front Busta Rhymes I Am... Nas Things Fall Apart The Roots 2001 The Marshall Mathers LP Eminem 2001 Dr. Dre Country Grammar Nelly ...And Then There Was X DMX Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter Jay-Z 2002 Stankonia Outkast Back for the First Time Ludacris The Blueprint Jay-Z Pain Is Love Ja Rule Scorpion Eve 2003 The Eminem Show Eminem Diary of a Sinner: 1st Entry Petey Pablo Nellyville Nelly Tarantula Mystikal Word of Mouf Ludacris 2004 Speakerboxxx/The Love Below Outkast The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse Jay-Z Get Rich or Die Tryin' 50 Cent Phrenology The Roots Under Construction Missy Elliott 2005 The College Dropout Kanye West The Black Album Jay-Z The DEFinition LL Cool J Suit Nelly To the 5 Boroughs Beastie Boys 2006 Late Registration Kanye West Be Common The Cookbook Missy Elliott Encore Eminem The Massacre 50 Cent 2007 Release Therapy Ludacris Game Theory The Roots In My Mind Pharrell King T.I. Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor Lupe Fiasco 2008 Graduation Kanye West Finding Forever Common Hip-Hop Is Dead Nas Kingdom Come Jay-Z T.I. vs. T.I.P. T.I. 2009 Tha Carter III Lil Wayne American Gangster Jay-Z Lupe Fiasco's The Cool Lupe Fiasco Paper Trail T.I. Untitled Nas

2010s + Year Work Artist 2010 Relapse Eminem The Ecstatic Mos Def The Renaissance Q-Tip R.O.O.T.S. Flo Rida Universal Mind Control Common 2011 Recovery Eminem The Blueprint 3 Jay-Z B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray B.o.B How I Got Over The Roots Thank Me Later Drake 2012 My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Kanye West Lasers Lupe Fiasco Pink Friday Nicki Minaj Tha Carter IV Lil Wayne Watch the Throne Jay-Z and Kanye West 2013 Take Care Drake Based on a T.R.U. Story 2 Chainz Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 Lupe Fiasco God Forgives, I Don't Rick Ross Life Is Good Nas Undun The Roots 2014 The Heist Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Good Kid, M.A.A.D City Kendrick Lamar Magna Carta Holy Grail Jay-Z Nothing Was the Same Drake Yeezus Kanye West 2015 The Marshall Mathers LP 2 Eminem Because the Internet Childish Gambino Blacc Hollywood Wiz Khalifa The New Classic Iggy Azalea Nobody's Smiling Common Oxymoron ScHoolboy Q 2016 To Pimp a Butterfly Kendrick Lamar 2014 Forest Hills Drive J. Cole Compton Dr. Dre If You're Reading This It's Too Late Drake The Pinkprint Nicki Minaj 2017 Coloring Book Chance the Rapper And the Anonymous Nobody... De La Soul Blank Face LP ScHoolboy Q The Life of Pablo Kanye West Major Key DJ Khaled Views Drake 2018 Damn Kendrick Lamar 4:44 Jay-Z Culture Migos Flower Boy Tyler, the Creator Laila's Wisdom Rapsody 2019 Invasion of Privacy Cardi B Astroworld Travis Scott Daytona Pusha T Swimming Mac Miller Victory Lap Nipsey Hussle

2020s + Year Work Artist 2020 Igor Tyler, the Creator Championships Meek Mill I Am > I Was 21 Savage The Lost Boy Cordae Revenge of the Dreamers III Dreamville 2021 King's Disease Nas Alfredo Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist The Allegory Royce Da 5'9" Black Habits D Smoke A Written Testimony Jay Electronica 2022 Call Me If You Get Lost Tyler, the Creator Certified Lover Boy (withdrawn) Drake Donda Kanye West King's Disease II Nas The Off-Season J. Cole 2023 Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers Kendrick Lamar Come Home the Kids Miss You Jack Harlow God Did DJ Khaled I Never Liked You Future It's Almost Dry Pusha T 2024 Michael Killer Mike Her Loss Drake and 21 Savage Heroes & Villains Metro Boomin King's Disease III Nas Utopia Travis Scott 2025 Alligator Bites Never Heal Doechii The Auditorium Vol. 1 Common and Pete Rock The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) Eminem Might Delete Later J. Cole We Don't Trust You Future and Metro Boomin 2026 GNX Kendrick Lamar Chromakopia Tyler, the Creator Glorious GloRilla God Does Like Ugly JID Let God Sort Em Out Clipse Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

Artists with multiple wins

6 wins Eminem

4 wins Kendrick Lamar Kanye West

2 wins Outkast Tyler, the Creator

Artists with multiple nominations

11 nominations Jay-Z

8 nominations Kanye West Eminem

7 nominations Nas Drake

5 nominations The Roots Common Kendrick Lamar

4 nominations J. Cole (1 with Dreamville) Lupe Fiasco Missy Elliott Tyler, the Creator

3 nominations Ludacris Nelly Q-Tip (2 with A Tribe Called Quest) T.I. Pusha T (1 with Clipse)

2 nominations Nicki Minaj Dr. Dre Lil Wayne LL Cool J 50 Cent Outkast ScHoolboy Q A Tribe Called Quest 2Pac DJ Khaled Travis Scott 21 Savage Future Metro Boomin JID (1 with Dreamville)

Grammy Award for Best Rap Album

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