By Ethan Lee
One-third in, and 2026 and has already proved itself to be a mixed year for rap, with many releases shining beyond expectations while others sizzle out quite quickly.
With so many albums already, it’s no surprise that some are give you a better bang for your listen than others and as we continue through the year, it’s getting harder and harder to figure out exactly which ones are worth your time.
Not to worry, as I have managed to listen to over 100 rap album releases from this year so far and have carefully listed them all.
– A brief extract from A$AP Rocky’s 2026 album Don’t Be Dumb
With that in mind, here is my countdown of what I consider to be the best rap albums of 2026 so far.
6. TIGRAY FUNK -Sideshow
Sideshow starts off this list with his fresh and unique take on abstract rap in TIGRAY FUNK. Despite a daunting hour and two-minute run time made up of thirty-two songs altogether, this album keeps full interest from start to finish.
Sideshow takes us through a strange and almost guaranteed inaccurate story about how all animals found their role in the animal kingdom through spoken interludes, breaking up the album every couple of songs.
The wild story starts with all the animals building a shelter for protection from an incoming storm, but the dog decides it’s not going to help, as he can stay in a cave. This plan eventually fails for the dog and he is forced to try to get into the shelter by force.
This results in a fight between the tiger and the dog, while all the other animals watch.
After a harsh loss for the tiger, he goes on a long journey seeking methods of revenge on the dog and other animals, gaining weapons from humans to gods. all for it to end with the tiger returning and leaving all the animals with a sliver of their life left to run while destroying the shelter.
Sideshow tells us that the dog went to the same humans who helped the tiger, begging for a place to stay while all the other animals ran, hoping to never see the tiger again.
The story may be crazy and far-fetched, but it is perfectly intertwined in the broken and strange abstract production Sideshow brings along with his rapping. Each song is short, snappy and gets to the point in his own fragmented creative style.
5. Goyard & The Kayfabe Reveal -Ghais Guevara
Ghais Guevara seems to never miss with his albums, and throughout his relatively short career so far, he has shown his range of versatility, delving into different styles of rap every year or so.
His latest album, Goyard & The Kayfabe Reveal, has Guevara carry on from his last album Goyard Ibn Said. Guevara picks up where we left off with his fictional character Goyard and follows him through his great realisation of the modern world we live in.
Many heavy themes are discussed throughout the album, from mental health to religion to politics to originality. All the themes revolve around the main question Goyard has through the album: what is identity?
Goyard struggles to define who he is and Guevara takes us through his story of finally figuring out who he wants to be after his awakening to the fact he has been playing a role to perform for his entire life in the former album’s plot.
I’ll admit it’s confusing to immediately get your head around but after a quick debrief on Google on what it all means, the dots all start to connect and truly reveal Guevara’s greater story of Goyard.
Goyard is a representation of the many people in today’s world who, almost unknowingly, play a character the world has forced them into, being ignorant to the bigger far more dangerous worries of the world, all just to conform to their given role.
Once breaking out of this character, originality and empathy return, finally revealing to us the power and brainwashing people across the world are being influenced by.
The album itself also sounds super grand with some gritty, dystopian production and thought-provoking lyrics, which makes for one of the most detailed and intriguing listens of the year so far!
4. Goat of All Goats -DJ Paul
Three 6 Mafia member DJ Paul makes his entrance to this list with his newest album, Goat of All Goats. At forty-nine, DJ Paul proves that sick beats come with age, filled with dark, grimy production and gritty lyrics, this album is sure to resonate with any OG Memphis rap fan while also bringing in new fans with his modernised approach to the style.
With seven years of DJ Paul’s life being poured into the album and multiple collaborations with his own nephews, Goat of All Goats earns its rightful place within DJ Paul’s legacy.
The album stands out for its gloomy and at times villainous production, catchy choruses and a nice balance between groove and meaning. A clear sense of reflection is brought up multiple times throughout the album, with DJ Paul rapping about problems with drugs to locked-up friends, shedding light on DJ Paul’s highs and lows within life.
Obviously, this is mixed in between his Memphis trap style, which he has helped invent and perfect. Ultimately, Goat of All Goats stands as another reminder of the influence DJ Paul has had and still has over the genre.
3. e.t.d.s -IDK
IDK’s name over the last few years has slowly been popping up more and more in conversations, and for good reason. With his latest mixtape album, e.t.d.s (even the devil smiles) IDK pushes out his biggest and most luxurious release to date.
Featuring huge names within hip hop such as DMX, MF DOOM, RZA, Pusha T, Black Thought, Madlib and many more, this album was almost guaranteed to be a massive hit for rap fans.
The album is shaped around IDK’s time in prison. At seventeen years old he was convicted of armed robbery, and sentenced to fifteen years, ultimately serving only three. e.t.d.s delves into themes of survival, punishment and one’s own morals. These ideas introduce a really authentic atmosphere to the mixtape as they were all things IDK himself had to face during his prison time.
The production is done exceptionally well as expected, with its long list of collaborators, and the lyricism is some of the sharpest and most focused IDK has ever had. The majority of the songs manage to stand out quite well as each has a totally different tone and rap approach.
Basically, there is something in this album for everyone.
There is a catch. To be bluntly honest, with such strong collaborators, this album is vastly superior compared to his other projects and I would be lying if I said I was confident that IDK could recreate something this level again.
By all means, IDK if you’re reading, please prove me wrong. As in PLEASE prove me wrong, as this mixtape album is so damn good, and I would love to hear more music like it.
2. El Ritmo -Delinquent Habits
One of my top picks of the year so far is El Ritmo by Delinquent Habits. One of the first Latin American hip hop groups to get their message out to the world, and with this newest album, it’s great to hear their voices spread more of their positivity.
Running only thirty-four minutes, this eleven-song record is here for good time, not a long time and after nine years without releasing a major project, I can’t think of a time more relevant to come out of their musical retirement and rap their truth.
Vibrant, colourful production is woven throughout the album with loud trumpets and catchy pianos. Authentic culture is literally oozing out of this, and it’s still just as refreshing to hear now as it was back with their debut albums in the 90s.
I think what really makes this such a killer record is how real it all feels; the music really reflects the fact that the members who worked on this flow together really nicely. The rapping is on point, the flows are super smooth and it’s clear their hearts are truly in the music.
The whole album was created to celebrate the anniversary of thirty years of Latin American rap, which just so happens to also fall at a super disconnected and polarising time within America.
I don’t want to dwell on this point too much and dampen the atmosphere that comes from such incredible performances, but I also believe this album is extremely important at the current moment in time, and the message it sends is such an overwhelmingly positive, important message that a lot of people really need to hear.
It also helps that this thing is absolutely awesome to listen to!
1. Time Heals Everything – Blu & Exile
Profound duo Blu & Exile make waves again with their latest album Time Heals Everything.
Since their debut in 2007, the two have slowly risen to popularity within hip hop communities for their raw and insightful music, and that trend has continued with Time Heals Everything. A record filled with booming soulful beats by Exile and hard-hitting, honest rapping by Blu.
Totalling ten songs altogether, this record highlights all the reasons this duo have been so highly respected for so long. Blu raps as focused as ever here, covering topics of race, wealth and personal history, combining to make one of the most personal listens of the year so far.
There are also plenty of high-quality features throughout the album from Rome Streetz, Black Thought, Mach-Hommy, Saba and more. Features from artists like these work so effectively alongside Blu’s highly skilled rapping, allowing only other equally skilled rappers to complement his style.
Exile’s production here is also some of the best he’s ever done with this jazzy and soulful approach at a boom-bap style of production, allowing Blu to do what he does best freely.
Overall, it could very easily be argued to be Blu & Exile’s best work to date. Time Heals Everything is, without a doubt, one of the best rap albums to be released this year and perhaps a very strong contender to be rap album of the year.
2026 golden age for hip hop?
-Hip hop vinyl
2026 has had some super interesting and creative albums released so far, with plenty of high-quality highlights.
These past years in rap seem to be an innovative modern gold age for the genre and 2026 is following that trajectory. Derek “D-Sick” Moore, the man behind Rap Nerd Radio and Rap Nerd Reviews said: “2026 has been a strong year for mainstream hip hop”. Moore touched on how the Kendrick and Drake diss tracks have resulted in this high quality era of modern rap: “The Drake and Kendrick battle back in 2024 sparked a slow lyrical purge in rap that gradually shifted attention away from a lot of repetitive, low effort music and I think the culture benefited from that.”
Moore also gives credit to the underground rap scene being of high quality recently. He claimed: “The underground ecosystem is alive and well because different niches now have hardcore cult followings supporting artists directly, which keeps creativity alive across the genre.”
So there you have it, a handful of rap albums from this year that are definitely worth your valuable time. The year is far from done, and as more rap albums are released, I can only see 2026 getting better and better for the genre.
-Music journalist Ethan Lee and hip hop fan Karmen Domotor discussing rap music in 2026
