Hip-hop’s 50th anniversary in 2023 has brought many outlets, platforms, artists, festivals, and commentators to find unique, exciting ways to celebrate. In the case of Spotify, they decided to honor its 50 most streamed rap albums of all time.
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Through their beloved Rap Caviar page, Spotify announced the list on Monday (July 3). A good chunk of hip-hop’s most important figures can be found within the top 50 at some point, but considering Spotify is just over a decade old, their streaming audience surely favors albums that have been released more recently.
Drake is the most common name on the list, seeing eight of his albums in the Top 50. After him, other icons can find several of their LPs in the mix, such as Eminem with six, Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar with three, and Travis Scott with two. Additionally, iconic stars like Tupac, 50 Cent, and Dr. Dre all made the cut as well.
Some surprises include the late XXXTENTACION’s taking the top spot, Juice WRLD and Pop Smoke both having multiple albums present, Lil Tecca’s debut album reaching No. 38, 6ix9ine landing on the chart, and Tyga sneaking in at No. 50. But, as we noted previously, the recent streaming era that erupted in the mid-2010s likely skews many of these results.
Check out the full list below, and see if there are any projects included that you did not expect.
- ? – XXXTENTACION
- Scorpion – Drake
- Views – Drake
- Goodbye & Good Riddance – Juice WRLD
- ASTROWORLD – Travis Scott
- 17 – XXXTENTACION
- Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon – Pop Smoke
- DAMN. – Kendrick Lamar
- More Life – Drake
- Legends Never Die – Juice WRLD
- The Eminem Show – Eminem
- Luv is Rage 2 – Lil Uzi Vert
- Death Race for Love – Juice WRLD
- 2014 Forest Hills Drive – J. Cole
- Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight – Travis Scott
- Invasion of Privacy – Cardi B
- good kid, m.A.A.d. city – Kendrick Lamar
- The Life of Pablo – Kanye West
- Take Care – Drake
- Graduation – Kanye West
- The Heist – Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
- Certified Lover Boy – Drake
- Black Panther The Album: Music From and Inspired By – Kendrick Lamar
- Recovery – Eminem
- 2001 – Dr. Dre
- Nothing Was the Same – Drake
- Get Rich or Die Tryin’ – 50 Cent
- The Marshall Mathers LP – Tour Edition – Eminem
- The Marshall Mathers LP2 – Eminem
- Music to be Murdered By – Side B (Deluxe Edition) – Eminem
- Eternal Atake (Deluxe) – LUV vs. The World 2 – Lil Uzi Vert
- Culture II – Migos
- Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial – Roddy Ricch
- My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West
- If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late – Drake
- Kamikaze – Eminem
- Meet the Woo 2 – Pop Smoke
- We Love You Tecca – Lil Tecca
- The Pinkprint – Nicki Minaj
- DUMMY BOY – 6ix9ine
- Hoodie SZN – A Boogie wit da Hoodie
- THE GOAT – Polo G
- Culture – Migos
- My Turn – Lil Baby
- IGOR – Tyler, the Creator
- All Eyez On Me – Tupac
- BLAME IT ON BABY – DaBaby
- Dark Lane Demo Tapes – Drake
- Grateful – DJ Khaled
- Legendary (Deluxe Edition) – Tyga
Photo by Prince Williams/WireImage
