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The Best Rappers of the 2010s
Ranking the rappers who defined the decade.
BY ANGEL DIAZ, ERIC SKELTON, FRAZIER THARPE, EDWIN ORTIZ, JESSICA MCKINNEY, PAUL THOMPSON, JEFF WEISS
NOV 18, 2019
Image via Complex Original
Rap has gone through a lot of changes over the past 10 years. In 2017, hip-hop officially overtook rock to become the most consumed genre in the United States, and as it has risen in popularity, its sound has continued to shift. Hip-hop has become increasingly melodic, and countless subgenres have sprung out of it, pushing the possibilities of what rap can sound like. In the process, the door has been opened to new types of rap superstars.
As we narrowed our list of the decade’s best rappers to just 10 selections, it became clear just how strong this era has been. Hip-hop has reached new heights because of innumerable artists who took risks and steered the genre in exciting new directions. So, after many meetings, arguments, and staff voting sessions, several undeniably influential and important artists, like Young Thug and Rick Ross, ended up just on the outside, looking in. As we made selections, we emphasized overall impact, consistency, skill, and influence over the span of the decade. In turn, the list is intended to reflect the artists who defined the last 10 years in rap. These are the best rappers of the 2010s.
10. Pusha-T
Projects Released This Decade: Fear of God, Fear of God II: Let Us Pray, Wrath of Caine, My Name Is My Name, King Push — Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude, DAYTONA
Biggest Billboard Hits This Decade: “Mercy,” “Move That Doh,” “Runaway”
Pusha-T started this decade off with a scene-stealing feature on Kanye’s “Runaway,” and Italian Vogue styled him for a minute rhyme as he skipped across the stage at the VMAs in a salmon suit. This was just the first of many memorable verses from rap’s favorite former drug dealer in the 2010s. Push’s raps have been puro, as Papi would say, and he has consistently churned out great projects over the past 10 years. But more importantly, he ended the decade with the slaying of a giant and a near-perfect album. Push’s Fear of God series, Wrath of Caine, My Name Is My Name, and Darkest Before Dawn all had their moments, but it was the flawless execution of DAYTONA, his decade-long feud with Drake and Cash Money, and his show-stopping guest verses that cemented his status on this list.
Pusha-T—aka push a ton of that shyt that’ll make your nose run—never wastes a bar. Each line has purpose and resolve. He is an MC in the truest form, operating in an era in which the art of lyricism isn’t always as appreciated as it once was. Push hasn’t sold half the records most of the artists highlighted on this list have, but that makes what he’s been able to accomplish that much more special. Even as Kanye’s right-hand man, he’s had an out-the-mud approach that most fans can appreciate, especially if you genuinely love the sport. When we look back at this decade, Push’s name will undoubtedly come up early and often, as he was able to give us one of the defining moments of these 10 years when he finally got Drake to directly respond to him. With that moment, along with a classic album that couldn’t have been made by anybody else on this list, Pusha-T will be remembered as one of the best to ever pick up a microphone. Even when his autograph has faded a bit. —Angel Diaz
9. Tyler, the Creator
Projects Released This Decade: Goblin, Wolf, Cherry Bomb, Flower Boy, IGOR
Biggest Billboard Hits This Decade: “Earfquake,” “I Think,” “Running Out of Time,” “Igor's Theme,” “New Magic Wand”
“My whole life, I’ve felt like a stepchild—in school, at home, and especially in music and rap,” Tyler, the Creator explained during his acceptance speech at the 2019 Wall Street Journal Innovator Awards. Since beginning his career with the rest of the Odd Future collective, Tyler has operated in his own lane. Breaking into rap with a chip on his shoulder at the top of the decade, he leaned into his position as an outsider and chose to build his own empire. As a result, he’s been rewarded with a cult fan base that has loyally followed him through each new chapter of his career.
Tyler’s decade began with an explosion of rebellious energy. Two weeks before choking down a cockroach in his breakout video for “Yonkers,” Tyler tweeted, “I want to scare the fukk out of old white fukking people that live in middle fukking America.” Within a month, he was jumping on Jimmy Fallon’s couch and screaming, “Let’s buy guns and kill those kids with dads and moms,” in front of a network television audience. Mission accomplished. Tyler isn’t one of the best rappers of the decade because he scared a bunch of white parents back in 2011, though. He’s on this list because he was able to move past the intensity of those early career moments and repeatedly challenge himself to grow and evolve as an artist.
Tyler’s first three studio studio albums, Wolf, Goblin, and Cherry Bomb, were anchored by a dark, DIY aesthetic that resonated with kids who had fallen in love with the raw style of Odd Future’s early videos on Tumblr. But Tyler took a left turn with Flower Boy, trading in his youthful angst for undeniably beautiful musical arrangements and mature songwriting. He then capped the decade with the project he’s always wanted to make, IGOR, a genre-bending breakup album that represents the most daring and technically proficient work of his career. The artistic growth and maturity that exist between Wolf and IGOR are unparalleled in rap this decade. By operating in his own universe and developing a fiercely loyal following, Tyler now finds himself in the enviable position of creating with minimal outside pressures and expectations. Because of this, fans are rewarded with forward-thinking songs like “Earfquake” that sound like nothing happening in popular music right now while still propelling albums to No. 1.
In the latter half of the decade, Tyler has drifted away from hip-hop at times, even telling fans, “Don't go into this expecting a rap album,” before IGOR dropped. But he’s also made a habit of releasing loosies between projects to make sure no one gets it twisted: He can still rap his ass off when he wants to. Alongside his BFF ASAP Rocky on “Potato Salad,” Tyler talks his shyt, reminding everyone they can never pin him down to a single archetype: “They thought I was goofy and all mouses/Double C my luggage and fill them with Comme blouses.” Not bad for a stepchild. —Eric Skelton
8. Nicki Minaj
Projects Released This Decade: Pink Friday, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, The Pinkprint, Queen
Biggest Billboard Hits This Decade: “Anaconda,” “Super Bass,” “Till the World Ends,” “FEFE,” “Bang Bang”
As much as it may pain some people to admit it, Nicki Minaj is the most important female rapper of this decade—and quite possibly of all time. She kickstarted her historic decade with a feature on Kanye West’s “Monster,” which represented a career-defining moment and an introduction to the larger-than-life imagination of Nicki Minaj. After conjuring up breathless anticipation for her studio debut with a string of stellar guest performances on Ludacris’ “My Chick Bad,” Usher’s “Lil Freak,” and Trey Songz’s “Bottoms Up,” Nicki released Pink Friday. The album showcased her knack for dramatic alter egos (“Roman’s Revenge”), clever punchlines (“Did It On’em”), and melodramatic singing (“Your Love,” “Right Thru Me”). It was a departure from her previous mixtape, Beam Me Up Scotty, with less hardcore Queens raps and more theatrical bars, and her oversized personality shone brightly enough to inspire a generation of girls who followed her every move (right down to the pink hairstreak). Pink Friday just missed the top of the Billboard 200, debuting at No. 2 on the chart, but it achieved the second-highest sales week ever for a female hip-hop artist, behind Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
Following that success, Nicki had enough self-confidence and audacity to claim everyone was her son. She also knew how to move through the upper echelons of mainstream music better than most of her peers. If Pink Friday was a foray into pop territories, Roman Reloaded maintained her dominance, further solidifying Nicki’s crossover potential with the international anthem “Starships.” During the two-year gap between her second and third albums, Nicki reminded fans of her early mixtape days, unleashing the all-bars-no-fluff singles “Lookin Ass” and “Boss Ass bytch.” Then The Pinkprint arrived, concluding her trifecta of Pink albums. This is where Nicki seamlessly connected all of her sides: animated sex appeal on “Anaconda,” braggadocious rhymes on “Only,” and female empowerment on “Feeling Myself.”
The decade ended with a stumble (Queen), but throughout the past 10 years, Nicki Minaj has always been a trendsetter, continuously redefining what it means to be a crossover rapper. She’s also set new standards for women in the music industry, breaking Aretha Franklin’s record for most Hot 100 entries by a solo female artist. With a resume like that, it’s time to put some respect on her name. —Jessica McKinney
7. JAY-Z
Projects Released This Decade: Magna Carta Holy Grail, Watch the Throne, 4:44, Everything Is Love
Biggest Billboard Hits This Decade: “Drunk In Love,” “Suit & Tie,” “Holy Grail,” “N****s in Paris” “Young Forever”
What’s a king to a god, and what’s a list to the GOAT? Has JAY-Z, as a near-unanimously accepted fixture on rap’s Mount Rushmore, ascended to a level where allotting him space in a ranking like this is redundant? For the bulk of this decade, JAY spent most of his time on Olympus, receding from the rap rafters to focus on family and other endeavors. In 2013, he rapped that, were it not for the dutiful paparazzi, we “wouldn’t see him at all.” And a year later, following his first joint tour with his wife, he largely lived those bars, embarking on a hiatus that would last longer than his actual “retirement.”
Magna Carta Holy Grail, the album from which that line hails, was divisive. But Jigga started the decade on an undeniable tear, in the full throes of a second wind as he single-handedly moved the age goalposts on hip-hop relevancy, bolstered by a similarly rejuvenated and charged-up Kanye West. A few show-stopping turns on the G.O.O.D. Fridays series and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy inspired the two to recalibrate their big brother-little brother relationship as peers of a class with no others on Watch the Throne. The album represented a team-up of fanfic proportions that made all other collaborative album prospects for the rest of the decade seem attainable (for better and worse). But had JAY stopped with WTT and the aforementioned MCHG, he might not have been eligible for this list.
Instead, he rose up again, recharged, refocused, and recommitted. Whereas Magna Carta had the air of someone trying too hard to prove he had nothing to prove, 4:44 found JAY comfortably in elder statesman mode, and sounding all the more compelling because of it. There are plenty of rappers over 40 who are still getting to the bars, but in terms of maintaining relevance, acclaim, and holding genuine interest, JAY-Z has no peer. No other rapper on the eve of 50 posed a credible Grammy threat to a new jack in his imperial phase like Kendrick Lamar. No other rapper on the eve of 50 can make the timeline stop with a guest verse like JAY did on songs like “Seen It All,” “Drug Dealers Anonymous,” and “What’s Free.” And, to hear him tell it from secondhand sources, he’s “getting better.” Doubt it at your own risk. —Frazier Tharpe
Ranking the rappers who defined the decade.
BY ANGEL DIAZ, ERIC SKELTON, FRAZIER THARPE, EDWIN ORTIZ, JESSICA MCKINNEY, PAUL THOMPSON, JEFF WEISS
NOV 18, 2019
Image via Complex Original
Rap has gone through a lot of changes over the past 10 years. In 2017, hip-hop officially overtook rock to become the most consumed genre in the United States, and as it has risen in popularity, its sound has continued to shift. Hip-hop has become increasingly melodic, and countless subgenres have sprung out of it, pushing the possibilities of what rap can sound like. In the process, the door has been opened to new types of rap superstars.
As we narrowed our list of the decade’s best rappers to just 10 selections, it became clear just how strong this era has been. Hip-hop has reached new heights because of innumerable artists who took risks and steered the genre in exciting new directions. So, after many meetings, arguments, and staff voting sessions, several undeniably influential and important artists, like Young Thug and Rick Ross, ended up just on the outside, looking in. As we made selections, we emphasized overall impact, consistency, skill, and influence over the span of the decade. In turn, the list is intended to reflect the artists who defined the last 10 years in rap. These are the best rappers of the 2010s.
10. Pusha-T
Projects Released This Decade: Fear of God, Fear of God II: Let Us Pray, Wrath of Caine, My Name Is My Name, King Push — Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude, DAYTONA
Biggest Billboard Hits This Decade: “Mercy,” “Move That Doh,” “Runaway”
Pusha-T started this decade off with a scene-stealing feature on Kanye’s “Runaway,” and Italian Vogue styled him for a minute rhyme as he skipped across the stage at the VMAs in a salmon suit. This was just the first of many memorable verses from rap’s favorite former drug dealer in the 2010s. Push’s raps have been puro, as Papi would say, and he has consistently churned out great projects over the past 10 years. But more importantly, he ended the decade with the slaying of a giant and a near-perfect album. Push’s Fear of God series, Wrath of Caine, My Name Is My Name, and Darkest Before Dawn all had their moments, but it was the flawless execution of DAYTONA, his decade-long feud with Drake and Cash Money, and his show-stopping guest verses that cemented his status on this list.
Pusha-T—aka push a ton of that shyt that’ll make your nose run—never wastes a bar. Each line has purpose and resolve. He is an MC in the truest form, operating in an era in which the art of lyricism isn’t always as appreciated as it once was. Push hasn’t sold half the records most of the artists highlighted on this list have, but that makes what he’s been able to accomplish that much more special. Even as Kanye’s right-hand man, he’s had an out-the-mud approach that most fans can appreciate, especially if you genuinely love the sport. When we look back at this decade, Push’s name will undoubtedly come up early and often, as he was able to give us one of the defining moments of these 10 years when he finally got Drake to directly respond to him. With that moment, along with a classic album that couldn’t have been made by anybody else on this list, Pusha-T will be remembered as one of the best to ever pick up a microphone. Even when his autograph has faded a bit. —Angel Diaz
9. Tyler, the Creator
Projects Released This Decade: Goblin, Wolf, Cherry Bomb, Flower Boy, IGOR
Biggest Billboard Hits This Decade: “Earfquake,” “I Think,” “Running Out of Time,” “Igor's Theme,” “New Magic Wand”
“My whole life, I’ve felt like a stepchild—in school, at home, and especially in music and rap,” Tyler, the Creator explained during his acceptance speech at the 2019 Wall Street Journal Innovator Awards. Since beginning his career with the rest of the Odd Future collective, Tyler has operated in his own lane. Breaking into rap with a chip on his shoulder at the top of the decade, he leaned into his position as an outsider and chose to build his own empire. As a result, he’s been rewarded with a cult fan base that has loyally followed him through each new chapter of his career.
Tyler’s decade began with an explosion of rebellious energy. Two weeks before choking down a cockroach in his breakout video for “Yonkers,” Tyler tweeted, “I want to scare the fukk out of old white fukking people that live in middle fukking America.” Within a month, he was jumping on Jimmy Fallon’s couch and screaming, “Let’s buy guns and kill those kids with dads and moms,” in front of a network television audience. Mission accomplished. Tyler isn’t one of the best rappers of the decade because he scared a bunch of white parents back in 2011, though. He’s on this list because he was able to move past the intensity of those early career moments and repeatedly challenge himself to grow and evolve as an artist.
Tyler’s first three studio studio albums, Wolf, Goblin, and Cherry Bomb, were anchored by a dark, DIY aesthetic that resonated with kids who had fallen in love with the raw style of Odd Future’s early videos on Tumblr. But Tyler took a left turn with Flower Boy, trading in his youthful angst for undeniably beautiful musical arrangements and mature songwriting. He then capped the decade with the project he’s always wanted to make, IGOR, a genre-bending breakup album that represents the most daring and technically proficient work of his career. The artistic growth and maturity that exist between Wolf and IGOR are unparalleled in rap this decade. By operating in his own universe and developing a fiercely loyal following, Tyler now finds himself in the enviable position of creating with minimal outside pressures and expectations. Because of this, fans are rewarded with forward-thinking songs like “Earfquake” that sound like nothing happening in popular music right now while still propelling albums to No. 1.
In the latter half of the decade, Tyler has drifted away from hip-hop at times, even telling fans, “Don't go into this expecting a rap album,” before IGOR dropped. But he’s also made a habit of releasing loosies between projects to make sure no one gets it twisted: He can still rap his ass off when he wants to. Alongside his BFF ASAP Rocky on “Potato Salad,” Tyler talks his shyt, reminding everyone they can never pin him down to a single archetype: “They thought I was goofy and all mouses/Double C my luggage and fill them with Comme blouses.” Not bad for a stepchild. —Eric Skelton
8. Nicki Minaj
Projects Released This Decade: Pink Friday, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, The Pinkprint, Queen
Biggest Billboard Hits This Decade: “Anaconda,” “Super Bass,” “Till the World Ends,” “FEFE,” “Bang Bang”
As much as it may pain some people to admit it, Nicki Minaj is the most important female rapper of this decade—and quite possibly of all time. She kickstarted her historic decade with a feature on Kanye West’s “Monster,” which represented a career-defining moment and an introduction to the larger-than-life imagination of Nicki Minaj. After conjuring up breathless anticipation for her studio debut with a string of stellar guest performances on Ludacris’ “My Chick Bad,” Usher’s “Lil Freak,” and Trey Songz’s “Bottoms Up,” Nicki released Pink Friday. The album showcased her knack for dramatic alter egos (“Roman’s Revenge”), clever punchlines (“Did It On’em”), and melodramatic singing (“Your Love,” “Right Thru Me”). It was a departure from her previous mixtape, Beam Me Up Scotty, with less hardcore Queens raps and more theatrical bars, and her oversized personality shone brightly enough to inspire a generation of girls who followed her every move (right down to the pink hairstreak). Pink Friday just missed the top of the Billboard 200, debuting at No. 2 on the chart, but it achieved the second-highest sales week ever for a female hip-hop artist, behind Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
Following that success, Nicki had enough self-confidence and audacity to claim everyone was her son. She also knew how to move through the upper echelons of mainstream music better than most of her peers. If Pink Friday was a foray into pop territories, Roman Reloaded maintained her dominance, further solidifying Nicki’s crossover potential with the international anthem “Starships.” During the two-year gap between her second and third albums, Nicki reminded fans of her early mixtape days, unleashing the all-bars-no-fluff singles “Lookin Ass” and “Boss Ass bytch.” Then The Pinkprint arrived, concluding her trifecta of Pink albums. This is where Nicki seamlessly connected all of her sides: animated sex appeal on “Anaconda,” braggadocious rhymes on “Only,” and female empowerment on “Feeling Myself.”
The decade ended with a stumble (Queen), but throughout the past 10 years, Nicki Minaj has always been a trendsetter, continuously redefining what it means to be a crossover rapper. She’s also set new standards for women in the music industry, breaking Aretha Franklin’s record for most Hot 100 entries by a solo female artist. With a resume like that, it’s time to put some respect on her name. —Jessica McKinney
7. JAY-Z
Projects Released This Decade: Magna Carta Holy Grail, Watch the Throne, 4:44, Everything Is Love
Biggest Billboard Hits This Decade: “Drunk In Love,” “Suit & Tie,” “Holy Grail,” “N****s in Paris” “Young Forever”
What’s a king to a god, and what’s a list to the GOAT? Has JAY-Z, as a near-unanimously accepted fixture on rap’s Mount Rushmore, ascended to a level where allotting him space in a ranking like this is redundant? For the bulk of this decade, JAY spent most of his time on Olympus, receding from the rap rafters to focus on family and other endeavors. In 2013, he rapped that, were it not for the dutiful paparazzi, we “wouldn’t see him at all.” And a year later, following his first joint tour with his wife, he largely lived those bars, embarking on a hiatus that would last longer than his actual “retirement.”
Magna Carta Holy Grail, the album from which that line hails, was divisive. But Jigga started the decade on an undeniable tear, in the full throes of a second wind as he single-handedly moved the age goalposts on hip-hop relevancy, bolstered by a similarly rejuvenated and charged-up Kanye West. A few show-stopping turns on the G.O.O.D. Fridays series and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy inspired the two to recalibrate their big brother-little brother relationship as peers of a class with no others on Watch the Throne. The album represented a team-up of fanfic proportions that made all other collaborative album prospects for the rest of the decade seem attainable (for better and worse). But had JAY stopped with WTT and the aforementioned MCHG, he might not have been eligible for this list.
Instead, he rose up again, recharged, refocused, and recommitted. Whereas Magna Carta had the air of someone trying too hard to prove he had nothing to prove, 4:44 found JAY comfortably in elder statesman mode, and sounding all the more compelling because of it. There are plenty of rappers over 40 who are still getting to the bars, but in terms of maintaining relevance, acclaim, and holding genuine interest, JAY-Z has no peer. No other rapper on the eve of 50 posed a credible Grammy threat to a new jack in his imperial phase like Kendrick Lamar. No other rapper on the eve of 50 can make the timeline stop with a guest verse like JAY did on songs like “Seen It All,” “Drug Dealers Anonymous,” and “What’s Free.” And, to hear him tell it from secondhand sources, he’s “getting better.” Doubt it at your own risk. —Frazier Tharpe
