HipHopDX's Best Rap Albums of 2018

Scorpion solidifies his universal relatability while yet again supplying fans with an overload of tracks to willingly keep or ditch.

Eminem has returned with a very solid body of work after being longed counted out as a venerable threat.

Like all of its previous installments, Tha Carter V is a mile-long, bloated package of unpredictable zest that’s light on introspection ... Yet its allurement lies in the fact that “Mixtape Weezy” and “Carter Wayne” are able to co-exist with ease.

Though the subject matter is enticing, Swimming does occasionally tread boring lulls. At its best, however, Miller’s latest project succeeds at being cathartic and is more lyrically mature than his previous work.

The beats Metro cooked up for this one were top notch throughout, adding some refreshing sounds to the current trap landscape. With retirement in the rearview mirror and a 21 Savage album on the horizon, Not All Heroes Wear Capes solidifies the return of one of this era’s most trusted producers.

Coupled with DOOM’s dark, abstract aesthetics, Czarface Meets MetalFace brings the comic book underworld to the surface while unintentionally schooling the emerging rap generation at the same time.

With Care For Me, Saba accomplished his objective by making an album that can endure for years to come. His higher aspirations won’t afford him the visibility of the rappers acting out for attention, but projects like Care For Me should put him into the discussions of his generation’s best Hip Hop artists.

Curry has constructed a project that plays to the sonic structures of the era without sacrificing meaningful content in doing so. TA13OO is the culmination of his promise and talent, resulting in Curry’s magnum opus.

With an album title in Invasion Of Privacy, it would have been remarkable for Cardi to flip the openness of her Instagram page into an audiobook and not succumb to the invincibility cloak that comes along with a rap star title. Still, when you combine this decent first outing and relentless work ethic, there’s no question Cardi is here to stay.

Book Of Ryan continues a four-year, six-album streak of top-tier lyricism, with noted personal and artistic growth in the process.

As a staff, record label and muthafuckin’ crew, TDE has become a standard for excellence in Hip Hop and Redemption certainly clears the bar when it’s all said and done. Sure there are missteps, but there’s also growth. It’s not like Jay Rock needed to do anything else to prove his place in Hip Hop but it’s always a treat to watch the established rappers give it their all in the studio.

Victory Lap’s aspiration to be validated as a classic Hip Hop album never sways and it checks off a ton of boxes.

While their marriage may have its flaws, EVERYTHING IS LOVE frankly doesn’t. It’s a storybook ending for two people crazy in love who never gave up on each other — or their craft.

J. Cole has a gift in turning tears into teaching tools and KOD is a concise, leather-bound audiobook of invaluable life direction goals.