Ten 2025 Rap Albums You Haven't Heard—But Should

Once again, we're at the tail end of Best Of The Year So Far feature season over at the handful of music media outlets that haven't completely resorted to AI writing yet.

Longtime CABBAGES readers know my stance on this sort of content, its fundamentally lazy and altogether clickbait-y nature largely reducing even good publications to cringey fan service and shallow provocation. Too often, and with few exceptions, these mid-year roundups favor major label releases and other obvious consensus choices that fill the existing corporatized echo chamber with more of the same noise. Adding insult to injury, the listicles that get any sort of attention are subject to the unfiltered whines of comment sections and social media platforms over the Sony, Universal, and Warner faves that either got snubbed or insufficiently hailed.

As an alternative, this newsletter aims to maintain its agenda of hip-hop/rap music discovery, with a focus on independent artists. So rather than tell you about the same 2025 records you've likely been rocking with, I'm using this space to share some of the good-to-great albums I haven't been able to cover this year. While some of you can take pride in seeing how many of these ten picks you already know, my hope is that many if not most will seize the opportunity to check out the ones they haven't heard yet.

Lastly, let me share some criteria and words of caution. As in prior mid-years, I chose to mostly spotlight artists I haven't covered much here before, though of course there are exceptions. What you won't find are major label releases, nor any albums/tapes/EPs I've already written about this year. And because CABBAGES remains the work of one guy (it me), please note that this selection isn't meant to be comprehensive. But chances are, if you're reading this, you probably will dig what lies below.

C-Red & Agent M, 2nd Call

Partnering for a second time with the beatmaker behind a few choice That Mexican OT cuts, this Floridian rapper demonstrates remarkable and relatable songwriting with fundamentally soulful delivery and a momentous collaborative cosign by genre great Masta Ace. (buy it / stream it)

Nicholas Craven & Jimmie D, Good Music Hypnotizes

Amid a flabbergasting run of Tha God Fahim dumps and Boldy James teases, the premier Quebecois hip-hop producer somehow let slip this slow burning sleeper hit from a homegrown Montreal rapper, with friends like Raz Fresco and Sonnyjim in tow. (buy it / stream it)

Defcee & Parallel Thought, Other Blues

Our favorite Illinois educator and a New Jersey production duo (previously known for work with Tame One) link up for an album that reflects the rapping-on-the-side reality from a contented though not complacent emcee benefitting from some superior beats. (buy it / stream it)

Dobey Dobe & Sxlxmxn, Home Alone

Phoenix-bred but Long Beach-based, this lyrically lissom spitter shares the solitary flipside to the love linguistics of last year's Honey I'm Home, this time aided by the Oregonian beatsmith formerly known as Stewart Villain. (buy it / stream it)

Lukah & Statik Selektah, A Lost Language Found

A South Memphis emcee often associated with Cities Aviv hands the instrumental reins over to the high profile NYC DJ as he spits an aggressive, energetic series of densely-packed verses interrupted only by ones by hip-hop extraordinaires like Bun B and 8Ball. (buy it / stream it)

Naya Ali, We Did The Damn Thing

The Ethiopian-Canadian rapper's authentic Godspeed diptych brought well-deserved attention to her ambitious artistry, but even those who slept on her previous works can dive right into this diverse and engaging sophomore set. (buy it / stream it)

Pan Amsterdam, Confines

A seasoned trumpeter boasting earthbound sessions with Bilal, The Foreign Exchange, and 88-Keys, Leon Thomas crash-lands his cruiser craft into another plane of existence, one where freewheeling bars float over an astoundingly genre-resistant musical mélange. (buy it / stream it)

REASON, I Love You Again

Back in February, TDE evacuee Robert Lee Gill Jr. dropped the first substantial project of his new independent era, a guest-laden effort that further emphasizes the Carson, CA-sparked frankness and profundity of its full-length predecessors. (buy it / stream it)

Eddie Valero, Gangsta Blues

Though trap music decentralization has its faults, its spread credibly opened up the sound to other Southern locales, which gives us solid practitioners like this Memphis native who keeps that street shit front of mind with some assists by Luh Ron Mayde Dis and Paper Route EMPIRE go-to Bandplay. (buy it / stream it)

whereisfox, the day after...

If you dug the earnest indie rapper's feature on shemar's CABBAGES-endorsed emerge "n" see, you're bound to vibe with this spiritually incestuously release where the former goes in(ner monologue) over the latter's compositions. [Pro-tip: cop the Bandcamp version for a pay-what-you-want price and get two bonus tracks not on streaming.] (buy it / stream it)