Ten More 2025 Rap Albums You Haven't Heard—But Should
Add handpicked records by Kueen, Recoechi, Teller Bank$, and more to your 2025 listening list.
Technically, it might still be summer out there, but year-end list-making season is nearly upon us. (Yes, so soon after Best Of The Year... So Far feature season!) The handful of credible music media outlets–those that still value writers to some extent and haven't entirely reorganized as AI slop huts–will soon begin deciding upon their picks for their favorite artists, albums, singles, moments, styles, smells, and cultural detritus of 2025. (Spoiler alert: most of it will be from those within the Sony, Universal, and Warner label corporate families.)
Longtime readers here know how cynical CABBAGES get around this sort of content, having spent enough years as a pen-for-hire freelancer within the media industrial complex to be wary of consensus and its many pitfalls and flaws. And as corporatized, VC-marauded media continues its hard pivot away from rich arts criticism and towards cynical traffic-baiting recommendations, the very idea of year-end wrap-ups annotated with superlatives seems on track to go the way of the dodo bird.
Still, this newsletter has an agenda of its own to uphold: hip-hop/rap music discovery, with a focus on independent artists. So as I did just a couple months back, I'm using this space again to share some more good-to-great albums that 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.
As usual, I chose to 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 records that 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'll likely find something new to you that you'll soon be into.
andrew, warm weapons in easy reach
A highlight in a summer of drops and features from the unpretentious Philly rapper, this characteristically solid Fused Arrow outing centers his own reliably rigorous rhyme skills over beats that vacillate between whimsical and jazztastic. (buy it / stream it)
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Apollo Brown & Bronze Nazareth, Funeral For A Dream
Two of Detroit's most formidable hip-hop veterans lock in as a proper duo, their respective bonafides and pedigrees meshing together in true iron-sharpens-iron fashion to reveal a genuine OG unit worth getting to know. (buy it / stream it)
cool calm pete, demolition
The former Babbletron member’s surprise second solo album—two decades after his debut—is cause for celebration as the quintessential Queens kid shows his growth (alongside, notably, what hasn’t changed) amid a melange of cinematic samples and other cozy-making ephemera. (buy it / stream it)
CRASHwolves, it all comes for me
Rock and rap have a long, if somewhat strained relationship, yet this team-up between Chicago-based band Manwolves and the always thought-provoking CRASHprez offers a nuanced, genre-blurring spin that elevates both acts' craft in a refreshing way. (buy it / stream it)
Kelly Moonstone, New Moon
The artist formerly known as The Afr0dite unquestionably comes into her own on her second full-length effort, a blend of classic hip-hop comportment and throwback R&B vulnerability beauteously bathed in a natural aura of lunar energy. (buy it / stream it)
Kueen, "Got Juice?"
With North Carolina roots and New York City edge, this adept lyricist transmits thoughts and feels with easygoing 420-amplified vibes on this breezy yet soulful mixtape with supporting features from ace outer boro emcees Bloo Azul and Passport Rav. (buy it / stream it)
Recoechi, FLAVAZ
Working closely with producer Renzell, previously linked with the likes of Mick Jenkins and, Mother Nature, the talented Chicago native issues a multi-faceted full-length debut that shares his diverse interests and a Southeast Side state of mind. (buy it / stream it)
Sunmundi & Sasco, Contacting
Clearly influenced by the Backwoodz Studioz Cinematic Universe, the young New York area rapper-producer duo operate in an idiosyncratic space, their clear collaborative might yielding remarkable results that lets subtly slip a maturity of approach. (buy it / stream it)
Teller Bank$, DRUG$$$
Backed by the flipabeatclub Philadelphia braintrust of Killer Kane, Philth Spector, and q no rapname, this talented Des Moines, IA artist cultivates a disconcerting atmosphere where intricate, doomy raps slip in and out of gaps and shift between blurs. (buy it / stream it)
THEHIDDENCHARACTER & BoneWeso, THEHIDDENSPLASH
Lynn, MA boasts some of the underground's hardest, most inventive spitters out right now, and this elusive masked emcee reminds us of that on this rough, rugged, and raw joint collaboration with the pioneering reggaetonero turned dope rap producer. (buy it / stream it)
