5 Best Rap Albums of June 2025

So much rap music comes out all the time, and especially with frequent surprise releases, it can be hard to keep track of it all. So, as a way to help keep up with all of it, here’s a roundup of the 5 rap albums from June 2025 that stood out to us most. We also probably still missed or haven’t spent enough time with some great June rap albums that aren’t on this list, and we’ve got a list of honorable mentions with more albums at the bottom of this post. What were some of your favorites of last month? Let us know, and read on for the list (unranked, in no particular order).

Little Simz – Lotus (AWAL)
The UK rapper’s new album is a kiss-off to her former producer and proof that her music is just as wide in scope without him.

Little Simz’s new album Lotus is a new beginning. Notably, it’s her first album since 2016’s Stillness in Wonderland not to be produced by Inflo, who she had a public falling out with after filing a lawsuit against him for allegedly failing to repay a 1.7 million pound loan, and that experience shows up in the lyrics of this album too. It was instead produced by frequent Kokoroko collaborator Miles Clinton James, who’s contributed to other recent Simz albums, and it’s a testament to Simz’s own creativity and vision that a break from her longtime producer did not mean a drastic change in style. She addresses the Inflo situation right away on the dark, ominous album opener “Thief,” which, along with the hard, raw sounds of “Lion” and the Afrobeats-infused “Flood” (both of which feature Obongjayar), is like an update of Simz’s gritty 2019 album Grey Area. On other songs, she brings back the sweeping orchestral arrangements of 2021’s Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, and she gets soulful assists from Sampha (“Blue”), Moses Sumney (“Peace”), and frequent Simz collaborator Michael Kiwanuka (“Lotus”). On that last one, she brings in jazz drummer/composer Yussef Dayes for a stirring jazz/soul/rap fusion. In classic Little Simz fashion, Lotus is grand and majestic and deeply serious, but Simz gets a little fun and irreverent with it too, like with the post-punky kick of “Enough” and “Young” (and the latter’s video). She’s such a naturally versatile rapper that you almost don’t notice when the music behind her hops from genre to genre, and it’s fitting that she’d do a little of everything on Lotus. Why not make a fresh start with a reminder of everything that you’re capable of?

Leikeli47 – Lei Keli ft. 47 / For Promotional Use Only (Acrylic/Hardcover)
The mask is off and the dance/rap/R&B fusions are as addictive as ever.

Brooklyn rapper Leikeli47 is taking the mask off. After keeping her face hidden throughout the entire rollout of her great Beauty Trilogy, she now puts her face clear as day on the cover of her new album Lei Keli ft. 47 / For Promotional Use Only, which is also her first independently-released album after releasing the last three on RCA. Outside of the mask and the beauty theme, not much has changed for Leikeli, and that’s not a bad thing; her mix of rap, R&B, and dance music sounds as unique and compelling as ever on this album. (Also a big highlight: the Curtis Mayfield-sampling album closer “HNIC.”) Even when the mask was on, Leikeli’s larger-than-life personality was always at the forefront of her music, and this album is no exception.

Samara Cyn – Backroads EP (VANTA)
The rising LA artist offers up a brief-but-strong offering of alt-rap and neo-soul.

When it comes to the crossroads between alt-rap and neo-soul, the one to watch right now is Samara Cyn. She’s been co-signed by some of her most formative influences, like Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, and she quickly found herself immersed in the modern-rap world–recent collabs with (current tourmate) Smino and Ovrkast included. (Other artists who have sung her praises reportedly include Doechii, Doja Cat, Nas, Rapsody, and more.) The music on Backroads (which includes the Smino collab “Brand New Teeth”) is fun, but the playful tone is often matched by serious subject matter like LA wildfires and senseless killings. Even on this brief six-song EP, she shows off a knack for bars, melody, and lyricism that puts her two steps ahead of artists with far larger catalogs. It’s very easy to see why she’s catching on as quickly as she is.

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McKinley Dixon – Magic, Alive! (City Slang)
The latest from McKinley Dixon is a genre-blurring jazz-rap concept album about three kids that lose their best friend, fleshed out by layers of instrumentation, a star-studded indie-rap cast, and more.

It’s no coincidence that many of the greatest works of art of all time are fueled by a sense of childlike wonder, something that you can appreciate from a young age, explore on an even deeper level over time, and share with your own children one day. It’s a sentiment that’s proven to be true from generation to generation, and it’s one that indie-rap fixture McKinley Dixon seems to agree with. In the press materials for Magic, Alive!–his new concept album that tells the story of three kids who lose their best friend at a young age–he said, “I believe that the way to live forever is to write stuff that is dedicated to children.” Dixon himself turns 30 this year, but the experience of grieving for someone your own age as a young person is one that you never forget, one that shapes your life irreversibly, and Magic, Alive! brings a sense of wisdom to that experience that you can learn from and grow with at any point in your life. The album began as a collaboration between the Maryland-born rapper and London producer Sam Yamaha, who brought beats to the table that were later fleshed out by a handful of live musicians, including trombonist Reggie Pace, harpist Eli Owens, guitarists Sarah Tuzdin (illuminati hotties) and El Kempner (Palehound), co-producer Sam Koff on trumpet, a string section, and more. The result is an album so lush and lively that it would be one of the year’s best hip hop-infused jazz albums even if it didn’t have any vocals, and Dixon meets the moment by telling Magic, Alive!‘s grief-stricken story with bars that fall perfectly into the pocket of these instrumentals. Adding to the communal affair of it all are verses from likeminded rappers Blu, ICECOLDBISHOP, Pink Siifu, Ghais Guevara, Quelle Chris, Teller Bank$, and Alfred., plus a melodic touch from indie guest singers Anjimile and Shamir. Multi-layered, genre-blurring rap albums have become the norm for McKinley Dixon, and Magic, Alive! is one of his tightest and sharpest yet.

Magic, Alive! by McKinley Dixon

Maxo – Mars Is Electric (Smileforme)
The LA rapper’s latest project is his most spontaneous yet, more a collage of sketches than a “traditional” rap album.

Maxo has been getting increasingly experimental, and Mars Is Electric is his most freewheeling project yet. Like collaborator and fellow LA rapper Earl Sweatshirt’s Some Rap Songs, Mars Is Electric feels more like a collage of sketches than a “traditional” rap album. Even if these aren’t actually spontaneous first takes, they often sound that way; they feel more like being dropped right into the creative process than being given a shrink-wrapped product. Rumblings of vintage jazz and soul collide with glitchy electronics. Drums clatter like they’re being tried out right in front of you. Maxo swerves between singing and rapping in a way that’s both seamless and unpredictable. Having already shown off a knack for introspective storytelling on his earlier records, he now proves to be just as effective on a project where the vibes hit before the lyrics do.

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Honorable Mentions
AJ Suede – Throne Away
AJ Tracey – Don’t Die Before You’re Dead
Che Noir – The Color Chocolate 2
Defcee & Parallel Thought – Other Blues
FearDorian – Out the Past With a Window
Joey Purp & Thelonius Martin – Champagne Seats
Juicy J & Logic – Live And In Color
Kamaiyah & Dj Idea – First Lady Of The Mob
Lil Wayne – Tha Carter VI
Loyle Carner – hopefully !
Pi’erre Bourne – Made in Paris
Public Enemy – Black Sky Over The Projects: Apartment 2025
Slick Rick – Victory