The Grammy Award for Best Rap Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums with rapping at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
| Grammy Award for Best Rap Album | |
|---|---|
 Michael by Killer Mike is the most recent recipient | |
| Awarded for | Quality albums with rapping |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |
| First awarded | 1996 |
| Last awarded | Killer Mike, Michael (2024) |
| Most awards | Eminem (6) |
| Website | grammy.com |
In 1995, the Academy announced the addition of the award category Best Rap Album. The first award was presented to the group Naughty by Nature at the 38th Grammy Awards the following year. According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award is presented for "albums containing at least 51% playing time of tracks with newly recorded rapped performances". Award recipients often include the producers, engineers, and/or mixers associated with the nominated work in addition to the recording artists.
As of 2023, Eminem holds the record for the most wins in this category, with six. Lauryn Hill was the first female artist to win in this category, when she won in 1997 with the Fugees. The duo Outkast and rapper Tyler, The Creator have both received the award twice. Jay-Z holds the record for the most nominations, with eleven. Drake became the first non-American winner in this category when he won in 2013. The Roots have received the most nominations without a win, with five. Eminem and West are the only artists to win the award in consecutive years, with Eminem achieving the feat twice. In 2016, Drake's If You're Reading This It's Too Late became the first mixtape to get nominated for the award, and in 2017, Chance the Rapper's Coloring Book became the first mixtape to win the award. Cardi B became the first solo female rapper to win for Invasion of Privacy.
Recipients
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| Year[I] | Recipient(s) | Work | Nominees | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Naughty by Nature | Poverty's Paradise | ||
| 1997 | Fugees · Fugees, producers | The Score | ||
| 1998 | Puff Daddy and the Family · Puff Daddy And The Family & Stevie J. producers | No Way Out | ||
| 1999 | Jay-Z · Joe Quinde, engineer/mixer | Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life | ||
| 2000 | Eminem · Eminem, Jeff Bass & Marky Bass, producers; Mr. B, engineer/mixer | The Slim Shady LP | ||
| 2001 | Eminem · Dr. Dre & Richard Huredia, engineers/mixers | The Marshall Mathers LP | ||
| 2002 | Outkast · David Sheats, producer; John Frye, engineer | Stankonia | ||
| 2003 | Eminem · Steve King, engineer/mixer | The Eminem Show | ||
| 2004 | Outkast · John Frye, engineer/mixer | Speakerboxxx/The Love Below | ||
| 2005 | Kanye West · Manny Marroquin, engineer/mixer | The College Dropout | ||
| 2006 | Kanye West · Kanye West & Jon Brion, producers; Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Tom Biller, engineers; Mike Dean, engineer/mixer | Late Registration | ||
| 2007 | Ludacris · Joshua Monroy & Phil Tan, engineers/mixers | Release Therapy | ||
| 2008 | Kanye West · Kanye West, producer; Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Mike Dean, engineers | Graduation | ||
| 2009 | Lil Wayne · Darius "Deezle" Harrison & Fabian Marasciullo, engineers | Tha Carter III | ||
| 2010 | Eminem · Andre Young, producer; Andre Young, Mauricio "Veto" Iragorri & Michael Strange, engineers/mixers | Relapse | ||
| 2011 | Eminem · Eminem & Mike Strange, engineers/mixers | Recovery | ||
| 2012 | Kanye West · Kanye West, producer; Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer, Mike Dean & Noah Goldstein, engineers/mixers | My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy | ||
| 2013 | Drake · Noah "40" Shebib, producer; Noel "Gadget" Campbell & Noah "40" Shebib, engineers/mixers | Take Care | ||
| 2014 | Macklemore & Ryan Lewis | The Heist | ||
| 2015 | Eminem · Tony Campana, Joe Strange & Mike Strange, engineers/mixers | The Marshall Mathers LP 2 | ||
| 2016 | Kendrick Lamar · Derek "MixedByAli" Ali & James "The White Black Man" Hunt, engineers/mixers | To Pimp a Butterfly | ||
| 2017 | Chance the Rapper · Jeff Lane, engineer/mixer | Coloring Book | ||
| 2018 | Kendrick Lamar · Sounwave & Anthony "Topdawg" Tiffith, producers; Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, James "The White Black Man" Hunt & Matt Schaeffer, engineers/mixers | Damn. | ||
| 2019 | Cardi B · Leslie Brathwaite & Evan LaRay, engineers/mixers | Invasion of Privacy | ||
| 2020 | Tyler, the Creator · Tyler, The Creator, producer; Neal H Pogue, Tyler, The Creator & Vic Wainstein, engineers/mixers | Igor | ||
| 2021 | Nas · Hit-Boy, producer; Mark "Exit" Goodchild, Hit-Boy, David Kim & Gabriel Zardes, engineers/mixers | King's Disease | ||
| 2022 | Tyler, the Creator | Call Me If You Get Lost |
| |
| 2023 | Kendrick Lamar | Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers | ||
| 2024 | Killer Mike | Michael |
^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
Artists with multiple wins
Artists with multiple nominations
See also
References
General
- "Past Winners Search". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on December 19, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2011. Note: User must select the "Rap" category as the genre under the search feature.
- "Grammy Awards: Best Rap Album". Rock on the Net. Archived from the original on December 9, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
Specific