Yes, it’s that time of the year again when Complex breaks some rap nerd hearts by ranking the 20 Best Rappers in Their 20s. Admittedly, this list is a bit less fun this time around now that young veterans like Wale, J. Cole, and Future are all now in their 30s and don’t qualify anymore—even if they are in fact contemporaries of most people on this list (FYI other rappers like Childish Gambino, Nicki Minaj, and Action Bronson are all too old for this as well). Still, with 2015 being one of the best years in recent rap memory—with a slew of exciting projects released by a diversity of rappers—there’s plenty to discuss.



First off, we must reinitiate a few things about this list. Mainly, this is not a list of the Most Skilled Rappers in Their 20s. This is a list about the Best Rappers, and being the best rapper entails making the best rap music. We take rap skills into consideration, but our emphasis is on an artist’s overall catalog and more often than not, people’s skill sets don’t match their output. But if a rapper isn’t making the most of their talent, that’s on them. Secondly, this list can change at any moment based on new material. Some of the people on this list released albums this year and are on the upswing, while others are riding off a residual effect of past work. It wasn’t always easy, but we tried to balance it out as well as we could. Still, for all we know, someone can drop a surprise album tomorrow and force us to reconsider our rankings for the future. With that being said, here are the 20 Best Rappers in Their 20s.

Listen to our 20 Best Rappers in Their 20s playlist on Apple Music.