Grammys rap contenders for 2025 include Doja Cat, Nicki Minaj, maybe Drake and yes, Kanye West
Last year the Grammys received mixed reactions when their rap field winners were announced, particularly after veteran Killer Mike beat more commercial picks like Drake and Travis Scott. The wins, despite what anyone says, show that the Grammys are focused on rewarding not sales but quality — or whatever they perceive as quality at least. That bodes well for this year’s upcoming Grammy nominations, where we might get a mix of veterans and critical darlings paired up with some of the biggest names in hip-hop right now.
One of the biggest contenders this year is “Vultures 1,” the collaborative project between Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign. While Ty’s Grammy track record isn’t very impressive, West is a full-on rap darling who is currently the most awarded rapper in the awards’ history, tied with Jay-Z. This new album will likely get him a couple more nominations, especially with all the success it has achieved. It debuted at number-one on the Billboard 200 with 148,000 equivalent album units despite having only been out for five days. It has also found success on the Hot 100 singles chart, with the lead single “Carnival” becoming a number-one hit, West’s first in 13 years.
That said, the album does have deficits, mainly two. First, West has been under fire continuously for the past few years due to offensive comments and behavior, and voters might have grown apathetic to him after successive controversies. Second, “Vultures 1” wasn’t well received by critics, scoring 51 on Metacritic. No Best Rap Album winner has ever scored that low, and given how last year voters passed over another hit album with mixed reviews (Drake and 21 Savage‘s “Her Loss”) to award a better reviewed, not so commercial album (Killer Mike’s “Michael”), we might see that happen again this time around.
That said, voters won’t have to look to the indies when Future and Metro Boomin are right there. Their collaboration, “We Don’t Trust You,” has been a huge hit, achieving the biggest week for a rap album so far this year with over 251,000 units. It doesn’t have amazing reviews — it’s at 64 on Metacritic — but that’s far better than West and Ty. The record might be carried by its singles, though, in particular the Kendrick Lamar-assisted “Like That.” The song debuted at number-one on the Hot 100 and became buzzworthy due to Lamar’s killer verse taking shots at J. Cole and Drake. The Grammys love Lamar even when his songs underperform commercially, so a smash hit from him is almost guaranteed to be in contention for the win, especially when he’s joined by two icons like Metro and Future.
Another big contender this year is Nicki Minaj. She has a … weird relationship with the Grammys you could call it. She hasn’t won yet, but the fact is they do tend to nominate her when the material is successful and well received. Her album “Pink Friday 2” earned positive reviews, scoring 70 on Metacritic, and also became a hit, debuting at number-one with over 228,000 units. It also includes the viral hit singles “FTCU” and “Everybody,” as well as Minaj’s 2022 chart-topper “Super Freaky Girl.”
Minaj might be joined by fellow female rapper Doja Cat with her album “Scarlet.” While the album itself faded very quickly, it still managed to produce huge hits, like last year’s Grammy-nominated songs “Paint the Town Red” and “Attention,” as well as this year’s hit “Agora Hills.” She is also likely to submit something from the deluxe reissue of the album, which might keep it top of mind for a couple more months.
And speaking of female rappers, this might be the year we finally call Flo Milli a Grammy nominee. Her hit “Never Lose Me” has been one of the leading rap hits of the past year, helped by its remix featuring SZA and Cardi B. It’s likely that Flo is in the Best Melodic Rap Performance conversation, probably going head-to-head against previous nominee Jack Harlow for the win.
Harlow is actually quite well liked by rap voters, and this time around he has a potentially winning ticket with “Lovin on Me,” which became a huge hit and topped the Hot 100 for multiple weeks. While a new Harlow album is yet to be announced as of this writing, it’s likely that “Lovin on Me” earns him a couple of nominations and, if his year keeps going like it has been, perhaps a win. But while Harlow has greater commercial success, Flo might have more of a compelling narrative after years of hard work going unrecognized.
There are some other major contenders as well. 21 Savage’s “American Dream” might’ve faded a little bit due to the bigger rap releases that followed it, but it’s still the best reviewed rap album that has a realistic shot at a win this year so far, with a 73 on Metacritic. The album topped the Billboard 200 and earned Savage a new hit with “Redrum,” which peaked at number-five on the Hot 100.
His friend and collaborator Drake might also submit this year, since his album “For All the Dogs” is still one of the biggest (if not the biggest) rap albums of the eligibility season. Drake seems to hate the Grammys when things don’t go his way, though, so it’s unlikely that he submits. But if he does, watch out for “Rich Baby Daddy” in the Melodic Rap category, as well as “First Person Shooter” with J. Cole in Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song.
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify record executives and music stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where thousands of showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?