Many great rap albums were released in 2023. A mix of big name and smaller artists dropped several albums throughout 2023.
One of the most anticipated albums was Pink Tape by Lil Uzi Vert. Released on June 30, 2023, many fans expected him to do something similar to his last album, Eternal Atake, released in 2020. But he ended up making a completely different style with some songs being similar to how Eternal Atake was, but other songs being rock, metal, and other genres. This led to the album polarizing at its release. It took many fans multiple listens to adjust to some of the songs on the album.
Not even a month later, on July 28, 2023, Travis Scott would drop his album, Utopia. This album was not as polarizing, as Scott kept his normal style on most of his songs. It ended up being a lot more popular than Pink Tape, but there were debates between fans on which album was better. Sophomore Evan Platt describes, “It features one of my favorite songs, “My Eyes.”
Drake’s For All the Dogs also was an album with high expectations. The album ended up getting delayed for some time, but finally released on October 6, 2023. Drake would let his son, Adonis, hand draw the album cover. This album, which also had a surprise verse from Adonis, ended up meeting expectations from fans.
Some other mainstream albums that dropped were TEC by Lil Tecca, Let’s Start Here. by Lil Yachty, Love Sick by Don Toliver, Set it Off by Offset, and Ganger by Veeze. Sophomore Tasimba Parirenyatwa states, “My other favorite is Ganger by Veeze because it is very unique.” These albums all were loved by fans of the artists, also bringing in new fans as they listened.
There were also some smaller artists that dropped albums. Summrs dropped three albums, What We Didn’t Have, Ghost, and Stuck in my Ways. Ken Carson dropped A Great Chaos and his labelmate, Destroy Lonely dropped If Looks Could Kill. These albums were all hits with fans, as they loved them.
There is already news about albums dropping in 2024. Playboi Carti, who hasn’t released an album since 2020, looks to release a project titled Music.
Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign are releasing a collaboration tape, Vultures. Kanye’s 10 year old daughter, North West, appears to be on a song from the album, as she was performing it at their listening event.
Many entertaining, and some polarizing, rap albums were released in 2023. Most of these albums were loved by fans and were extremely popular. Many more look to be released in 2024.
