In March, C-list rapper-turned-podcaster Joe Budden declared that “the girl rapper wave is over,” predicting that the recent period of unprecedented success and visibility for a growing number of women in hip-hop was coming to a close. And it felt like almost every woman in the industry spent the next nine months proving Budden wrong. GloRilla and Flo Milli were ubiquitous on radio airwaves, Megan Thee Stallion and Latto headlined successful tours, Doechii and Rapsody notched Grammy nominations, and rising stars like Anycia and SkyLar Blatt began appearing on Billboard charts for the first time.
While a few newer stars like Ice Spice and Sexyy Red seemed to lose buzz this year, a lot more women are building promising long-term careers in rap and are still reaching new creative peaks. Without using any awkward and unnecessary terms like “femcee” or “female rap,” let’s look back at the best hip-hop albums and mixtapes released by women in 2024.
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10. Monaleo – Throwing Bows
In a year without a new Rico Nasty album, Houston rapper Monaleo released a loud, brash, funny record that occupies a similar niche. Whether she’s waking up on a shitty vibe on the hit “Don Who Leo” or turning the string loop from “Toxic” by Britney Spears into a fight song on “Wam Bam,” Monaleo keeps the energy high throughout Throwing Bows. Monaleo had a baby last year with Atlanta rapper Stunna 4 Vegas, but instead of mellowing out or writing about the responsibilities of parenthood, they rap outrageous punchlines together over metal guitars and 808s on “Queen & Slime,” possibly the first good rap/rock song in years.
9. Flo Milli – Fine Ho, Stay
2019’s “Beef FloMix” made Flo Milli, then a teenager, into the uproarious voice of a million viral “fancam” video edits. On the third installment of what you could call her Ho trilogy, Flo Milli is still playing the character of a shit-talking, conceited diva on “Got the Juice” and “Tell Me What You Want.” She’s also developed a more sensual and melodic flow, though, that resulted in “Never Lose Me,” the biggest hit of her career, which SZA and Cardi B jumped on for the remix that appears on Fine Ho, Stay.
8. GloRilla – Ehhthang Ehhthang
The Memphis kicked off a 2024 hit parade with “Yeah Glo!” and “Wanna Be” featuring Megan Thee Stallion. The mixtape Ehhthang Ehhthang wasn’t even the biggest project Glo released this year, but it features some of her best songwriting, including “Opp Shit,” a gangsta rap twist on an old-fashioned tale of star crossed lovers from rival families.
7. MC Lyte – 1 of 1
MC Lyte was just 17 when she made history as the first female rapper to release a solo album, Lyte as a Rock, in 1988. On her first album in nine years, Lyte is still one of rap’s great flinty realists, giving worldly advice on “Change Your Ways” and swapping stories about music industry woes with Ghostface Killah and Lil Mama on “Lyte Ghost Lil Mama.” In a year that has also seen late career gems from LL Cool J and Common, 1 of 1 bolsters the argument that hip-hop veterans can still have something to say in their fourth decade in the game.
6. Latto – Sugar Honey Iced Tea
It was just a year or two back that the rapper, thankfully no longer named Miss Mulatto, had gone all-in on Dr. Luke-produced pop radio fodder like “Big Energy” and “Lottery.” Now that she’s the most successful female rapper from Atlanta of all time, though, she’s pivoted back to Magic City-ready jams like “Blick Sum” and “There She Go” on her third album. Even without crossover hits, Latto kept creating memorable moments throughout 2024, from taunting Ice Spice to “get in the booth, bitch” on “Sunday Service,” throwing an unexpected beat switch in the middle of “Big Mama,” and turning “Brokey” into a TikTok challenge.
5. Megan Thee Stallion – Megan: Act II
Like a few other great rappers, Megan Thee Stallion’s mixtapes often hit a little harder than her albums. With Megan: Act II, the recent deluxe version of her third album, you get the best of both worlds. The original Megan, released in June, has her vicious, score-settling No. 1 single “Hiss,” and more emotionally cathartic material like “Cobra” and “B.A.S.” The 13 new tracks on Act II are a throwback to mixtapes like 2018’s Tina Snow and 2021’s Something For Thee Hotties, full of cocky bangers like “Bigger in Texas” and “Bourbon.”
4. Rapsody – Please Don’t Cry
Rapsody has rightly been hailed as one of the best lyricists of her generation since her breakout appearance on Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly. Most of Please Don’t Cry stays in a warm, languid neo soul lane with songs like the Erykah Badu collaboration “3:AM.” Occasionally, though, the North Carolina rapper reminds you what else she’s capable of, ripping a bombastic horn loop beat on “Back in My Bag” and holding her own with Lil Wayne on “Raw.”
3. Tierra Whack – World Wide Whack
Tierra Whack’s wildly original 2018 mixtape Whack World was a brief but memorable debut, speeding through 15 songs in 15 minutes. Nearly six years later, the Philadelphia rapper finally reemerged with a proper full-length album, and World Wide Whack lets its songs play out for more than 60 seconds, but often not by much. A self-possessed eccentric in the tradition of Missy Elliott, Whack boasts with loopy wordplay on “Invitation,” shares her insecurities in hushed tones on “Difficult,” and bends her voice into hilarious shapes on “Burning Brains.”
2. GloRilla – Glorious
GloRilla, born Gloria Hallelujah Woods, grew up singing in her church’s choir, and fans have noted the gospel undertones in the lyrics to her early hit “Tomorrow.” On her debut studio album Glorious, GloRilla finally goes all the way gospel on “Rain Down on Me” with Kirk Franklin and Kierra Sheard and “Glo’s Prayer,” and it sounds surprisingly good. Elsewhere on the album, though, Glo sticks to the Memphis crunk anthems that made her a fixture on the charts in 2024, like the rowdy “Hollon” and the ubiquitous summer jam “TGIF.”
1. Doechii – Alligator Bites Never Heal
In 2023, Doechii scaled Billboard charts and radio playlists for the first time as a singer on the single “What It Is” and played arenas opening for Doja Cat. This year, she returned with a nominal “mixtape” as strong as anyone else’s album to remind the world why she was signed by one of the most respected labels in rap, Top Dawg Entertainment. The dexterity of her rapidfire bars on “Nissan Altima” and the self-effacing assessments of her life and career on “Denial is a River” and “Boom Bap” added up to a tour de force release that recently earned Doechii four Grammy nominations.
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