Rappers in the home-recording and streaming era are also more prolific than ever, making the long list of rap albums that came out this year nearly impossible to keep up with, but we did our best ...

On her first album in nine years, Lyte is still one of rap’s great ... as one of the best lyricists of her generation since her breakout appearance on Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 album To Pimp ...

See all these artists and many more in the Billboard staff’s list of top 20 best rap albums of the year, below. The Detroit spitter dropped three albums this year, each with a different producer.

Kendrick's decisive victory over Drizzy culminated in one of the year's best rap albums, GNX, overshadowed only by Doechii, the latest talent to emerge from Lamar's former label TDE. Still ...