Last Updated on October 17, 2022 by Scott Shetler
Most career Best Rap Album nominations
Jay-Z 11
Kanye West 8
Eminem 7
Drake 6
Nas 6
The Roots 5
Missy Elliott 4
Lupe Fiasco 4
Common 4
Most career Best Rap Album wins
Eminem 6
Kanye West 4
Kendrick Lamar 2
Tyler the Creator 2
Outkast 2
Grammy Awards: Best Rap Album Winners and Nominees
Winners in bold; other nominees listed beneath.
2022: Call Me if You Get Lost, Tyler the Creator
The Off-Season, J. Cole
Certified Lover Boy, Drake (withdrawn)
King’s Disease II, Nas
Donda, Kanye West
2021: King’s Disease, Nas
Black Habits, D Smoke
Alfredo, Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist
A Written Testimony, Jay Electronica
The Allegory, Royce Da 5’9″
2020: Igor, Tyler the Creator
Revenge of the Dreamers III, Dreamville & J. Cole
Championships, Meek Mill
I Am > I Was, 21 Savage
The Lost Boy, YBN Cordae
2019: Invasion of Privacy, Cardi B
Swimming, Mac Miller
Victory Lap, Nipsey Hussle
Daytona, Pusha T
Astroworld, Travis Scott
2018: Damn., Kendrick Lamar
4:44, Jay-Z
Culture, Migos
Laila’s Wisdom, Rapsody
Flower Boy, Tyler the Creator
2017: Coloring Book, Chance the Rapper
And the Anonymous Nobody, De La Soul
Major Key, DJ Khaled
Views, Drake
Blank Face LP, Schoolboy Q
The Life of Pablo, Kanye West
2016: To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar
2014 Forest Hills Drive, J. Cole
Compton, Dr. Dre
If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, Drake
The Pinkprint, Nicki Minaj
2015: The Marshall Mathers LP 2, Eminem
The New Classic, Iggy Azalea
Nobody’s Smiling, Common
Because the Internet, Childish Gambino
Blacc Hollywood, Wiz Khalifa
Oxymoron, Schoolboy Q
2014: The Heist, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Nothing Was the Same, Drake
Magna Carta Holy Grail, Jay-Z
Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, Kendrick Lamar
Yeezus, Kanye West
2013: Take Care, Drake
Based on a T.R.U. Story, 2 Chainz
Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1, Lupe Fiasco
Life is Good, Nas
God Forgives, I Don’t, Rick Ross
Undun, The Roots
2012: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West
Lasers, Lupe Fiasco
Watch the Throne, Jay-Z & Kanye West
Pink Friday, Nicki Minaj
Tha Carter IV, Lil Wayne
2011: Recovery, Eminem
The Adventures of Bobby Ray, B.o.B
Thank Me Later, Drake
The Blueprint 3, Jay-Z
How I Got Over, the Roots
2010: Relapse, Eminem
Universal Mind Control, Common
R.O.O.T.S., Flo Rida
The Ecstatic, Mos Def
The Renaissance, Q-Tip
2009: Tha Carter III, Lil Wayne
American Gangster, Jay-Z
Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool, Lupe Fiasco
Untitled, Nas
Paper Trail, T.I.
2008: Graduation, Kanye West
Finding Forever, Common
Kingdom Come, Jay-Z
Hip-Hop is Dead, Nas
T.I. vs T.I.P., T.I.
2007: Release Therapy, Ludcaris
Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor, Lupe Fiasco
In My Mind, Pharrell
Game Theory, the Roots
King, T.I.
2006: Late Registration, Kanye West
The Massacre, 50 Cent
Be, Common
The Cookbook, Missy Elliott
Encore, Eminem
2005: The College Dropout, Kanye West
To the 5 Boroughs, Beastie Boys
The Black Album, Jay-Z
The DEFinition, LL Cool J
Suit, Nelly
2004: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, Outkast
Get Rich or Die Tryin,’ 50 Cent
Under Construction, Missy Elliott
The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse
Phrenology, the Roots
2003: The Eminem Show, Eminem
Word of Mouf, Ludacris
Tarantula, Mystikal
Nellyville, Nelly
Diary of a Sinner: 1st Entry, Petey Pablo
2002: Stankonia, Outkast
Scorpion, Eve
Pain is Love, Ja Rule
The Blueprint, Jay-Z
Back for the First Time, Ludacris
2001: The Marshall Mathers LP, Eminem
…And Then There Was X, DMX
2001, Dr. Dre
Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter, Jay-Z
Country Grammar, Nelly
2000: The Slim Shady LP, Eminem
E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front, Busta Rhymes
Da Real World, Missy Elliott
I Am, Nas
Things Fall Apart, the Roots
1999: Vol 2… Hard Knock Life, Jay-Z
The Love Movement, A Tribe Called Quest
Capital Punishment, Big Pun
Life in 1472, Jermaine Dupri
Harlem World, Mase
1998: No Way Out, Puff Daddy
Supa Dupa Fly, Missy Elliott
The Carnival, Wyclef Jean
Life After Death, Notorious B.I.G.
Wu-Tang Forever, Wu-Tang Clan
1997: The Score, Fugees
All Eyez on Me, 2Pac
Beats, Rhymes & Life, A Tribe Called Quest
Gangsta’s Paradise, Coolio
Mr. Smith, LL Cool J
1996: Poverty’s Paradise, Naughty by Nature
Me Against the World, 2Pac
E 1999 Eternal, Bone Thugs N Harmony
Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version
I Wish, Skee-Lo
Find the Grammy Awards at grammy.com.
