Best Rap Album: Grammy Winners & Nominees By Year

Last Updated on October 17, 2022 by Scott Shetler

grammy speech eminem 2001
Eminem wins the 2001 Grammy for Best Rap Album.

 

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Certified Lover Boy, Drake (withdrawn)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.