Ladies and Gents, hip-hop heads, it’s about that time of the month you asked for it and it’s finally here. First off, We must state a few things about this list. Mainly, this is a list about the Best Rappers, and being the best rapper entails making the best rap music.
We take rap skills into consideration, but our emphasis is on an artist’s overall contribution to culture. Secondly, this list can change at any moment based on new material. Some of the people on this list released albums this year and are on the upswing, while others are riding off a residual effect of past work. We are not claiming to be the ultimate authority in African rap, but we challenge anyone to come up with a better countdown, though we have tried to balance it out as much as we could. That said, here are the 15 Best Rappers in Africa.
1. CASSPER NYOVEST
With both albums on his catalog going Platinum, Cassper Nyovest has moved from being just a normal rapper in S.A who makes rap music, to a continental power house. His ingenuity in music and his constant feed of fresh music and hard work has well earned him this spot. You can see here for yourself.
2. AKA
It’s a tight race between AKA and Cassper. Many hip-hop heads will vouch for AKA over Cassper, but so will Cassper fans. We place AKA second not because he’s less talented lyrically, he probably is better than Cassper Nyovest, and his versatility in making huge records for Africa has been very consistent and it’s undeniable that he’s always fresh, but he ranks slightly behind Cassper because of the impact made this year and churn of quality music and artist catalog.
3. M.I ABAGA
If this list is solely based on talent, M.I Abaga would probably rank a lot higher, praising his versatility. But this isn’t about theoretical talent. It is about the actual music you put into the world, consistently. Which is to say, M.I simply hasn’t released enough music as of late to make us remember what we like about him so much
Since releasing ‘The chairman’, his main output has been featuring for friends. All good verses but nothing too spectacular. In order to maintain your spot here, you need to release something good every once in a while. Worth noting is his ‘Illegal music III’ mixtape. With quite a handful of nominations and awards to his name M.I is definitely deserving.
4. Sarkodie
The 2012 BET winner for best International act and ranked the 19th most influential personality in Ghana clearly affirms his position in this list. The rapper who managed to get Ace hood on his record has gone to become one of the best rappers produced in Africa.
5. M.anifest
This award winning Ghanaian rapper has been for the longest time representing Ghana’s scene. His contribution to culture in Ghanaian rap has been greatly felt all across. His music mostly fuses african drums and hints of chants and hums with his very wise lyrics about African domination and current situation of the continent.
11. Xtatic
First Female emcee on this list, Xtatic who’s vocal ability still amazes to this day, has managed to maintain her level of lyrical reputation. Her muffled subtle voice and her ability to talk about her life in her music lets her sit comfortably on this list.
12. Navio
The Ugandan rapper has worked with widely acclaimed artists like Rnb singer Keith Sweat and R.kelly. Though not as active, he makes it to the list because of his wide recognition all over Africa and his influence and giving life to other Ugandan hip hop artists on the come up.
13. Kwesta
Still fresh from the release of his 3rd studio album DAKAR III. Kwesta makes it to this list because of his constant relevance and contribution in Rap. Kwesta who’s deep baritone and slow rap flow tend to hypnotize you to a world that he creates, mostly flowing in isiZulu tends to focus on wisdom and touches of brogaddocio.
14. Phyno
He has moments when he clearly just shows off how good a rapper he is and sometimes mixes it up with popular Nigerian music. When he’s making Rap music, Phyno who mostly spits with his native language, though not understandable to most-has not just energy but has lyricism. With his last album being nominated 3 times including Best rap album across various music awards, Phyno is definitely worth it on this list.
15. MMchne
3 months after releasing his introductory mixtape ‘Initial state’, MMchne earlier this month set out to embark on a project called MMchne Good Fridays which saw him release a single every Friday which sort to get him heard. He makes it to this list because of the effort he puts into his music and the urge that he has to push and make better of himself and influence culture. His music borrows from the new age hip hop hard 808’s and use of samples. He’s definitely one to watch out for this year.
