Rap is often misconceived and interpreted in a negative way. There are a lot of artists who attempt to perform rap in ways that don’t necessarily glorify the genre. Real rap artists derive lyrics from real events and real emotions, and their lyrics often carry underlying meanings that cause you to think critically about the subject. A great rap artists provides two key things in his or her music. First, he/she provides you with a strong message and then suits you with a pleasant sound allowing you to relax and enjoy the production of the music.

Only a few artists have managed to master this skill. I’m a modern music listener so I took it upon myself to search online for a list containing such artist of today and the search were less than impressive. With that being said, I decided to write my own. I knew this wasn’t going to be an easy task, so I called up two of my close friends to help me come up with the list. Jaron Perry, a lyrical mastermind specializing in punch lines and thoughtful analogies, and Lee Junious, a part-time producer and beat maker, specializing in the process of innovating musical sound.

I met both of these guys back in high school in Chicago, and with their help we came up with the Top 25 Rap artist of today (as of right this second) with little to no bias opinions. To determine these artist we took into consideration album sales, popularity, hits, chart positions, and raw lyrics. The list is as follows.

25. Rick Ross

Age: 39

Origin: Carol City, Florida

Latest Project: "Black Marker" (2015)

24. Travi$ Scott

Age: 23

Origin: Houston, TX

Latest Project: "Rodeo" (2015)

23. G-Eazy

Origin: Oakland, California

Latest Project: "When It's Dark Out" (2015)

Origin: Chicago, Illinois

Latest Project: "Traffic" (TBA)

21. Chance The Rapper

Origin: Chicago, Illinois

Latest Project: "Surf" (2015) anassociated project with Donnie trumpet & The Social Experiment

20. Mick Jenkins

Origin: Chicago, Illinois

Latest Project: "Waves" (2015)

19. Joey Bada$$

Origin: Brooklyn, New York

Latest Project: "B4.Da.$$" (2015)

18. Schoolboy Q

Origin: South Figueroa Corridor, South Central Los Angeles, California

Latest Project: Oxymoron (2014)

17. Nicki Minaj

Origin: Queens, New York City, New York

Latest Project: "The Pinkprint" (2014)

16. Childish Gambino

Origin: Stone Mountain, Georgia

Latest Project: "STN MTN / Kauai" (2014)

15. Lil Wayne

Origin: Hollygrove, New Orleans

Latest Project: Free Weezy Album (2015)

14. Pusha T

Origin: Virginia Beach, Virginia

Latest Project: "King Push: Darkest Before Dawn" (2015)

13. The Game

Origin: Compton, California

Latest Project: "The Documentary 2" (2015)

12. Wale

Origin: Washington, D.C.

Latest Project: "The Album About Nothing" (2015)

11. Meek Mill

Origin: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Latest Project: "Dreams Worth More Than Money" (2015)

10. Mac Miller

Age: 23

Origin: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Latest Project: "GO:OD AM" (2015)

9. Lupe Fiasco

Origin: Chicago, Illinois

Latest Project: "Tetsuo & Youth" (2015)

8. Future

Origin: Atlanta, Georgia

Latest Project: "DS2" (2015)

7. Logic

Age: 25

Origin:Gaithersburg, Maryland

Latest Project: "The Incredible True Story" (2015)

6. A$ap Rocky

Age: 27

Origin: Harlem, New York

Latest Project: "At. Long. Last. ASAP" (2015)

5. Big Sean

Age: 27

Origin: Santa Monica, California

Latest Project: "Dark Sky Paradise" (2015)

4. Kanye West

Origin: Chicago, Illinois

Latest Project: "Yeezus" (2013)

3. Drake

Origin: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Latest Project: "What a Time to Be Alive"(2015) A collaboration album with the artist Future

2. Kendrick Lamar

Origin: Compton, California

Latest Project: "To Pimp a Butterfly" (2015)

1. J Cole

Origin: Fayetteville, North Carolina

Latest Project: "2014 Forest Hills Drive" (2014)