Grammy Award for Best Rap Album
The Grammy Award for Best Rap Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums with rapping at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
In 1995, the Academy announced the addition of the award category Best Rap Album. The first award was presented to the group Naughty by Nature at the 38th Grammy Awards the following year. According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award is presented for "albums containing at least 51% playing time of tracks with newly recorded rapped performances". Award recipients often include the producers, engineers, and/or mixers associated with the nominated work in addition to the recording artists.
As of 2025, Eminem holds the record for the most wins in this category, with six. Lauryn Hill was the first female artist to win in this category, when she won in 1997 with the Fugees. The duo Outkast and rapper Tyler, The Creator have both received the award twice. Jay-Z holds the record for the most nominations, with eleven. Drake became the first non-American winner in this category when he won in 2013. The Roots have received the most nominations without a win, with five. Eminem and Kanye West are the only artists to win the award in consecutive years, with Eminem achieving the feat twice. In 2016, Drake's If You're Reading This It's Too Late became the first mixtape to get nominated for the award, and in 2017, Chance the Rapper's Coloring Book became the first mixtape to win the award. In 2019, Cardi B became the first solo female rapper to win for Invasion of Privacy.
Recipients
| Year | Recipient | Work | Nominees | Ref. |
| 1996 | Naughty by Nature | |||
| 1997 | Fugees Fugees, producers | |||
| 1998 | Puff Daddy and the Family Puff Daddy And The Family & Stevie J. producers | |||
| 1999 | Jay-Z Joe Quinde, engineer/mixer | |||
| 2000 | Eminem Eminem, Jeff Bass & Marky Bass, producers; Mr. B, engineer/mixer | |||
| 2001 | Eminem Dr. Dre & Richard Huredia, engineers/mixers | |||
| 2002 | Outkast David Sheats, producer; John Frye, engineer | |||
| 2003 | Eminem Steve King, engineer/mixer | |||
| 2004 | Outkast John Frye, engineer/mixer | |||
| 2005 | Manny Marroquin, engineer/mixer | |||
| 2006 | Kanye West & Jon Brion, producers; Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Tom Biller, engineers; Mike Dean, engineer/mixer | |||
| 2007 | Ludacris Joshua Monroy & Phil Tan, engineers/mixers | |||
| 2008 | Kanye West, producer; Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Mike Dean, engineers | |||
| 2009 | Lil Wayne Darius "Deezle" Harrison & Fabian Marasciullo, engineers | |||
| 2010 | Eminem Andre Young, producer; Andre Young, Mauricio "Veto" Iragorri & Michael Strange, engineers/mixers | |||
| 2011 | Eminem Eminem & Mike Strange, engineers/mixers | |||
| 2012 | Kanye West, producer; Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer, Mike Dean & Noah Goldstein, engineers/mixers | |||
| 2013 | Drake Noah "40" Shebib, producer; Noel "Gadget" Campbell & Noah "40" Shebib, engineers/mixers | Take Care | ||
| 2014 | Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, engineers/mixers | The Heist | ||
| 2015 | Eminem Tony Campana, Joe Strange & Mike Strange, engineers/mixers | |||
| 2016 | Kendrick Lamar Derek "MixedByAli" Ali & James "The White Black Man" Hunt, engineers/mixers | To Pimp a Butterfly | ||
| 2017 | Chance the Rapper Jeff Lane, engineer/mixer | Coloring Book | ||
| 2018 | Kendrick Lamar Sounwave & Anthony "Topdawg" Tiffith, producers; Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, James "The White Black Man" Hunt & Matt Schaeffer, engineers/mixers | Damn. | ||
| 2019 | Cardi B Leslie Brathwaite & Evan LaRay, engineers/mixers | Invasion of Privacy | ||
| 2020 | Tyler, the Creator Tyler, The Creator, producer; Neal H Pogue, Tyler, The Creator & Vic Wainstein, engineers/mixers | Igor | ||
| 2021 | Nas Hit-Boy, producer; Mark "Exit" Goodchild, Hit-Boy, David Kim & Gabriel Zardes, engineers/mixers | King's Disease | ||
| 2022 | Tyler, the Creator Tyler, The Creator, producer; Neal H Pogue, Tyler, The Creator & Vic Wainstein, engineers/mixers | Call Me If You Get Lost | ||
| 2023 | Kendrick Lamar Sounwave, producer; Ray Charles Brown Jr., Manny Marroquin, Matt Schaeffer & Jonathan Turner, engineers/mixers | Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers | ||
| 2024 | Killer Mike Migui Maloles & Renegade El Rey, engineers/mixers | Michael | ||
| 2025 | Doechii | Alligator Bites Never Heal | ||
| 2026 |
Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
Artists with multiple wins
;6 wins- Eminem
- Kanye West
- Kendrick Lamar
- Outkast
- Tyler, the Creator
Artists with multiple nominations
- Jay-Z
- Kanye West
- Eminem
- Nas
- Drake
- The Roots
- Common
- Kendrick Lamar
- J. Cole
- Lupe Fiasco
- Missy Elliott
- Tyler, the Creator
2 nominations
- Nicki Minaj
- Dr. Dre
- Lil Wayne
- LL Cool J
- 50 Cent
- Outkast
- ScHoolboy Q
- A Tribe Called Quest
- 2Pac
- DJ Khaled
- Travis Scott
- 21 Savage
- Future
- Metro Boomin
- JID