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April 2026

Past editions

Rank

Artist

Last month

Ye

It’s called “Yeezy Season” for a reason, and Ye kept it rolling from March right into April. He took over SoFi Stadium on April 1 and April 3, with both shows becoming the highest-grossing concerts in the venue’s history. This resulted in a massive wave of Ye support that, coupled with his apology earlier this year, could mean he’s back in a major way.

However, some countries/venues still aren’t as forgiving. Ye received a UK ban in early April, but that also sparked a worldwide conversation about growth and censorship—and we all know starting convos is Ye’s specialty.

On top of all of this, he was ranked #9 in Complex’s 100 Hottest Rappers Alive list.

Drake

The ‘ICEMAN’ release date has finally been revealed, and Drake made its unveiling a performance art spectacle. On April 19, he was spotted in front of a massive ice sculpture in Toronto, shooting what could be the first music video from the album. But, more importantly, he took to IG to let fans know that the release date was inside.

On April 21, livestreamer Kishka approached the sculpture with a sledgehammer—and received great results. He located a package, took it to Drizzy’s house, and revealed the release date: May 15. ‘ICEMAN’ is officially around the corner.

Drake was also the highest-streamed artist on Spotify for four months straight. Looks like we’re heading towards a big summer for The Boy.

Don Toliver

At this point, Don has become a fixture in our power rankings. Whether it’s killing features or doing numbers, he pretty much has it on lock. His most recent album, ‘OCTANE,’ continues to stream incredibly well. We’re not even halfway through 2026, and it’s safe to say it’s a contender for AOTY.

As of April 2026, ‘OCTANE’ is the highest-streamed rap album of the year and has just surpassed 1B streams on Spotify.

As mentioned, he’s one of the most active artists in the game right now. Complex ranked him as the #6 Hottest Rapper Alive, and we think that’s a fitting place for the Don.

Swae Lee

It’s been a minute since we’ve heard a full album from Swae Lee, but on April 3, he shook shit up with his newest album, ‘SAME DIFFERENCE.’ With features like NAV, Rich The Kid, Post Malone, and the essential Rae Sremmurd track, the album racked up 1.45M Spotify streams in its first day.

In addition, his Coachella set was one for the books. He performed hit after hit—”No Type,” “Swang,” “Sunflower,” and more all made an appearance. The crowd was going so crazy that they had to cut the set short before he could even do “Black Beatles.”

Yeat

Yeat hasn’t taken his foot off the gas, and the numbers don’t lie. ‘ADL’ dropped on March 27, and officially went #5 on Billboard with 57k sold first week. With that, he extended his record as the artist with the most projects on Billboard’s top 10 that debuted in the 2020s.

His music video for “N@KED,” which stars Ice Spice, has done more than 1.5M views on YouTube. That makes sense, considering Complex listed him as the #5 hottest rapper alive right now.

BossMan Dlow

BossMan Dlow already had the streets jumping with his singles “Motion Party” and “Let’s Go Get Em,” then he turned it up a notch with his new album, ‘Chicken Talkin Bastard.’ The stacked feature list includes YKNIECE, DaBaby, OJ Da Juiceman, and more. The album is full of turn-up anthems for stacking your money and spending it, sure to be heard outside all summer 2026.

But before dropping, he pulled up on us for one of the hardest Media Day Freestyles so far.

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Baby Keem

Since dropping his new album ‘CA$INO,’ Baby Keem has had his foot on the gas. The CA$INO Tour kicked off on April 15, and his expected level of high-energy chaos has been a hit. The vast majority of the tour is already sold out.

In a recent conversation with The New York Times, he discussed how being around Kendrick—who he considers “the greatest artist of all time”—gave him the confidence for his latest work.

DaBaby

2026 has been a resurgence for Dababy, and every month, his name has been making waves in some form or fashion. “Pop Dat Thang” is steadily rising on the charts and in streaming numbers, ranking as a Top 3 performing song in April and reaching #1 on US Urban Radio.

To double up on it, he dropped a remix with GloRilla, YKNIECE, and Yung Miami to turn the summer up even more.

He also claimed he’s the best rapper alive, so he has some proving to do.

Nine Vicious

After getting a major placement on Ye’s ‘BULLY’ album (on the track “MAMA’S FAVORITE”), Nine Vicious dropped his new album ‘EMOTIONS’. The project did 3.3M streams on its first day, making it one of the biggest releases of the month on Spotify.

He also dropped multiple videos from the album: “Talk About It,” “Trevon O’Ryan Echols,” and “Posing Tonight.” All of the above are expected to hit the 1M mark soon.

Young Thug

Young Thug had a very active April, both as a Coachella headliner and the head of a music label. Tezzus & diamond* dropped ‘UY SCUTI BØYZ’ on April 17, their first album under YSL. Thug was featured on the track “UY SCUTI” (as expected), supporting his newest acts as they get their feet planted in the game.

But in bigger solo news, The New York Times put him on the list of the Top 30 greatest living songwriters. He’s in good company, considering the list includes legends like Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, and OutKast.

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Music News Rankings Interviews

Culture Lifestyle Entertainment Sports

Power Rankings Rap Madness

For any PR, promo or advertising inquiries:

[email protected]

Stay strapped in, text RapTV

(908) 341-0067

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