Rap Power Rankings July 2025

July 2025

Rank

Artist

Last month

Travis Scott

Despite Let God Sort ’Em Out crashing in the same weekend—and Pusha T making his rounds on a full-blown media tour — Travis Scott still walked away victorious in this month’s Power Rankings. He officially kicked off the JACKBOYS 2 era on July 8 with the release of “2000 Excursion” (formerly known as “B&B”). Just five days later, the full project arrived on July 13, complete with viral features from GloRilla and 21 Savage (and yes, Travis finally fired back at Pusha).

JACKBOYS 2 debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 232,000 units, and Travis rounded out July by celebrating the two-year anniversary of UTOPIA. La Flame stayed undefeated.

Tyler, the Creator

Tyler, the Creator danced his way into the #2 spot on this month’s Power Rankings with a clear message to fans: DON’T TAP THE GLASS. The rollout for his ninth studio album started on July 18 outside Barclays Center, where a towering figurine and pre-order links greeted concertgoers as they stepped outside. He kept the streak alive by announcing another early Monday drop — this time at 6 a.m. ET on the eight-year anniversary of Flower Boy.

Clocking in at just ten tracks, the project still made major waves both online and on the charts. The visuals for “STOP PLAYING WITH ME” featured none other than LeBron James and Clipse. The album went on to earn Tyler his fourth number one on the Billboard 200 with 197,000 units.

Drake

This month, Drake finally confirmed what the fan conspiracies had been screaming for months: ICEMAN is real—and it’s coming. On July 4th, he kicked off the first episode of his ICEMAN livestream series and released the new single, “What Did I Miss?”, which debuted No. 2 on the Hot 100.

He then headlined a full weekend of sets at London’s Wireless Festival for their 20th anniversary, bringing out everyone from Lauryn Hill (yes, she was on time) to Central Cee, who helped tease a brand-new song live onstage. That track finally dropped July 24, along with episode two of ICEMAN, where Drake plays peek-a-boo with a human-sized Pinocchio doll and hints at even more cryptic plotlines to come.

If nothing else, July proved that Drake’s ICEMAN rollout is part rap campaign, part cinematic universe—and he’s nowhere near the final act.

Clipse

Clipse went full album mode this month—and honestly, we’re better for it. They cranked up the anticipation with merch collabs from Carhartt to Adidas, before finally dropping their Pharrell-produced comeback project on July 11. Once it landed, it took over timelines and started making serious noise on the charts.

The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with 118,000 units—but claimed the top spot on the Vinyl Albums chart and hit No. 2 on Top Rap Albums. Just days later, they released the much-hyped visuals for “Chains & Whips” featuring Kendrick Lamar on July 14, then brought it to the ESPYs stage on July 16 with a performance that lit up the timeline.

JACKBOYS

Alongside Travis Scott, the rest of the JACKBOYS — Don Toliver, Sheck Wes, SoFaygo, and Chase B — had plenty to celebrate this month. As mentioned, JACKBOYS 2 debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, marking the second-biggest first week for a rap album this year (just behind Carti’s MUSIC). It also claimed the largest sales week for a rap release since La Flame’s Days Before Rodeo reissue last year.

Each member got their moment to shine. Chase B served as co-executive producer alongside Scott, while Sheck Wes delivered a chaotic standout with “TRIP OUT,” SoFaygo got his moment to shine on “CONTEST,” and Don Toliver floated through “CAN’T STOP.”

Yeat

Yeat made waves this month, starting overseas. On Day two of the Drake-bonanza that was London’s Wireless festival, Yeat came out to perform “IDGAF.” Back on home turf, he released the single “I’M YEAT,” continuing his generational run with BNYX. The track samples the infamous “yah yeet yah” Vine video at the beginning.

On July 29th, he revealed that the single was really just a warm-up for his surprise EP DANGEROUS SUMMER, which dropped August 1st. The EP, which features Don Toliver, SahBabii, and FKA twigs, earned 6.2 million first-day streams on Spotify. First impressions have been positive with fans praising the project’s production and the unexpected value of the features (“FLY NITË” with FKA was a surprise banger).

NBA YoungBoy

It’s a YoungBoy summer. After receiving a pardon from President Trump back in May, NBA YoungBoy is a free man and released his new album MASA (Make America Slime Again) on July 25th. Debuting at #6 on the Billboard 200, with 49,000 album equivalent units, the project earned YoungBoy his sixteenth Top 10 album. He’s now tied with Nas and Jay-Z for the third-most Top 10 albums among hip-hop artists.

The project also brought an official collaboration between YoungBoy and Playboi Carti on the track “Fire Your Manager,” which has been rumored and anticipated ever since the “Alive” leak in May. YoungBoy was also featured on “OUTSIDE” from JACKBOYS 2, which fittingly is the type of time he’s on as he’s about to kick off his first-ever headlining tour in September.

Playboi Carti

Coming in at #8, Playboi Carti continues to be a dominating presence this summer, giving the gift of more music and public appearances than the last four years combined. Aside from his After Hours Til Dawn tour with The Weeknd, which feeds his vamp fanbase a steady flow of fan-captured footage, he appeared on two major releases.

JACKBOYS 2 featured Carti on “WHERE WAS YOU,” alongside Travis Scott and Future. A tried and true trio, fans expect to see their names together like teammates who always choose each other for group projects. YoungBoy’s MASA brought the official Carti x YB link-up on “Fire Your Manager.” In July, Carti’s MUSIC also became the first rap album of 2025 to sell over 1 million units.

Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist

Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist released the sequel to 2020’s Alfredo on July 25th. Prior to its release, they dropped the short Tokyo crime film Alfredo: The Movie. The 14-track project has features from Anderson .Paak, Larry June, and JID. So far, music videos have been released for the lead single “1995” and “A Thousand Mountains.”

Building on the mafioso Godfather theme of Alfredo, the duo travels further East for Alfredo 2, leaning into more of a crime Yakuza vibe. There’s even an accompanying arcade game that lets you fight a sensei as Freddie or The Alchemist. The creativity and conceptual execution of the album shines throughout, and it might earn them a Top 10 debut on the Billboard 200. Alfredo 2 is projected to move 38,000 album equivalent units in its first week.

Kendrick Lamar

Last but not least, Kendrick Lamar nabs the #10th spot for old and new work. On July 15th, it was announced that his Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show received four Emmy nominations, which isn’t his first Emmy accolade. In 2022, he was one of the headliners for the Super Bowl LVI, which became the first NFL halftime show to ever win an Emmy (it was also the first to be completely hip-hop focused).

On the heels of that milestone, Kendrick’s production company with Dave Free, pgLang, announced the launch of their global creative agency, Project 3, expanding the reach and impact of their rising brand.