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 2020, 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. Cardi B became the first solo female rapper to win for Invasion of Privacy. Kanye West was presented the award four times, and the duo known as Outkast 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 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.

Recipients

YearRecipientsWorkNomineesRef.
1996Naughty by Nature
1997Fugees
Fugees, producers
1998Puff Daddy and the Family
Puff Daddy And The Family & Stevie J. producers
1999Jay-Z
Joe Quinde, engineer/mixer
2000Eminem
Eminem, Jeff Bass & Marky Bass, producers
Mr. B, engineer/mixer
2001Eminem
Dr. Dre & Richard Huredia, engineers/mixers
2002Outkast
David Sheats, producer
John Frye, engineer
2003Eminem
Steve King, engineer/mixer
2004Outkast
John Frye, engineer/mixer
2005
Manny Marroquin, engineer/mixer
2006
Jon Brion, producer
Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Tom Biller, engineers
Mike Dean, engineer/mixer
2007Ludacris
Joshua Monroy & Phil Tan, engineers/mixers
2008
Kanye West, producer
Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Mike Dean, engineers
2009Lil Wayne
Darius "Deezle" Harrison & Fabian Marasciullo, engineers
2010Eminem
Andre Young, producer
Andre Young, Mauricio "Veto" Iragorri & Michael Strange, engineers/mixers
2011Eminem
Eminem & Mike Strange, engineers/mixers
2012
Kanye West, producer
Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer, Mike Dean & Noah Goldstein, engineers/mixers
2013Drake
Noah "40" Shebib, producer
Noel "Gadget" Campbell & Noah "40" Shebib, engineers/mixers		Take Care
2014Macklemore & Ryan LewisThe Heist
2015Eminem
Tony Campana, Joe Strange & Mike Strange, engineers/mixers
2016Kendrick Lamar
Derek "MixedByAli" Ali & James "The White Black Man" Hunt, engineers/mixers		To Pimp a Butterfly
2017Chance the RapperColoring Book
2018Kendrick Lamar
Sounwave & Anthony "Topdawg" Tiffith, producers
Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, James "The White Black Man" Hunt & Matt Schaeffer, engineers/mixers		Damn.
2019Cardi B
Leslie Brathwaite & Evan LaRay, engineers/mixers		Invasion of Privacy
2020Tyler, the CreatorIgor

Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

Artists with multiple wins

6 wins
4 wins
2 wins
11 nominations
7 nominations
5 nominations
4 nominations
3 nominations
2 nominations