Over the years, Instagram has developed into arguably the most popular social media outlet. The rise of IG has impacted the entertainment business as a whole, and has especially made an impact on the rap industry. The app has made rappers more accessible to their fans than ever before. Unfortunately, it’s also made them accessible to their haters. We’ve seen this recently with the Instagram battle between Floyd Mayweather and 50 Cent, and the various beefs of Tekashi69, who recently called out Chief Keef and Lil Reese in a now-deleted post. We can’t forget Nicki Minaj, either, who returned to social media in the middle of the year to roast an IG hater who claimed that her body was fake.
Even with the negatives, though, Instagram is still a fun platform on which to engage with your favorite rappers and see what they’re up to. In the past year alone, we’ve been blessed with rap milestones like Meek Mill’s return home and the birth of Cardi B and Offset’s first child, Kulture. The platform also allows artists like Lil Uzi Vert and Travis Scott to give snippets and teases of music their fans have been highly anticipating all year.
We’ve also seen that Instagram actually boosts sales and popularity for songs; Tee Grizzley’s “First Day Out” tripled in sales after LeBron James posted a workout video rapping along to the song. More recently, Instagram personality Shiggy helped Drake’s “In My Feelings” reach No. 1 after he initiated the #DoTheShiggy challenge, which went viral.
The last time we updated this list, IG was a budding app; now, it’s developed into a powerful tool for celebrities and fans alike. Six years later, a lot has changed on the platform—mostly for the better. Here are 25 rappers to follow on Instagram.
Handle: @djkhaled
Followers: 11.1M
Posts: 26.1K
Why you should follow: Whether you love him or not, DJ Khaled is a social media legend. You can follow him for his top-tier shoe game, his constant hangouts with Diddy and other celebrities, or best of all, his father-son time with Asahd. His content rarely disappoints.—who doesn’t love Asahd?
Handle: @6ix9ine_
Followers: 9.1M
Posts: 106
Why you should follow: Tekashi69 is one of the most controversial artists in the world. While many disagree with most of his actions, his reckless mentality has led to a pretty entertaining Instagram. Most recently, he had the nerve to come at Chief Keef and Lil’ Reese—before he deleted the post, anyway.
Handle: @future
Followers: 12.4M
Posts: 15
Why you should follow: Future doesn’t have time to go back and forth with y’all; he’s living his best life. Although most of his content is temporary, due to him deleting posts and taking advantage of the story feature, Future is a must-follow. He’s an inspiration to all—even young ones who can’t speak yet.
Handle: @SnoopDogg
Followers: 25.5M
Posts: 37K
Why you should follow: Snoop is a real life and Instagram OG. He’s been keeping things 100 on IG since January 2011. From constant selfie videos to reposts of popular memes to classic Snoop photos, the OG rarely goes a day without multiple posts on Instagram. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch his alter ego Todd on there.
Handle: @champagnepapi
Followers: 44.3M
Posts: 4,384
Why you should follow: Is an explanation really necessary? This is Drizzy we’re talking about; The 6 God. Champagne Papi. The top artist in the industry right now, Drake is a content king, most recently capitalizing on the “Shiggy dance” craze (which of course capitalized on “In My Feelings”) with a photo of the creator himself.
Handle: @diddy
Followers: 11.2M
Posts: 13,536
Why you should follow: Like Snoop, Diddy is all for resharing memes and popular posts. He also likes to spread positivity and motivation daily and promote his mini-me, King Combs (it’s scary how similar the two are). Diddy is also always good for those “MOOD” posts as well.
Handle: @liluzivert
Followers: 7.3M
Posts: 294
Why you should follow: We’re not going to discuss the devil worship that Lil Uzi Vert is attached to (let’s hope it’s a joke), but he definitely has one of the best Instagram pages in the rap game. He’s a kid at heart and just enjoys life. He’s always looking out for the young ones and showing love to his fans. Without a doubt, though, the best part of his Insta game is his dancing videos. The dude has moves.
Handle: @blacyoungsta
Followers: 2.9M
Posts: 63
Why you should follow: Blac Youngsta is the by far the funniest dude on this list. He doesn’t have many posts up, but the majority of his gold comes from his story and live. Most of the time, his content doesn’t make any sense, but that’s what makes it entertaining. It’s nearly impossible to hate this man—take a look for yourself.
Handle: @iamcardib
Followers: 28.8M
Posts: 159
Why you should follow: Before “Bodak Yellow” skyrocketed her music career, Cardi B was poppin’ on Instagram. She was previously known for her IG video rants. Now, she’s gone global and cleaned up her account (sort of), but she still gives us classic Cardi from time to time. With Kulture here now, you already know Cardi will be chronicling her motherhood on the gram.
Handle: @offsetyrn
Followers: 7.8M
Posts: 1,932
Why you should follow: When you head to Offset’s page, be prepared for some top-tier drip. He flaunts his swag often, and it’s elite. In addition to showing off his woman, Cardi B, Offset also shows off the fact he’s a family man. Now a father of four, Offset is will likely be posting plenty more family photos with his newborn daughter.
Handle: @50cent
Followers: 19.4M
Posts: 1,790
Why you should follow: 50 Cent, Mr. Get the Strap himself, has no chill whatsoever on IG. In fact, he and Floyd Mayweather are currently in an IG beef and 50 just threw a mean right hook with this post. You should follow 50 cent for the beef alone.
Handle: @swaelee
Followers: 3.8M
Posts: 2,517
Why you should follow: Swae Lee gives us a peek into the Sremm life, which apparently includes a pet monkey that doesn’t like listening to his music and dresses in Gucci. Yes, we’re living in an age where monkeys are rocking Gucci—or at least Swae Lee is.
Handle: @kingpush
Followers: 1.7M
Posts: 1,376
Why you should follow: During the beef with Drake, Pusha T’s Instagram garnered some spotlight. Instagram had to take down his post of the picture of Drake in blackface but the damage had already been done. Even without the Drake diss, though, Pusha T has a solid Instagram page. He has a G.O.O.D. (see what we did there?) variation of content, whether it’s a handwritten letter from Diddy or his time of partying at the White House. He recently broke down his Instagram in an interview with Vanity Fair.
Handle: @pharrell
Followers: 11.2M
Posts: 906
Why you should follow: Pharrell’s content is creative, colorful, and meaningful. Although he sprinkles some performance and media content on his page, his style takes the cake. His glimpses at his Adidas collection are dope as well. Even a hyper-creative mind like Pharrell can’t resist a good selfie, though.
Handle: @lilpump
Followers: 14.9M
Posts: 301
Why you should follow: Lil Pump is talented to some, talentless to others. If there’s one thing we’re sure of, though, it’s that his Instagram page deserves some recognition. This photo of him in front of Harvard Business School is iconic, but it has nothing on him aggressively shooting his shot at iCarly aka Miranda Cosgrove.
Handle: @lilyachty
Followers: 6.5M
Posts: 70
Why you should follow: If you know anything about Lil Yachty, he promotes positivity, which angers Joe Budden. That positivity is exactly what you’ll see on his Instagram, whether he’s buying a car for his best friend, or literally just telling us how happy he is.
Handle: @2chainz
Followers: 5.1M
Posts: 7,037
Why you should follow: 2 Chainz never stops churning out IG content. It can oversaturate your timeline, but it’s worth it. He’s living a heck of a life. He went from shooting a music video with Big Sean, Nicki Minaj, and YG to playing 5-on-5 against Joel Embiid and several other NBA players 24 hours later. That’s legendary.
Handle: @travisscott
Followers: 10M
Posts: 2,633
Why you should follow: La Flame hasn’t revealed the album release date for Astroworld yet, but he continuously teases it on his Instagram stories. Besides that, Travis Scott’s page is filled with shoes and photos of himself and other celebs, in addition to his love for Houston sports. Nobody loves Houston like Travis Scott loves Houston.
Handle: @thuggerthugger1
Followers: 5.3M
Posts: 24
Why you should follow: The main appeal of Young Thug’s Instagram is his livestreams, in which he holds nothing back. In a recent stream, he had to remind everyone who the king of drip was.
Handle: @quavohuncho
Followers: 9.1M
Posts: 2,814
Why you should follow: Quavo’s Instagram is fire. His photo game is always on point, he’s funny, and he’s got unique experiences like play-sparring with Conor McGregor or hooping with Shaq’s son. Oh and of course, he’s got plenty of ice to show off.
Handle: @meekmill
Followers: 13.5M
Posts: 187
Why you should follow: When Meek Mill got out of jail, it felt like a national holiday. He’s the face of Philly and one of the top rappers in the industry. That first IG photo of his first public appearance since his release was iconic, and collected over 1 million likes. Seeing Meek post photos of himself enjoying life is great; the rap game and Philly are in a better place when that man is free.
Handle: @nickiminaj
Followers: 89.3M
Posts: 5,425
Why you should follow: No one has anywhere near the amount of followers Nicki Minaj has. The most entertaining part of her page may be her clapbacks. Even with all of her followers, Minaj has all the time in the world to talk smack right back at you in the replies and she will not hold back a thing. Here’s a whole list of times she’s clapped back.
Handle: @wizkhalifa
Followers: 21.8M
Posts: 6,462
Why you should follow: One can assume that at least 90 percent of Wiz Khalifa’s posts will involve weed, but Wiz also shows us his life beyond being a huge stoner, like his family and his home.
Handle: @asaprocky
Followers: 7.8M
Posts: 24
Why you should follow: A$AP Rocky is another one of those rappers who clears posts often, so be prepared for his temporary content. A$AP’s creativity has always stood out on his page, from the artwork to his performance photos. In addition to that, he’s good for a few jabs—he recently roasted Tyler the Creator with a glimpse into his future.
