The 15 Most Underrated Rappers Right Now

Current hip-hop artists who deserve more respect.

Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

There are rappers who have it, rappers who don’t, and rappers who somehow get lost in the shuffle—the underdogs. Artists like Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, and Eminem were once considered underdogs, yet, they've all grown into superstars despite being labeled “underrated" at a point in time.

Today’s hip-hop landscape hasn't changed much. There are plenty of talented rappers, old and new, who still don't get the respect that they deserve. Read on for our breakdown of The 15 Most Underrated Rappers Right Now.

Written by Insanul Ahmed (@Incilin)

50 Cent

Age: 37
Essential Listening: The Big 10
If You Don't Believe Us Listen To: "Body On It"

We already know what you’re going to say: “What? 50 Cent is one of the most famous rappers in the world. He’s sold millions of records. Even my mother knows who is he. How can he be underrated?” But these days, people front on 50 just because of the heights he previously reached in his career.

We’re not going to argue that 50 is the hit-maker he once was. He isn’t, and the numbers back that up. However, we’d argue that 50’s lack of recent chart success is more so due to changes in culture to which 50 hasn’t been able to adapt. However, none of this means 50’s skills as an actual rapper have eroded.

Yes, his music is stagnant at times because he still wants to rap about guns and drugs when we all know he’s a millionaire playboy (and we’d much rather hear him rap about being that), but Curtis has always been a witty, entertaining master of the slow flow. His songwriting chops remain top-notch, too. 50 never got enough credit for being one of rap’s all time best chorus writers, effortlessly able to craft catchy hooks for the pop audience about hardcore topics. And he still does that pretty well.

Perhaps 50 himself came up with the best explanation for his perceived artistic decline on “Body On It.” When talking about how he never fell off and the mild reception to his last album, Before I Self Destruct, 50 claimed, “You said, ‘We cool Fif.’ You know why? Cause I won too much in front of you niggas. That's why.”

RELATED: The 25 Best 50 Cent Rants

Ab-Soul

Age: 25
Essential Listening: Control System
If You Don't Believe Us Listen To: "Terrorist Threats"

Anyone who's actually taken the time to listen to Ab-Soul’s Control System knows that he’s one the best young rappers out. However, even though TDE has had a creative takeover of the game, they haven’t had a commercial takeover (à la MMG).

We’re willing to forgive rap fans who are inundated with new music and don’t want to listen to every perceived overnight sensation. Besides, plenty of people are too busy catching up to Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q to even begin thinking about Ab, who admittedly is still the third banana of the crew.

Take our word for it and check out Ab-Soul. He's like dead prez meets Joe Budden, in the most interesting way possible. Conscious, self-aware, and simply apt at the skill of rhyming, he has a brighter future than most would guess at the moment.

RELATED: Who Is Ab-Soul?

Chief Keef

Age: 17
Essential Listening: Back From the Dead
If You Don't Believe Us Listen To: "Understand Me"

Yeah, we know. Chief Keef is a monster and he's killing hip-hop music. Whatever.

Can we all please put all the drama, all the thinkpieces, and all the thinkpieces about thinkpieces aside for a second? Let's focus on one fact: Chief Keef makes good music that resonates with today’s youth.

No, it’s not lyrical. It’s visceral. Music is not an exercise in logic. It’s emotional. You want logic? Go solve a fucking Sudoku puzzle. Keef made one of the best songs of the year, and that was before Kanye and company showed up to capitalize off his buzz.

Plus, the latest short but sweet clips of the new songs he’s working on show that Keef is already past making gritty anthems and is looking to put out more polished (and promising) records.

Childish Gambino

Age: 29
Essential Listening: Camp
If You Don't Believe Us Listen To: "Outside"

If you didn't know: The actor Donald Glover is the rapper Childish Gambino. But don't let his comic persona fool you. Gambino is talented. For real.

He's got funny punchlines, and while he takes more than a few cues from Kanye and Drake, what really makes him unique is how he raps about identity and the search to understand what it means to be black in America.

People are listening, too. His album Camp sold well for an independent project. Apparently, being on TV all the time and winning fans over in ways beyond music can’t hurt.

CyHi the Prynce

Age: 28
Essential Listening: Royal Flush II
If You Don't Believe Us Listen To: "Woopty Doo"

Let's call CyHi for what he is: An artist in his development stage who only gets as much attention as he does because of a high profile co-sign from Kanye West. Unfortunately, because of that, people tend to ignore the fact that CyHi is actually pretty nice on the mic, and has a lot of potential.

We hope CyHi is taking notes on Big Sean's progression because he's basically in the same position Sean was in a few years ago.

As Miles Davis once said, "Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself." Let the dude live and don’t expect him to become a superstar overnight. Impressive verses on G.O.O.D. Music compilation Cruel Summer show he's on his way. And when he finally puts it all together, don't act surprised.

Dom Kennedy

Age: 28
Essential Listening: The Yellow Album
If You Don't Believe Us Listen To: "My Type of Party"

The West Coast is going through a revival right now. Acts like Odd Future, Kendrick Lamar, and ScHoolboy Q continue to prove the future of L.A. hip-hop is bright. But that's not all.

The City of Angels also has Dom Kennedy, a quality rapper with a strong message and an addictive flow to match. For whatever reason, his buzz always seems to get lost in the shuffle, which is too bad, because as "My Type of Party" and The Yellow Album showed earlier this year, he can hang with the best of them.

Domo Genesis

Age: 21
Essential Listening: No Idols
If You Don't Believe Us Listen To: "The Daily News"

Most of the discussion surrounding Odd Future is about Tyler, The Creator and questions like, "When will Earl Sweatshirt's next album come out?" That makes sense, because they're the two most talented members of the group, but don't sleep on Domo Genesis.

Domo really established himself as one of the crew's nicest members on The OF Tape Vol. 2 and took his talents even further with the Alchemist-produced mixtape, No Idols. If he keeps it up, he'll be the next OFWGKTA with his own massive cult following.

Freddie Gibbs

Age: 30
Essential Listening: Baby Face Killa
If You Don't Believe Us Listen To: "Rob Me A Nigga"

Like Game, Freddie Gibbs must be wondering, “What the fuck do it take for a gangsta to win?” He's an undeniably dope MC, his 2010 EP Str8 Killa was well-received, and he’s one of the most hilarious, off-the-cuff people you’ll ever meet. So why can’t he blow up like he ought to?

We all thought his moment would come a few years ago when he scored the cover of LA Weekly and dropped an 80-song mixtape, but he hasn't progressed much beyond that. Then we thought things would really start clicking for him when he teamed up with Young Jeezy and CTE, but that move hasn’t done much for Gibbs, either.

We’re not sure what Gibbs can do to improve his status—he can’t/won’t make a commercial hit that compromises his hardcore aesthetic, that’s for sure—but here’s to hoping more people will check him out.

Future

Age: 26
Essential Listening: Pluto
If You Don't Believe Us Listen To: "Turn On The Lights"

Admit it: When Future first came out on "Racks" with his boy YC, you assumed he’d be a one-hit wonder. So what? We all thought that. Then he released “Tony Montana,” Drake got on the remix, and everyone was forced to reconsider their opinion of the Atlanta rapper.

Now, as 2012 comes to a close, a few things are abundantly clear: Future is not a one-hit wonder, highlighted by "Same Damn Time" and the fact “Turn On The Lights” just became the No. 1 rap song in the country, Future’s debut album is great, and a lot of people starting to sweat Future’s style.

Granted, Future’s Auto-Tuned persona derives from late-Aughts ambitions of Kanye West and Lil Wayne, but take one listen to Ty Dolla $ign’s (watch out for him) “My Cabana” or Lil Durk's "Right Here" and tell us Future’s flow ain’t the future.

Gunplay

Age: 30
Essential Listening: 601 & Snort
If You Don't Believe Us Listen To: "Take This"

Don Logan was too underrated for too long until he broke out this year. We can't help but use the defense of, "But he never did anything dope before!" Okay, "Rollin'" was dope. But still.

Gunplay is a relevant solo artist primarily because of two excellent guest verses: the first on Kendrick Lamar's “Cartoons and Cereal” and the second on MMG’s “Power Circle.” While most people aren't sleeping on those verses, they are sleeping on his highly entertaining mixtapes, Bogota Rich and 601 & Snort.

Even if Gunplay’s songwriting needs some work (his mixtapes are filled with mostly freestyles), he has more personality than your average rapper and is definitely more than just Rick Ross’ weed carrier. Hail Logan!

Heems

Age: 27
Essential Listening: Nehru Jackets
If You Don't Believe Us Listen To: "SWATE"

Heems is probably the most significant rapper that gets what feels like no love from the general rap audience. Maybe it’s because the music he and his group Das Racist make isn't always easily digestible, or maybe it’s because people aren’t ready to take a Punjabi MC seriously yet.

Whatever the case, if you aren’t already paying attention to Heems, you should start now because he’s always got something to say. And no, he doesn’t just rap about being Indian. As his mixtape Nehru Jackets showed, he can get political (“NYC Cops") and he can be plain old fun ("Womyn”).

King Chip

Age: 25
Essential Listening: Tell Ya Friends
If You Don't Believe Us Listen To: "(Bitch I) Feel Good"

You probably know the artist formerly known as Chip Tha Ripper as the guy who spits guest verses on Kid Cudi tracks. The question is, did you ever take the time out to listen to his mixtapes?

King Chip does lack a genuine breakout song, but he's dope. If his guest spot on Cudi's new single "Just What I Am" is any indication, he's getting better, too. If he ups his output, it'll only be so long until Chip starts getting that widespread recognition he's been seeking for the past few years.

Mac Miller

Age: 20
Essential Listening: Macadellic
If You Don't Believe Us Listen To: "Loud"

Mac Miller is easily the strangest case on this list. After scoring a No. 1 album last year, he’s become one of the most successful independent rappers ever. And he’s got a gang of fans who not only swear by him, but look, dress, and act like him. (“I can spot a Mac Miller fan because they look like they watched one of my videos and went clothes shopping,” says Mac.)

On the other hand, he’s hated on by everyone from the critics at Pitchfork (who gave his album an abysmal 1.0) to fellow rappers like Danny Brown and blog commenters everywhere. But the truth is, no one would hate on Mac so much if he wasn’t so damn successful. Or white.

We’ll chalk it up to the “penalty of leadership” and remind everyone that Mac is, in fact, a perfectly decent rapper. He's not going anywhere, either.

Travis Porter

Age: Strap (21), Ali (21), Quez (22)
Essential Listening: From Day 1
If You Don't Believe Us Listen To: "Ayy Ladies"

Simply put, Travis Porter makes strip club anthems. They're good at crafting the kinds of songs that blow out sound systems and make girls want to take off their clothes at the same (damn) time, and there's nothing wrong with that.

The problem is, they're not very good at releasing songs at the right time or even picking the right songs to give a push. Their career so far can be best described as "mismanaged." Hopefully, the guys will wise up and learn to strike when the iron is hot.

Tyga

Age: 22
Essential Listening: Careless World: Rise of the Last King
If You Don't Believe Us Listen To: "Faded"

Tyga’s first two singles from his last album (“Far Away” and “Still Got It”) didn't make the kind of impact he was hoping for. Then he dropped “Rack City” and struck gold. “Faded” was a huge follow-up and both singles went platinum.

Yet, the fact that Tyga still struggles to get respect is entirely unfair. Tyga makes fun club anthems—the kind of music he wants to make—and he’s really good at that. At such a young age, count on him scoring more hits down the line.