Rappers to Watch in 2020
From 2KBABY to Pop Smoke to Rod Wave, these are the 25 up and coming rappers you need to look out for in 2020.
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We’re just two weeks deep in a new year, and there’s a fresh crop of rappers who are ready to take over 2020 and define the sound of the next decade. But as rap continues to get more stylistically diverse, there isn’t a single aesthetic that ties all these new artists together. At the same time that Brooklyn artists like Pop Smoke and Fivio Foreign are carving out a lane for themselves with hard-hitting drill music, rappers like Rod Wave and 2KBABY are thriving with music that sits on the more melodic side of hip-hop. Meanwhile, Kenny Mason, MAVI, and other lyrically minded artists are building loyal followings thanks to their throwback approaches to rap. With so much exciting music coming from so many directions, the Complex Music team has put together a list of rising rappers worth paying attention to. And as you make your way through our selections, it’s important to note: Baby Keem, Don Toliver, Roddy Ricch, and others are also poised to have massive years in 2020, but they don’t appear on this list because they were each named last year among 2019’s Rappers to Watch. These are 25 rappers to watch in 2020.
2KBABY
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“We didn't have shit,” 2KBABY says of his upbringing in Louisville. “We were really starving. That shit's fucked up.” You don’t need to read interviews to get acquainted with the life story of the 19-year-old rapper, though. 2KBABY puts it all in his music. With a natural knack for melody that separates him from most peers, he makes songs that paint the picture of a young artist who isn’t afraid of the hardships from his past, but also has ambitions to take over the world. Over the past few months, he’s been getting buzz for tracks like “Old Streets” and “Dreamin,” which show his effortless ability to write sticky hooks that have a way of climbing inside your brain and never leaving. And he says he already has songs with collaborators like Sonny Digital and DaBaby in the can, so it looks like Masked Records’ first signee will only build on his momentum in 2020. —Eric Skelton
Kenny Mason
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In a celebratory letter to his fans in late December, Kenny Mason revealed that he’s never obtained a million of anything. That is, until he garnered his first 7-digit view count on the aptly titled 2019 single, “HIT.” Adding to a strong catalog that includes songs like “Nike II,” “22,” and “G.O.A.T.”—the latter of which was featured in the latest season of Euphoria—“HIT” is a strong-armed statement from one of Atlanta’s most exciting new artists. Whether he’s floating over beats anchored by sluggish synths, pop rhythms, or plunging 808s, Kenny Mason keeps a stash of flows and witty bars that show he has the makings of a true star. The self-proclaimed angelic hoodrat skillfully bounces between the evolving scenes of trap and alternative rap, and like any player who can play multiple sides of the floor, he’s forcing his peers to step their game up. If you don’t believe us when we say he’s up next, co-signs from Denzel Curry, Young Nudy, J.I.D, and EarthGang should help prove his case. —Kemet High
Lil Loaded
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As mentioned throughout this list, drill music took over in Brooklyn last year, and expect the trend to continue in the rest of the country, like Texas, where Lil Loaded is busy putting up numbers. Last summer, the 18-year-old Duncanville, Texas native rose to prominence thanks to the instant success of his viral hit, “6locc 6a6y,” a colossal banger that’s already amassed millions of plays. And with other songs like the immediately catchy, melodic “Out My Body,” he’s already proven he has a variety of styles at his disposal. Fresh off his first project, December’s 6locc 6a6y, Lil Loaded just might be poised to be the Lone Star state’s biggest breakout rapper of 2020. —Brad Callas
Fivio Foreign
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If Pop Smoke’s “Welcome to the Party” is the most well-known anthem of the Brooklyn drill scene so far, Fivio Foreign’s “Big Drip” is a very close number two. Fivio treats the song’s unrelenting instrumental, provided by fellow star-in-the-making AXL Beats, like a street corner, posting up to talk shit, woo girls, and establish his dominance beyond any question. The song’s success helped Fivio ink a deal with Columbia, and he released the Pain and Love EP in November to capitalize on his momentum. Aside from his breakout single, the hard-edged MC has also impressed on tracks like “Jumpin” and the punishing “Pop Out.” Fivio also recently collaborated with Rich the Kid on “Richer Than Ever,” bringing the Atlanta MC into his grim, grimy world, and he reportedly has music with Meek Mill, too. By branching out, he’s ensuring that his grizzled baritone echoes well beyond the five boroughs, and he’s asserting himself as a key figure in the current East Coast revival. —Grant Rindner
Dee Watkins
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Florida has a reputation for raising young rappers who can effortlessly translate stories of street life into catchy, melodic rap songs, and Dee Watkins is the latest to grab our attention. What sets Watkins apart from his peers, though, is a natural bounce that sits at the core of his best songs. Recent standouts like “Goin Broke” and “Walk Like A, Talk Like A” are guided by an infectious exuberance that make them endlessly catchy without having to follow traditional pop conventions. He recently described some of his biggest hits as simply “fun songs with good videos,” and while that’s true at first glance, there’s also sneaky depth and nuance to his songwriting. Dee Watkins makes songs that you can party to in one setting, and learn life lessons from in another. He can really do it all. —Eric Skelton
Pop Smoke
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If you spent any time outside in Brooklyn this summer, you heard Pop Smoke’s “Welcome to the Party” blaring from cars, apartment buildings, and clubs. The 20-year-old rapper’s gruff, deep vocals laid the foundation for the city’s unofficial Song of the Summer, and he didn’t let up when the season ended. Pop proved he wasn’t a one-hit-wonder with the follow-up success of Meet the Woo standout, “Dior,” and he ended 2019 by getting Travis Scott on a drill song with “GATTI.” For a moment, there were whispers that some of his songs end up sounding similar to one another, but his Power 106 freestyle over 50 Cent'’s “U Not Like Me” beat proves he can switch things up and play with a variety of sounds. 2020 will give him a chance to prove his stylistic diversity, but for now, Brooklyn drill is one of rap’s most exciting subgenres and Pop Smoke is its biggest star. —Eric Skelton
Rod Wave
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Rod Wave has been steadily gaining momentum for years with the success of three consecutive Hunger Games mixtapes, but it’s his Ghetto Gospel project in 2019 that earned him his biggest looks yet and foreshadowed an exciting new chapter to come. With barely any previous chart success, the project landed at No. 10 on the Billboard 200, and his name shot up to the top of the trending list on YouTube. With popular tracks like “Heart on Ice” and “Dark Clouds,” both of which racking up tens of millions views on YouTube alone, Rod has established his sound as a Florida artist who delivers vulnerable hood tracks with a strong ear for melody. Ghetto Gospel set the bar for his next project rather high, but it’s already clear that 20-year-old has the chops to build on his momentum in 2020. —Jessica McKinney
Mulatto
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It’s easy to be skeptical of a 21-year-old rapper born in Ohio who goes by Mulatto. It’s even easier to be skeptical of a rapper whose first claim to fame comes from winning The Rap Game, a reality series on Lifetime. But, surprisingly enough, Lifetime recognizes game, of which Mulatto has plenty. She takes the tropes of Southern bounce and infuses them with Atlanta strip club swag, landing somewhere between City Girls and Rico Nasty. “Bitch From da Souf” features a beat from Bankroll Got It and a video populated by blue hair, a blue Porsche, and Dolce shoes. Mulatto’s musical ability is top notch, but the way she carries herself is almost as important. She exudes confidence. The description for “Bitch From da Souf’s” video on YouTube is simple: “Its over for ya'll rap hoes... 2019 is mine!” She’s right. —Will Schube
YGTUT
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If you’re sleeping on the talent coming out of Chattanooga, Tennessee, YGTUT is your well-needed source of caffeine. The literal preacher’s son turned street pastor showed his promise early when, aside from bodying verses with the city’s other star, Isaiah Rashad, he also released an impressive 16-song diary in 2015 called Preacher’s Son. Anchored by standouts like “Sunday Service,” “Kids These Days,”,and “Hangin,” Preacher’s Son is a near-flawless debut tape. He kept this momentum going on follow-ups like Save It in 2018 and I.O.U. in 2019. Similar to the role of his father, YGTUT finds transformative ways to empathize with the masses, address struggles, and acknowledge triumphs, each and every time he steps up to speak. Last month, he put out a call for beats on Twitter with a vision of getting one billion Spotify streams in the year 2020. Considering his calculated and elongated hot streak, the goal feels possible. Not even snowfall can cool him down. —Kemet High
Duke Deuce
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Just one scroll on your Twitter timeline would have told you Duke Deuce is a star in the making. The last year and a half was a whirlwind for Duke: After dropping viral singles like “Yeh” and “Whole Lotta,” the Memphis artist made his own mark in the industry, spawning a dance craze and the #StylenChallenge. The movement also gave the Quality Control signee invaluable exposure—even the Migos and Cardi B shouted him out on social media. Although it won’t be long until fans move on to the next hottest hip-hop dance, something tells us Duke Deuce has the star power and quality music to ride this moment for a whole lot longer. —Jessica McKinney
MAVI
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MAVI is a 20-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina who happens to be very good at rapping and a student of neuroscience at Howard University. After listening to MAVI’s stellar Let the Sun Talk, though, the dichotomy makes sense. The young emcee uses a plethora of worldly influences to shape his raps. His is a universe populated by references both esoteric and easily relatable, an impressionistic sketch of being young and black in the United States of America. This is inherently political music, but MAVI’s cleverness spreads across bars of humor and sorrow, too. He can’t even legally drink yet, but he’s got better lines than your one 30-year-old cousin always freestyling on IG Live. MAVI emerged quickly and powerfully, somehow fully-formed as a confident artist with an unbreakable aesthetic. Let the Sun Talk was uploaded to SoundCloud as one 32-minute track, which is the best way to consume the album. It’s unrelenting, but breathes with the epiphany of self-discovery. MAVI knows more than most, and we can’t wait to learn more. —Will Schube
Yung Baby Tate
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Yung Baby Tate has an extremely diverse set of artistic skills, and she’s as sharp a rhymer and writer as any. Look no further than the irresistibly boastful “That Girl” from her 2019 album GIRLS, where she drops bars sure to leave listeners snickering (“Baby, I’m a job, you a hobby”). Across GIRLS, Tate shows off her many modes, spitting nimbly on the warm “Cozy Girl,” crooning alongside Baby Rose on “Lover Girl,” and bouncing around a jaunty house beat with Kari Faux on “Hot Girl.” Born in Atlanta, Tate isn’t short on southern charm, but there’s a universality to her music that makes her a perfect star for the modern era. She was a standout contributor to the Dreamville album (“Don’t Hit Me Right Now”), and won many fans over with her viral take on Nicki Minaj’s “Megatron.” Yung Baby Tate may well be one of your favorite artist’s favorite artists. She should probably be one of yours, too. —Grant Rindner
Sherwood Marty
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Sherwood Marty is next up out of Baton Rouge. “Sherwood Baby” from 2017 was his first legitimate hit, but it took the young MC a while to cash in on his promise and potential. After a collaborative mixtape with OMB Peezy and a record deal with 300 Entertainment, though, it seems like 2020 is finally Marty’s year. He’s been bubbling for three or four years, but he’s still an underdog in Baton Rouge. The city’s pool of rap talent is so rich that even emerging stars have trouble catching shine when megastars like YoungBoy Never Broke Again and veterans like Kevin Gates and Boosie still occupy the glow in Louisiana’s second city, but Marty’s melodic flow and ability to translate street tales to the masses has him pegged for stardom. —Will Schube
22Gz
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22Gz isn’t technically brand new to the game, as his career first took off in 2016 with the release of “Suburban.” And he later nabbed the attention of Kodak Black, who signed the 22 to the Sniper Gang imprint. Then, his 12-track tape, The Blixky, which arrived in July 2019, helped establish him as one of the most important voices within the exploding drill scene in Brooklyn. While 22Gz might not be considered a rookie by some standards, he’s certainly on the verge of breaking into the big leagues, which makes him worthy of inclusion on this list. And with drill music getting bigger and more mainstream by the day, he has a real chance of becoming a superstar. Keep an eye on 22Gz in 2020. —Jessica McKinney
Kota the Friend
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Existing in the middle of a Brooklyn’s drill movement, Kota the Friend brings a different sound to his neighborhood. Reminiscent of Chance the Rapper in his Acid Rap days, Kota’s wordplay stays on Scrabble, as his lyrics frequently rip attention away from the beat. His 2019 release, Foto, takes listeners through vivid timestamps of his life, including interludes from his family members that will make you appreciate the memories you’ve shared with your own. With his conversational cadence, songs like “For Colored Boys,” “Hollywood,” and “Sedona” come to life in 3-minute stories that you can flip through like an actual photo book. He’s found comfort in his lane, and despite the exploding scene around him, he isn’t worried about conforming to the rest of his rap class. “No longer offended by anyone saying all my music sound the same,” he recently said on Twitter. “At least it doesn't sound the same as all the rest of the shit out there. It’s me bitch, that's why it sound the same. It’s really me.” —Kemet High
Hitman
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Not much is known about Hitman, and that’s not just because he has the least SEO-friendly name of anyone on this list. His only real traces on the internet come in the form of two projects, 2018’s The Real Tallahassee Pain and 2019’s Street Poetry, but so far, we like what we hear. The young rapper has a knack for weaving together vivid street tales in a way that’s at once honest and addictive, and all his talents come together on his best song yet, “Dumb Lick.” Over a sample of Nina Simone’s 1965 classic “Feeling Good,” Hitman lays out a daily mantra about staying focused on his business and stacking riches. Sure, you can technically call “Dumb Lick” a rap song, but after hearing Hitman pour himself out over wailing electric guitars and harmonicas, it becomes clear it might be more accurate to classify this as contemporary soul music. At this point, Hitman’s a mystery, but he’s clearly onto something. —Eric Skelton
Flo Milli
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Flo Milli erupted on the scene with her irresistible hit single, “Beef FloMix.” The track, which went viral on TikTok, has since garnered more than five million streams on Spotify and turned the spotlight on this queen in the making. “In the Party,” another fun track that arrived a year after her breakthrough single, displays her ability to create upbeat dance records that are consistent, yet also stand apart. The Mobile, Alabama rapper’s bubbly, intoxicating delivery defies regional sounds, making her a versatile artist whose music can travel well beyond her hometown. She’s a star. —Jessica McKinney
Quando Rondo
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Quando Rondo has been making waves in the industry since 2017, but his Lil Baby-assisted single “I Remember,” which was released in 2018, is what helped take his career to the next level. The retrospective track finds the rapper putting his vulnerabilities on wax and reliving hard times, and it helped catch the attention of a massive audience and land him a record deal with YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s Atlantic Records imprint, Never Broke Again LLC. Quando Rondo is only 20 years old, but he has the maturity to reflect on life experiences that range from heartbreak to street violence. His debut album, QPac, is more proof of his potential starpower. He’s not the first artist to compare himself to Tupac, and probably not the last, but it’s worth noting that he has a knack for writing lyrics that depict the brutal realities of the world around him, just like the late legend. —Jessica McKinney
Sheff G
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It’s been a few years since Sheff G’s hit “No Suburban” went viral in 2017, but as drill music continues to transition to mainstream success, Sheff is a clear choice as one of its rappers to watch. As mainstream artists like Travis Scott and Drake begin to show love to the subgenre, Sheff G anchors the scene with an important dose of authenticity. On tracks like “Flows” and “Tonight,” he combines grim and unapologetically hood bars with dynamic and smooth production. And while his excellent 2019 project, The Unluccy Luccy Kid, appears to be made with his core audience in mind, it also succeeds in connecting with a wide community of listeners. If he continues on this path, Sheff G is about to have a massive year in 2020. —Jessica McKinney
Smoove L
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Any New Yorker will tell you that the water is different in the five boroughs. That’s why the pizza and bagels are better, but it’s also why the talent out of (especially) Brooklyn is as rich as it’s ever been. The tiers of popularity among the city’s emcees suggests a very healthy ecosystem. There’s room for stars and up-and-comers alike, with each bracket gaining respect and traction as the area’s scene continues to grow. Smoove L is a star in New York, but his national rise is still on the way up. His SoundCloud tracks routinely garner millions of streams, and his unique, rapid-fire flow makes him a standout in a crowded scene. The way Smoove moves between speed-fueled bars of street hustles to melodic lines about the girl he wants, signals maturity and mastery of his artistry. He’s a rapper’s rapper with mainstream appeal, offering technical flourishes for the rap heads and sticky choruses for radio-friendly listeners. Standing out in Brooklyn these past few years has been difficult for some, as the scene is impossibly rich, although it’d be hard to tell while watching Smoove L’s rise. —Will Schube
Drego and Beno
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Though they’re two of the younger members of Detroit’s burgeoning rap scene, Drego and Beno project a veteran cool and unflappability that makes their sordid street tales feel unnervingly realistic. The duo, who split verses with old school, your-turn-my-turn aplomb, dropped two impressive projects in 2019, Meet Us Outer Space and Sorry for the Auto Tune. The former features woozy, hypnotic tracks like “So High” and “Keep on Going,” as well as the Detroit all-star cut “Slimed Out,” where the pair hold their own among some of the best MCs in the midwest. Drego and Beno are immensely versatile, capable of the aforementioned melodic records and bruising street anthems like “Fake OG” and “Slatt Season.” Though they occasionally use similar deliveries, as Pitchfork pointed out, there’s a noticeable difference between Beno’s blustering confidence and Drego’s steely resolve. What remains consistent across their rapidly expanding discography is their innate chemistry and joy for the act of rapping, even if their demeanors are too cool and calculated to show it. —Grant Rindner
Sleepy Hallow
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Sleepy Hallow spent 2019 emerging from Sheff G’s shadow. The childhood friends from Brooklyn spent much of the year collaborating on each others’ tracks, with Hallow all over Sheff’s stellar The Unluccy Luccy Kid, and Sheff appearing throughout Sleepy’s breakthrough tape, Don’t Sleep. While Sleepy’s emergence is in some part due to his affiliation with Brooklyn’s foremost drill enthusiast, his music diverges in crucial ways from Sheff G’s. Sleepy Hallow builds his songs around sticky melodies that go down smoothly, populating his songs with acoustic guitars, like on his breakthrough track “Breaking Bad.” Sleepy Hallow is less a descendent of Sheff G than a representative of a different perspective of Brooklyn. Together, their reign is only getting started. —Will Schube
King Von
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Chicago natives may have been aware of King Von in the early days of his career, but it wasn’t until the rapper signed to Lil Durk’s Only the Family label in 2018 that Von’s streaming numbers and view counts on YouTube really began shooting up to astronomical heights. His May 2019 single, “Crazy Story 2.0” featuring Durk, debuted on Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. He followed that up with his album, Grandson, Vol. 1, which debuted at No. 75 on the Billboard 200. As Brooklyn and other parts of New York are beginning to take back some of the hip-hop spotlight once again, King Von is a reminder to never sleep on what’s happening in Chicago. He’s got something special. —Jessica McKinney
Kali
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Kali isn’t the easiest artist to track down on social media or YouTube, but her emphatic energy on “Mami” immediately attention grabbing. The rising star released the magnetic anthem in April 2019, instantly drawing in a massive engagement on Twitter due to her confident bars and bouncy flow. While wome will compare her to other female rappers in the game, due to her raunchy and hyper-sexual lyrics, her delivery is quite distinctive. She’s seductive and ominous, but her tone of voice is sprightly and animated, which separates her from other peers in her lane. And although Kali’s musical output has been significantly lower than other artists on this list, we love what we’ve heard so far, and she already shows real potential of carving out a successful lane for herself. —Jessica McKinney
Jackboy
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It’s hard to believe it’s been over two years since Jackboy made his career-making appearance on “My Klik,” a standout cut from Kodak Black’s 2017 mixtape Project Baby 2. By then, he was already being heralded as the next star of South Florida’s rap scene, on the back of his breakout mixtape, 2017’s New Jack City. Alas, Kodak’s protegé’s rise was stalled in recent years by legal troubles, as he was shuffled in and out of prison multiple times between 2017 and 2019. But since his release from jail last August, the Sniper Gang artist has been steadily releasing music, highlighted by his latest mixtape, September’s Lost In My Head. His strongest solo effort thus far, the hard-hitting project includes everything from aggressive anthems (“In the Uber With the Ruger”) to heartfelt missives (“Bipolar”) to romantic jams (“Live and Learn”). Jackboy’s rise to mainstream attention has been a long time coming, and 2020 looks like it might be the year the stars align. —Brad Callas
