As long as there’s been hip-hop, rappers have been trying to prove they’re the best. In the same way ESPN keeps a running Power Rankings, every month we survey the hip-hop landscape and rank the ten artists making the most powerful moves. The first-place getter gets 10 points; the last-place getter gets only one. Frankly, our exact formula’s a secret—a complicated secret, and it has to be complicated. Sports is a pure numbers game, but music is about so much more.
We’re in the homestretch of 2015 and the battle to claim the top spots are more heated than ever. After spending the last few months gaining ground, this month Drake took his foot off the gas, opening the door for a 4TH quarter Kendrick Lamar comeback. Who will end up taking home the 2015 crown? The race is on.


#1 Kendrick Lamar

change From Last Month: + 3 spots Total Points This Year: 80 Overall Rank This Year: #2


Don’t call it a comeback. For the last few months Kendrick has slowly but surely fallen behind Drake for the number one spot in the Rankings, but this month he came back strong while Drizzy fell back. First, rumors circulated that Kendrick would retire from performing his TPAB album soon because “We did that album for people who can’t even afford to go to shows,” further driving home the point that Kendrick and TPAB were simply on another level. And then, at the end of the month, K. Dot teamed up with J. Coe for a Black Friday release where he rapped circles around the game. Watch out Drake, Kendrick might just grab the year’s Most Powerful crown after all.


#2 Future

Change From Last Month: +4 Total Points This Year: 43 Overall Rank This Year: #4

After a slow start to year, the second half of 2015 has been month after month of Future’s lighting up headlines and blowing up headphones. He whetted fans’ appetites by saying he has more than 10 new projects ready to go (including Monster 2), and he already released four new songs featuring his auto-tuned croon, most notably “One Helluva Night” and a collab with Jeremih and Big Sean, “Royalty.” When the year comes to a close Future Hendrix might not be on the top of the top, but there’s no doubting who deserves 2015’s Most Improved award.


#3 Rick Ross

Change From Last Month: +4 Total Points This Year: 14 Overall Rank This Year: #9

After a nearly silent start to 2015, the four quarter has found the Bawse putting up some serious points on the board. With an upcoming album to promote, he’s been making the media rounds, pumping out memorable interview after memorable interview, and releasing new music like his Renzel Remixes mixtape and the lush album single “Crocodile Python.” It’s too little too late to really make his mark on the entire year, but don’t sleep on Ross—if his Black Market album really hits, he could easily end up owning the end of this year.

#4 Kanye West

Change From Last Month: -2 Total Points This Year: 60 Overall Rank This Year: #3

Kanye West released precisely no new music this month and was still one of the most talked-about rappers alive. For the anniversary of his classic MBDTF album, the internet gave itself over to revisiting the work, which means Kanye had one of the month’s most listened-to and talked-about albums, even though it was years old. Plus, in his “Black Friday” song, Kendrick repeatedly shouted out Kanye and endorsed his quasi-presidency. Now just imagine what would happen if he actually released that album we’ve been waiting all year for…


#5 J. Cole

Change From Last Month: Not ranked last month Total Points This Year: 27 Overall Rank This Year: #5


In January, he was still riding the wave of success from his 2014 Forest Hills Drive album, but as 2015 progressed he became quieter.
Until this month. First, he was one of the few producers to be officially chosen to remix a Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It,” a huge honor for any hip-hop producer. Second, he traded beats with Kendrick for their aforementioned “Black Friday” releases, once again ensuring that his name belongs in any conversation about the Best Rappers Alive This Year. The fact that Cole’s still so high in these rankings while having released such little music is proof that he’s mastered the balance of quality over quantity.


#6 Drake

Change From Last Month: -5 Total Points This Year: 89 Overall Rank This Year: #1

For most rappers a number six spot in the Rankings would be a huge accomplishment, but for Drake it represents a downfall. For nearly every month this year he’s been in the top three, and most often holding down the number one spot.
But November was an unusually quiet month for Drizzy. No new music, no new music videos—the biggest headline he was involved in was when CNN falsely reported that he had died in a car accident. Still, if this year’s taught us anything, it’s that Drake’s capable of going from 0-100 in a matter of minutes. All it takes is one song, one Instagram post, one remix with Adele, and he’s right back on top. Your move, Aubrey Graham.

#7 Eminem

Change From Last Month: Not ranked last month. Total Points This Year: 16 Overall Rank This Year: #9

This month, Em announced that he’s investing in lyric-annotating site Genius, an announcement that came paired with a promise that he’d be personally breaking down his lyrics. Fans pored over those breakdowns like they were long lost religious texts, a fan base that apparently includes Aziz Ansari, who made some Eminem lyrics the centerpiece of an episode of his new hit show, Master of None. When you create work as complex as Slim Shady, you flex your power even years after you first created that work.

#8 Tech N9ne

Change From Last Month: Not ranked last month. Total Points This Year: 12 Overall Rank This Year: #12

This month Tech continued his nearly inhuman grind by releasing his Strangeulation Vol. II album, a project that both added to his personal discography and showcased the artists on his Strange Music label. Strange may get treated by much of the mainstream as an “underground” label, but the simple truth is they’re outselling most major labels, and doing it by simply releasing better music than most major labels. You simply can’t talk about hip-hop in 2015 without talking about Tech N9ne, and you can’t talk about November without talking about Tech N9ne. He won’t be underestimated for long.


#9 Meek Mill

Change From Last Month: Not ranked last month. Total Points This Year: 12 Overall Rank This Year: #10

A lot of people were quick to bury Meek Mill’s career after Drake inarguably beat him during their “beef,” but someone forgot to tell Meek that he should stop rapping. This month, he dropped his new video to “Lord Knows” and it turns out that when people just focus on his music, they really like that music. The nearly two million people who have watched “Lord Knows” are certainly still interested in what Meek has to say, and so maybe Drake didn’t do as much damage as we assumed. Lord only knows how big he could have been this year without that beef, but right here, right now, Meek’s career is far from over. In some ways, it feels like it’s just getting started.


#10 Vince Staples

Change From Last Month: Not ranked last month. Total Points This Year: 8 Overall Rank This Year: #14

Vince Staples’ Summertime ’06 album is the reason he’ll go down in 2015’s history books, but the reasons he’s emerged as a rap power to be reckoned with this year extend far past just his music. Staples has routinely shown himself to be one of the most thought-provoking and quotable rappers around, traits that made him both the centerpiece of debate after he said that he wasn’t particularly enamored with ’90s hip-hop and showed more people that his is a voice worth listening to. And don’t get it twisted: he’s not silent on the music front, either, as he’s currently in the midst of opening for A$AP Rocky’s national tour. Whether he’s in front of a studio mic or an interview mic, Staples just can’t be ignored these days. Now that’s power.


Source: http://greenlabel.com/sound/rap-power-rankings-november-2015/