The best rap songs of May 2025

A recent tiff between underground rap promo pages has sparked an impassioned online debate about the definition of “gimmick rappers” over the past week. Most of it is boring and wrapped up in inter-promo-page politics (if you’re interested, dig in here), but it has got me thinking about how ubiquitous “gimmicks” feel these days — so much so that it’s created an environment where it feels like no artist can really be labeled as a gimmick rapper.

Being a “gimmick rapper,” or a rapper relying on antics to gain listeners, used to have a bad rap, but as the rise of TikTok and algorithmically-catapulted memes have normalized increasingly wild behavior, it feels getting up to antics has become required just to break through. That leaves us in an odd space where audiences are expected to not only tolerate but actively support clipfarming, whether it’s Playboi Carti trying to juice Billboard sales or Dave Blunts ragebaiting with racial slurs. You might consider this phenomena downstream of the general acceptance of selling out, or a natural consequence of incessant brainrot, but to me it feels more like a snapshot of the current state of entertainment, where consumers are so overloaded with options the best way to break through to being memorable is repeated, obnoxious exposure.

The big question is: Will it ever stop? It seems unlikely. Anyway, if I had to name the five worst gimmick rappers in the game right now, I would pick Will Smith five times.

The good thing is none of the following songs here rely on gimmicks for their merit. Here are the best rap songs of May 2025.

“I’m so A-T-L-A-N-T-A, G-A bitch fuck the rest.” Bankroll Ni has dropped off a new challenger for the title of song of the summer. Dethroning “WHIM WHAMIEE” would be a serious feat (especially with the song’s impending Sexyy Red remix), but “I’m so ATL” has a hydraulic bounce that I can’t get enough of. Alongside Bunna B’s “Bunna Summa” and Pluto’s “WHAMIEE,” “ATL” completes a perfect trap trifecta and I’d be shocked if we didn’t see a star-studded remix before the end of July.

Near the end 2024, Detroit rapper Luhh Dyl seriously leveled up. The early-20s rapper already had a knack for catchy songs and run-on flows, sending his low-stakes “cart music” viral on TikTok but they never felt like they truly represented Luhh Dyl. Somewhere between “Ski” and collabs with Veeze and Tee Grizzley, Dyl’s raps went from good to locked in, suddenly welded to the pocket of beats as opposed to playing off of them.

On “Wouldn’t Believe,” the 21-year-old Detroit rapper still favors dense flows, packing syllables tight into every measure as he offers divine lessons in patience and investment advice for homies. But linking up with Atlanta’s Lil Tony seems to have unlocked a new energy as he raps with a mobilized sense of purpose: “They tryna turn us against each other, let’s show them we all one equal as people / […] You want some get back, don’t get no get back /Show ’em you better, don’t show ’em you even.”

tana, FKA BabySantana, has been making waves in the underground since he was 14, collaborating with SoundCloud A-listers like Lil Tecca, tdf, skaiwater, and more. The Georgia native’s last album BANA showcased his love for Atlanta trap and Chicago drill, but his latest sxprano-produced single “New Cash” strikes out in the opposite direction: a brash, in-your-face knocker that turns a Yeat-worthy bell into a metronome. The flexes are ridiculous (“got some fine shit tying my shoes”) and the bars long (“if she yo bitch but fucking with me I don’t think she the riiiight hooooo”), but tana’s swooping flow turns them into magnetic earworms.

Latto’s biggest secret? She’s a lover girl through and through. I’ll be the first to admit that her new single “Somebody” is almost too sappy, but maybe romance should be a little embarrassing: “Damn / sheesh / you make it so hard to be P,” Latto groans. Impressionistic details sketch out the contours of a fragile relationship, like how fitting the dude into her schedule is like fitting all that ass in those jeans. “Somebody” definitely gives the impression that this guy isn’t worth Latto’s time, but the way she sings about him so tenderly could almost convince you otherwise.

“Damn my family need me / it’s like everybody need me,” Devstacks sighs partway through “LMK U MADE IT HOME OKAY,” the obvious standout from his new album 4SouljasOnly. The Massachusetts producer has gifted his moody instrumentals to everyone from OsamaSon to Kevin Abstract but like Pi’erre Bourne, he always saves himself the best bites. The song is one of total abandon, about free-falling head over heels for someone so bad that you need every bit of them you can get. The topline evokes sweeping, cinematic emotions even though the instrumental, Dev revealed on X, only uses five sounds. His bars here show similar restraint, refreshingly direct without being belabored, or worse corny. There’s something deliriously heartfelt about his hook: I need to know you’re safe, I need to know you have what you need. Being nonchalant is out! Wearing your heart on your sleeve is in!

Oakland rapper seiji oda has spoken in past interviews about how “music is meant to move people” and that he sees creating as “opening up the channel for whatever wants to come through.” It makes sense then that “NO FILLINS²,” off his electric new album HUMAN+NATURE shimmers and accelerates, frothing vocal chops and ambient chords into a deceptive dance floor heater. The track flips the iconic Bay Area record “Cupcake No Fillin” relying heavily on the sample’s hyphy bass. Meanwhile Trunk Boiz’s mini-guest verse places seiji in a lineage of NorCal players and pimps.

Of the various rappers Kendrick Lamar spotlit on GNX, AZ Chike is the one who’s seemingly capitalized the most. “Game Time” is his latest single to drop since inking a new deal with Warner Records in the wake of the release. And last week, Lamar brought Chike onstage to perform in Los Angeles. “Game Time” is more a casual-scrimmage than highlight-reel song but it’s still a treat to hear AZ Chike unspool bars over the sparse beat. “Tryna copy what I do, n***a you is not a printer,” Chike rolls his eyes early on. When we spoke at Rolling Loud back in March, I got the sense that Chike is laser-focused on maximizing his career’s second wind. If “Game Time” is any indication, his in-the-works album could take him from California icon to national name.