With all the new rap and hip-hop albums out there ranging from Lil Yachty to Post Malone, it can be  difficult to choose which artists and albums to listen to. For the sake of efficiency, this year’s list of rap and hip-hop albums have been reduced to the most popular.

[divider]Logic: “Bobby Tarantino II”     [/divider]

In his 2017 album “Everybody,” Logic’s style was primarily a commentary on society; songs like “Black Spiderman” and Take it Back” were exclusively about his take on race relations in the United States as well as his experience growing up as a mixed race child. In his latest album, he breaks off from his past style, following in the footsteps of many mainstream rappers who are more about flexing their success and less about providing social commentary.

For the duration of his 2017 album “Everybody,” Logic was known for his term “Peace, Love, and Positivity” and wrote songs promoting equality, a topic that is not very prevalent in most popular rap songs.

His change in style with “Bobby Tarantino II” blends in more with modern rap and hip-hop culture, which is geared towards showing off and celebrating your own success.

This change in Logic’s style was a welcome addition to his new album, as there was no underlying social message with overtly stated political views that could potentially alienate some of his listeners. Although many issues brought up in his last album are very important and worth talking about, it was nice to hear a different side of Logic.

“Bobby Tarantino II” reached number one on the Billboard Top 100 soon after its release and currently occupies number 10 on the charts. Of the 13 songs in the album, the three that stood out to fans and made it onto the top 100 were “44 More,” “Everyday” and “Indica Badu.”

Whether you are new to Logic’s music or have been a fan for awhile, “Bobby Tarantino II” is definitely worth checking out.

[divider]Migos: “Culture II”[/divider]

The rap group Migos recently released their latest album, “Culture II” on Jan. 26, one of their 12 albums released so far. “Culture II” is the sequel to their previous album “Culture,” and both albums were historically popular, making it to the number one spot on the Billboard Top 200 list.

“Culture II” topped out at number one on Billboard Top 200 and currently holds number seven on the list, with a series of top songs within the album on the charts as well.

Along with the high ratings, “Culture II” also came out on top in terms of number of songs, that number being 24 total songs, a number rarely seen among modern rap albums. The majority of songs in the album continued Migos’s trend of trap style rap music, a style that has worked for the group for most of their career.

In the song popularity category the group did fairly well; with a total of 24 songs, three made it within the top 10 on the Billboard Top 100. The songs that made it were “Motorsport,” “Stir Fry” and “Walk It Talk It.”

[divider]XXXtentacion: “?”[/divider]

XXXtentacion, whose real name is Jahseh Onfroy, is widley accepted as one of the most controversial rappers who made the number one album spot on the Billboard this year. His latest album is one of his four albums produced through his short career that started in 2014.

His early music releases were publicized through the music streaming service, Soundcloud where he released his first major hit, “Look At Me,” which made it to number 34 on the Billboard Top 100 in 2017. His album “?” is his most recent production. The album topped out at number one on the charts and currently holds third place among 200 albums.

The album “?” contains 18 songs of which the song “SAD” is the most popular, making it to number seven on the charts.

Despite his popularity, his sucess has been overshadowed by his many criminal charges and convictions. His first major conviction during his rap career ended with him being charged with aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, domestic battery by strangulation, false imprisonment and witness tampering, according to Vulture magazine.

With this type of criminal record, it is concerning that XXXtentacion has such a large following and is such a large presence in today’s rap and hip-hop culture.

Regardless, he is one of the top newly emerging rappers on the charts today, and while he is not the best role model, the songs in his album are highly impressive.