Top 35 hottest hip-hop songs of 2021

By John D. Rushing Last updated Dec 9, 2021

HNHH’s year-end annual rankings are here. We start things off by counting the top 35 hottest hip-hop songs of 2021.

It’s hard to believe we’re already back by year-end roster time, as it’s officially called. The pandemic continues to affect all of our lives in disparate ways, depending on location, age, job and living situation; which means that, for most of us, life still has no necessarily returned to “normal”. We are still grappling with the consequences of the pandemic or the virus itself, whether through local rules and regulations or the simple fact that we have been pretty much collectively shut down throughout 2020. Nonetheless, for the the music industry, things are returning to ‘normalcy’ as best they can – that is, we are seeing new tour announcements appearing daily, and although the onset of the pandemic may have been bring some hesitation over the best new music release protocol, 2021 has pretty much been back in full swing, with major song releases (and corresponding album deployments) from OG as well as Nas, always cool artists like Duck and Tyler, the creator, as well as newcomers like Baby Keem and EST Gee. All of these artists mentioned above make an appearance in our list of the 35 Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2021 below.

This year’s roster features an eclectic mix of what was happening in hip-hop and rap, whether through a TikTok or a social media channel, YouTube or the streets. These are songs that made an impact because of the quality and strength of the #bars, or else, there were songs that could have been just plain inevitable, that grew in us because of their ubiquity. This list mixes up what we perceive to be the most talked about, longest lasting post-release, and punchiest and hottest hip-hop songs of 2021, with a splash of opinions from our staff for good measure.

Scroll down below and sound off in the comments.

Ed. To note: We have decided to narrow the list this year. You will get the detailed reports of our team by means of an overview of the “Staff of the year choices” that we will publish on Monday, December 13th. Stay tuned for this more personalized end of year approach.

– Pink