‘Billboard Unfiltered’: Best Rap & R&B Albums of 2024 Lists, Surprises, Snubs & 2025 Predictions

2024 is coming to an end. Billboard Unfiltered has returned with a final installment and 26th episode of the year to put a bow on the year in music.

Co-hosts Carl Lamarre, Kyle Denis, Damien Scott and Trevor Anderson reunited to highlight some of their favorite rap and R&B projects of the year while breaking down some of the misses on Billboard‘s year-end lists in both respective genres.

The crew also discussed the top storylines from hip-hop culture this year and made some bold predictions for who they see having a massive 2025.

While Future is well-represented with We Don’t Trust You (No. 2) and Mixtape Pluto (No. 9), Scott actually enjoyed the second installment We Still Don’t Trust You the most of any of Future’s output in 2024.

“That one reminded me more of HNDRXX,” he said for his snub. “That was the bag I liked him most in, so when that came in I was like, ‘He’s back in his pop-adjacent bag.’”

Denis would have liked to see LL Cool J’s The Force and BigXThaPlug’s Take Care get some love. He sang the praises of Leon Thomas’ Mutt once again, which came in at No. 1 on the best R&B albums list. “It’s really such a fantastic album,” he said. “He just sounds phenomenal on the album and he also had one of my favorite live shows of the year … I really hope next year is the year he gets a breakthrough single of his own.”

Anderson spotlighted Bryson Tiller’s self-titled album, while Lamarre saluted what Chris Brown’s been able to do on his dynamic two-decade run and his 11:11 deluxe. “Chris is entering his 20th year and the 11:11 deluxe, him being able to have ‘Residuals’ take off. That brother stays with a hit,” he added.

There was plenty of juicy storylines to choose from in what was a messy yet jam-packed 2024 in the rap world, but Anderson believes Drake’s legal action against Universal Music Group will have the biggest impact in the years to come.

“The longtail from the Drake-UMG will be the most impactful,” he declared. “I mean that just from an industry-shaking sense. It’s been a long time — if almost never — that we’ve had a star of this magnitude going against a label of that magnitude.”

Denis is anticipating Doja Cat’s return, while Anderson thinks there’s a big year on the horizon for Cardi B with the arrival of her long-awaited sophomore album. But the crew seems to agree that the stars have aligned for Doechii to make a quantum leap.

Watch the full episode below.

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