The Best Female Rappers Right Now

Female rappers refuse to be sidelined in the male-dominated hip-hop world. This list celebrates those who dominate beats with their rhymes and shake up the industry. We’re featuring Megan Thee Stallion’s smooth Texas style and Nicki Minaj’s enduring reign. Doja Cat brings a whirlwind of styles while GloRilla’s risen to fame in record time. Flo Milli delivers infectious energy, and Tierra Whack’s creativity sets her apart. Rapsody brings soul and skill, while Snow Tha Product effortlessly weaves English and Spanish. Finally, Jean Grae’s unique style, reminiscent of pioneers like MC Lyte and Lauryn Hill, has shaped the underground hip-hop scene, solidifying her place amongst the influential female rap artists.

So let’s get into it. From Doja Cat, Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion, and Cardi B, to Jean Grae, Rapsody and Che Noir, here are the best female rappers right now ranked and rated by our fans.

Treating the studio like a stage, her albums play out like musical theater where Simz is the lead actress, reciting introspective monologues about her deepest struggles. She’s a poet when it comes to writing, never afraid to get personal as she tackles her own mental health through an array of quick-witted rhymes. Simz has a knack for turning her thoughts to words, penning some of the most vulnerable tracks in hip hop history with the clever wordplay and vivid storytelling talent to always keep it entertaining. From the witty highlights of Grey AREA to the musical therapy sessions of NO THANK YOU, Simz is unrivaled in the UK.

Killing it in the underground for the past half decade, Che Noir is long overdue for her flowers. Take the gritty East Coast sound of the Griselda crew and the lyrical finesse of Rapsody, and Che Noir is the result. She’s far more than your average grimy MC; instead of simply bragging over a gritty boom bap beat, she flips the hardcore sound to get as personal as possible, hooking the listener with her swaggering mic presence and keeping their attention with some deeply introspective tales. Dropping six projects in just three years, her unparalleled work ethic has led to one of the most consistent runs in rap this decade. Balancing a hardcore sound with an introspective pen, Che Noir is the complete package.

Doja Cat is a rapper who needs no introduction. Sometimes she’s like the female equivalent to Eminem, telling wild tales of tragic romance with an unpredictable energy and wicked sense of humor like she was taught directly by Shady himself. When she isn’t reciting vivid stories, Doja is making hypnotic pop rap hits, perfecting the balance between melodic hooks and hard-hitting verses to appeal to pop and rap fans alike. Displaying lightning-fast flows and enough charisma to rap for hours on end, Doja Cat has proven she’s more than just another average popstar. With news in 2023 that she’s ditching pop music to make a full-on hip hop album, it won’t be long before Doja climbs even higher up the list.

Rapsody’s last project may have been four years ago, but an elite run of features has kept her in the running for best female MC this decade. She tells stories of her inspirations and aspirations that anyone could relate to, but with a superhuman technical ability most rappers could only dream of. With complex rhyme patterns, a clever sense of wordplay and the vast vocabulary to never repeat a rhyme, delivering a great verse is as easy as breathing for the North Carolina legend. Going bar for bar with Kendrick Lamar or stealing the show from Busta Rhymes, no feat is too great for Rapsody.

Is it any surprise that Nicki Minaj ranked this high? She was one of the best female MCs a decade ago and will still be one of the best in ten years’ time. Nicki has the same longevity as any GOAT contender, reigning over the radio for a decade straight, and continuing to dominate with bangers like “Super Freaky Girl” and “Red Ruby Da Sleeze”. Where Nicki shines most is in her delivery – yelling into the microphone with a manic energy and hyperactive set of flows, her verses are as vibrant and attention-grabbing as her extravagant outfits. Balancing cutthroat ferocity with limitless pop appeal, she can murder the haters and get a crowd dancing in the same verse.

If this list was about the slickest flows in the game, Megan would rank number one. Her mic presence is as smooth as the soulful beats she rhymes over, displaying a level of technical prowess no current female MC can compete with. With a range of quick flows and cadences, she moves her voice like an instrument, making even the simplest bar sound impressive thanks to her colorful delivery. Even without a pen, the Texas MC can destroy any instrumental, lighting up the studio with a set of fiery freestyles on Something for Thee Hotties. While her pop-centric production doesn’t appeal to all hip hop heads, nobody can deny that Megan is one of the most well-rounded MCs working today.

Making a name for herself in the New York underground, Jean Grae has represented the abstract scene for decades, and her lyrical talent is only getting sharper with age. Keeping the essence of boom bap alive with an ear for jazzy, laidback beats, Jean pairs her abstract production with an unorthodox pen game, spitting lyrical puzzles full of cryptic wordplay and intricate rhyme schemes. Using her strange rhyming techniques to preach female empowerment and equality, Grae is like the modern equivalent to Queen Latifah, keeping those themes of feminism relevant with a colorful style no MC can mimic. The Queen of abstract hip hop, you won’t find many MCs as authentically creative as Jean Grae.

Cardi B’s best rap rhymes are so dirty they make GloRilla and City Girls sound clean. To call her lyrics explicit would be an understatement, describing her sex life with cartoonishly extreme metaphors and enough graphic stories to give her music an R-rating. What makes Cardi so impressive isn’t just her unapologetic raunchiness and sex appeal, but the fact she never fails to turn her sexual tales into worldwide hits, flexing her effortless hook game on bangers like “UP” and “WAP”. She hasn’t dropped an album in half a decade, but her godlike hit-making talent has kept her in the spotlight off singles alone.

Although her sales are high, not enough respect is put on Latto’s name. Representing the women of Atlanta, she’s a natural-born performer whose suave delivery and buttery flows make any verse a standout. Taking pride in her Southern roots, she thrives on head-bopping trap beats and funk-laced party anthems, telling tales of love and lust with a witty sense of humor to keep it entertaining. What puts Latto a tier above the competition is her tight lyrics, injecting comedic wordplay into her bars as she shoots down the haters and raps about her lavish lifestyle. Going bar for bar with trap titans like 21 Savage on 777, Latto’s lyrical prowess is getting sharper every project.

The first female rapper of Griselda Records, Tierra Whack may not receive the same accolades as her labelmates, but with gritty projects like The Liz and The Liz 2 under her belt, she’s earned her place beside Westside Gunn and Benny the Butcher. Armani thrives on that grimy sound Griselda is famous for, dominating the mic with a cold-hearted delivery that fits nicely over her sinister choice of production. Boasting about her riches and describing her lavish outfits, no one makes flexing sound as menacing as Armani Caesar. Using an array of tight rhyme schemes and intricate wordplay to emphasize her wealth, she’s quickly proven herself one of Griselda’s sharpest lyricists.

Tierra Whack is the definition of quality over quantity. What one MC could achieve in an hour, Whack can cram into ten minutes, trimming the fat off her projects so each one is a neat package of constant highlights.

On some tracks, Rico Nasty treats the microphone like her worst enemy, screaming aggressive bars with the rage of a punk singer. Then a few songs later, she’s transformed into an R&B vocalist, singing lovestruck ballads in layers of autotune like a completely different artist has hijacked her album.

In just one year, GloRilla has risen from an unknown rookie to a Grammy-nominated superstar, and she’s deserved every bit of success. Hailing from Memphis, she raps with a swaggering bravado that could get any song on the charts as she’s a master when it comes to crafting catchy hooks. But her verses hit just as hard, reciting sexually-charged bars with a Tennessee twang to her voice that makes her music instantly recognisable.

Tearing up the mic in English and Spanish, it doesn’t take a translator to hear the raw talent of Snow Tha Product. She spits bars as fast as a rifle spits bullets, turning each song into a lyrical slaughter where the listener has to rewind to catch every quotable. More focussed on sound than anything else, she can be rapping about something as regular as how much money she makes, but with her high-speed flows and vicious delivery, her godlike technical ability makes it unforgettable. Crowning herself the queen of Latin rap, you would have trouble finding an MC more technically gifted in the Latin scene than Snow.

Top Dawg Entertainment has signed legends from Kendrick Lamar to Isaiah Rashad, so for Doechii to be the label’s latest addition, expectations couldn’t be higher for her career. Although she has no albums to her name, the TDE rookie has already shown her potential on quickfire projects like she / her / black bitch, switching from hip house bangers to soulful R&B cuts with the versatility to pull off any style. She’s one of the new female hip-hop artists to keep an ear out for in the near future.

Give Flo Milli the most mundane beat and she will turn it into an unforgettable hit. She’s a natural performer, showing off with a hyperactive flow, full of witty one-liners and raunchy verses, her bars are made twice as impactful thanks to her delivery, never holding back as she changes her flow as often as she blinks.

Heavy bass, raunchy lyrics, and some Southern swagger – it’s a formula City Girls have perfected, turning every song into a club-shaking anthem. While JT is the stronger lyricist, Yung Miami brings a ferocious bravado to every verse, complementing each other perfectly without one MC ever outshining the other.. and then there’s that music video, dayum.

She may hide her face under a mask, but Leikeli47 isn’t shy about showing off her wild ability on the mic, channeling the energy and prowess that has defined women in hip-hop since the days of Salt-N-Pepa. With a limitless supply of energy and an ear for unorthodox beats crammed with finely-chopped samples, she’s like a strange fusion of Lil Wayne and Missy Elliott.

Going independent might have hurt Dreezy’s sales, but her razor-sharp lyricism hasn’t changed a bit. Proving her prowess on Hitgirl, a nonstop barrage of bangers produced by Hit-Boy, her talent to juggle wordplay and spit witty bars about her wealth always entertains.

Thriving off features and EPs, BIA has risen to mainstream fame without a single rap album to her name. Rapping alongside legends from Nicki Minaj to J. Cole, she holds her own with an arsenal of flows and deliveries, acting like a different rapper in every track. She isn’t shy about her wealth, using no shortage of clever metaphors to describe her flashy lifestyle, spending more money in one day than her fans would in a lifetime. What BIA lacks in personal lyricism, she makes up for in her colorful pen, always finding over-the-top ways to brag as she shreds up the mic over hard-hitting drill beats.

Boasting one of the most versatile skill sets in mainstream rap, Baby Tate can adapt to any style and won’t break a sweat. With a wicked sense of humor, her songs are packed with punchlines and comedic quotables, with a lightning-fast flow as entertaining as her lyrics. Flexing her multitalented ability on the mixtape Mani/Pedi, Baby Tate continues to hone her skills with every new release.

Becoming a viral sensation from the moment she dropped her debut album in 2023, Lola Brooke is on the way to breakthrough the ranks of female hip-hop artists, echoing the groundbreaking paths of first female rappers, making her mark in 2023. Her breakout single “Don’t Play With It” encapsulates everything that makes her special – a hyper aggressive presence and a disrespectful pen game, spitting enough fire to burn down her studio.

With an XXL freestyle, a Gangsta Grillz mixtape and a Gucci Mane co-sign, Lakeyah already has an impressive resume, and she’s just getting started. The Milwaukee native is no stranger to trap production, full of savage disses to the competition and unapologetic boasts, bragging about her ability in countless colorful ways to make sure the listener never forgets.

At this point, who doesn’t know Coi Leray? From David Guetta to Sabrina Carpenter, musicians all across the music industry have invited her on for features because she’s the cheat code to a hit song. A master of melodic rap with no shortage of clever bars to hype herself up, Coi Leray has the natural star power to steal the show from any MC.

KenTheMan’s bold lyrics about sex, love, and riches set her apart with a unique Southern swagger and sharp wit. Her freestyling prowess and club-ready singles propelled her initial fame, transitioning into undeniable album artistry on “What’s My Name.”