21 Best Mumble Rappers
Some people think mumble rap is too unclear to be enjoyable… They’re wrong!
With many rappers that adopt the style getting videos that hit millions of views, there’s clearly a huge audience that can appreciate this often overlooked style of rap.
In this article we look at the best mumble rappers of all time.
1. Lil Yachty
Lil Yachty, sometimes called Lil Boat, is one of the first names that comes to mind when someone mentions mumble rappers. Utilizing a vocal style that’s heavy on the effects, Yachty can be tough to understand for newcomers to the genre.
Still, it’s heavy beats and trap instrumentals that help carry his vocal talent. Often sampling nostalgic sounds like Charlie Brown, console gaming effects, and the Mario Brothers, Yachty is one of the most notable names in the genre.
However, he isn’t without his controversies. Yachty stirred up rap’s old-head crowd by saying he had no interest in the history of rap. Many found his comments on legends like Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac a touch disrespectful.
2. Playboi Carti
Carti reached a massive level of prominence nearly overnight with his releases. The aesthetic of mumble rap is heavily influenced by artists like Lil Uzi Vert and Young Thug.
His album Die Lit reached an incredible amount of popularity upon its release. His lyrical content is typically repetitive, bringing beats and easy-to-memorize songs to the forefront of his musical style.
3. Gunna
Joining Atlanta’s ranks of famous rappers, Gunna is known for his impressive output of music. Releasing multiple mixtapes a year, Gunna brings on dozens of collaborators at a time. His feature-filled mixtapes and releases have all hit the fold after only a few years.
Growing exponentially and seemingly overnight, Gunna’s music has connected with millions. His music is known for being more emotive and passionate than many of his contemporaries in the genre. His lyrics are less repetitive, and his vocal performance is more impressive than most.
4. Lil Uzi Vert
Lil Uzi Vert is the influence of countless SoundCloud rappers, famous or not. To call him a mumble rapper is slightly inaccurate, as his vocalization is often clear and harmonic. Still, many stick him with the label due to his incredible influence over the mumble rap scene.
Vert’s music is often compared to rock, emo, and punk, bringing the genres into rap. Considered one of the titans of mumble rap, Lil Uzi Vert is a can’t-miss in the genre.
5. Chief Keef
Millennials are certain to recognize a name like Chief Keef. Coming to prominence before mumble rap was coined as a term, Chief Keef remains massive among youth. His viral songs like I Don’t Like reached even greater virality once they were circulated among platforms like Tik Tok.
Inspiring rappers of all genres, Keef’s music helped pioneer drill in the United States. His vocalization doesn’t match mumble rapping, but his lyrical content is easy to equate.
6. Rich Homie Quan
Rich Homie Quan is one of the most popular mumble rappers of the last decade. His lyrical content is extremely repetitive, making it easy to bump or listen to for the first time. Easily memorized, his songs are often carried by adlibs and hard trap beats. You can find Quan’s music blasting through the speakers of most clubs and concerts.
7. Young Thug
Young Thug has been throwing bangers out since the day he hit the scene. With a quirky vocal style and a musical style that melds different genres, Thugger is one of the most notable names in mumble rap.
With soaring vocalizations and a voice that’s often carried with vocal effects, Thugger’s musical style is unique in the scene. Many other mumble rappers – including those on this list – were inspired by his signature style.
8. Future
Future is one of the most recognizable names in the modern rap of any genre. Though often called a mumble rapper, Future is a cut above most of the artists in the genre. His vocalizations are clear, his lyrical content more varied, and his beats more a complement to his music than a carry.
His influence can be found in every corner of modern rap, especially in the underground. Helping bring auto-tune back into the fold after it fell out of style, Future has been killing it since Pluto.
9. 21 Savage
Born in London, 21 Savage moved to Atlanta at the age of seven, where the local music scene influenced his eventual releases. Releasing two mixtapes in 2015, 21 Savage reached quick international attention.
His release in 2016 with Metro Boomin, Savage Mode, helped him climb to stardom. Often working with artists like Future, Drake, and other titanic names, 21 Savage is one of the biggest artists coming out of the United States.
Fitting more under trap than mumble rap, 21 Savage is a prolific name across all genres. If you’ve been in a club in the last eight years, you’ve heard 21 Savage blasting over the speakers.
10. Kodak Black
Kodak Black reached prominence in 2014 with the release of his single No Flockin’. After a few years, the artist released his debut album, Painting Pictures. This debut landed a spot in 3rd place in the U.S. Billboard 200, with singles from the song landing in the top 10 singles.
His next album, Dying to Live, would reach first on the same list. Often working with artists like Travis Scott and Offset, Kodak Black has remained mainstream despite controversies.
Often surrounded by the negative press due to rape allegations, sexual misconduct charges, and even having his sentence commuted by former President Trump, Kodak’s music remains influential.
11. Lil Pump
Lil Pump is one of the modern trap’s most recognizable faces. Helping to popularize the trend of mumble rappers being as colorful and loud as possible, Pump’s music borders on comedy. He’s aware of the stigma against him and his music and often chooses to embrace it.
Earning the praise of critics like Anthony Fantano and Pitchfork, Pump’s music is aggressive and abrasive.
12. Offset
Rising to popularity as one of the three members of Migos, alongside Quavo and Takeoff, Offset’s career is one of collaboration. He reached acclaim in 2017 for a collaboration with 21 Savage and Metro Boomin, reaching the top 20 of Billboard’s Hot 100.
Offset’s career is one of the brightest in mumble rap. Earning a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Performance in 2019, Offset is also 7x Platinum, as marked by RIAA.
13. Juice WRLD
Juice WRLD – pronounced “world” for those that may be unfamiliar – was one of the biggest names in a trap for his career. Collaborating with Future for WRLD on Drugs in 2018, his second album, Death Race for Love in 2019, would earn him a #1 Debut on the US Billboard 200.
Making massive waves in the scene, WRLD would eventually pass in late 2019 following a drug overdose. Despite his death, Juice WRLD remains a massive name in the trap and mumble rap scenes.
14. Travis Scott
Travis Scott is one of the most celebrated names on this list. Reaching popularity in the early 2010s for his vocal talent and habit of singing in his songs, Scott insists he’s not in the hip-hop genre.
Travis Scott’s popularity came in bulk with his debut studio album, Rodeo. Released in September 2015, the album included the single hit Antidote, which reached the US top 20.
15. Gucci Mane
Gucci Mane is one of the fathers of mumble rap, with his success coming before the term existed. Inspiring countless SoundCloud rappers, his influence over the genre is difficult to overstate.
With most of his success in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Gucci Mane is a name most millennials will recognize. His debut Trap House and sophomore album, Hard to Kill, helped to define trap music.
16. Yung Fresh
Yung Fresh – better known as Bankroll Fresh – was one of Atlanta’s most notable rappers during his prominence. Collaborating with Gucci Mane on multiple records, Fresh reached popularity with artists like Metro Boomin, and Mike Will Made It.
Releasing his music with the mixtapes Life of a Hot Boy, Life of a Hot Boy 2, and a self-titled mixtape, Fresh had a massive influence over the scene. His career ended after a fatal shooting in 2016, but his influence can still be felt in the genre.
17. Lil Wayne
At the height of his career, no one would dare call Lil Wayne a mumble rapper. Beginning his career at 12 as the youngest member of Birdman’s Cash Money Records, Wayne was the flagship of the label until 2018. Reaching popularity with his 2004 and 2005 releases of Tha Carter and Tha Carter II, Wayne is often considered one of the greatest rappers ever.
As mumble rap came into popularity, many of Lil Wayne’s later releases followed the trend. His twelfth and thirteenth albums, Tha Carter V and Funeral, most fit this trend.
18. Desiigner
Desiigner’s original stage name was Dezolo. Putting out tracks under his middle name, Royal, he shifted his name to Desiigner.
Desiigner’s music has been met with incredible success. His most popular song, Panda, topped the Billboard Hot 100 in its year of release. Released from his contract with Def Jam in 2019, Desiigner retired from music after the death of Takeoff.
19. Takeoff
The youngest member of the titanic group Migos, Takeoff was the first cousin once removed of Offset and the nephew of Quavo. Ranking multiple top 10 hits with the group, Takeoff would begin releasing music under his name as tensions with Migos arose.
In early October of 2022, Migos and Quavo released a collaborative album, Only Built for Infinity Links. Only 25 days later, Takeoff was shot to death outside of a bowling alley in Houston, Texas. His death was considered an accident, with investigations revealing him to have caught a stray bullet from a shooting he wasn’t the intended target of.
20. Lil Xan
Lil Xan is often the name used in the argument against mumble rap. Still, it’s difficult to write such a list without considering one of the most prominent members of the genre.
Xan began his rap career after having his photography camera stolen, choosing to jump into the music world instead. Reaching prominence through social media platforms like YouTube and SoundCloud, Xan would find popularity through features while struggling in his solo work.
His release album, Total Xanarchy, received negative reviews from most critics but found moderate success. The album is most notable for ranking as the 2nd Worst Album of the 2010s from music critic Anthony Fantano, despite debuting as #10 in the Billboard top 200.
21. Lil Peep
Closing out our list is the late Lil Peep, one of the most notable SoundCloud rappers. Known for helping to popularize lo-fi and emo rap, Lil Peep brought influences of trap metal, rap, and pop-punk to his music.
Working as a member of the emo rap collective GothBoiClique, Peep is credited as one of the pioneers of the emo revival of rap and rock. Hailed as a leading figure of the genre, Peep was an inspiration to youth subcultures, particularly among outcasts.
In November 2017, Peep passed away on his tour bus hours before a scheduled performance in Tucson, Arizona. His death has ruled an overdose of fentanyl and Xanax.
Top Mumble Rappers, Final Thoughts
Whether you call it a trap, mumble rap, or SoundCloud rap, you can find an artist to your tastes. Our list contains some of the biggest mumble rappers and some of their many influences, ensuring you can find someone you love!
Did we forget to mention your favorite rapper? Let us know who we should discuss next in the comments!
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