The Atlanta Hip-Hop industry has been and will continue to produce the most influential, popular, and unique artists in the world. 

From the 80s and 90s, to the 2010s and 2020s, Atlanta has  always been one of the biggest places for rappers to grow in popularity

Early rap development began in the early 80s, with the names of Mojo and Clive Davis being the first big artists to come out of the area.

OutKast, Kriss Kross, Ludacris, and many others are some of the few musicians/groups to have drawn attention to the rap scene in Atlanta. 

Southern Hip-Hop, and Atlanta trap music have both been revolutionized with the coming of new artists. Rap in the Atlanta area is very unique and different from other genres of music, which is why it is so interesting and always on the rise.

Recently, Atlanta trap music has been growing more than ever, and it feels right to critique and rank the current rappers in this area.

5. 21 Savage

Although originally born in London, 21 Savage, or Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, who later moved to East Atlanta, has consistently shown why he is capable of making this list. 21 released his first album/ mix tape The Slaughter Tape in May of 2015. 

This was a glimpse of 21’s talent,  as he was starting to grow in the Atlanta area from this release. It wasn’t until his collaboration album with producer Metro Boomin where he started to blow up. 

With his release of “Savage Mode”, 21 received great success, earning the 23 spot on the Billboard Top 100 album list. 

Since then, Savage has only grown, releasing many albums that have also been very popular, and receiving awards like being a 2016 XXL Freshman member.

Aside from his notable voice, 21 Savage has a very cruel and descriptive form of rapping, as growing up in bad areas like he did, comes with cruel situations.

Through all the success, 21 does not show quite the musical range as the other artists on this list do, as many of his projects feel slightly repetitive and similar.

4. Migos

The Migos are a rap group consisting of members Offset, Quavo, and Takeoff (who has recently passed). The Migos released their debut mixtape “Juug Season” in 2011, which was an introduction to their talent as a group. 

It wasn’t until July of 2013 where they blew up in the rap industry with hit single “Versace”, in which the group showed off their diversity, and the single reached 99 on the Billboard Top 100. 

Ever since that song got released, the Migos have been the biggest rap group in the 2010s, streaking with their Culture album collection. The first two Culture records the Migos released were the biggest for any rap group at the time, and showed their one of a kind music. 

The Migos signed to record label Quality Control, along with many other large artists such as Lil Baby, Lil Yatchy, Rich the Kid, and many others.

Throughout the long historic run, the Migos provide a new and fresh track for every song they release, which helped their growth as a group. Features like their creative ad-libbing, new and clean voice for every song, and flow-style makes this group one of the best and most influential of all time.

3. Future

Future Hendrix, or Nayvadius DeMun Cash, has been a pioneer for Atlanta trap music. Naming all of his accomplishments are near impossible, as he is the biggest rap artist to come from Atlanta.

Future released his first official mix-tape “Dirty Sprite” in January of 2011, which posted immediate success, as many listeners realized how special his music was. Since then, Hendrix released “Astronaut Status” in 2012, which even further boosted his popularity.

Future released many successful albums since, with the most highly praised album, Dirty Sprite 2 released in 2015. This record truly showed how special and ahead of his time Future really was. Every track made the listener feel a certain way, and left his fans in high regards to call him the next best rapper of all time. 

Future is known as one of the creators of “mumble rap”, which is more frowned upon and not accepted for its true talent to make music like this. 

In all, Future Hendrix is the billboard of Atlanta Trap Music, being one of the first to do so and reach the level of fame he has. With his very distinctive voice and flow, Future continues to show his importance in the Atlanta music industry.

2. Playboi Carti

Playboi Carti, “King Vamp”, or Jordan Carter is not only one of the best Atlanta musicians, but one of the best musicians of all time. 

Carti first reached popularity with his hit single “Broke Boi”, which had no features, but showed his new and different sound. 

Having connections with artists such as Unotheactivist and Lil Uzi Vert helped push his name into the mainstream.

Carti released his debut album Playboi Carti (Self-Titled) in 2017. This rocketed his career, with songs like “Magnolia” completely shattering charts and making Playboi Carti one of the biggest names in music. Since this release, all of Carti’s albums including Die Lit and Whole Lotta Red, have continued to have massive success. 

Playboi is one of, if not the most influential artist there will be, with his unique sound and ad libs making him sound like no other rapper. Carti had created a whole new sound on his last album Whole Lotta Red, which is very rare as many rappers struggle to create new and different music from others. 

Playboi Carti is one of the only rappers who is true to himself, and shows people who he really is. Without Carti, much of rap now would not be the same, making him one of the best to come out of Atlanta.

1. Young Thug

Young Thug, or Jeffery Williams, is a once in a generation talent. His importance is often overlooked and underestimated in how crucial he is to all of music. 

Thug released his debut album Came From Nothing in 2011. This project had not blown up like others on the list, but with the help of his label and being associated with 1017 Records, Thug got the attention he needed. 

From 2011-2014, Young Thug released many projects with this label, like “Brick Squad”, and “1017 Thug”. He also dropped several successful singles, like “Best Friend” and “Lifestyle”. 

All of these projects show a clear difference in skill, and how unique Thug is compared to any other artist.

With his release of Barter 6 (which was an insult to Lil Wayne’s album Carter 6), Young Thug showed how he is extraordinarily special, and will be one of the biggest artists for a long time. Barter 6 is highly praised as being ahead of its time, as Thug conveys his music in many voices, flow switches, ad-libs, lyrics, and instrumental choosing. 

His other albums like Slime Season 3, JEFFERY, Beautiful Thugger Girls, So Much Fun, and many others show the consistency and hard work Thug puts into his music.

Williams also has his own record label, YSL, which has many artists like Lil Keed (who has recently passed) and contemporary artists like Lil Baby. 

Young Thug created “mumble rap” along with Future, and is the only artist to have ever rapped the way he does. Every track Young Thug releases shows off his talent in making music, with his very wide vocal range, and his experimenting in ways of rapping.  

Projects like Beautiful Thugger Girls show a great example of this, as it is the first “country” rap album, incorporating many country-like instruments and loops. 

In his album JEFFERY, Young Thug uses his exceptional vocal range, and switches the tempo and flow of every song to provide a new vibe to every track, which is a big reason why it is regarded as his best album. 

Throughout the years, Young Thug has always shown why he is so special. He made many rappers who they are today, by being the first of his style, and brought many rappers up from Atlanta he saw potential through, like Lil Baby and Gunna.

Without Young Thug, rap would not be the same; he is one of the most influential artists music has ever seen, and Thug has and will continue to show and produce breathtaking music for many years to come.