Top 5 Melodic Rap Artists of 2021

Last year, we shared 5 melodic rappers that you needed to check out this year. Curly J, HangtimeKyul, Lush_carter, Tommy Ice, and Ericdoa all went on to accomplish incredible things in 2021—Curly J and Ericdoa landed big label deals, the latter working with Interscope to release his album COA. The melodic rap genre encompasses many different styles of music, from trap to hyperpop/digicore and more. Melodic rappers include everyone from Osquinn/P4rkr to YoungBoy NeverBrokeAgain. Since melodic rap includes so many artists, we’re highlighting 5 melodic rap artists from 2021 who haven’t gotten the shine they deserve—BIGBABYGUCCI, Summrs, Ka$hdami, BabySantana, and SSGKobe.

BIGBABYGUCCI

BIGBABYGUCCI, whose real name is James Haley, is a rapper from North Carolina known for his songs Drop Top Lexus, Can’t Feel Shit, Weird, Pressure + Layers, and Summer in 06 featuring Kevin Kazi. BIGBABYGUCCI was born on August 13th, 1996 and is currently 25 years old. BIGBABYGUCCI also owns the record label Better Temperatures, which he signed 30ROCK and Virginia-based rapper and frequent collaborator Austin Skinner to. 

Summrs

Summrs, whose real name is Deante Adam Johnson, is an exciting emerging recording melodic rap artist from Lafayette, Louisiana. He is a member of the Slayworld collective which consists of artists, producers, and graphic designers – including Goonie, KanKan, and Autumn!

Ka$hdami

Born December 16, 2004, Ka$hdami, whose real name is David Wallace III, is a young star coming out of the DMV area. He originally relocated from Las Vegas at a young age. Kashdami got his first glimpse of young stardom in the underground scene when he started receiving co-signs from Pierre Bourne, Lil Tecca, Taz Taylor and many other key influencers and taste-makers of the new SoundCloud wave.

BabySantana

Known for collaborations with Ka$hdami, Slump6s, Yung Fazo, Lil Tecca, and SSGKobe and singles such as Prada Remix and Receipts, BabySantana is an up-and-coming force in the underground scene. BabySantana, whose real name is Steven Lewis, is from Columbus, Georgia. BabySantana is 15 years of age and was born on November 14th, 2006. 

SSGKobe

Born December 2, 2002, SSGKobe—real name Tyreek Solomon Pellerin, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Lafayette, Louisiana. He started making music in 2018 at just 14 years old. SSGKobe then started posting music to SoundCloud and garnered the attention of thousands of listeners not just locally, but globally. 

Want more from artists like these? Check out our Top 5 Hyperpop Songs of 2021 or our Top 5 Emo Rap and Pop Rap Singles of Spring 2020. You might also like these 5 DMV artists we covered last year. We’re sure there will be countless other exciting melodic rappers that will take off in 2022.