This list guide features the best top 15 Canadian Rappers in Hip Hop of 2024. These are amongst some of the best hip hop musicians in Canada. It includes famous rappers such as Drake and Tory Lanez.
Check out our top picks for the top 15 Canadian Rappers in Hip Hop 2024.
1. Drake
Drake is a Canadian singer, rapper, songwriter, & record producer. In the year 2007, he released his debut mixtape, Room for Improvement. He published two further independent projects, So Far Gone, and Comeback Season before contracting to Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment in June of 2009.
Drake released his première studio album Thank Me Later in the year 2010, which debuted at position one on the US Billboard 200. His next two music releases, 2011’s Take Care and 2013’s Nothing Was the Same, which the former gained him his first Grammy Award for the Best Rap Album.
In 2015, he published two mixtapes—the trap-influenced If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, and a collabo with Future titled What a Time to Be Alive.
His fourth collection, Views (2016), the dancehall-influenced album sat atop the Billboard 200 for 13 nonconsecutive weeks. The music album’s second single, “One Dance,” excelled the charts in different countries, and became his very first number-one single as a lead artist. It’s lead single “Hotline Bling” won Grammy Awards for the Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song.
In 2017, he published the mixtape More Life becoming his seventh continuous number one on the Billboard 200, a year on he released the double album Scorpion, which additionally broke several streaming records, and highlighted the number-one singles “God’s Plan”, and also the bounce-infused “Nice for What” and “In My Feelings”.
Drake has additionally won three Juno Awards, fifteen Billboard Music Awards, and six American Music Awards.
2. The Weeknd
The Weeknd, is a Canadian songwriter, rapper, singer, and record producer. In 2011 he published the mixtapes House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence. The mixtapes were succeedingly remastered and re-released on the compilation album Trilogy (in 2012).
The Canadian rapper has had three No. 1 music releases (Beauty Behind the Madness in 2015, Starboy in late 2016, and My Dear Melancholy in the year 2018) and a No. 2 release (Kiss Land in the year 2013) on the US Billboard 200.
The Canadian singer has won three Grammy Awards, nine Juno Awards, eight Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, and has been nominated for one Academy Award.
3. Tory Lanez
Tory Lanez, is a Canadian songwriter, rapper, singer, and record producer. He gained major recognition from the mixtape Lost Cause (of 2014) and the singles, “Say It,” and “Luv,” which topped at number 23, and 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 sequentially.
Lanez published his debut studio album, I Told You on August 19 of 2016. His sophomore record, Memories Don’t Die was officially released on March 2, 2018. On October 26, 2018, Lanez published his third studio album, Love Me Now?.
Nav is a Canadian songwriter, rapper, singer and record producer from Toronto, Ontario. In September of 2015, Nav released one of his newest songs to his SoundCloud account, named “Take Me Simple,” which has been listened to more than ten million times.
On July of 2015, Nav contributed production to Drake’s diss of Meek Mill, “Back to Back.” In the year 2016, “Take Me Simple” and “The Man” was starred on Drake’s OVO Sound Radio on Beats 1.
On September of 2016, Nav colluded with American rapper Travis Scott on Scott’s song “Beibs in the Trap” from his collection Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, which Nav additionally co-wrote and co-produced. It topped at number 90 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and by July of 2017, had been declared platinum by the RIAA.
In February of 2017, Nav produced and co-produced his première commercial self-titled mixtape “NAV,” which covered by the lead single, “Some Way” featuring The Weeknd. The mixtape comprised “Myself.”
Nav published the collaboration mixtape, Perfect Timing with producer Metro Boomin on July 21 of 2017. The lead single song from the album, “Call Me,” topped at 89 on the Canadian Hot 100. Nav later published the single “Wanted You” featuring Lil Uzi Vert on November 3 of 2017. The single is Nav’s first as a head artist to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.
He earned a Juno Award nomination for Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the Juno Awards in 2018. In May the same year, Nav released his debut studio record Reckless, and in August 2018, Nav featured on rapper Travis Scott’s album, Astroworld, on the song “Yosemite.”
5. PARTYNEXTDOOR
PARTYNEXTDOOR, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. In the year 2013, he released his very first self-titled EP PartyNextDoor.
He consequently released PartyNextDoor Two and PNDColours in the year 2014 and PartyNextDoor 3 in the year 2016. PartyNextDoor has colluded with a number of artists, including Big Sean, Drake, and Jeremih.
PartyNextDoor has additionally seen success as a songwriter, having penned “Work,” which was officially released on Rihanna’s album Anti and topped at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, accompanying other more songs such as “Wild Thoughts” which topped at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
6. Roy Woods
Roy Woods is a Canadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is contracted to OVO Sound and is additionally the founder of the collective named Unlock The Underground.
On July 11 of 2015, Drake premiered the first song, named “Drama” from Woods’ EP, titled Exis. The song was similarly premiered on Apple’s Beats 1 radio through the first OVO Sound radio show.
The record also features with the guest characters from Drake. On July 25, 2015, a following song, titled “Get You Good” premiered on the second episode of the OVO Sound radio show. On July 31, 2015, Woods published his debut EP Exis digitally through OVO Sound.
On October 9 of 2015, Woods released his very first music video for his song, “Jealousy.” Woods’ new EP project Waking at Dawn was published on July 1, 2016, promoted by Woods and other performers, including Drake and Wiz Khalifa.
On December 22 of 2016, Woods published his second EP, titled Nocturnal.
On July 20 of 2017, Woods released the track, named “What Are You On?” as the lead single from his debut collection, Say Less. On November 17, 2017, Woods officially released the title track, called “Say Less” along with the album pre-order. On December 1 of 2017, Woods delivered his debut studio album, Say, Less.
On June 8 of 2018, Woods released two new song singles, titled “Snow White” and “Russian Cream.”
7. Belly
Belly, is a Canadian songwriter, rapper, singer, and record producer. He released his top debut studio album The Revolution (in 2007), as well as two collaborative song mixtapes, The Greatest Dream I Never Had and The Lost Tapes, with both Kurupt and DJ Drama, sequentially.
He obtained a recording contract with XO in 2015, (and next an additional contract with Roc Nation) after presenting with co-writing a variety of tunes for R&B artists The Weeknd and Beyoncé.
Belly got a total of eleven credits over the former’s latest studio albums, while additionally providing backing vocals and co-writing the lyric “6 Inch” from the latter’s album, Lemonade. The singer then went on to publish four further mixtapes and published his second album Immigrant in 2018.
The Canadian rapper was then acknowledged as Songwriter of the Year at the 2016 SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) Prizes for his “significant and outstanding contributions to popular music over the past year.”
Together with his SOCAN award, Belly has gained a Juno Award, three MuchMusic Video Awards, and has twice achieved a top chart position in the national Much Music Countdown.
8. 88GLAM
88Glam is a Canadian based hip hop duo, formed in 2017 by Derek Wise and 88 Camino. They are contracted to XO Records and Republic Records.
The pair introduced the name “88Glam” on November 1 of2017, premiering their first music video “12” via Billboard which starred a cameo from The Weeknd. This was followed by the publicity of another music video for “Bali” starring Nav and the debut of their self-titled mixtape 88Glam on November 7 of 2017.
88Glam delivered 88Glam 2 under XO Records and Republic Records with new pieces from Gunna on their song named “Racks,” as well as another feature from Nav on the “It’s a Flex.”
Following its announcement, 88Glam 2 debuted at No. 8 on iTunes All-Genre Chart, then at Number 6 on the iTunes’ Hip Hop Chart and further landed itself a top-five place in Spotify’s Canada’s New Music Friday playlist.
9. Killy
Killy is a Canadian hip-hop singer and rapper from Toronto, Ontario. He is best recognized for his break-out single, “Killamonjaro” which is accredited Gold by Music Canada.
He published his first song in the year 2016, titled “Big Bux” on SoundCloud and published three more tracks in 2016. The tracks contributed Killy local buzz in Toronto which inspired him to record more music.
In February 2017, Killy published “Killamonjaro,” which went viral and was accredited Gold in Canada by March of 2018. The song’s popularity garnered him an interview on Adam22’s “No Jumper” popular podcast and a highlight on Drake’s OVO Sound Radio.
Killy published his first studio album on March 5, 2018, named Surrender Your Soul. The music album spawned press from Complex and Pitchfork news and “No Sad No Bad” which topped at number 65 on the Canadian Hot 100 songs.
On September 14 of 2018, Killy released his first EP Killstreak, that includes five songs.
10. Preme
Preme is a Canadian based rapper, producer, singer, and songwriter. He released his song debut solo single in 2008 called “You Know I’m Fly,” which exceeded the PunchMuch Canadian interactive music channel. His music follow-up singles are “Money in My Pocket” (in 2009) and “In My Hood” (in 2010), produced by T-Minus.
Alyssa Reid’s the big international hit “Alone Again” stars P Reign. The single was a success in Canada and many European charts and entered number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. Canadian band Hedley’s big hit “Invincible” taken from their music album Storms features P Reign. The single officially released August 23, 2011 spread to number 9 on Canadian Hot 100 and was endorsed double platinum.
The EP Dear America was published on September 9, 2014. His song “Realest in the City” featuring PartyNextDoor and Meek Mill reached #1 on Billboard‘s “Emerging Artists” chart.
11. Jazz Cartier
Jazz Cartier, is a Canadian based rapper, singer and songwriter from Toronto. He is famously known for his mixtapes Marauding in Paradise and Hotel Paranoia.
Cartier published his first single “Set Fire” in the year 2014. Performing in Toronto-area music venues, he instantly attracted attention, his track “Switch” was played continuously at Toronto Raptors games by team DJ 4Korners, and at a Toronto based Red Bull Sound Select show in March of 2015 he was introduced by rapper Kardinal Offishall.
Marauding in Paradise was officially released in April 2015.
He has twice been a longlisted candidate for the Polaris Music Prize, in 2015 for Marauding in Paradise and in 2016 for Hotel Paranoia, and won the Juno Award for the Rap Recording of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2017 for Hotel Paranoia. He officially released his debut studio album Fleurever on July 27 of2018.
On February 23, 2016, Jazz Cartier was declared as one of the big performers at the 2016 Osheaga Festival.
He was a shortlisted candidate for the 2016 SOCAN Songwriting Prize for his record “Dead or Alive.” In 2017 he got a Juno Award for his album Hotel Paranoia.
12. Merkules
Merkules is a Canadian songwriter, hip hop artist who was nominated for the Western Canadian Music Awards. He published his album, Scars, in April of 2015 serving as an inspiration for when he was viciously attacked after a studio session and left injuries on his face from the machete and baseball bat severe attack.
His most current album debuted at No. 2 on the main iTunes chart in Canada. The Canadian rapper has performed at a well-known freestyle battle tournament named King of the Dot.
His style is inspired by artists such as Eminem, Big L, and Big Pun.
13. Classified
Classified, is a Canadian record producer and rapper. On January 15, 2016, Classified delivered his fifteenth album Greatful.
Three singles were also released: “Filthy” which features DJ Premier, “No Pressure” which stars Snoop Dogg (which reached Number 65 on the Canadian Hot 100) and “Noah’s Arch” which stars Saukrates. The album debuted Number 6 on the Canadian Albums Chart.
Classified co-wrote and acted Ria Mae’s hit song Thoughts On Fire and raps on the Thoughts on Fire (feat. Classified) version which is on heavy rotation in early 2017 on the CBC Radio 2 network.
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On February 9, 2018, Classified filmed a music video for “Powerless” in Nova Scotia, featuring native dancers and musicians and bringing to light the issues surrounding missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.
On May 8, 2018, Classified published another new single called “Changes” featuring Anjulie. May 25, 2018, Classified released another single “She Ain’t Gotta Do Much.” Later that month, Classified announced his new EP Tomorrow Could Be…. The EP was published on June 29, 2018.
On September 14 of 2018, Classified announced that his new album Tomorrow Could Be the Day Things Change would be published on October 12. The first single off the record “Cold Love” featuring Tory Lanez was released the same day.
14. Ramriddlz
Ramriddlz, is a Canadian based singer and rapper, from Mississauga, Ontario. He earned recognition when he published his single “Sweeterman” and got recognition from Drake who premiered his own remix to the video song on OVO Sound radio.
In Summer of 2015, the rapper released P2P EP which was produced by Jaegen. Ramriddlz then went on to publish his other EP Venis in 2016 and featured the hit song “Bodmon.”
In the year 2017, he released his debut studio record Sweeter Dreams.
15. Madchild
Madchild is a Canadian based Hip hop rapper. He is part of Vancouver-based hip hop club Swollen Members. In the year 2009, he published a solo EP entitled The Madchild EP.
In August of 2011, he reverted to his roots by taking part in a rap contest for King of the Dot, an Ontario, Canada-based battle league. The rapper went up against Dirtbag Dan and obtained on a 3-2 decision.
In 2012, he published his first album, titled Dope Sick ensued by Lawn Mower Man in the year 2013 and Silver Tongue Devil in 2015.
His fourth studio album ie, The Darkest Hour was officially released in 2017.
Bonus Feature: Sean Leon
Sean Leon is a Canadian record artist and record producer from Toronto, Ontario. The musician is the founder of the IXXI Initiative, established in 2012 in Toronto.
In July of 2013, Sean officially released his debut mixtape Ninelevenne, the Tragedy after by his second project Narcissus, the Drowning of Ego on January 22 of 2014.
Shortly following the release of Narcissus, Sean started the year-long rollout of the collection King Of The Wild Things. That same spring of the year 2014 he introduced us to and started campaigning for the highly awaited Black Sheep Nirvana.
On November 29 of 2017, Sean released an audio-film named “C.C.W.M.T.T” and in 2018 officially released the album Sean Leon (The Death Of)
