We're long past the East/West rivalries of the '90s, but place isn't as irrelevant in modern hip hop as some would have you think. Sure, sounds and styles fly more freely between area codes than they used to, but they're more often than not traceable to a specific time and location where certain tempos, slang, and flows bear traces of local history in their DNA. Moreover, in an era when collaborations are more frequently born in the DMs and not in face-to-face meetings, certain regions seem more in demand, more likely to get tapped by out-of-towners for their swag.
We've made our picks for the most prolific/influential regions around the country in 2015, ranking them in order of strength. Sometimes these are single cities with local scenes strong enough to put a single area code on the map, sometimes they're larger regions with cities too small to make the list on their own, but bear enough similarities to each other to be grouped together. Not everyone listed in each scene was born there, as many artists seem to migrate to the closest hotbed (like Tupelo, Missippi natives Rae Sremmurd, or Mac Miller and Wiz Khalifa's recent abandonment of Pittsburgh in favor of greener pastures in L.A.). We're taking albums, singles, mixtapes, production work, and influence into account, oftentimes referring our own hottest songs and albums of 2015 lists. Before we get to our top ten though, we're taking a minute to highlight the honorable mentions.
Boston
Newcomer Cousin Stizz really made a name for himself this year with his local-repping mixtape Suffolk County, showing that he could really be New England's first bonafide star in a few years' time. His more lighthearted friend Michael Christmas had a banner year too, releasing his debut album, What A Weird Day, and touring with Mac Miller. Meanwhile, the region's top producer, Statik Selektah, kept churning out top shelf boom bap like it was 1996.
Detroit
Big Sean was the undisputed MVP of his hometown this year, delivering his biggest album and best single to date (Dark Sky Paradise and "Blessings," respectively). DeJ Loaf was a close runner-up, though, proving that she's no one-hit wonder with the excellent #AndSeeThatsTheThing EP. Although it seems too late for them to ever break through to a national audience, Doughboyz Cashout shone with yet another mixtape, and kept their local fanbase strong as ever. Among the city's dormant artists this year were Eminem, Royce da 5'9", Danny Brown, and BLack Milk, but rest assured that they'll all return in big ways in 2016.
London
The only non-North American city to appear on the list this year, the UK capital reinvigorated everyone's interest in grime this year. Skepta was the most visible star over here, thanks to chumming around with Drake and dropping his biggest track to date, "SHUTDOWN," but Skepta, JME, Novelist, and Krept & Konan made sure that we knew that the scene was deep as ever.
Memphis
With a few consistent mixtapes and his continuing reign as Taylor Gang's ratchet elder statesman, Juicy J stayed on top of his city yet again. The Tennessee city's trap scene similarly showed its staying power with Yo Gotti, Young Dolph, and Snootie Wild all improving upon their past years, and in th underground, Xavier Wulf led a strong young class.
Philadelphia
Forget everything about the Drake feud-- Meek Mill still had a great year, thanks to his best release yet, Dreams Worth More Than Money. Resident hitmaker Jahlil Beats shone bright as ever with beats on releases by Rick Ross, Boogie, and others, and Lil Uzi Vert proved he was truly the hottest in his city with Luv Is Rage.
Washington DC
With a hugely varied local scene, DC remains one of the most diverse locations on the list. MMG's Wale and Fat Trel continued their friendship despite careers and projects that couldn't be more different, Shy Glizzy continued making the best trap the area's ever scene, and the consistently thrilling Goldlink only got better. Watch out for DC in 2016.
Louisiana
Pretty much confined to its two biggest cities, New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana's scene is nowhere near as strong as it was during its twin peaks of Cash Money's late '90s heyday and Lil Wayne's mid '00s hot streak. That being said, it still holds its own in the South. Wayne keeps on going, still retaining hardcore fans if not the majority of his peak fanbase; Birdman perseveres as arguably hip hop's biggest supervillain, appearing on a few Young Thug tracks and still squeezing money out of Young Money's cash cows; Lil Boosie continues his post-prison victory lap despite health problems, delivering a great album in Touchdown 2 Cause Hell; August Alsina stays hot as one of the most successful R&B artists of his generation; Kevin Gates has one foot in a controversial social media presence, the other in some of the best Baton Rouge music ever as a consistently thrilling lyricist. The state of LA hasn't really exported too many sounds since Mannie Fresh's bounce went out of style, but its powerhouses still know how to retain their weight.
Virginia
This state's undisputed MVP is King Push, who's gradually risen from his initial fame in Clipse to a label president and top-tier solo artist. His latest, Darkest Before Dawn, arrived too late to make the cut for any of our year-end lists, but rest assured it would've appeared near the top if it was in contention. He also managed to bring out the best work we've heard from Timbaland in quite some time, even despite his recent work on "Empire" and with his protégé Tink. Once, and future, Pusha T cohort Pharrell laid dormant after the "Happy" explosion of 2014, but he'll be back with more next year. Twin titans of R&B Trey Songz and Chris Brown both put out impressive, if rather stagnant projects, doing little to boost their status but absolutely nothing to diminish it. A pair of 757-repping youngsters, though, were the state's brightest spot this year. D.R.A.M., with his massively viral hit "Cha Cha" and self-proclaimed "epic" EP, and DP, the unrepentant star of the recent Designer Casket tape, promise a bright future for the state's most vibrant cultural hub.
The Bay Area
Always a vibrant local scene, NorCal's stronghold is now closer than ever to mainstream national recognition, thanks to G-Eazy and Kehlani. Both of the young stars' most recent projects and tours drew unprecedented attention from the rest of the country, with their good looks and lack of focus on The Bay's traditional sounds certainly not hurting. The most promising newcomer has been Nef The Pharaoh, who followed up his local smash "Big Tymin" with a great mixtape and recognition from peers both local and far-flung. Resident weirdo Lil B continued to expand his circle of influence, making headlines for his frequent curses on NBA players, as well as a very enjoyable spur-of-the-moment tape with Chance The Rapper. Although none of them released albums, HBK Gang remain a force to be reckoned with, mostly due to Iamsu! and Sage The Gemini's consistently awesome loose cuts. The veteran MVP? None other than E-40, who saw a single of his ("Choices") blow up locally, and gave thrilling guest verses to everyone from Freddie Gibbs to Ty Dolla $ign.
South Florida
Alright, calling it the "New Atlanta" definitely didn't sit well with a few of its most promising rappers, but South Florida proved this year that it was popping far beyond the world of Maybach Music and We The Best. Read our recent profile on the region to get a more detailed scoop, but suffice it to say that underground stars like Denzel Curry, Wifisfuneral, and Yung Simmie, as well as the ascendant Kodak Black, are putting the region on the map in a big way. Lest we forget, Rick Ross and DJ Khaled did both in fact have great years, with the former reinventing his career on Black Dollar and Black Market, and the latter reinvigorating his career, although it may have more to do with his Snapchat account than the poorly-titled I Changed A Lot.
Houston
Far removed from the Swisha House-led, syrupy slow days of old, Houston officially turned a new leaf this year. Biggest star Travi$ Scott would seem like an alien no matter where he was from but his complete obliteration of styles is even more shocking coming from an H Town local. The region saw new local heat in the forms of weirdo trapper Maxo Kream and explosive duo Sauce Twinz, the latter of whom put on for their city in a major way by calling out Drake for his misguided Houston Appreciation Week. Longstanding guitar hero Mike Dean continued to mentor new talent while putting in some thrilling work with Scott and The Weeknd, further cementing himself as one of Mo City's most vital exports. The old guard, led by Scarface, Slim Thug, and Paul Wall, stayed strong too, maturing their sounds while staying true to their sludgy roots.
New York
With each passing year it seems like NYC is less of the center of hip hop, and more of a hotbed of underground talent. Sure, A$AP Rocky continues to be one of the biggest stars in the nation, but he's one of the few bonafide stars to come from the region in a minute, and his sound couldn't be further off from the rest of rap. (If we extend the region to include Paterson, NJ, Fetty Wap can't be ignored either, but that's a pretty long way from Manhattan). The once-reigning titans of the '90s and early '00s had pretty strong years, with Diddy regaining strength on MMM, Fabolous giving another strong showing on Summertime Shootout, 50 Cent ignoring bankruptcy and keeping his career afloat on the recent Kanan Tape, Jadakiss cackled his way to a great album on Top 5 Dead Or Alive, Wu-Tang maestros Ghostface Killah and Raekwon both putting out solid projects, and even the once-forgotten Charles Hamilton showing up to remind us of his prowess once more. Additionally, French Montana's Coke Boys suffered a huge loss with Chinx's tragic passing, but the crew's leader killed it with Casino Life 2; A$AP Ferg reminded us that Always Strive And Prosper is one of next year's most anticipated albums, Nicki Minaj had another huge year despite releasing no new music, and Vinylz quietly became the trendiest man in the city with his stellar production work for out-of-towners.
More than ever, though, NYC's strength is in its undercard. Whether gritty revivalists like Action Bronson, Your Old Droog, Troy Ave, El-P, Pro Era, and Dave East or indie oddballs such as Ratking, Heems, Le1f, and Junglepussy, the passion that's always fueled the nation's most loyal scene is still burning.
Chicago
Chi Town's influence may have died down since the drill wave tapered off a few years back, but in terms of sheer volume, it continues to produce more stars than anyone else. The first-wavers like Chief Keef (who should almost be counted as an L.A. artist at this point), King Louie, Lil Durk, Lil Reese, Fredo Santana, Katie Got Bandz, and Young Chop all continue on to varying degrees of success-- some refusing to move on from their original sound, others trying out new lanes-- but drill's new school is even more exciting. Lil Bibby and Lil Herb have imbued the dead-eyed sound with a wise, journalistic approach, both dropping great tapes in 2015, and beyond them, Ty Money and Montana of 300 have given us the #BARZ that the scene was lacking, and guys like Johnny May Cash and SD inject buoyant melodicism to great effect.
If it seemed like every new artist coming out of the city three or four years ago was trying to be drill, we've decidedly passed that era now. Chance The Rapper is surely the clearest example, taking things even further than he had before this year with the doesn't-sound-like-anything-else SURF and some truly awesome new singles, but outside of his, The Social Experiment, Vic Mensa, and Towkio's little bubble, plenty of other exciting this were happening. Mick Jenkins continued honing his jazzbo, intellectual craft on Wave[s], the mysterious collective Goodbye Tomorrow introduced themselves to us with thrilling music and wildly inventive videos, bop stars Sicko Mobb continued their technicolor odysseys, White Gzus remained the best new old-heads in the game, and newcomers like Joey Purp, Lucki Eck$ and Kweku Collins established themselves as forces to be reckoned with.
In terms of guys who've been around the block more then a few years, Kanye West failed to deliver another album, but stayed relevant, producing for more of his pals than usual, and delivering three wildly different tastes of what SWISH could eventually sound like. Lupe Fiasco gave us his most ambitious statement yet with Tetsuo & Youth, refusing to conform to anyone's expectations. Freddie Gibbs (who's actually from nearby Gary, Indiana) matured his sound while stylistically branching out on Shadow Of A Doubt. Finally, hometown hero Jeremih got his Late Nights album out, and it might be the city's best achievement of the year.
Toronto
The 6 hasn't been an established force to be reckoned with in rap for very long, but its made up for that with perhaps the widest-reaching influence of any city. Drake's vocals and Noah "40" Shebib's chilly, minimal soundscapes have creeped into every corner of the game, whether that means inspiring rappers to sing, or making other producers' soundscapes sound just as haunting and frosty. It's funny that this has happened, considering Drake's omnivorous use of other region's styles, slang, and sounds, but he always filters it through his very singular vision, making everything he crafts into something that's unmistakably his. Whether or not he's a GOAT rapper, he's undoubtedly the most influential one of the past five years.
Outside of the OVO boss, the rest of the city finally seemed to get noticed this year. Our guy Tory Lanez, who's been grinding for years at this point, at last got the recognition he deserves; PARTYNEXTDOOR became much more than Drake's sidekick, producing some of the most impressive cuts on If You're Reading This It's Too Late, and drawing emphatic crowds that view him as a true star; The Weeknd emerged from the shadows to be one of this year's biggest pop successes, jam-packing Beauty Behind The Madness with some of 2015's biggest singles; Devontee, Amir Obe, and Roy Woods expanded on Drake's rich sound, taking it to entirely new places; Jimmy Prime reinvented himself as a melodic wunderkind on his Block Boy EP; Jazz Cartier was the rookie of the year with his wildly varied, entirely non-derivative Marauding In Paradise tape. And then even outside of 40, the city's producers were some of the most in-demand in the game, with Boi-1da, Frank Dukes, Nineteen85, and Sevn Thomas all bolstering their already-impressive resumés in big ways.
Los Angeles
If other regions were moving a mile a minute this year, influencing everyone else by staying a few steps ahead, L.A. proved that the exact opposite could be just as effective. Its upper crust of artists slowed down for a minute, studied the rich history of sounds inextricably linked to the sunny metropolis, and settled down to make some of the finest albums of the decade. Four of our top ten albums of the year came from L.A. artists, who in total made up a third of the entire list. Whether career-spanning epics like The Game's Documentary 2, Dr. Dre's Compton, Jay Rock's 90059, and Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly, or highly personalized snapshots such as Vince Staples' Summertime '06, Ty Dolla $ign's Free TC, Earl Sweatshirt's I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside, or Miguel's WILDHEART, these Californians' focus on the full-lengths really paid off this year.
We're breathlessly anticipating new projects from YG, Schoolboy Q, and ridiculously talented newcomer Anderson .Paak, so 2016 should be just as exciting.
Atlanta
How did the 39th largest city in the US, an out-of-the-way Southern hub with less than half a million residents, get so powerful in hip hop? Your guess is as good as mine (but probably a little better than Noisey's), but we're now a few years into Atlanta's reign of complete dominance as the American capital of rap music. Attracting out-of-towners from as far off as Mississippi (Rae Sremmurd), Milwaukee (K Camp), and Missouri (Metro Boomin), the trap mecca continues to dictate trends, from dances (DAB!), to flows (that Migos one still hasn't fallen off), to beats (ATL-based producers worked a whopping 13 of our 30 top albums). Effortlessly transitioning from the era when Gucci Mane and Young Jeezy were the leaders of the pack to accommodate for the forward-thinking styles of Future and Young Thug, ATL is where the weird becomes mainstream, where drugs run just as plentifully through veins as white blood cells, where "swags are created," to quote Southside.
We get a new star per minute here, with the Sremmurd boys surpassing one-hit-wonder status (ditto for iLoveMakonnen), Madeintyo embodying the "SKR" ad-lib, Playboi Carti becoming an it-kid, Bankroll Fresh dropping viral hit after hit, and K Camp becoming one of the game's preeminent sing-rappers. The vocalists are only half of the story though, with a local menagerie of beatmakers that continue to be two steps ahead of everyone else with each new release. There's 808 Mafia's Southside, TM88, and Tarentino, trap evangelist Zaytoven, Drake collaborator SykSense, stellar duo FKi, Ear Drummers mastermind Mike WiLL Made It, rapidly-ascending London On Da Track, Thugger sidekicks Wheezy and Goose, Childish Major, Black Metphor, Dun Deal, Honorable C-Note, DJ Spinz, Sonny Digital, C4... the list goes on and on. But Metro Boomin, who's only 22 damn years old, is arguably the MVP of the whole city this year. The kid is consistent as hell, never stagnant, and always thrilling. It's anyone's guess where he and the rest of ATL will go in 2016.