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Your Rap essentials

Your essential rap artists in one place. Central Cee, Doechii, J. Cole and Cristale leading hottest rap, drill and hip-hop, fully certified by 1Xtra and running the scene right now.

This is 1Xtra’s Rap List, your essential guide to the week’s biggest rap, drill, grime and hip-hop records. If it’s shaping the culture, it’s landing here.

Central Cee, Doechii and J. Cole are setting levels, with Dave, 21 Savage, Headie One, Clavish and KiLLOWEN keeping the pressure high. From viral freestyles to heavyweight drops and collabs that take over your timeline, this is what’s actually running rap right now.

Only the hottest, most talked-about tracks make the cut. The ones your group chat’s debating. The ones your favourite artists are rating. The ones moving from the scene straight into rotation.

Fully certified by 1Xtra, Rap Essentials is your no-skip rundown of the best, the newest and the most in-demand rap out now. Stay ahead of the curve or catch what you’ve missed. If you care about where rap’s heading, this is where you lock in.

Listen on BBC Sounds wherever you are. If you’re in the UK and heading abroad, just take the BBC Sounds app with you and keep streaming. And if you’re listening from outside the UK, you can find the 1Xtra live stream on BBC.com/audio.

Produced by BBC Audio for BBC Radio 1Xtra.

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Music Played

  • Doechii & SZA

    Girl, Get Up.

    • Top Dawg Entertainment / Capitol Records.

  • Scorcher & Kasst8

    Roads (feat. Kasst8)

    • Lizzy Records.

  • M Huncho

    Championship

    • 10K Projects.

  • Aya Nakamura

    DĂ©sarmer

    • Warner Music France.

  • J. Cole

    SAFETY

    • The Fall-Off.
    • Cole World Inc. / Interscope Records.
    • 3.

  • Clavish & Chy Cartier

    CC Walk

    • Yesterday Was Once Tomorrow.
    • Clavish.

  • Central Cee

    Iceman Freestyle

    • Columbia.

  • TeeZandos & Cristale

    No, Yes!

  • EsDeeKid & Yeat

    Made It On Our Own

    • Captial Records.

  • ODUMODUBLVCK

    Big Time (feat. Wizkid)

    • Native Sounds/Def Jam PS.

  • Ms Banks

    WHY?

    • SOUTH LDN LOVER GIRL.
    • Belive UK.

  • D‐Block Europe

    PRIVATE FLIGHTS (feat. Nemzzz)

  • Baby Keem

    Good Flirts (feat. Kendrick Lamar & Momo Boyd)

    • Ca$ino.
    • pgLang / Columbia Records.
    • 4.

  • Dave

    Raindance (feat. Tems)

    • Neighbourhood Recordings.

  • EsDeeKid

    Omens

    • Omens.
    • 2026 XV Records / Lizzy Records.

  • Kidwild

    Still Indecisive

    • Kidwild.

  • Ludacris

    44 Bars

    • Def Jam.

  • Don Toliver

    ATM

    • OCTANE.
    • CactusJack/Donnway/ATL.

  • Blanco

    Akaza

    • Paradise On A Lifeboat.
    • Believe UK.

  • Shelailai

    London's Burning

    • 1 Records.

  • 21Savage

    DOG (feat. GloRilla)

    • WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STREETS?.
    • Slaughter Gang, LLC/Epic Records.

  • AJ Tracey, Blade Brown & Carns Hill

    Ibiza

    • Revenge Records.

  • Mobb Deep

    Down For You (feat. Jorja Smith & Nas)

    • Infinite.
    • Mass Appeal.
    • 6.

  • Kofi Stone

    Flowers Flow (Remix) (feat. D Double E)

    • Tru Community.

  • Kraff Gad

    F1

  • Blxst

    Aye Girl

    • Blxst LLC / Empire.

  • Fredo

    Birthday (feat. Burna Boy & Steel Banglez)

    • Since 93 / RCA.

  • EsDeeKid

    Century

    • XV RECORDS /.

  • KiLLOWEN

    Naughties

  • Wale

    City On Fire (feat. Odeal)

  • Ty Dolla $ign, Young Thug & Lil Baby

    TYCOON$

    • TYCOON.
    • Atlantic.
    • 6.

  • Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar

    Family Ties

    • Columbia.

  • Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar

    Family Ties

    • pgLang / Columbia.

  • Headie One

    Bellingham

    • Bellingham.
    • One Records.

  • DaBaby

    POP DAT THANG

    • BE MORE GRATEFUL.
    • South Coast Music Group & Interscope Records.

  • KiLLOWEN

    Motion Sickness (feat. Songer)

  • J. Cole & PJ

    Legacy

    • The Fall-Off.
    • Cole World Inc. / Interscope Records.
    • 6.

  • Wretch 32 & Avelino

    More Fire More Flamez

    • Wretch 32 Limited.

  • Meekz

    Bk2life

    • TRU ENT.

  • Don Toliver

    Body

    • OCTANE.
    • Atlantic Records.
    • 2.

  • J Hus & Skepta

    Outside

    • MilitĂ©r Music / EMPIRE.

  • Pozer & Kasst 8

    What's Good

    • Pozer.

  • J Emz

    Up & Stuck

Broadcasts

  • Sat 7 Mar 202601:00
    BBC Radio 1Xtra
  • Tomorrow01:00
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  • Wed 8 Apr 202601:00
    BBC Radio 1Xtra
  • Sat 18 Apr 202601:00
    BBC Radio 1Xtra