After a relatively dry year for rap music on the charts, it seems like the genre is back on track. This is largely thanks to the release of Lil Uzi Vert’s newest studio album, “Pink Tape.” The record is headed for a number-one debut on the Billboard 200, with projected album units between 200,000 and 250,000. Thus, Uzi is pretty much this year’s first hip-hop smash and continues to be one of the most innovative and popular rappers of the past 10 years. Could this success lead to their first Grammy win?

“Pink Tape” has a lot in its favor. First, as mentioned above, it’s pretty much the biggest rap album released in 2023, and second only to Drake and 21 Savage’s 2022 release “Her Loss” for the most first-week album units throughout the Grammy eligibility period. However, “Her Loss” had mediocre reviews, and most of its tracks faded relatively fast compared...