13 Famous Shortest Rappers Who Reached Career Height In Music

Shortest rappers include Rico Nasty who stands at 5 feet and 4.5 inches or 1.66 meters. She was born on May 7, 1997, in Washington, DC.

She is best known for her abrasive and aggressive rap style which has been likened by critics and fans to be more like punk music than traditional hip-hop. Her style has brought her a large and devoted fanbase across rap and non-rap genres.

Over the case of her now near decade-long career, Rico has released over 8 mixtapes from 2014 to 2022 and an album called Nightmare Vacation in 2020. She hit her commercial apex in 2018, four years into her career, with the release of her stand-out singles “Smack a Bitch” and “Rage,” which also solidified her shout-sing style of rap, which is now her trademark.

Rico is known for blending various genres in her style which range from the usual fare like hip-hop and trap to more experimental genres like metal, punk, and even hyper-pop. Her most celebrated work has been her 2019 collab album with the producer and DJ Kenny Beats, with whom she has developed an almost sibling-esque relationship. 

MadeinTYO is an American rapper who stands at 5 feet and 4 inches or 1.64 meters. He was born on April 12, 1992, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The rapper first gained fame in 2016 through the release of his debut single, Uber Everywhere, and its subsequent remix featuring popular rapper Travis Scott. The success of the single and its remix catapulted MadeinTYO into mainstream and commercial fame, alongside its parent mixtape, You Are Forgiven, which served as his debut project.

He has been heralded as one of the first popular examples of a sub-genre of hip-hop called Soundcloud rap which took the mid-2010s by storm. It has been named so due to many of the artists that come under this subgenre breaking out the streaming platform, Soundcloud, where people can upload, share and listen to music for free. 

Though unable to replicate the mainstream success of his debut single, the rapper continues to have a fruitful career and has released four albums and three mixtapes as of the writing of this article. His newest album, NEO TYO was released only recently on February 17, 2017, and comes just two years after the release of his collab album Yokohoma, with another American rapper named UnoTheActivist.

Lil Uzi Vert is an American rapper who has a height of 5 feet and 4 inches or 1.64 meters. He was born on July 31, 1995, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Uzi is one of the few rappers on this list who not only acknowledges their height but has made it a part of his personality. In his case, the rapper uses it as a way to tease his detractors, and emphasize his fame and acclaim.

The rapper has more than enough reasons to celebrate his success as he is one of the most successful, famous, and acclaimed rappers of his generation. Coming out of the same Soundcloud rap generation as the previous entry, MadeinTYO, a case can be made that Uzi is, in fact, the most successful rapper from that niche.

Through his now decade-long career, the rap has built a staggering, complex, and curiously beautiful discography which consists of three studio albums, a deluxe studio album, a collab album with Future, four mixtapes, and three EPs. His most recent solo album, Eternal Atake, was one of the most anticipated albums prior to its release, and became the biggest album of the year, and not just in rap either.

Coi Leray is an American rapper who is also 5 feet and 4 inches tall or 1.64 meters. She was born on May 11, 1997, in Boston, Massachusetts.

The only daughter of famous media mogul and former rapper Benzino, who is famous for his connections to the Hip-Hop magazine, The Source, and for his ill-fated beef with one of the greatest rappers of all time, Eminem, Leray started her career in the early 2010s.

However, her early attempts were more akin to teen music, and the rapper subsequently rebranded herself in the late 2010s to make music more catered to an adult audience. She was initially not taken seriously due in part to her parentage and a perceived lack of value in her music, Leray still made it onto the XXL Freshman list in 2021.

Though seen as one of the worst members of the list, Leray has since kept releasing music, and with each subsequent track, has started turning the public’s opinion around on her. Though her music is not exactly critically acclaimed, she has been getting more and more respect from her fans in recent years, and her most recent single, Players, even went viral on TikTok, and not for reasons making fun of her.

Azealia Banks is a controversial American rapper standing at a height of 5 feet 3 inches or 1.61 meters. She was born on May 31, 1991, in New York City.

Banks started her career in the late 2000s but hit the ground running with the release of her debut single “212” in 2011. The song instantly went viral because of Banks’ incredible showing of her talents as she not only sang and rapped in the song but rapped in various styles ranging from melodic downtempo raps, to shouting her head off in the post-chorus and later verses of the song.

Sadly, the singer would fail to capitalize on the song’s virality because of some troubles with her label, which had signed her as soon as she turned 18. Her label troubles led to a delay in the release of her debut and only album, Broke with Expensive Taste, which came out on November 7, 2014, a full three years after the release of her debut single, much to the chagrin of the artists and many of her supporters.

In recent years, Banks has seen more press for her controversial thoughts, opinions, and actions, which have ranged from racist and islamophobic acts toward other celebrities, getting kicked off of Twitter, beefing with entire countries, and cutting a chicken’s head off for witchcraft. Despite it all, she has managed to retain a small but loyal fanbase that routinely ignores her antics in favor of her still-good music. 

Eazy-E was an American rapper who had a height of 5 feet and 3 inches or 1.61 meters. He was born on September 7, 1964, and died on March 26, 1995.

During his short life, the rapper was famous for being a member of the landmark rap group, N.W.A., and alongside Ice Cube, was the premier rapper of the group. His contributions to the album are seen as essential to its success.

The group would burn out as quickly as it gained success and break up in 1991, a mere five years after it started. The rapper, who had released a solo album before his time with the group, went on to focus on his solo career, which consisted of 1 album, two EPs, and a posthumous EP in 2002.

In recent years, the rapper has been mythologized as a figure who passed away too soon as a victim of the fast life that fame and riches bring, with his story being memorialized in the NWA biopic, Straight Outta Compton. Despite the tragedy that cut his life short at age 30, the rapper’s talents have not been forgotten, and he is still seen as one of the best rhymers of his generation as a whole.

Tory Lanez is a Canadian rapper who is 5 feet and 3 inches tall or 1.61 meters. He was born on July 27, 1992, in Ontario, Canada.

The rapper came to prominence around the same time as another popular Canadian rapper, Drake, in the early 2010s and went from being Drake’s rival, beneficiary, and adversary, to peer. Aside from his relation to Drake, the rapper is known for his singles “Say It” and “Luv” and tumultuous troubles with the law.

The past few years have seen Tory achieve more fame for his troubles with fellow rapper Megan Thee Stallion than his music. The Canadian rapper shot Megan, with whom he had a friendship and semi-sexual relationship, and subsequently attempted to tarnish her name in public following the ordeal.

He is currently in jail after being convicted of assaulting Megan. As for his height, Tory is the only person on this list who has actively lied about his height in public as he publicly stated that he was 5 feet and 7 inches tall, and it was only after his conviction was released to the public that it became known that he is actually 5’3”.

Bhad Bhabie is an American rapper and internet personality who is 5 feet and 2 inches tall of 1.58 meters. She was born on March 26, 2003.

She first became popular by appearing on an episode of the famous American talk show, Dr. Phil, which often features troubled teens and people as guests. Bhabie came onto the show with her mother who complained about her daughter’s behavior and delinquency.

The rapper quickly went viral for her colorful appropriation of African American Vernacular English, and using the oft-memed phase, Cash me outside, how ’bout that? The virality of her episode and the phrase soon turned Bhabie into an internet sensation and in a show of wise cunning, she used that virality to start a career in Hip-Hop.

She officially started her rap career in 2017 with the release of her debut single, “These Heaux” which not only charted on the Billboard Hot 100 but turned Bhabie into the youngest female rapper to appear on the list. Since then, she has continued her rapping career while venturing into other avenues like creating an OnlyFans account to sell explicit and sexual pictures and videos of her as soon as she turned the legal age.

Missy Elliott is an American rapper who stands at 5 feet and 2 inches or 1.58 meters tall. She was born on July 1, 1971, in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Widely seen as one of, if not the most respected and acclaimed female rappers in the history of the genre, Missy is often called the Queen of Rap by many. She has sold over 40 million records globally and is one of the best-selling rappers ever. 

Known for her off-kilter flow, stellar production choice by virtue of working with fellow Virginian producers Timbaland, and The Neptunes, as well as her hit-making abilities. Missy captured the 2000s hip-hop scene and became the reigning female rapper of the era.

In a career that spans from 1991 to now, Missy has released over six studio albums from 1997 to 2005, with all of them being certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Sadly, her recording career had to be cut short as she developed an illness called Graves’ disease which affected her thyroid, and she has not released another studio album for over 15 years.

Nicki Minaj is a Trinidian-American rapper who stands at 5 feet and 2 inches or 1.58 meters tall. She was born on December 8, 1982, in Trinidad and Tobago.

Another contender for the throne of Queen of Rap, Minaj is the person with the most claim to the throne as she’s had a career that not only has hits and commercially successful albums but also musical versatility and lyrical skills. A strong case for the former is the fact that she has sold over 100 million records globally, the most out of any female rapper ever. 

The rapper has also charted over 125 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, with 21 of them being Top 10 hits and 3 of those 21 reaching number 1 on the charts. Her longest-running single, Super Bass, spent over 39 weeks on the chart. 

Aside from commercial success, the rapper is equally famous and lauded for her lyrical skills, and in fact, first gained critical acclaim for rapping on Kanye West’s track Monster from his seminal album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. On the track, she not only outrapped Kanye West and Rick Ross but even Jay-Z, the rapper who is considered by many to be the greatest of all time. 

42 Dugg is an American rapper who has a height of 5 feet and 1 inch or 1.55 meters. He was born on November 25, 1994, in Detroit Michigan. 

The rapper has been active since 2017 and started gaining fame and acclaim at the tail end of the 2010s through the release of his collab singles with Lil Baby, who he is also signed to, called “Grace” and “We Paid.” The rapper is known for his melodic trap and gangster rap lyrics, as well as being one of the most prominent users of the genre Detroit Drill.

Though the rapper has yet to release a studio album, he has a hefty discography that consists of five mixtapes, an EP, and a collab project with his label CMG. Four of these projects have charted on the Billboard 200, and two of them have peaked within the Top 10s.

Sadly, the rapper’s career continuously suffers from his troubles with the law that started when he was 15 years old after he got sentenced to 4 years in jail for carjacking. Since then, the rapper has been caught firing a gun, fleeing from the law, and most recently, failing to serve his prison sentence. 

Glorilla is an American rapper who stands at 4 feet and 11 inches or 1.49 meters tall. She was born on July 28, 1999, in Memphis, Tennessee.

The rapper rose to fame in early 2022 after she released her sophomore single “F.N.F(Let’s Go)” in collaboration with the producer Hitkidd. The song instantly went viral and separated itself from the vast majority of modern rap, and female rap, by gaining fans not only among men and women but non-rap fans too.

The song not only peaked at 42 on the Hot 100 but became certified Gold by the RIAA, and even got nominated at the 65th Grammy Awards for Best Rap Performance. Her next single, Tomorrow 2, featured prominent female rapper Cardi B, and instantly reached number 9 on the Hot 100 and is also certified Gold. 

The rapper is now entering the new year strong with a win as Best New Hip Hop Artist at the BET Hip Hop Awards, and two nominations at the 2023 IHeartRadio Music Awards. She released a song called “On Wat U On” with Moneybagg Yo and is set to release her next single, Internet Trolls later in the year.

Lil Kim is an American rapper who stands at 4 feet 9 inches or 1.44 meters tall. She was born on July 11, 1974, in Brooklyn, New York City.

Kim first gained prominence in the 1990s after she was discovered by prominent rapper The Notorious B.I.G. who asked her to join his group, Junior M.A.F.I.A. She continued making a name for himself after Biggie’s passing and released her debut album, Conspiracy to great success, and it is even certified gold.

Seen by many as the prototype of the style of female rappers that are popular today in Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, Kim saw a fair amount of chart success herself as she’s had 17 songs chart on the Hot 100, with 4 of them entering the Top 10, and one even reaching number 1. 

However, in recent years, Kim is known more for beefing with her successor Nicki Minaj than for her own music. The two have been embroiled in an on-again-off-again beef since Minaj’s career began due to Kim, and many critics, stated that Minaj stole her entire style and approach from Kim and her music.