So what's the criteria? Here's a rough outline of what I (tried to) focus on. First, the ability: the individual's talents, and that includes voice, speed, etc. This is definitely the most important aspect. Second, the quality: if the raps themselves are actually good. There are certainly good rappers with bad raps, and bad rappers with good raps. Third, the progress: this involves both whether or not we've seen improvement in either of the first two categories, and consistency in their performance throughout the years. In the interest of fairness, I'm only looking at title tracks or material like released singles, etc. With that said though, I'm afraid most non-newcomer writing is going to be talking about what they've done (or not done) since last fall.
Welcome to the series, Junyeol. You're going to have to be seated here though. Stellar's songs tend to have brief rap segments, which isn't the best opportunity to show us what Junyeol can do. Furthermore, most of her raps have been more of the rap-singing mix, and as far as I can tell there isn't a single time where she's been average even doing that. Stellar as a group is hanging on by a thread, and it won't be the rapping that gets them extra attention anytime soon.
#31. Dahye (-8)
Looking back, I'm not exactly sure who or why I placed Dahye above a handful of other rappers last time. She's got a pretty good voice for rapping, sure, but when it comes down to it most of her material is very brief and unimpressive overall. She isn't blowing you away, and hardly gets the opportunity to in the first place. Compounding this is the fact that BESTie has been quiet since "Excuse Me," with only Uji getting any exposure (that I know of) elsewhere.
#30. Dahyun (--)
I've previously mentioned that Dahyun reminds me of a certain Hyelim from Wonder Girls. That is to say, she's definitely alright if she has Lim vibes, and certainly respectable given she's a rookie. However, Dahyn's progress will be tough thanks to two things: the first is that she and Chaeyoung will (more than likely) continue to share the raps in Twice, and the second being that because she is like Hyelim, I don't think her ceiling is very high. Dahyun is so young though that she can only go up.
#29. Chaeyoung (--)
While I consider Chaeyoung to be considerably more gifted than Dahyun, she can't really go much higher on the list for most of the same reasons. Splitting raps for line distribution is nice, but not so nice if you want to establish yourself as a new rapper to watch. We've seen her rap a little outside of her group, and she has serious potential if not restricted to rap-singing in pop songs. But whether or not she'll get that opportunity later remains to be seen.
Red Velvet may have had two comebacks this year, but neither "One Of These Nights" or "Russian Roulette" featured any rapping, which is good or bad depending on what you want. If you wanted to have songs without any weak points, great! If you wanted to see Irene potentially improve as a rapper, not so great. So with that said, it's difficult to evaluate her without new material, but I think her current position is about right.
#27. Sojin (--)
Sojin's placement is shaky to begin with, as the future of 9MUSES is always in question, no matter what the current roster looks like. When their new subunit was announced, most presumed she'd be the awkward filler position. Then we were treated to a pretty decent rap sequence, which was a surprise. With one decent rap under her belt already, she escapes the bottom five for now, but the uncertainty of her group's future will remain looming over her head.
#26. Yura (-2)
Remember the last time Girl's Day had a comeback? Pepperidge Farm remembers. Seriously, their last comeback was almost a year and a half ago. Prior to the extended hiatus from promoting, she was showing promise with solid raps in "I Miss You" and "Ring My Bell," albeit the latter being criminally short. That's the other thing with Yura. Many of her raps are simply too short to assess. Please let them release new music soon, I'm getting desperate.
#25. Serri (--)
With so many rappers, there's bound to be people who are overlooked or not as deeply researched. Serri has flirted on and off with rapping responsibilities, even during the time that Gaeun officially had the rapping position. We got a great first look (or perhaps a reminder) of her ability when she highlighted "Someone Like U" with a rap that was on repeat for a good few months. However, their latest comeback wasn't anything special, and also lacked clear rapping.
AOA Cream was the best thing to happen for Chanmi, even though she essentially got "the Bora treatment." That being: a rapping section only (and dance and face time, naturally). Still, she definitely made the most out of what she got and delivered a solid (if not monotonous) rap break which was refreshing compared to the sugary sweet vocals from Yuna and Hyejeong. What "I'm Jelly Baby" showed is that the potential for Chanmi is there, but likely something to be seen only in AOA Cream promotions.
#23. Hyoyeon (-3)
To be fair to Hyoyeon, she was never known for being a rapper but instead a dancer. Despite lightly dabbing in rap over the last few years, I didn't expect her to rap in her solo track with Station. "Mystery" followed a trend that most of the girl group soloists have shared: decent / good songs with underwhelming choruses or breaks. That actually hurts her more than the others because her rap was poor. It wasn't even ten seconds and sounded messy as hell. Would've been much better if it was a full-fledged dance break instead.
#22. Hyelim (--)
Hyelim makes a return to Rapper Power Rankings after missing out last year's revisions. She's gotten in some more work since we last saw her: rapping in "With You" with Bernard Park and joining Yubin for "Why So Lonely," too. Like I said with Dahyun, she's decent, but by now I think she's reached her limit. She will always be close-to-serviceable, which is fine! But it sure is tough being in a group with Yubin since Yubin is so good.
#21. Newsun (--)
Newsun and Sonamoo showed much promise upon debut, rocking that aggressive performance style. That fell by the wayside, as subsequent releases have been very much bubblegum pop and not at all aggressive. "I Like U Too Much" featured an unfortunate rap by her, but again I can't fully blame her for it. I blame the damn cutesy motif. I still see resemblances between Newsun and Jucy of EvoL fame(?), but she and D.ana will forever be chained down by their group's (indecisive) themes.
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