Best Rap Verses of 2021 (So Far)
5. Lil Wayne, “Seeing Green”
Verse: 1
Lil Wayne comes out of the gate on “Seeing Green” rapping with precision and control. It’s as if he transported us back in time to Weezy’s mixtape era, delivering bar-heavy verses, throwing in wild entendres (“The cash blue, but I’m still seein’ green/ I’m in the bathroom, and I’m peein’ lean”) and witty metaphors (“Nina Ross on the hip, the .44 is my mistress”). Though the verse is reminiscent of his early career, Wayne keeps it current with plenty of topical references, spitting lines like, “And ever since the pandemic/ They don’t wanna let Drake out of Canada.” “Seeing Green” marked the beginning of a solid string of features from Lil Wayne, and it remains our favorite of the year so far. —Jessica McKinney
4. Tyler, the Creator, “Wilshire”
Verse: 4
Oh, you forgot Tyler could rap? After spending much of IGOR focusing on melodies and pretty chords, Tyler turns his attention back to bars on Call Me If You Get Lost, even allowing himself to rap for eight minutes straight on “Wilshire.” Eight minutes! It’s the thematic climax of the album, and features some of the most personal storytelling we’ve ever heard from Tyler. He says every lyric on the album “is real and really my life,” and nowhere is that more apparent than “Wilshire.” Rapping over fairly understated production, he gets vulnerable as he tells the story of a potential relationship that was doomed from the beginning. After setting the scene in the opening verses about how he fell for someone who is already in a relationship with another man, Tyler launches into an incredibly detailed fourth verse that opens a portal into his psyche as he comes to terms with a failed romance in real time. Realizing that the fling won’t work out, he stumbles over his own words for effect (“Gotta rewind it—aw, fukk”), capturing the disorienting feeling of getting sucked into a relationship that’s spiraling out of control, before ultimately taking an L. “I’m in the wrong,” he admits on more than one occasion. Throughout Tyler’s discography, we’ve heard him adopt the personas of fictional characters to tell stories, but this verse feels entirely autobiographical. It’s like hearing a voice note someone recorded for themself on the night of a bad breakup. We’ve never heard Tyler quite like this, and it immediately deserves recognition as one of the best verses of his career (so far). —Eric Skelton
3. Lil Baby, “Wants and Needs”
Verse: 2
Lil Baby knows how to make the most of a big moment. Coming off the biggest year of his career so far, picking up honors like Complex’s award for 2020’s Best Rapper Alive, he linked up with the guy who has been sitting on rap’s throne for years: Drake. Whenever collaborations like this happen, we can’t help but debate who outrapped who, and in this instance, it was Lil Baby. Drake did his thing in the first verse, but Baby came in hot, sounding like he had something to prove. It’s one of those Lil Baby verses where he sounds like he’s running downhill, picking up momentum with each bar. He starts with a playful boast (“I’m from the four, but I love me a threesome”) before positioning himself as an all-time great (“I’m not a GOAT, but I fit the description/ I like to pour, so I get the prescription”) and then flexing about how easy this is for him right now (“I’m droppin’ hit after hit, I’m just chillin’/ But I’ll send a hit while I chill with my children”). He just keeps one-upping himself. “Wants and Needs” isn’t quite a pass-the-torch moment, because Drake hasn’t left his throne just yet (just look who sits at the top of this very list) but it does feel like a defining milestone in the rise of Lil Baby. Coupled with his performance on J. Cole’s “Pride Is the Devil,” Baby is proving he can compete with (and often outrap) anyone on any given track. —Eric Skelton
2. J. Cole, “Let Go My Hand”
Verse: 1
J. Cole’s The Off-Season was a meta devotion to craft. And while he has plenty of moments on the project where lyrical fireworks are the main appeal, he’s at his best when he dials back and just reflects on his own life. That’s what he did on “Let Go My Hand,” a winding, autobiographical verse where he talks about spirituality and fatherhood, and poignantly delivers the anecdote of his child telling him to let him walk on his own, a reminder that “one day he's gonna be his own man and my job is to make sure he's equipped.” A long, introspective verse is a cheat code to wind up on lists like this, especially when it’s delivered from a star whose big reveals are ripe to strangle the news cycle (like his admission that he did indeed fight Diddy back in the day). That was the true “hook” of the song for many, but it’s just one element of a great verse where Cole takes us on the kind of confessional, vulnerable stream of consciousness that typifies his appeal. —Andre Gee
1. Drake, “Lemon Pepper Freestyle”
Verse: 2
We all know Drake can make any kind of record he wants at this point, but there’s one style he keeps coming back to over and over: “the life talk” record. As he explained during his Rap Radar interview in 2020, these are the songs where he slows things down and gives a thorough update on his life and everything going on in his head at the moment. The latest of these “life talks” is “Lemon Pepper Freestyle,” and it’s one of his best yet. Rapping for four minutes straight over a soulful sample, he covers a lot of ground, rhyming about everything from his childhood class photos to visions of his own funeral. In between, he leaves plenty of room to talk his shyt, acknowledging his influence on the game (“Half the time, I gotta ask n****s what they profession is/ Ushered a generation in, these are where my confessions live”) before ruminating on his new reality as a father. Even when he’s rapping about family, though, he does it with the kind of confidence that can only come from someone performing at the very top of their game. “Yeah, teacher-parent meetings, wives get googly eyed,” he raps. “Regardless of what they husbands do to provide/ Askin’ if I know Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj.” Then, with incredible comedic timing, he adds, “Of course.” Drake is feelin’ himself here, and why shouldn’t he be? He was the best rapper of the 2010s, and with verses like this, he’s showing that his reign might be nowhere near ending. “Lemon Pepper Freestyle” has it all: intricate wordplay, honest storytelling, topical references, and overflowing confidence. As he happily points out, “Negative thoughts don’t even enter my inner matrix.” —Eric Skelton
5. Lil Wayne, “Seeing Green”
Verse: 1
Lil Wayne comes out of the gate on “Seeing Green” rapping with precision and control. It’s as if he transported us back in time to Weezy’s mixtape era, delivering bar-heavy verses, throwing in wild entendres (“The cash blue, but I’m still seein’ green/ I’m in the bathroom, and I’m peein’ lean”) and witty metaphors (“Nina Ross on the hip, the .44 is my mistress”). Though the verse is reminiscent of his early career, Wayne keeps it current with plenty of topical references, spitting lines like, “And ever since the pandemic/ They don’t wanna let Drake out of Canada.” “Seeing Green” marked the beginning of a solid string of features from Lil Wayne, and it remains our favorite of the year so far. —Jessica McKinney
4. Tyler, the Creator, “Wilshire”
Verse: 4
Oh, you forgot Tyler could rap? After spending much of IGOR focusing on melodies and pretty chords, Tyler turns his attention back to bars on Call Me If You Get Lost, even allowing himself to rap for eight minutes straight on “Wilshire.” Eight minutes! It’s the thematic climax of the album, and features some of the most personal storytelling we’ve ever heard from Tyler. He says every lyric on the album “is real and really my life,” and nowhere is that more apparent than “Wilshire.” Rapping over fairly understated production, he gets vulnerable as he tells the story of a potential relationship that was doomed from the beginning. After setting the scene in the opening verses about how he fell for someone who is already in a relationship with another man, Tyler launches into an incredibly detailed fourth verse that opens a portal into his psyche as he comes to terms with a failed romance in real time. Realizing that the fling won’t work out, he stumbles over his own words for effect (“Gotta rewind it—aw, fukk”), capturing the disorienting feeling of getting sucked into a relationship that’s spiraling out of control, before ultimately taking an L. “I’m in the wrong,” he admits on more than one occasion. Throughout Tyler’s discography, we’ve heard him adopt the personas of fictional characters to tell stories, but this verse feels entirely autobiographical. It’s like hearing a voice note someone recorded for themself on the night of a bad breakup. We’ve never heard Tyler quite like this, and it immediately deserves recognition as one of the best verses of his career (so far). —Eric Skelton
3. Lil Baby, “Wants and Needs”
Verse: 2
Lil Baby knows how to make the most of a big moment. Coming off the biggest year of his career so far, picking up honors like Complex’s award for 2020’s Best Rapper Alive, he linked up with the guy who has been sitting on rap’s throne for years: Drake. Whenever collaborations like this happen, we can’t help but debate who outrapped who, and in this instance, it was Lil Baby. Drake did his thing in the first verse, but Baby came in hot, sounding like he had something to prove. It’s one of those Lil Baby verses where he sounds like he’s running downhill, picking up momentum with each bar. He starts with a playful boast (“I’m from the four, but I love me a threesome”) before positioning himself as an all-time great (“I’m not a GOAT, but I fit the description/ I like to pour, so I get the prescription”) and then flexing about how easy this is for him right now (“I’m droppin’ hit after hit, I’m just chillin’/ But I’ll send a hit while I chill with my children”). He just keeps one-upping himself. “Wants and Needs” isn’t quite a pass-the-torch moment, because Drake hasn’t left his throne just yet (just look who sits at the top of this very list) but it does feel like a defining milestone in the rise of Lil Baby. Coupled with his performance on J. Cole’s “Pride Is the Devil,” Baby is proving he can compete with (and often outrap) anyone on any given track. —Eric Skelton
2. J. Cole, “Let Go My Hand”
Verse: 1
J. Cole’s The Off-Season was a meta devotion to craft. And while he has plenty of moments on the project where lyrical fireworks are the main appeal, he’s at his best when he dials back and just reflects on his own life. That’s what he did on “Let Go My Hand,” a winding, autobiographical verse where he talks about spirituality and fatherhood, and poignantly delivers the anecdote of his child telling him to let him walk on his own, a reminder that “one day he's gonna be his own man and my job is to make sure he's equipped.” A long, introspective verse is a cheat code to wind up on lists like this, especially when it’s delivered from a star whose big reveals are ripe to strangle the news cycle (like his admission that he did indeed fight Diddy back in the day). That was the true “hook” of the song for many, but it’s just one element of a great verse where Cole takes us on the kind of confessional, vulnerable stream of consciousness that typifies his appeal. —Andre Gee
1. Drake, “Lemon Pepper Freestyle”
Verse: 2
We all know Drake can make any kind of record he wants at this point, but there’s one style he keeps coming back to over and over: “the life talk” record. As he explained during his Rap Radar interview in 2020, these are the songs where he slows things down and gives a thorough update on his life and everything going on in his head at the moment. The latest of these “life talks” is “Lemon Pepper Freestyle,” and it’s one of his best yet. Rapping for four minutes straight over a soulful sample, he covers a lot of ground, rhyming about everything from his childhood class photos to visions of his own funeral. In between, he leaves plenty of room to talk his shyt, acknowledging his influence on the game (“Half the time, I gotta ask n****s what they profession is/ Ushered a generation in, these are where my confessions live”) before ruminating on his new reality as a father. Even when he’s rapping about family, though, he does it with the kind of confidence that can only come from someone performing at the very top of their game. “Yeah, teacher-parent meetings, wives get googly eyed,” he raps. “Regardless of what they husbands do to provide/ Askin’ if I know Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj.” Then, with incredible comedic timing, he adds, “Of course.” Drake is feelin’ himself here, and why shouldn’t he be? He was the best rapper of the 2010s, and with verses like this, he’s showing that his reign might be nowhere near ending. “Lemon Pepper Freestyle” has it all: intricate wordplay, honest storytelling, topical references, and overflowing confidence. As he happily points out, “Negative thoughts don’t even enter my inner matrix.” —Eric Skelton
