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- “I start to think, and then I sink. Into the paper like I was ink. When I’m writing, I’m trapped in between the lines. I escape when I finish the rhyme.” Rakim – ‘I Know You Got Soul’
- “Brain cells are lit. Ideas start to hit. Next the formation of words that fit. At the table I sit, making it legit. And when my pen hits the paper.” Big Daddy Kane – ‘Ain’t No Half Steppin’‘
- “If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room, would you trust it?” Kendrick Lamar – ‘Poetic Justice’
- “If skills sold, truth be told, I’d probably be. Lyrically, Talib Kweli. Truthfully, I wanna rhyme like Common Sense. But I did 5 mill’ – I ain’t been rhyming like Common since.”
- Artist: Lauryn Hill.
- From: Fugees' "Ready or Not" (Verse 2) Lauryn Hill might be the most underrated rap artist of all time for the simple fact that she belongs in your top 10 and the only reason she isn't there is because she's a woman.
- Artist: Jay-Z.
- From: DJ Khaled's "I Got Keys" (Verse 2) There really isn't much to add here. If you thought Jay-Z could never top his Beyonce-centric line "Got the hottest chick in the game wearing my chain," you were be wrong.
- "It was all a dream/I used to read Word Up! magazine." - The Notorious B.I.G. Song: "Juicy" (1994) Album: Ready to Die. It goes beyond the cliche of "a defining moment" in hip-hop.
- "Broken glass, everywhere/People pissing on the stairs, you know they just don't care." - Melle Mel. Song: "The Message" (1982) Album: The Message. Hip-hop may have started as party music, but Melle Mel and the Furious Five proved it could be much more when they chose to use it as a vessel to describe inner-city living on "The Message."
- "Fuck the police, coming straight from the underground." - Ice Cube. Song: "Fuck The Police" (1988) Album: Straight Outta Compton. Three words: Fuck. The. Police.
- "First off, fuck your bitch and the clique you claim/West side when we ride, come equipped with game." - 2Pac. Song: "Hit 'Em Up" (1996) Album: All Eyez On Me.
- Nas - "N.Y. State of Mind" "I never sleep ’cause sleep is the cousin of death" To be fair, Nas wasn't the originator of this idea. Sleep as Death's brother dates back to Homer's Iliad, but Nas recontextualized the idea in such a menacing, streetwise manner, it has become a mainstay in the hip-hop canon.
- Rakim - "I Know You Got Soul" "I start to think, and then I sink / Into the paper like I was ink / When I'm writing, I'm trapped in between the lines / I escape when I finish the rhyme."
- Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five - "The Message" "Don't push me cause I'm close to the edge / I'm trying not to lose my head / It's like a jungle.
- 2Pac - "Dear Mama" "And even as a crack fiend, mama / You always was a black queen, mama." When "Dear Mama" was inducted into the Library of Congress, Tupac's mother reacted by saying this: "It is a song that spoke not just to me, but every mother that has been in that situation, and there have been millions of us.
- "I had a dream I could buy my way to heaven/When I woke I spent that on a necklace." - Kanye West. Song: "Can't Tell Me Nothing" (2007) Album: Graduation.
- "Hey, you, get off my cloud/You don't know me and you don't know my style." - Method Man. Song: "Method Man" (1993) Album: Enter the Wu-Tang. Method Man was the obvious charismatic star of the Wu-Tang Clan for a grip of reasons, from his effortless delivery to his on-screen charisma.
- "I see death around the corner, gotta stay high while I survive/In the city where the skinny niggas die." - 2Pac. Song: "Death Around the Corner" (1995)
- "Yo bitch I fucked your friend, yeah you stank ho/I seen her on the elevator, honey grabbed my Kangol." - Ghostface Killah. Song: "Wildflower" (1996) Album: Ironman.
Dec 9, 2021 · HipHopDX awards the best rap verses of 2021, from Andre 3000's heartbreaking tribute to his mother to Fivio Foreign's stunning story on Kanye's song. See the nominees, winners and runner-ups for the rap verse of the year award.
Dec 29, 2021 · Who had the best rap verse of 2021? From Nicki Minaj's "Fractions" to André 3000's "Life of the Party" verse, we rank the 40 best rap verses of the year.