The 15 Best Rap Verses of 2025 (So Far)

15.2 Chainz, "Bad Choices"

Best Line: This track oughta wake 'em up, call it Folgers/Surrounded by angels, demons can't approach us

Larry June and 2 Chainz’s full-length collab album with The Alchemist, Life is Beautiful, was the perfect format for what the ATL legend does best: verbose shit-talking.

Few are more clever, come up with more zany or hysterical one liners, or possess a voice that is practically built to flex. On an album full of 2 Chainz and Larry seeing who can cook up the most preposterous bars, there are few better moments than what the rapper, formerly known as Tity Boi, comes through with on “Bad Choices.” He even flexes off his bilingual flair, spitting: “Me llama Dos Cadenas, baby, buenas noches/ See, I'm the big dog, I'm the Cane Corso.” —Will Schube

14.Little Simz, "Free"

Verse: 2

Best Line: “I think we fear being naked from the fear of rejection/If beauty is in the eye of the beholder/Then why are we obsessed with seeking perfection?”

Little Simz has always been a poet on the mic, and on “Free” she unleashes some of her best stanzas to date, beginning the cut with a meditation on the meaning of love before pontificating on a question that has been plaguing philosophers for centuries: “What does it mean to be free?”

She showcases why she’s one of the best thinkers in rap, evolving throughout the verse to cleverly posit the ways in which love and freedom are linked. The second verse doesn’t exist without the context of the first—and vice versa—yet it also stands powerfully on its own. She raps: “Fear can be dressed in the form of protection/ Fear can be the culprit of slowing progression.” —Will Schube

13.Central Cee, "Don't Know Anymore"

Best Line: “My lil' bro's still going to school, but he wanna do everything that the gang does/Now he's repeatin' the cycle ‘cause he's outside and he wanna go act up”

It’s not easy to rap about your life and childhood trauma for over three minutes and still keep the listener engaged. But not everyone is as skilled as Central Cee. On the closer of Can’t Rush Greatness, he goes deep, delivering an extended verse that reflects on his upbringing and how it’s shaped his outlook on fame.

One of the most common critiques of Cench’s style is that he often relies on the same flow. But here, he switches it up, using a pocket that’s more introspective and vulnerable. He raps: “Some nights still toss and turn in my sleep cause I seen some serious violence / I was six years old when Dad left home and they shot my granddad, all of that at once.” —Jordan Rose

12.Nino Paid, "Joey Story"

Best Line: “Took one look at the sky, that's when he felt that shit deep down in his heart/Nobody really got love for you, if somebody did, they would've been here from the start”

In an era dominated by non-sequiturs, genuine, legible storytelling that follows a clear throughline has become something of a lost art in rap. That’s one reason DMV’s Nino Paid has emerged as one of the most exciting rappers of 2025: not only is there lucidity in almost every verse, but a genuine empathy at the core.

“Joey’s Story” is his career highlight: a devastating song that details a man’s final moments on Earth, delivered with the kind of passion that would make Scarface proud. The song is rich with vivid imagery and weight, but what truly sets it apart is its efficiency: an entire emotional arc captured in just two minutes. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

11.Doechii, "EGYPT" (Remix)

Best Line: “Literary swamp, bitch n*ggas can't book me/Came up out the mud, same color as a Tootsie”

Even with all the Grammy wins, magazine covers, and brand deals, don’t forget Doechii is from the swamp. Which means she knows how to get dirty when she wants to. On the "EGYPT" remix, she outguns Westside Gunn with a verse full of bonkers imagery (“almost choked on my grills tryna eat the lamb chop”), big money flexes (“embroidered bedsheets, 500 thread count”), and cold-blooded threats (“Snuck up on his mama, hit the n*gga where it hurts”).—Dimas Sanfiorenzo

10.J. Cole, "cLOUDs"

Verse: 2

Best Line: “I proceed with caution, and I'm not flossin'/Unlike some, I'm not defined by my fortune/I'm defined by rhymes, though I'm in my prime/There was times that I was down 'cause I'd thought I'd lost it”

J. Cole’s stint as a blogger might have been short—as of publication, just eight posts over a five month stretch—but at least it gave us “cLOUDs,” a track that kind of functions as a think piece. Jermaine sounds like he’s in a flow state, delivering a verse that touches on everything from personal doubts and religion to the dangers of AI. When it comes to loosies, few are as brutally effective as Jermaine. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

9.Joey Badass, "Crash Dummies"

Verse: 1

Best Line: “And thank you for making it clear to me that Dot scared, but yeah I was at the party, but I also saw Top there”

If you love rap, Joey Bada$$' tussle with Ray Vaughn—and by extension, TDE—was one of the defining rap moments of the year so far. The peak of the battle came with “Crash Dummies,” where Joey is at his most audacious. Rapping over a flip of Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s “Get Money,” he goes full-on offensive. Joey doesn’t just take shots at Ray Vaughn. He’s basically daring Kendrick Lamar to respond, even calling him “scared.” There were a couple of strays but the beef cooled off after this. Maybe Joey was right: “Anything past 24 hours is a shot clock violation.” —Nwo Sparrow

8.Malice, "Ace Trumpets"

Best Line: “Never leavin' home without my piece like I'm Mahatma/From the tribe of Judah, I'm Mufasa/Never turn the other cheek, you'll die at the Oscars”

Malice never lost it.

On “Ace Trumpets,” the first song released from Clipse’s comeback album, Let God Sort Em Out, he opens his verse with “Penne alla Vodka” and then locks into the phrase, sticking to the same rhyme scheme with each bar. There’s structural discipline here, but don’t forget about the bars themselves. Malice’s verse is a perfect blend of luxury-laced lyricism, criminal nostalgia, and vicious punchlines—like when he raps, “Dressed in House of Gucci made from selling Lady Gaga." —Nwo Sparrow

7.billy woods, "Cold Sweat"

Verse: 1

Best Line: “It's a room full of record execs on the other end and you dancing on the desk/Wakе up in a cold sweat/In a barber chair, Math Hoffa asking if anyone triеd to make you wear a dress”

billy woods has the unique ability to turn the tangible visceral and animate the inanimate. He’s an alchemist as much as he’s a rapper, spinning fairytales into nightmares and mundane observations into the most profound shit you’ve ever heard. Just look at this way he ties together the history of rap executives and pop cultural phenomena in the most haunting way imaginable on “Cold Sweat”: “It's a room full of record execs on the other end and you dancing on the desk.” My nightmare? Being called out in a billy woods song. —Will Schube

6.JID, "Bodies"

Best Line: “N*ggas bein' funny, we can put 'em in a red shirt/Five in your chest, now you Ant-Man Edwards/Live and direct, live in the flesh/I manifest every dollar sign I could collect”

Offset and JID do very different things on the mic, but what’s highlighted on their collaborative track “Bodies” is how chameleonic each can be. Offset showcases some of the dexterousness JID brings to his best raps, and JID uses the opportunity to work with the Migos rapper as a chance to talk his best shit. Over a classic trap beat, the Dreamville affiliate relishes in how damn strong he is as a rapper, moving from veiled threats of violence to some extremely slick shout outs. He’s one of the best sports references in hip-hop, and he drops an instant classic on “Bodies,” rapping “N*ggas bein' funny, we can put 'em in a red shirt/ Five in your chest, now you Ant-Man Edwards.” —Will Schube

5.YoungBoy Never Broke Again, "Alive"

Best Line: “Every time that I step on the scene, I just want 'em to test me, they know that I been livin' reckless/I'm lovin' myself, I been havin' a fetish/I'm ready to eat, I been countin' up lettuce”

YoungBoy Never Broke Again is back home and “Alive”—a collaboration with either Playboi Carti or Ye, depending on who you ask—feels like his unofficial “First Day Out” verse. It’s his State of the Union address to the rap game, a proclamation that he’s back and hasn’t missed a step, despite the legal battles he’s faced over the past few years. The lyrics are strong, but what truly makes this one of the year’s standout verses is the raw energy and tenacity he brings to every line. Not gonna lie—this energy was missed. —Jordan Rose

4.Drake, "Gimme a Hug"

Verse: 1

Best Line: “You Neo in the matrix, these niggas just Nemo in the ocean/ Small fish, making kids feel emotion/Using you for promotion, truer words had never been spoken”

The second part of “Gimmie a Hug”—where the beat switches and Drake takes shots at Joe Budden while giving Melyssa Ford her props—grabbed all the headlines upon release. But it’s the opening stanzas that really stand out.

Drake’s first line—“Drake elimination, fake intimidation/Take a minute, take a deep breath, have a little bit of patience”—sounds like he’s talking to himself. It plays like a pep talk in the mirror, a moment of self-reassurance that he can still pull Thriller-level numbers, even after losing the rap war. Released on the R&B-focused $ome $sexy $ongs as one of its only pure rap moments, “Gimmie a Hug” serves as an important checkpoint. It’s Drake reminding us, and maybe himself, that he’s still that guy in rap, whether he truly believes it or not. —Jordan Rose

3.Pusha-T, "So Be It"

Verse: 3

Best Line: “You cried in front of me, you died in front of me/ Calabasas took your bitch and your pride in front of me”

Pusha-T must have been sitting on the sidelines throughout the Drake and Kendrick beef, patiently waiting his turn.

While the shots he throws at Travis Scott on Clipse’s 2025 single, “So Be It,” haven’t resulted in any landscape-shifting detonations, it’s a reminder that Pusha is not one to be trifled with. All Travis has done in the interim is seemingly tease a JACKBOYS 2 album, and who knows what kind of chaos will unfold if he’s currently in the studio feverishly penning a come back to include on the project.

As it stands, though, there’s a vicious efficiency to Pusha’s attack on Travis’ character, a shocking clarity to the opening of the third verse, which is one of the hardest bars of the year. —Will Schube

2.Kendrick Lamar, "Chains and Whips"

Best Line: “The things I seen under my eyelids/Kaleidoscope dreams, murder and sirens/Let's be clear, hip-hop died again/Half of my profits may go to Rakim”

This one’s a little unorthodox.

At the time of publication, Kendrick’s verse on the Clipse’s “Chains and Whips” isn’t even officially out. Still, it’s already one of the most talked-about 16s in recent memory.

Yes, there’s the fact that it may have single-handedly delayed a new Clipse album by a year. But even with just a snippet available—shout out AzChike—you can already tell this is one of the best verses of the year. Kendrick drops quotables like, “Therapy showed me how to open up / It also showed me I don't give a fuck.” At times, he sounds like a war king reflecting on his victory, rapping with measured intensity over Pharrell’s militaristic drums. It’s worth noting: despite being a guest, Kendrick was given the final verse—a clear sign of respect from Malice and Pusha. —Nwo Sparrow

1.Meek Mill, "Proud of Me"

Best Line: “Hundred dollar nightmares turn to million dollar dreams/ Ridin' past the block where my dad got left on the scene/Look at your lil' boy now, we done turned to kings/ Shit turned me a grown man 'fore I was seventeen”

The newly independent Meek Mill has been on a tear all year, but nothing matches the intensity of his verse on Fridayy’s sentimental standout, “Proud of Me.” This is Dreamchasers-era Meek—spitting pure pain in every bar. We haven’t heard him this impassioned in years, as he opens up candidly about the death of his father, Robert, who was killed when Meek was just five.

In many ways, the verse highlights the strength and range of Philly rappers. Yes, they’re battle-tested—capable of delivering bars that could rip another MC apart. And they’ve got a knack for anthems. But their real power lies in their ability to be emotive. Think Beanie Sigel on “This Can’t Be Life.” Meek channels that same lineage—capturing not just the devastation of the streets, but the lifelong weight of trauma.

We’ll see where things stand come December, but right now, this feels like the verse of 2025. —Nwo Sparrow

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