The 12 months of Hip Hop’s fiftieth anniversary blessed followers with numerous nice music, however when it got here to pen recreation, the listing of nominees for Finest Rap Verse at this 12 months’s HipHopDX Awards raised the bar (pun supposed).
The group consists of numerous acquainted faces. For starters, there’s Cardi B, who continued to exemplify the high-quality artwork of staying on high with out even having an album out. There’s additionally lyrical titans Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, who delivered arguably two of the 12 months’s greatest visitor spots. Rounding issues out is the elusive ‘MCs MC’ André 3000, who teased followers with a stellar visitor spot on Killer Mike‘s Michael LP, after which, 5 months later, dropped bar-free flute album New Blue Solar.
As the continued rift between artwork and over-commercialized, manufactured hype rages on, this 12 months’s shortlist proceed to push others to both up their bars or rent higher ghostwriters.
Assessment all of our Hip Hop Award classes and nominees and take a look at our nominations for Finest Rap Verse of 2023 beneath.
Editors Be aware: Choices for Finest Rap Verse of 2023 had been restricted to between December 1, 2022 and December 1, 2023. Nominees are listed in alphabetical order.
BEST RAP VERSE OF 2023 NOMINATIONS
Andre 3000 – Scientists & Engineers
Broadly thought to be one in every of Hip Hop’s most celebrated lyricists, André 3000 boasts a formidable discography as one half of OutKast. Regardless of this, he has by no means launched a full-blown solo album — a element continuously identified by his critics. This backdrop made his well-received, albeit bar-free, flute-focused album, New Blue Solar, much more charming and, for some, irritating. Compounding this frustration is the truth that, regardless of claiming “it’s simply not taking place for [him],” the ATLien delivered this positively gorgeous verse for good friend and longtime OutKast affiliate Killer Mike’s “Scientists and Engineers” simply 5 months earlier.
On this visitor look, 3 Stacks tackles the overwhelming demand for his music, the burden of legacy and his ongoing seek for private satisfaction. “Communication comin’ in/ An excessive amount of that I can’t talk with all of them/ I do want I had scientist or engineer buddies/ Let’s go, get out of right here, petrol is cheaper than it’s ever been/ After which, who’s to say when all would finish?”
He additionally echoes a sentiment he shared with NPR that he’d like to be “on the market enjoying with everyone,” suggesting that even when he has to attend loads (lot) longer, it’s not off the desk. “Hope I’m 80 once I get my second wind/ Small potatoes all I ate earlier than potato chips would lower my nook lips/ Operator, operator, I might pray that you simply join me to a sip/ Of sangria, Zambia, digicam cameo, hand me a handful of hips.”
Given the standard of this verse, it’s difficult to attribute his hesitation to launch a solo (Hip Hop) album to anything however stage fright.
Cardi B – Put It On Da Flooring Once more
Cardi B isn’t precisely elusive, however over 5 years since her final studio album, her output doesn’t fairly match that of a few of her contemporaries. Nonetheless, this does little to dampen her vitality when she does hop on the mic, as evidenced by her characteristic on Latto‘s “Put It on da Flooring Once more.” Stealing the present and propelling a non-charting authentic track to a peak of No. 13 on Billboard’s Scorching 100, Cardi fires off a barrage of stray pictures, largely open for interpretation (until you’re a religious Barb).
Throughout the blistering 16, she shades her detractors and offers Twitter with sufficient meme-able quotes to final two seasons. “Put a ribbon on me, I been actin’ model new/ I ain’t smokin’ on no za, lil’ bitch, I’m smokin’ on you/ Put your bestie in a pack and now I’m smokin’ her too/ I been ballin’ so rattling exhausting, might’ve went to LSU.”
Elsewhere, Cardi showcases her skill to energise her viewers, referencing the considerably erratic timeline of pop icon Britney Spears, with a line that turned a staple in captions throughout quite a few social platforms: “N-gga, cry for what? Bitch, these are Denim Tears/ I’m horny dancin’ in the home, I really feel like Britney Spears/ So put it on the ground, similar to their profession/ What they acquired on me? Our bodies and a pair years.”
In essence, her verse stands as a putting testomony to the precept of high quality over amount.
J. Cole – First Particular person Shooter
Drake and J. Cole had ascents that ran virtually in parallel, dropping debuts inside a 12 months of one another and being ushered in by rappers largely thought of to be G.O.A.T.s (Lil Wayne and JAY-Z respectively), relying on who you ask. Contemplating their longstanding relationship and upcoming tour, the duo’s newest collaboration, “First Particular person Shooter” — which dominated the Billboard Scorching 100 — is particularly potent.
Cole, although, is further sharp as he addresses an over-hyped “beef” with NBA YoungBoy (exasperated by his verse on Lil Yachty’s “The Secret Recipe”) and, extra broadly, his standing atop the Hip Hop meals chain: “N-ggas so thirsty to place me in beef/ Dissecting my phrases and begin wanting too deep/ I have a look at the tweets and begin sucking my enamel/ I’m letting it rock ’trigger I like the mystique/ I nonetheless wanna get me a track with YB/ Can’t belief the whole lot that you simply noticed on IG/ Simply know if I diss you, I’d be sure you know that I hit you want I’m in your caller ID.”
He additionally humorously addresses how individuals pit him, Drizzy and Kendrick Lamar towards one another (“We the massive three like we began a league, however proper now, I really feel like Muhammad Ali“), making it clear that he’s to not be performed with lyrically whereas lamenting on how the sport is now largely about the whole lot however the bars.
“Rhymin’ with me is the largest mistake/ The Spider-Man meme is me lookin’ at Drake/ It’s like we recruited your homies to be demon deacons, we acquired ’em attending your wake,” he raps. “Hate how the sport acquired away from the bars, man, this shit like a jail escape.”
J. Cole – The Secret Recipe
J. Cole is unabashed with regards to calling a spade a spade, even when it ruffles feathers. Nice examples of this are “False Prophets” and “Center Baby.” His newest assortment of stray pictures got here courtesy of a characteristic on Lil Yachty’s “The Secret Recipe”; dwelling as much as the monitor’s title, Cole snaps, addressing, amongst different issues, established artists chasing traits to slot in. “The best way you sound, the best way you attempt to transfer, you attempt to keep abreast on all the most recent flows and newest tones from Technology X,” he spits. “Y’all chasing relevance, it’s evidenced by the best way you step/ As for me, I cook dinner so masterfully, ain’t gotta pay a chef/ I’m older now, however nonetheless, I’m leading edge, I’m like a bayonet.”
Elsewhere, he bombs on faux activists and studio gangsters. “N-ggas fake-progressive and woke, I began saying much less/ I needed to cease it, peeped how they revenue off of racial stress/ Some activists acquired so wealthy, they most likely want we keep oppressed/ Studio steppers shifting further on songs, faking rep/ Solely breaking unhealthy within the lab, thought y’all was making meth.”
In true Cole style, he leaves it as much as the followers to attach the dots, although one particular reference led followers to broadly conclude he was speaking about NBA YoungBoy (“Don’t ask how I really feel ’bout no rappers, shit, they okay, I suppose/ Incoming name, press the button, the one that claims settle for/ He FaceTime to ask for a characteristic and noticed the face of demise“), although Cole dispelled this idea along with his fiery verse on Drake’s “First Particular person Shooter” — as did his supervisor.
Kendrick Lamar & Child Keem- The Hillbillies
It’s not every single day that we get new materials from Kendrick Lamar, not to mention have it drop out of completely nowhere. Over a flip of Bon Iver‘s “PDLIF,” Ok.Dot and cousin Child Keem join like Voltron with symbiotic-level cohesion for “The Hillbillies”— loaded with oodles of rap-isms: ladies, high-end style and multi-millionaire vibes.
Referring to themselves as elite-level footballers Neymar and Lionel Messi, the duo sound like they only left a month-long spa retreat. Significantly Kendrick who’s on no account performative; as a substitute he’s unfastened and nearly hilariously disrespectful as he humbly asserts the truth that he exists on a unique airplane: “Child, I’m high-profile, don’t ever inform ’em you met me, woman/ They gon’ suppose that you simply rep me, woman, 5’7″/ I’m Messi, woman/ I’ma move you to Neymar, he acquired time on your bestie, woman/ N-ggas know that I’m best-dressed, too high-profile to entry.”
Elsewhere, he additional exerts his baller standing, whereas subtly asserting his place within the recreation, spitting: “Yeah, n-ggas know that I’m best-dressed/ Put on Martine once I board jets/ They sardines and I’m large fish, eat caviar once I’m depressed/ Take selfies, I’m in Czech Republic, Cornell, he gon’ test the finances/ Borrowed two million from my cousin, by no means gave it again, ’trigger it’s nothin’.”
Sonic comparisons to Drake’s “Sticky” had been seemingly intentional, with Keem himself referring to the track as a “Sticky Dub.” On some stage, it’s deliciously savage for an MC like Kendrick, who holds a disjointed quantity of respect in real-rap circles, to so effortlessly tone down and physique the 6 God’s rhyme scheme.
Return to our Hip Hop Awards nomination web page for extra classes or take a look at the nominees for greatest rapper, greatest singer and largest comeback of 2023.
Try our earlier Rap Verse of the Yr award winners.
Art work and graphic design by JR Martinez.
Paragraphs written by Riley Wallace
