Key Takeaways
- Despite commercial doubts, rap is thriving for fans who care about lyrical craft and emotional depth. These are the 15 best rap verses of 2025 so far.
- There is a wide spectrum of rap styles and generations on this list from Freddie Gibbs to Doja Cat to Baby Keem to Drake to Jay-Z.
- There are introspective confessionals, punchy flex raps, and high-energy street anthems all represented.
Despite questions about its commercial viability, if you love rap music you should be feasting right now.
There's never been a better time to be a fan, with almost every pocket, corner of the genre being accessible if you have a phone. And if you're someone who loves the art of rapping—meaning MCs putting words together in an intentional, thoughtful manner with a level of emotional depth—there is so much new good music if you look.
Rap isn't what it was 20 years ago. Hell it's not what it was 10 years ago. But there are still excellent verses being written; and the best rapping features a level of specificity and presence that makes it stand out and is seen in all pockets of the rap spectrum (yes, even in the rage-obsessed underground.)
Here are the 15 best rap verses of 2025 so far.
Ka, “Circa”
Best Line: “Born tired, both wrong side when tracks are near/To crack malaise, watch happy days during my saddest year”
Navy Blue is the apprentice, while Ka is the weathered prophet. With moments of brevity hidden in morose observations, Ka's verse on Navy Blue's "Circa" is filled with the sharp juxtapositions that made him one of the 21st century's most incisive rap poets.
The minimalist instrumental is the perfect grounding for a rap song that feels like two tortured MCs coming to grips with the childhood experiences that later turned into adult demons. Ultimately, the pairing allows them to find a way to purge all this pain in tandem. —Thomas Hobbs
Payroll Giovanni, “Hater Not an Opp”
Best Line: “Hit the club with my fist pumpin', that's the Blade dance/ Rollie on my wrist with a spray band”
Bruiser Wolf and Payroll Giovanni represent two different realms of Detroit rap. Bruiser does his version of exaggerated pimp talk highly indebted to Pomona, Calif. legend Suga Free; Payroll continues the legacy of Blade Icewood, making dead serious motivational dope dealing music.
On "Hater Not an Opp" they find their common middle ground: they can both rap their ass off. With all due respect to the Big Wolf, Giovanni gets the upper hand here, merging a verse filled with hyper-local references and slang, energetic hustle talk, and clear-eyed dope boy storytelling. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
Freddie Gibbs, “Immigrants”
Verse: 1
Best Line: “Chasin' these ghosts, or is they really chasin' me?/I can see they face in my dream, wake up sweatin' and I can't breathe”
The first verse of the paranoid "Immigrants" sees Freddie Gibbs poignantly recall having to dump a shot friend in a hospital waiting room, unable to stick around as it would guarantee his arrest. It's a heartbreaking reflection and Gibbs' usual rapid fire alliteration-heavy flow is more wounded and pared back, matching the slurred, spiritual heaviness of a Scarface record.
He also claims to have cocaine so pure that upon snorting it will "make your eyes buck like Bobby Portis". This balance between profound and humorous is what makes Gibbs one of contemporary rap's best storytellers. —Thomas Hobbs
Doja Cat, “Okayyy”
Best Line: “I let him pop off the tags, sauce in the bag/That's my favorite kinda men [condiment]”
Doja Cat has been known to kill a guest feature or two. On Latto's "Okayyy" she steals the show from the Atlanta rapper, providing a verse that's flirty and winking, packed with clever slick lines like "I'm picking that brain like it's common sense." It's a standout moment from Doja and also a statement; a reminder that she can still spit her ass off after the divisive response to the pop-centric Vie. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
Isaiah Rashad, “Do I Look High”
Verse: 2
Best Line: “Never gave a fuck, never been sober, but I'm trying/Last time that I told you that I was, I was lying”
Isaiah Rashad exorcises demons on his latest album, IT'S BEEN AWFUL, maybe the most contemplative and at times devastating rap release of the year.
It's not always an easy listen, but a rewarding one—especially on "Do I Look High," an uncomfortable song about addiction, how it affects others, and how we lie to ourselves.
"Do I Look High" is as gutting as it gets, with Zay ironically rapping over a flip of "Simply Beautiful" by Al Green. Both verses are powerful, and it works best as a collective experience, but the song peaks at the end when he raps: "I'm starting to be a better pure example for my sons. Finding a healthy way to express myself like testaments of love. I'm a specialist, I made this especially for us." —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
Baby Keem, "I am not a Lyricist"
Best Line: “Niggas gamble with they life, scared to bet on themsеlves”
The understated "I am not a Lyricist" comes at the midpoint of Ca$ino. But because of the deep voice and the way he channels prime André 3000, it has album closer energy, in the vein of "A Life in the Day of Benjamin André (Incomplete)." The song takes the common "I am not a lyricist" trope, which tends to communicate “I'm too real to be a rapper” bravado, and flips it into something tragic, about how addiction and the ills of Las Vegas nearly ruined his family. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
Stunna Sandy, “Outside Tweaking”
Best Line: Yeah, the Glock got a kick and a twitch/Make you niggas think I was a streamer
Verse of the year candidates don't always have to be barfests or deep, self-interrogating deeply emotional conversations with themselves. They can be fun, too. A moment of thrown confetti, carried by a rapper's sheer charisma. No 2026 song displays this better than Stunna Sandy's appearance on "Outside Tweaking" where, in about 44 seconds, she goes from RC Cola Ice Spice to being one of the city's most exciting new prospects.—Dimas Sanfiorenzo
Paul Wall, “TRICERATOPS”
Best Line: “I'm in the codeine deluge, headed to Baton Rouge/ Psilocybin-induced, DMT infused”
Every six months or so, Houston legend Paul Wall pops up and reminds people why he's one of one. Spitting over one of the zanier Daringer productions, Paul Wall gets the last verse and melts over the track, taking his stunting to new highs. He raps a mix of boats that range from ridiculous ("Smokin' that Old Toby out a Gandalf pipe, gettin' higher") to completely plausible ("I just found a Day-Date I misplaced in '9-8"). In the process, he’s schooling his younger, very capable contemporaries, Lil Yachty and Action Bronson. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
Tierra Whack, "BRAZILIAN WAX"
Best Line: “Go outside and see clones, you're never truly alone/That may go over ya head, hm, you know a drone?”
Tierra Whack reminds her peers that she's still got it on "BRAZILLIAN WAX". Amid acid baked saxophone samples and mournful soul howls, Whack is resilient, reminding naysayers of her timeless hyper-lyrical appeal. "I just opened a lane / soft spoken but she doper than veins." In one bar she's telling a mediocre rapper to hang it up and go work the Sephora counter instead. The groove hits hard, and it's a reminder that Tierra Whack still knows how to catch you off guard. —Thomas Hobbs
G Herbo, “I Remember/Dear Zavier”
Best Line: I stayed solid, was locked in with gang/I bought a brick before I bought me a chain/Did so many hits, how the fuck I'm still sane?
G Herbo has spent a decade expounding on his traumas. And yet, the levels of emotion, intimate detail, and the length of his verse on Fetty Wap's acoustic "I Remember" are career-defining.
On the song he drops the mean mugging, going for something intimate, detailing the origins of his life on the streets, rapping "I remember G-Fazo died / Layin' in my bed, I couldn't stop cryin' / Remember my mama ain't let me outside / But I snuck right back out on the nine / Remember fourteen, bought my first iron / Old-ass 38, ain't even shine / Ain't give a fuck, though 'cause it was mine"
In a lot of ways this could work as G Herbo's first or last verse. Either way it's one of his best. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
Kendrick Lamar, “Good Flirts”
Best Line: “Shit, I gossip with my bitch like I'm Young Thug too”
You see Baby Keem featuring Kendrick Lamar on a tracklist you expect a banger.
But on "Good Flirts" they flip the playbook, providing the most romantic song on the record—an interesting mix of spite and yearning. Kendrick's verse is playful and romantic—he's trying to coax a lover to come over. Given how epic their past collaborations have been, it's refreshing to see their chemistry translate to something more intimate and lighthearted. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
Sauce Walka, “Stop Snitching”
Line: “Niggas'll lie to they mama and daddy, but go tell the truth to an officer”
There have been dozens of rap songs titled "Stop Snitching." And yet, I can't think of any that contain a moment as electrifying as when Sauce Walka comes in yelling, "These niggas talkin' too much He get to tellin' when my people sellin', now we gotta slide in the truck."
Even with all the alternative genre blurring and bending happening on Don't Be Dumb, "Stop Snitching" feels like the centerpiece. The song, which obviously references Rocky's gun trial, features Rocky's cool nonchalance operating as build up for Sauce's fiery, energetic flow. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
Drake, “Firm Friends”
Best Line: “I did not break up a happy home, baby, you pulled up on me/Tell 'em why you really hate me and what year did she date me”
Iceman’s thesis is in Drake’s stream of consciousness. And on “Firm Friends”, there are several moments where he expresses the betrayal he felt after the rap dust up with Kendrick Lamar. A line like “what would do to me if they ever caught me riding dolo?/Would they take my chain and my watch, or would they take my photo?” reveals how deep Drake’s paranoia lies, not even being able to discern his fans from his foes.
Then there are raps like “KYS, ASAP that’s some shit that you could do for me” that are simple but delivered with such venom that it bleeds through the speaker. It has everything you want from a Drake verse, and is the rapper at his most pensive, reflective, scorned, and honest. —Jordan Rose
J. Cole, “39 Intro”
Verse: 2
Best Line: “The antonym of idiot, who witty as this? / My mind frame has been trained with Nvidia chips/My rhymes are like shrines for the city I miss”
J. Cole rocks you to sleep on the first half of "39 Intro" before punching you in the face. "Intro 39," the opening track from The Fall Off, features a crazy beat switch and his most explosive verse of the year. This verse is the most direct response we get to all the naysayers who doubted the North Carolina rapper after he stepped back from the rap war. Cole is in flow state here, proclaiming that he climbed out of the abyss and came back even stronger, rapping lines like "the light refracts when the half-Black Messiah raps"—before he fires back at his haters in the closing bars: "Too many lies to refute, but I gotta rebuke/They tryna put my neck inside of a noose, it's not happening." —Jordan Rose
Jay-Z, Roots Picnic Freestyle
Best Line: “Cancel the brunches, I remember the hunger painThe price of the bricks goin' up/ It's gon' cost you a B to even say my name”
What makes Jay-z the undisputed hip-hop goat is his memory; he doesn't forget any slight. So when he opened up his Roots Picnic closing performance with a freestyle dissing everyone, it shouldn't be surprising. This is angry Hov, aiming all his shots at figures who have sent shots at him and his family—from Drake to Nicki Minaj to Dame Dash to Kanye West. The freestyle immediately made waves, becoming the most talked about verse of the year. But this isn't all sizzle, no steak: Jay's wordplay and uncharacteristically emotional delivery make this the verse of the year so far. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
