It’s not easy to make a great song, but any self-respecting rapper has to be able to spit a hot 16. Nowadays when a rapper puts out a project the first question everyone wants to ask is, “Who’s featured on it?” Guest verses are a huge part of hip-hop: A great feature can start a career, resurrect one, and prove which rapper is really the hottest in the game (which inevitably leads to debates about who got murdered on their own shit). So after running through the Best Albums, Best Songs, and Best Rap Lines of 2012 to date, we felt it was only right for us to count down the 20 Best Guest Verses of 2012 (So Far). Our list includes veterans who found the fountain of youth, young artists who found a way to establish themselves, and one guy who's just giving away hits this year.
Follow @ComplexMusic
20. Kanye West on Tony Williams' "Another You"
19. Juicy J on Wiz Khalifa's "My Favorite Song"
18. Lil Reese on Chief Keef's "I Don't Like"
17. Drake on 2 Chainz's "No Lie"
16. Bun B on Killer Mike's "Big Beast"
15. Drake on Meek Mill's "Amen"
14. Rick Ross on Nas' "Accident Murderers"
Album: Life Is Good
Producer: No I.D.
Label: Def Jam
Rick Ross isn't quite the guest feature king that he was even a year or two ago—which is perfectly understandable. The Bawse is on that quality-over-quanity tip, which is no more evident than on Nas' killer (no pun) Life Is Good cut "Accident Murderers." Backed by No I.D.'s rich organ textures and some choral vocals, Rozay shows us that he hasn't forgotten how to straight spit. Delivering one of his more lucid and straight-up impressive verses, he switches from his more methodical flow to one that's even more technically advanced—and damn near steals the show from Esco.