The 25 Best Guest Verses of 2012

Hip-hop's greatest feature appearances of the year.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Guest verses are such attention drivers in hip-hop. The genre is inherently competitive and nothing fuels debate better than placing multiple rappers on a track together. Collaboration tends to make songs better, too. Would "Burn" be as hot if Meek Mill didn't have a peer like Big Sean with whom to trade bars? Would DJ Khaled's "Hip-Hop" have made as much of an impact without words of wisdom from a veteran like Scarface?

We enjoy when rap's best work together, and whether it signifies a borderline battle or a brewing bromance, the music usually benefits as a result. Complex has already taken a look back at the best songs and albums of the year, and a consistent theme of both is that awesome features were in abundance. Continue reading for our countdown of the 25 Best Guest Verses of 2012.

RELATED: The 50 Best Songs of 2012
RELATED: The 50 Best Albums of 2012

25. Drake on Meek Mill's "Amen"

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Our first glimpse of Meek Mill's major label debut Dreams And Nightmares, "Amen" lays out a gospel-clapping, organ-laced piano loop for Drake to take us to church. Drizzy shows off his street-hustling skills, ("Just bought my niggas some cane, so much it came with a plane") and tells us to get that money up rather than worrying about Twitter followers. Preach.

24. Andre 3000 on Frank Ocean's "Pink Matter"

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Andre 3000's verse on Frank Ocean's "Pink Matter" unfolds slowly like a thoughtful love letter, punctuated by conversational asides and an affectionate tangent on the benefits of larger asses (cuddling). It's a perfect accompaniment for the slow-but-steady pace of Ocean's barely-entendre track.

23. Scarface on DJ Khaled's "Hip-Hop"

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In case you forgot, Scarface has one of the most powerful rap voices ever-a voice that exudes pain and loss. So of course having him team up with fellow living legend Nasty Nas on DJ Khaled's "Hip-Hop" was going to be something special. Face reflects on the game he gave his life to only to have it betray him for lesser rappers. It's hard not to side with Face, after all many of today's rappers can't hold a candle to his best work. But then again, songs like "Hip-Hop" prove he's got more in the tank and that today's rappers still can't hold a candle to pen game. We still love HER.

22. Bun B on Killer Mike's "Big Beast"

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Bun B is one of the most dependable go-to guest MCs in the game. But even by his high standards, Bun's work on "Big Beast" is remarkable. In the space of 16 bars he takes us from getting schooled to the G-code "a very young age" to the stresses that come with running the block. "A hater wanna catch you slipping," he raps. "Try to be a Jordan, but settle for a Pippen." T.I. also turns in a hot feature on this record, but Bun's is the one. You can't even argue with a verse that ends like this: "Player, I ain't even tripping, but I don't really care/Cause my pistol's in your face, so put your hands in the air."

21. Capital Steez on Joey Bada$$' "Survival Tactics"

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It's tragic that Capital Steez has passed on so young. In his short time, he was an artist who managed to make an impact, though, even if only for a brief moment. His verse on "Survival Tactics," one of the primary tracks that broke Joey Bada$$ to a wider audience, was a show-stealer. It recalls a time when wordplay and real-life consequences weren't seen as being so far apart, and set the tone for what has made the whole Pro Era crew reinvent what we thought familiar.

20. Big K.R.I.T. on A$AP Rocky's "1 Train"

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Despite dropping his highly anticipated debut, Live From The Underground, Big KRIT didn't do much this year to win new fans. But with one vicious verse on A$AP Rocky's posse cut "1 Train" he surely impressed anyone who was sleeping on him. When you do a record like "1 Train" you expect everyone to come out with guns blazing and they sure do (especially Joey Bada$$ and of course Kendrick Lamar) but no one seems as antagonized and overlooked than KRIT who offers these words of wisdom, "Fuck them haters and fuck them hoes and cherish your wins/The aftermath, ask LeBron, open palm slap a bitch."

19. Ghostface Killlah on G.O.O.D. Music's "New God Flow"

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Considering how many years Ghostface has blessed us with the art of the unexpected, it's refreshing to be reminded how no one really does left field imagery and references quite like the Wu Tang vet. A few future-classic snatches of imagery: "soap suds on the Mac-11," "bust hammers with pot holders," "my gold eagle arm shitted out a red rock."

18. Drake on French Montana's "Pop That"

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One of the things that seperates Drake from other MCs is that he's giving you real life raps with each bar. Sometimes they're about heartbreak and sadness, other times they're all about stunting. Here, it's the latter. "Fuck 'back then'/ We the shit right now/Dropped Take Care, bought a muthafuckin' crib/ And I'm pickin up the keys to the bitch right now," he spits. And you can actually read about his new crib in GQ. When you do it like Drizzy, rhyme pays.

17. French Montana on Big Sean's "Mula"

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French Montana doesn't get much respect as a rapper but when he writes, he can write. And never was that more evident than on "Mula," where the rapper drops references to Jay and 'Ye planking on a million, watches his money stacks break the ceiling before ending with a line that manages to wrap up a few different 'jewelry = ice' metaphors in one snap.

16. Kendrick Lamar on Ab-Soul's "Black Lip Bastard (Remix)"

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As strong as Schoolboy Q and Jay Rock's verses are on this Black Hippy tour-de-force, Kendrick Lamar's demented track-opening verse is untouchable, uncrushable. "Even falling off I land on the ass of Nicki Minaj," he raps with reckless abandon. "Eat that pink pussy like it's Friday/Bust one, Roman Reload, then smoke to Sade." But that's not all. He also lets Rihanna know how much he needs her, too. Or her vagina at least.

15. Earl Sweatshirt on Frank Ocean's "Super Rich Kids"

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Frank Ocean is OFWGKTA at the end of the day, and Earl's verse on "Super Rich Kids" serves as a brilliant reminder of that. Their chemistry is uncanny, and Earl adds to the thesis of the record in a major way, swooping in and out of the beat with a tightly-wound flow in the process.

14. Diddy on Future's "Same Damn Time (Remix)"

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A few years back, when everyone thought Diddy's rapping career was down for the count, he hopped on Waka Flocka Flame's "O Let's Do It (Remix)" and totally spit one of the best verses of that year. Puff picks up where he left off on the "Same Damn Time (Remix)," spitting obnoxious and outlandish rhymes that he totally owns because, well, he's Diddy and he can do whatever the fuck he wants.

13. Kanye West on 2 Chainz's "Birthday Song"

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Kanye's verse on "Birthday Song" feels something like a sitcom. He describes relationships with an acute truthfulness, and doesn't forget to include a heavy dose of humor. It's almost a certainty that no one will buy sweaters as gifts ever again.

12. A$AP Rocky on Schoolboy Q's "Hands on the Wheel"

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A$AP Rocky is on a higher level than these other rappers. Don't believe it? Life for SBQ is "just weed and brew." Sure Rocky's got a 40 and some weed, but he squeezes way more substances in his nimble but swagged-out 16: "Got the purple drink, got the yellow drink" (aka Pikachu—shout to the Pokemon posse) then comes "a little bit of" crack, dope, smoke, coke, weed, pills, E, shrooms, and deuce. But we all know Rocky's real pursuit of happiness: "the illest, trillest bitches."

11. Drake on 2 Chainz's "No Lie"

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As he's done so many times this year, Drake steals the show on this single from 2 Chainz's debut solo album. It's moments like these when you realize how unbelievably comfortable the Toronto rapper is with himself and his current place in the hip-hop landscape. And talk of his success never makes him seem unrelatable, either. When he raps "Forbes list like every year, my office is my tour bus" he humanizes the fantasy-laden financial boasts we so often hear from rappers. Even Drake's escapades with A-list women are personalized when he speaks of them bringing food over to his home and "acting up" just like less famous ladies do. It all makes for a fun, outlandish verse that remains pleasantly grounded thanks to intricate details.

10. Jay Rock on Kendrick Lamar's "Money Trees"

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It must be tough being Jay Rock. He was originally drafted by TDE to be the one to bring them to the promise land of money trees way back in 2008 (back when he had a single with Lil Wayne and will.i.am). But for whatever reason, things didn't work out for the spitfire MC. But he and his TDE team weren't making mistakes, they were going through life lessons. And there was no greater benefactor to those lessons than Kendrick Lamar who avoided similar missteps. When it came time to crafting his major label debut, he went into his own zone and didn't really get guest spots from his Schoolboy or Ab-Soul. However, he did holler at "big brother" Jay Rock who provided a stellar verse where he contemplates a life of crime versus one stricken in dire poverty. We just hope the lord forgive him.

9. 2 Chainz on Nicki Minaj's "Beez in the Trap"

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Chainz officially made the jump to mega-stardom right around the time he was featured on the hottest single off NIcki's sophomore album. It's the first time we've ever heard the word "Doohickey" in a rap verse before, and probably also the first time anybody ever told Nicki they would put it in her kidney.

8. Kendrick Lamar on Schoolboy Q's "Blessed"

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Kendrick Lamar's verse on "Blessed" sums up what's so intriguing about Kendrick. It is conscious rap that is conscious of where rap really comes from, not just in geographic locale or the specificity of street hustle, but the mindset, the psychological truths that help people to push past significant hardship. It would be meaningless to parse particular lines or lyrics; instead, the overall impression of the verse is what makes its nuance feel true.

7. Andre 3000 on Rick Ross' "Sixteen"

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Andre's verse for "Sixteen" spins off of the song's concept-breaking free of the shackles imposed by a quick sixteen bars-to explore how his life has changed, how his concerns and environment have shifted, from the time he was a teenager to his current state, dropping some tidbits of knowledge along the way. He touches on ambition, disillusionment with a partying life, the drawbacks of fame before resolving with a message somehow both ambiguous and direct.

6. Danny Brown on Ab-Soul's "Terrorist Threats"

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When you have a hook featuring the line "extra pills, EXTRA PILLS" delivered with near-cartoonish anxiety, you damn well better have Danny Brown on your track. And, as expected, he doesn't just "show up" on Ab-Soul's "Terrorist Threats"; he rips the airy, albeit booming, beat to shreds. It's a guest verse brimming with Brown's trademark animated style, ridiculous wordplay, and enough internal rhyming for 100 bars. It's also one of his most socially aware pieces to date, rhyming together thoughts like "Got a n***a in the streets, no health care/Tryna slang weed just to put shoes on his feet/So fuck you, you don't give a fuck about me/Can't get a job cause they drug test me."

5. Jay-Z on G.O.O.D. Music's "Clique"

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Jay has his work cut out for him; the more successful he is, the easier it becomes for him to just drop little hints, small jabs, at just how much more successful he really is than the typical rap star. On "Clique," though, he instead dips into his past, reminding listeners of the personal costs of his success and the risks he took to get there.

4. Gunplay on Kendrick Lamar's "Cartoon & Cereal"

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We can't believe it either. We never thought we'd see the day we listed Gunplay this high on a list like this. But you can't argue with the music. Don Logan basically redefined his career with one verse. We'd heard Gunplay on plenty Rick Ross tracks before, but his voice never sounded so strained, so weary as it did on "Cartoons and Cereal." He sounded like a man who's seen it all, lived to rap about it, and like he says on the song, "Never had shit/Got lots to gain."

3. Big Sean on Meek Mill's "Burn"

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While "Amen" is the bigger, more popular record on Meek's epic Dreamchasers 2 tape, "Burn" features the better raps, thanks mostly to Sean's witty rhymes. "And to all the hoes that was dissin'/ I pray to God that you see me," he spits. "I'm on a yacht gettin' hella high/ Smoking good/That seaweed." Anchors aweigh!

2. Nas on Rick Ross' "Triple Beam Dreams"

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Nas hasn't sounded this good (or this gutter) since the '90s. On "Triple Beam Dreams," Nasty weaves a street tale about his younger days as a disillusioned youth dazed by the glamour of Scarface who tried to sell drugs, only to realize he wasn't built for the streets ("I'm at it halfway, none of my customers are loyal"). This one 16 made it abundantly clear that Escobar season had returned.

1. Drake on Rick Ross' "Stay Schemin'"

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A lot of this song's impact had to do with Drake's incredible verse. In fact it just might be the best he's ever spit. After it was revealed that Common was dissing Drake on last year's "Sweet," Drake had to respond and it had to be good. Drake hopped on Rozay's track and kicked a verse suggesting that Common was only beefing for publicity and hinting that their rumored mutual flame Serena Williams revealed some of Com's darker secrets. Yet when he wandered off topic and onto the subject of Kobe Bryant's pending divorce he uttered what just might be the most enduring rap line of the year.

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