The Best Rap Verse of the Month

Just one day our from its release, Jay Z's latest intro takes the crown for the month.

Jay Z
Getty

Image via Getty

Jay Z

"Back to Shawn Carter the hustler, Jay Z is dead." That line was the central theme from Vol. 3's "There's Been A Murder." Now, some 18 years later, Shawn Carter is finally ready to kill Jay Z. His 13th studio album—4:44—dropped last night to much applause across social media. Lines were dissected, favorite tracks were being debated, Magna Carta Holy Grail was quietly swept under proverbial rugs, all into the wee hours of the morning. The God MC gave us a moment, and even if you denied him three times like Peter, he forgives you. Jay's fetish for proving people wrong is both impressive and inspiring, his dedication to displaying that he's still Rap's Everest.

Jigga is rapping at a high level throughout this project, the bars are disgusting over those filthy No I.D. loops and samples. There was no limits to options to feature here; I probably could've gone with a verse from "The Story of OJ," "Smile," "4:44," or "Bam" but the confirmation of his strained relationship with Kanye, acknowledgement that he deserved Solange's elevator assaultthe bars on Lemonade, and his apologia for his selfish past, all aired on the very first track, set the tone. "Kill Jay Z" will be mentioned in the pantheon of his best intros, which is an astonishing feat when you factor in Jigga is 47 years old and thirteen albums deep. He's finally in a space where he can open up about anything and everything—we can maybe thank Blue and the twins for that. 4:44's intro "Kill Jay-Z" is the best rap verse of the month.

"Kill Jay-Z, they'll never love you
You'll never be enough, let's just keep it real, Jay-Z
Fuck Jay-Z, I mean, you shot your own brother
How can we know if we can trust Jay-Z?
And you know better, nigga, I know you do
But you gotta do better, boy, you owe it to Blue
You had no father, you had the armor
But you got a daughter, gotta get softer
Die Jay-Z, this ain't back in the days
You don't need an alibi, Jay-Z
Cry Jay-Z, we know the pain is real
But you can't heal what you never reveal
What's up, Jay-Z?
You know you owe the truth to all the youth
That fell in love with Jay-Z
You got people you love you sold drugs to
You got high on the life, that shit drugged you!
You walkin' around like you invincible
You dropped outta school, you lost your principles
I know people backstab you, I felt bad too
But this 'fuck everybody' attitude ain't natural
But you ain't a Saint, this ain't KumbaYe
But you got hurt because you did cool by 'Ye
You gave him 20 million without blinkin'
He gave you 20 minutes on stage, fuck was he thinkin'?
"Fuck wrong with everybody?" is what you sayin'
But if everybody's crazy, you're the one that's insane
Crazy how life works
You got a knot in your chest, imagine how a knife hurts
You stabbed Un over some records
Your excuse was, "He was talkin' too reckless!"
Let go your ego over your right shoulder
Your left is sayin', "Finish your breakfast!"
You egged Solange on
Knowin' all along, all you had to say you was wrong
You almost went Eric Benét
Let the baddest girl in the world get away
I don't even know what else to say
Nigga, never go Eric Benét!
I don't even know what you woulda done
In the future, other niggas playin' football with your son
You would've lost it
13 bottles of Ace of Spade, what it did to Boston
Nah, Jay-Z
Bye, Jay-Z"

Will he ever fall off?

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