The Best British Rap Verses Of The Month

We dissect the best bars of the past four weeks.

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Following the lead of our Complex Music fam overseas, we too will be giving props to the best rap verses of each month. From mixtape tracks and freestyles to carefully selected album sleepers, Complex UK will search far and wide to show you just how high the level of lyricism can be in the Queen's country, showcasing the versatile styles (and flows) within our forever-flourishing rap and grime scenes. This is The Best British Rap Verses Of The Month—​click through below to see our top picks from the month of July, 2015.

Words by Tobi Oke (@TefTobz)


 

5. Wiley f/ Scratchy & Flowdan — "Cypress Hill"

Date: July 19, 2015

Flowdan"I'm in a zone and I'm zoning, everybody stand back from the launchpad when I take off/ Should have known from how the tings going, if you're too close to the speaker that's your face gone/ We need more room in the building I told them already I'm a shutdown don/ One microphone, one riddim, two draws of a zoot and ive gassed up a couple of the dons/ Gassed up a couple other dons make the bouncers double up their numbers and barricade off/ Mad, everyone of my tunes keep shutting it down and the boydem wanna lock the rave off/ Could tell they wasn't ready for what to expect, I rolled up dressed in black like a goth/ Know wagwan, I'm like an assassin cab everything dead when I'm gone."

Featuring a top-notch hook and verse from the godfather, Wiley nearly snuck in here at No. 5—however, it was the following sixteen from Flowdan that really stole the show. In casual mic-man fashion, The Dan shells down "Cypress Hill" and gives us a quick flashback to the Roll Deep sets of old; Scratchy doesn't do too badly either.

4. Novelist — "WAR"

Date: July 7, 2015.

"Did road for a sec but that weren't me, bare hype on the street, I like to make P's/ Mum said "what you wanna do with yourself", don't know, mum, but I'd like to make P's/ Clearly you gotta grind to make P's, at ease, I make rhymes to make P's but lately, bare man wanna take my energy and try to drain me/ You may see I'm alone lately, cos most of my boys are kinda lazy/ I don't wanna waste time on a lady, when you ain't got time for a lady, girls wanna start acting hype and feisty/ I don't wanna hear it cos I wanna focus, back to the point I'm tryna make P's, make millions not kgs/ Oi blud I'm on the roads and I don't care, I'm a g to the core let me make that clear, I'm not scared, I been on the roads, I know the roads, I know that you're not there/ Ends I'm from there, man wanna chat about mandem I got bare, I'm that yout with the hightop, in Brockley I'm a don there."

If you're somehow unaware, Novelist is seriously on fire right now. And so is this freestyle over Jon E Cash's classic "War" instrumental. With his trademark bouncy flow and irregular cadence, it's just over three minutes of straight-up spraying. The Square MC also announced his self-produced debut album is now complete, though we'll happily sit and wait if he continues to line us up with vintage material like this.

3. SNE f/ J Flowz — "Trillest"

Date: July 19, 2015.

SNE: "Yo look the flows are gold, the flows are gold, I know/ The team's a dream, the East is back, I know/ The tables turned they know my name, I know/ I pray to God I never wife a hoe and I pray to Jah I never sell my soul/ I bag these tracks, I bag these tracks, I know, if she comes around I hope she plays her role/ I remember when them hittas didn't feel me, I remember when then hitta's didn't feel me/ But they all showing love and it's fake though and they all showing luv and its filthy/ Hitta hitta, you ain't my hitta, you're my hitta's hitta, me I'm on a mission get my hitta's bigger, if them man are hating tell them mandem big up/ I'm in the cut and it's cutting, I got the bat and I'm running, I'm tryna come up with suttin, how can I lose I told you that I came here with nuttin/ All this pain all the time, all this pain in my rhymes, God show me a sign."

East London newcomer SNE continues his consistent run with latest track "Trillest", alongside J Flowz. With an impressive accompanying visual shot by Pirate Lens Media, it's clear these affiliated camps have the infrastructure in place to keep the high quality product coming.

2. CAS — "6PM"

Date: July 25, 2015

"Six PM, GMT, I'm in a sick BM on DMT, with your BM and she got PMT and she's till gonna blow like TNT/ Sport mode straight the B&B, bit of role play ain't talking D&D, mushrooms, loud, mushroom cloud, can't hear shit now and I can't see/ See I'm deaf to you cunts, now I'm definitely not hearing ya, sent me here to cause mass hysteria, panic and fear coming out of your stereo/ It's bound to get scarier, leave you bloody like the sand in Syria, you best clear the area or end up closer to God than the Mother Superior/ You niggas inferior you covet my leather interior, snakes I'm aware of ya, got me you swear but your motives appear ulterior/ Staffordshire terrier, tearing ya skin and I don't care if you're here with your Co-D's, I'm (cutting) the pair of ya, come at me donny, I'm daring ya/ They hate cos I'm making this paper I don't have to borrow, they hate cos my car is so fast it's already tomorrow, I'm feeling no sorrow I'm leading I no longer follow/ These hoes are so hollow, they see me with Pro, so they swallow, sitting on horses, a mask and blade, like I'm Zorro, send you straight to the flames, ain't playing games."

Yep, that's right: CAS is in a Beemer, at six o'clock, with your baby mother, on dimethyltryptamine. The masked mystery man takes the runner-up spot with the first verse on "6PM". And as macabre as we've come to expect from him, CAS proves (yet again) that no matter how many breaks he takes away from the game, he'll return as sharp and as dark as ever.

1. Wizkid f/ Drake & Skepta — "Ojuelegba Remix"

Date: July 12, 2015.

Skepta"When I was in school, being African was a diss, sounds like you need help saying my surname, miss?/ Try to communicate but every day is like another episode of Everybody Hates Chris/ Ever since mum said 'Son, you are a King', I feel like Floyd when I'm stepping into the ring, just spoke to the boy, said he's flying in with a ting, we're touching the road to celebrate another win, we're going in/ Why am I rapping these ends, man I don't know, the government played roulette with my postcode/ All I know this is where my people dem are suffering, I've seen it before and narrate the story as it unfolds/ Dad certified the settings and my mum knows, my mind full of more bullets than your gun holds, now I've got the peng tings in the front row, saying Skeppy come home, baby come home/ Yeah, I love the sun but I respect the rain, look forward to good times can't forget the pain, I was the kid in school with the £10 shoes, white socks, Jack-ups and the peppergrains/ Said they're gonna respect me for my ambition, rest in peace my niggas that are missing/ I had to tell my story cos they'd rather show you black kids with flies on their faces on the television."

With Skepta making a surprise appearance alongside Drake at Wireless Festival, many predicted it wouldn't be long until we heard a collaborative cut from the pair. Sure enough, many were right: not even two weeks after said shutdown, the world got to hear the two connect on a remix of Wizkid's 2014 single "Ojuelegba". The track was premiered on Drake's debut OVO Sound Radio/Beats 1 show, and sees Skepta reflecting on the importance of his culture and also his upbringing. One of the finest remixes of the year so far? It pretty much goes without saying... 

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