Lil B Breaks Down His 25 Most Essential Songs

It's crazy to think that we weren't even talking about Lil B a year ago. "We" meaning: journalists, bloggers, Twitterati, teenagers, and critics. The same groups of people who haven't been able to stop talking about the Berkeley, Calif. rapper since his mid-2010 breakthrough. Tonight, he hits the stage at NYC's Highline Ballroom—a follow-up to the show that solidified his star power during the height of last summer's Based God-mania—and though he has hundreds of songs to choose from, we're willing to bet the majority of his set will consist of what we felt were the 25 most essential Lil B songs. The man himself broke down the stories behind each record (and video, if applicable) for Complex, making this the most official list out there. If you're not familiar with Lil B, this is a good place to start. Those already down with the movement: here's a chance to increase your Based levels...

Lil B: "Yo, it was funny, man. I was in my little getaway spot out there in Seattle. Definitely just out there having a positive day. We had some stuff spread across the table, I had the baby gun, and it was just like, 'We're about to have some fun here. Cause some controversy. Some mischief.' The song was about having that spirit. Not really being a rich bitch literally. Whatever anybody feels the word 'bitch' means, it's whatever. To me, it's just an emotion and a feeling of respect."

Lil B: "I was just going overboard. Not even really thinking about how crazy it was. I never read the Bible or nothing like that. I believe in God and I go to church and pray on God's steps and show love and God knows it. In my heart, God knows I truly love him so I know he forgives me. Not even really forgives me, but I know that he knows what I did there is right 'cause he knows what's in my heart. I wrote that song in Berkeley before even thinking about shooting a video, but it ended up really representing itself. The feeling it conveyed and everything like that was definitely great."

Lil B: "'Wonton Soup' was really just sitting in the hotel, sitting there writing, and I'm like, 'God damn. This some fresh shit.' I was just finding myself, man. Getting my swag. The early days of me tapping into my Based God swag. 'Wonton Soup' represents for any guys that hop up out they car, they feel fly, they feel fresh, they drop that roof, wet like wonton soup. Then I park my car. I fuck your bitch, you fuck my bitch, you know what I mean. I'm talking to you directly. It's that empowerment for the guys to feel better about ourselves and keep going, being positive. That video was shot in L.A. at a very legendary director's crib. He doesn't want to be talked about, but he did the Rush Hour movies. Check that out and you'll know who it is."

Lil B: "The video was shot in Miami. I'm sitting there, listening to the beat, thinking, 'What's the next level of being cocky and really feeling yourself and it's time for the table to switch.' 'Cause the girls are high maintenance and it's like, 'Nah, I'm high maintenance over here.' This is for the dudes, man. When I say, 'I'm a pretty bitch' you know what I mean. Just that male empowerment. Showing love."

Lil B: "It's crazy. 'Cold War' is real 'cause it was right after that punch video surfaced and there was a lot of feelings on the inside. That sample really struck me and I really wanted to work with that. 'This is a cold war, do you know what you fighting for?' Every time I hear it, it brings chills down my spine. I wanna cry because so many people are at war. 'Cause I went through that shit with that punch video and I coulda been at war for no reason. It's deep."

Lil B: "These kinda songs are always funny to me 'cause of how far I've crossed over and converted to positive. But I got core fans that would be like, 'What the fuck happened to that kinda stuff?' Because there was that one point in time when I was straight thuggin' and rappin'. Then outta nowhere I just turned positive on everybody and just started making hella happy songs and hella positive shit, writing books and positive everything. And some niggas was trippin' out. Some of my supporters that liked my grimey hood shit were like, 'What the fuck what happened, man? We need some of that hood shit.' And I'm like, 'Aight man, I got you' and I pull that shit out. I mean, that's not something I care to do. I do it because I can and I do it to keep those supporters happy. I'm not proud of it but it's something that's a part of my past and I can talk about it truthfully, but I'm not embracing that. That's just something to keep the fans happy that wanted that, but to me, that song, I don't care about it a lot. It's a great song but the message behind it is not a part of me anymore, but I can't forget where I come from."

Lil B: "I always liked Paris. My first time meeting her was at the Playboy Mansion at this Halloween party. I was like 17 or something, straight out the hood, and it was just so crazy meeting her. She smiled at me and I was like, 'Oh shit!' I was stuck. Like, walking in, she ran by me and smiled at me and I was like, 'Hey.' So out of it... just couldn't even understand. I'm like, 'God damn it.' I think she's a cool person. I like her face. I like how she looks and stuff. I think she's just a little free spirit, man. She seems like she's cool. I got love for Paris Hilton. She does her thing."

Lil B: "We were in the Atlanta livin' that life. Soulja Boy had that song in the studio already ready for me, man. He was like, 'B, hop on this shit.' I was listening and I was like, 'Damn, this shit go hella crazy.' 'Cause Soulja play his shit loud as fuck, so you already know. Soulja sees shit at a whole different level. So I'm like, 'Man, let's go in.' So we went in there. I freestyled my verse and niggas be sleepin' on Soulja Boy. That's why Soulja Boy real. Niggas don't know Soulja be freestyling on shit and going platinum. Really going gold on niggas and niggas is hatin', but it's like, if he write something down y'all niggas gonna go crazy. Niggas is freestyling, playin' with you. We shot the video in Atlanta, driving around and shit, and we went back to his house, edited the shit up and the next day put that out. Rockin'.

When I seen it on Kanye's blog I was like, 'Damn.' That was Kanye's blog. He wasn't on Twitter yet. Kanye's blog meant a lot. Everybody was on Kanye West University and the Kanye blog. I was on there lookin' at art pictures and architecture and shit. That was something real special to me and it told me I have a place. My vision and my directing and my editing. There's a place for it. I'm official. I'm in the game. Regardless of how everybody tries to shit on me like, 'You do things too fast' or 'It can't be right 'cause I spent 30 days on it and you did it in an hour' and 'You gotta go back and record your voice ten times 'cause if you did it that quick it can't be right' and that just showed me that it can be right."

Lil B: "Yes! This was the most epic cooking. Yeah, and I want all the women to know when I'm talking about violating a bitch, I'm not talking about rape or any forced sexual stuff like that. I wanna make that clear to all the beautiful women. 'Violate That Bitch' is more about giving a mood off and for the girls that like to be dominated. The girls that like the masculine men. The masculine men that sometimes like to get a little rough on the sexual side. You might see lions and and dogs that are rough with each other and making love and and that's just in our genes. So violating that bitch is just about getting amped and getting ready for that love making."

Lil B: "Soulja Boy rapped over this for '2 Milli.' I definitely shot that over to him and I was just like, 'Man, I think this would be a good song.' This was when me and him first really started talking. I was at his house. At his spot chillin', man. His recording spot. We were out there in Atlanta and I was like, “Rap to this, man.” I wanted to see how he would do and let him have that one. Let him get on that. Like, I did justice already. Let him get to a Based light and feel that Based and he did his thing.

I wrote 'I'm God' in a coffee shop and really had some stuff on my mind writing that. That was real emotion. That was all real, straight from the pen to the paper. That was a therapy process. It was the hunger. I just really wanted to see things change to that next level and see things excel and be in a better position. And it's crazy how things now have greatly changed from things last year and the year before."

Lil B: "It's me, you know? It's me. It's me. To the pants. To the relaxed feel. 'Cause that's in Berkeley, Waterfront, my home. That's home territory. So just going home seeing the kids and the kids lookin' up at me and really respecting me as someone with wisdom and someone who's different and not the same as everybody music-wise. It was definitely great to be respected like that. And, “Real Shit From A Real Nigga” really just came from an emotion. It was definitely a very emotional beat and just an emotional song all together, man. I kinda feel like that song was me crying to get out the hood."

Lil B: "Ellen's lovely. I wanna see what Ellen would look like with long hair. She looks like I might like her, and that's that. Shout out to Ellen DeGeneres."

Lil B: "It's less about me wanting somebody's bitch, 'cause I've never been that kinda guy to see another woman with a guy and go after her. If I see a woman with a guy, I just give it up to him. Like, I don't go, 'Ah damn, I wanna fuck with this bitch and if he was gone I'd fuck her.' I wanna fuck the bitch. I definitely wanna fuck the bitch, but I'm not gonna go behind niggas' backs and do it. Truth be told, I'm not out fucking a lot of bitches. And the funny thing is, I could be. At any time, switches could be flipped and I could go crazy, but right now I'm definitely just keeping it positive and living that life. I mean, when times do come when I need to fuck, I will, but other than that it's straight work. But if someone wants to deliver me their bitch, it's love."

Lil B: "That's when I first started goin nuts....That was when I just lost it and I started going nuts man. That transition was crazy. That was definitely a point right there. Very pivotal. Just looking at myself and seeing myself like, 'I'm doing this myself. I'm not giving a fuck. People may have forgotten about me and people are on some other shit but I'm 'bout to do me and I'm still gonna do what I gotta do to survive.' A motherfucker went straight to the club and then the girls seen me and then they're like, 'Let's get it in,' and I'm like, 'Fo' sho.' And that shit wasn't even supposed to happen really. 'Cause I had a video that I was supposed to shoot earlier and I was tryin' to get girls to come through and no girls came through and they all flaked on me and I was like, 'Fuck it, I'm goin' to the club.' And then mad girls were on me at the club and we just knocked it out."

Lil B: "It's crazy man. Once again, Soulja is just a real big supporter of my music, as I am of him, and he just listened to my stuff and he was like, 'Man, that line go crazy.' He just kept saying, '30 thousand 100 million.' We was out there in L.A. He was up there making beats and that was the first time I met Arab. Then he started making this hard ass beat. He just got this new beat program and I was like, 'Man, Soulja's going hard as fuck on this beat.' Went to the studio right after that. Recorded. Went crazy and it came out hella good. It was just a dope ass song and niggas was having fun and it was great. It was definitely great."

Lil B: "Shout out to G. Dep and Black Rob. I was definitely just goin' in there for my respect. Definitely goin' in there for the love of the art and really reppin' on it. I don't play around with the drugs like that. I don't ever. But shout out Noz. Shout out Cocaine Blunts."

Lil B: "That was a critical time for me. Sometimes I get in those moods where I'm down and stuff. I was just thinking, 'Fuck man.' Dealing with fake ass management. Fake ass shit. 'Cause in the music industry, everybody wanna leave you in the dark. Everybody wanna leave you in the dark about everything. Managers, contracts. And I'm like, 'What the fuck about taxes?' I'm 20 now. Well, now I'm 21, but I was around 20 then and I never know nothing about taxes and shit. And I'm mad that no one's teaching me about taxes but they're worried about saggy pants? What the fuck man. What THE FUCK man! What's wrong with America? What the fuck is up? You're tellin me I have to explain myself for a style that I'm wearing? People have the right to ask me why my pants are saggin'? Get the fuck away from me."

Lil B: "I didn't curse on the whole Rain In England. I didn't curse once and those are seven minute, ten minute songs. eight minute, nine minute songs of me straight rapping. That stuff was all written. That was from the heart. That took me a month to do. Straight month. Cafe writing every day. That was something that was blessed from God and I'll never be able to do that again. I made the beats. I composed the music. This song in particular is special to me 'cause I want everything. It's very emotional. That beat's emotional. That's how I feel. When I'm sitting at home and I'm like, 'Man, I want more,' and I wanna cry because of it. I have more than what the world understands. How can I be seen? I need people to see all this legendary material that I'm making and how prolific I am and how I feel with this music. Niggas can't doubt me 'cause I made Rain In England, bro. I got encouragement on that whole album. I didn't stick to the regular script of regular hip hop and I explained my feelings on there and I cried for the positives."

Lil B: "It was just to fuck with people. Just to show people that I didn't give a fuck. I said it in a song that 'I'm a fag, I'm a lesbian.' I don’t care. I'm not. I'm not a fag. I'm not a lesbian. Who cares. Even if I am, I don't like guys. That's just a word. Straight Based freestyle. That's what it was. I wasn't even rapping. People are gravitating more towards that title than anything. I just named that song, 'I'm A Fag, I'm A Lesbian.' And it hurts to say it because it doesn't even have anything to do with that. I said it one time in the song and people are like, 'That's a gay song. He said he's a faggot. I can't believe it.' I'm on that new age slang man. I'm on that 'I don't give a fuck' swag. I'm on that the bitch ask me what I'm doing and I'm like, 'Man, I'm sitting on the couch eating pizza like a hoe on New Year's by myself like a bitch.' I'm loving it. A nigga so cocky I'ma call myself a bitch, too. I need to calm myself down. [Laughs.]"

Lil B: "'Blue Flame' was great because it's produced by me and it's just truth. It's how I was feeling at the time and that's why it's all over the place."

Lil B: "I wasn't even cooking full course meals in this video. [Laughs.] People got some nerve saying I wasn't cooking hard on here. I was smiling. I'm letting people know you can break the cooking rules. Rules are made to be broken. People need to create their own moves and add them to the cooking. I've seen people add new swags to the cooking. Cooking, just moving one arm and just straight swaggin' and not even moving the body. Just one arm. Going crazy. [Laughs.] I was like, 'Word? This is next level.'

I never, never, never thought cooking would catch on. It was just a fun joke to me. Just a fun thing for me to do online and make jokes with the people that respected and supported me. Just a joke between me and my friends online. Like, everybody that likes me online is my friend. So, we all making jokes all day and shit on the computer and I did that and now it's somethin we getting a million views from. That's what's so crazy to me. It hit me hard. Just seeing it catch on and people continuously doing the cooking dance and not stopping and views gaining more and then more and more people asking me, 'Where's the more cooking music?' Then going out to New York and flickin my wrist and the place just shut down. Man, I be feeling like Michael [Jackson]. I really be feelin' like Michael, dude. I appreciate it. It's fun. It's definitely a unique thing to have and it's just an honor. We're having so much fun, man. Niggas over here having so much fun, man. Genuine fun and I just don't wanna stop.

I shot "I Cook" at a little low key spot I got out here in the Bay. I definitely get the studio work in there. It's like a lounge spot. So, it's all work. You know I'm all fresh, man. There was a point in time when the labels kinda shitted on me and forgot about The Pack and that's what happens when you go through major labels and shady management and hard times and funny business people. So I really had to build my shit from ground one. From square one by myself and eat and get it in. Now I'm up there and I'm able to sell out shows by myself and tour anywhere. I can go anywhere now and someone's gonna know who I am. Anywhere. Any state. I'm making my money off shows and I'm making a living. It's a blessing I'm able to make a living and shit and I'm learning and I'm working to get more. I'm working to build a foundation that'll last forever and we're all part of walking history. We're all part of history right now on YouTube, Facebook, and stuff. Everybody is able to watch everything grow daily. I'm there. I know what's going on with my support base. I'm meeting people who love me daily. Recording it. Seeing insights. Taking records so I'm seeing it and it's growing and it's definitely about staying blessed and humble."