If you’re the kind of person who likes to sit at home, put on headphones, and dissect rap verses, there was a silver lining to being stuck inside throughout 2020: There was plenty of time to pore over every metaphor and punchline in the year’s best rap verses.
Thankfully, artists dropped music that was worthy of our close attention all year long. From Royce Da 5’9”s show-stopping verse on Eminem’s “You Gon’ Learn” in January to G Herbo addressing his recent fraud charges on “Statement” in December, 2020 was full of moments that had us running standout verses back over and over.
Because there were so many excellent rap verses in 2020, we decided to limit this list to just one verse per artist, in an effort to spotlight as many MCs as possible. Go ahead and argue in the comments about which specific verses deserved mentions, but one thing is certain: Every rapper on here earned their place on this list. All of these artists delivered verses that stopped us in our tracks and had us poring over each line until we’d caught every little nuance. These are Complex’s picks for the 30 best rap verses of 2020.
30. Che Noir, "2k20"
29. Westside Gunn, “Euro Step”
28. G Herbo, "Statement"
27. Big Sean, "Deep Reverence"
26. Lil Uzi Vert, "Silly Watch"
25. Eminem, "The Adventures of Moon Man & Slim Shady"
24. Lil Wayne, "Timeless"
23. Ransom, "Hunger Games"
22. Noname, "Song 33"
21. Black Thought, "Thought vs Everybody"
20. JID, "Baptize"
19. Tierra Whack, "TD"
18. Jay Electronica, "Ezekiel's Wheel"
17. J. Cole, "Lion King on Ice"
16. Armani Caesar, "Lil Cease"
15. Tyler, the Creator, "327"
14. Ka, "Patron Saints"
13. Drake, "BB King Freestyle"
12. Boldy James, "Run-Ins"
11. Method Man, "Lemon"
10. Mulatto, 'XXL Freshman Cypher'
9. Lil Baby, "The Bigger Picture"
8. Royce da 5'9", "You Gon Learn"
7. Conway the Machine, "Spurs 3"
6. Stove God Cooks, "Jose Canseco"
5. Jay-Z, "Flux Capacitor"
4. Roc Marciano, "Sins of the Father"
3. Benny the Butcher, "Frank Lucas"
2. Killer Mike, "Walking in the Snow"
1. Freddie Gibbs, "1985"
Verse: 1
Key line: “Michael Jordan, 1985, bitch, I travel with a cocaine circus”
On “1985,” Gibbs gets busy over an Alchemist beat that sounds ripe for a montage of a protagonist training for his ultimate battle. Perhaps that was the case for Gibbs, who was so locked in that he didn’t waste a bar all year. There were many standout verses from Gibbs to choose from in 2020, but we had “1985” at the top of our mid-year list, and we kept it there because it’s the embodiment of everything that makes him one of the best rappers out right now. He crashes through Alchemist’s gliding production like lightning through clouds, rhyming with a masterful mesh of ferocity and melody while chronicling cocaine cowboy exploits. It’s not just that the verse was sonically pleasing, it’s the deft with which he kept his dizzying cadence up while telling a story, delivering humorous lines, and shouting out early quarantine favorites like The Last Dance and Tiger King. Serving as the intro to Alfredo, this verse was so good that it set the tone for one of the best rap albums of the year. It simply didn’t get better than this verse on “1985” in 2020. —Andre Gee