Kendrick Lamar has recorded a dizzying array of stop-you-in-your-tracks rap verses in his career, and he’s proven he can attack from any angle. If he’s up for it, he can insert himself into as many headlines as possible with an explosive guest verse like “Control,” which broke the internet (and infuriated a long list of rappers in the process) back in 2013. Or he can flex his songwriting skills and weave together intricate storylines on a song like “Duckworth.” Alternatively, he’s just as effective locking into a great beat and simply rapping his ass off on a banger like “Backseat Freestyle.” He can do it all. In celebration of Kendrick’s 33rd birthday, we combed through his discography and highlighted his finest verses. Honestly, he’s accumulated so many standout moments over the past decade that this could have easily become a Top 100 list, but we chose to limit it to the cream of the crop. These are Kendrick Lamar’s best verses, ranked.
25. “Jealous”
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Verse: 1
Standout line: “If you know me then you know, n***a, Chi-town like my second home/I done flew a private jet for some Harold’s Chicken straight from Rome”
By October 2013, Kendrick had proved himself as one of the most versatile A-list rappers on the planet, but seeing him pop up on a drill song with Chicago stalwart Fredo Santana was still unexpected. Rapping about a city besides your hometown is often fraught and can scan as gimmicky to listeners, but Kendrick’s Chicago references to the Windy City, which he calls his second home, are immaculate. “I done flew a private jet for some Harold’s Chicken straight from Rome,” he brags. Like the best drill music, “Jealous” is both tough and somber, with palpable pain evident as Kendrick references the murder of his close friend, Chad Keaton, that summer. —Grant Rindner
24. “XXX”
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Verse: 3
Standout line: “But is America honest, or do we bask in sin?/Pass the gin, I mix it with American blood/Then bash him in, you Crippin’ or you married to Blood?/I’ll ask again—oops, accident”
On paper, the U2-assisted “XXX” is a money grab, an appeal to boomers who only know about rap from Tipper Gore coverage on Fox News. But despite the assistance of the Irish legends who refuse to leave your iPhone, “XXX” is a surprisingly deft collaboration. Kendrick brings political fire throughout, but his third verse is unimpeachable. He roasts Trump without being corny, a near impossibility as the Clown in Chief consistently pushes himself past parody. He raps, “Homicidal thoughts; Donald Trump’s in office/We lost Barack and promised to never doubt him again/ But is America honest, or do we bask in sin?” It’s a far cry from “Gin N Juice,” a booze-soaked anthem for a different generation, but these are cold, dark times. —Will Schube
23. “Backseat Freestyle”
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Verse: 3
Standout line: “I look like OJ, killin’ everything from the pussy to a mothrfuckin’ Hit-Boy beat.”
“Backseat Freestyle” is such a strong record overall that it almost feels like a disservice to pick which part of it is the strongest. But for the sake of this list, we have to go with Kendrick’s third verse. What’s even more impressive than his lyricism on this particular verse is Kendrick’s display of sheer technical skill. Seconds after he announces that it’s “go time,” Kendrick sounds possessed, his grisly voice snarling at us as he speeds up and then slows down his flow for emphasis on words like “Beeeeeotch” and “Compton.” There’s a lot of imagery packed in just a few lines, but what takes this verse over the edge is Kendrick’s masterful control and enthusiasm. —Jessica McKinney
22. “Look Out for Detox”
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Verse: 1
Standout line: “Tell the government come shoot me, n***a/ ’Cause I’m going out with a fist raised/And a fist full of money give it to the fifth grade”
“Look Out for Detox” is so old that its title wasn’t a joke when Kendrick put the song out in 2010. It was released as a promotion for the Dre album, but the song is a standalone classic. From Kendrick’s intro, shit-talking about Schoolboy Q’s looks, to the unending onslaught of Kendrick’s single verse, the song is a classic loosie from K.Dot. It’s the pure heat Kendrick’s been celebrated for, but has ditched in favor of more atmospheric, melodic music. Sometimes an aggressive lyrical attack just hits the spot. —Will Schube
21. “Black Friday”
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Verse: 1
Standout line: “And now we look at the competition as quick submission/They tappin’ out before we even get a chance to miss ’em.”
Kendrick spends four minutes bodying J. Cole’s “A Tale of 2 Citiez,” just because he can. Even though Kendrick and Cole are good friends, the Compton rapper never passes up an opportunity to prove himself as one of the best rappers alive. He chronicles his rise to fame, unloading complex bars with ease, like, “I like my raps extra prolific/Since freestyling on lunch tables and park benches/And I won’t mention my 10,000 hours in training/While juggling, gang-banging, my balancing was tremendous.” Alongside Cole’s version of Kendrick’s “Alright,” the duo gave the rap game a gift on Black Friday 2015. The track still hits as heavy as it did five years ago. —Will Schube
20. “How Much a Dollar Cost”
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Verse: 3
Key line: “I should distance myself, I should keep it relentless/My selfishness is what got me here, who the fuck I’m kiddin’?”
A single dollar can be meaningless or life-changing—it’s all a matter of who’s holding it. That’s the thesis of “How Much a Dollar Cost,” a moral parable in which a greedy Kendrick encounters a homeless man while visiting South Africa. Showing us his internal monologue, Kendrick references many of the cold cliches people use to justify not helping the unhoused—that the man will spend the money on drugs or pointing out how it’s not Kendrick’s fault that he’s destitute. “And I recognize this type of panhandlin' all the time / I got better judgment, I know when nigga's hustlin', keep in mind,” Kendrick raps. In the third verse, there’s a chilling twist ending—the homeless man is actually Jesus Christ, and by ignoring his plea for help, Lamar has cost himself a place in heaven. There are many complex themes and stories throughout To Pimp a Butterfly, but this one about empathy simply sticks to your ribs. —Grant Rindner
19. “Keisha’s Song (Her Pain)”
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Verse: 3
Standout line: “Sometimes she wonder if she can do it like nuns do it/But she never heard of Catholic religion or sinners’ redemption”
Though its overall perspective towards sex workers is judgmental and conservative, Section.80’s “Keisha’s Song (Her Pain)” remains one of Kendrick’s most affecting character studies. After spending the first two verses getting us familiar with the life of Los Angeles prostitute Keisha, Lamar uses the third verse to explain the horrific events that drove her to this lifestyle and why she can’t bring herself to quit. Having been sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend at just nine years old, Keisha has massive, unaddressed trauma that, coupled with a belief that she’s incapable of changing her path, keeps the young woman in a dangerous cycle that ends with her rape and murder in the closing lines. By itself “Keisha’s Song” is haunting, but as part of the broader Keisha story, which includes “Sing About Me,” it cements Kendrick’s gift for writing heart-wrenching narratives. —Grant Rindner
18. “DNA”
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Verse: 2
Key line: “This is how it is when you’re in the Matrix/Dodgin’ bullets reapin’ what you sow/And stackin’ up the footage, livin’ on the go”
While Kendrick runs through the first part of the track like a list, he approaches the final verse of “DNA” like an impassioned speech. Triggered by Geraldo Rivera’s Fox News broadcast, Kendrick rips into the second verse with unrelenting aggression, addressing the world’s negative view of rap music and Black culture. But he also reserves a moment for self-reflection, turning the lens on himself to explore his own blackness. That balance between what others see vs what he sees is present throughout the record, but it feels most clear as he reaches the end. —Jessica McKinney
17. “Blessed”
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Verse: 3
Standout line: “As the record spinning, you was hearing angels entertain/Every pun intended, that was wicked, coming from your brain”
Kendrick handles the third verse on ScHoolboy Q’s Habits & Contradictions standout track, “Blessed,” employing a double-time flow, weaving in and out of the glossy instrumental. His verse is more syncopated than we’re used to, putting as much of an emphasis on the cadence of his flow as the words themselves. There’s a particularly impressive fragment where he raps, “Step-step my n***a, one, two, skip-skip/Back-back, look both ways, pull it off the hip.” It’s less detail-oriented than some of Kendrick’s other outstanding verses, but his work on “Blessed” proves that he’s just as talented at interpreting the vibe of music as he is at producing masterful verses. —Will Schube
16. “HiiiPower”
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Verse: 3
Standout line: “Who said a Black man in the Illuminati? Last time I checked, that was the biggest racist party.”
Everybody put your threes in the air if you remember what you were doing when “HiiiPower” first dropped. The J. Cole-produced not only announced the arrival of a new People’s Champion, it also put on wax the ideals that TDE and Black Hippy wanted to create. “Last time I checked, we was racing with Marcus Garvey on the freeway to Africa ‘til I wrecked my Audi,” Pulitzer Kenny extols in the song’s closing third verse. “And I want everybody to view my autopsy, so you can see exactly where the government had shot me.” In “HiiiPoWeR,” the message of “heart, honor, and respect” still resonates in those who view Lamar as this generation’s greatest voice. And his hard-hitting lyrics serve as a call-to-action to wake up, see the injustices in this world, and create your own story. —Kevin L. Clark
15. “Cartoon & Cereal”
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Verse: 1
Standout line: “This shit make a n***a just wanna write/Reminisce when I had the morning appetite/Apple Jacks and after that I hit the TV Guide/Animaniac the only thing that gave me peace of mind.”
“Cartoon & Cereal” was initially intended to be featured on good kid m.A.A.d. city, but it was released as a loosie when it leaked before the album arrived. After Section.80, “Cartoon & Cereal” played like a revelation. His lyricism took a step forward from the consistent but not flashy approach on Section.80, with his first verse standing out as particularly impressive. It’s a song laced in nostalgia, with Kendrick yearning for the early days when his worries consisted of what TV show to watch with breakfast. “Cartoon & Cereal” is a transition piece in Kendrick’s career, bridging the lyrical appetite of Section.80 with the invincible delivery he’d master on good kid m.A.A.d. City. —Will Schube
14. “good kid”
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Verse: 2
Standout line: “In all honesty I got time to be copacetic until/You had finally made decision to hold me against my will”
The drums on “good kid” beg for a top down ride through LA. Kendrick refuses to take a bar off throughout the entire track, but the narrative-based song features an all-time second verse from Kendrick. The song finds Kendrick stuck between red and blue, trying to survive without pledging allegiance to any particular gang in the city. By verse two, Kendrick makes an inspiring thematic turn, shifting the red and blue of Bloods and Crips to the cop sirens that pose more danger to a young Black man in Compton. “Every time you clock in the morning, I feel you just want to kill/All my innocence while ignorin’ my purpose to persevere/As a better person; I know you heard this and probably in fear/But what am I ’posed to do when the blinkin’ of red and blue/Flash from the top of your roof,” he raps. It’s a sentiment that rings as true now as it did when Kendrick penned the line. Kendrick rapped about the present, resigned in knowing that it’d be the future for so many Black kids, too. —Will Schube
13. “Alright”
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Verse: 2 & pre-chorus
Standout line: “I can see the evil, I can tell it, I know it's illegal/I don’t think about it, I deposit every other zero”
When the protests for the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black people at the hands of police kicked off earlier this year, it was a given that a song like Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” was going to shoot back up in streams; it’s truly become a staple of the modern Black Lives Matter movement, primarily due to its chorus, which is the kind of refrain that acknowledges that things are fucked up right now, but as long as we keep the fight alive, we will truly be alright. The song’s second verse deals with the daily struggle of keeping your eyes on the prize, especially when it comes to the ills of the world. Think about a time like the quarantine, where the government broke its back to dole out checks to everyone (who was eligible) so they could spend, spend, spend—that’s part of the “Lucy” Kendrick refers to in this verse, the MF who can help you “live at the mall” although the way many get the funds to maintain that lifestyle can be deemed “illegal.” It’s a look at the way the system can deter you from the goal at hand, and how those ills can corrupt Kendrick, but he chooses to do it for his people. Only someone like Kendrick can take a song that’s destined to be a protest song and do more than just spit poster rhetoric; he’s examining things on a level deeper, and looking to educate those who are listening a bit deeper to the message. —khal
12. “Rigamortis”
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Verse: 2
Standout line: “I rapped him and made him Casper/I capture the likes of NASA”
It’s not just the lyrics that make Kendrick Lamar great. Remember that he won the Pultizer for music, not for poetry. The second verse of “Rigamortis” gives us an idea why. Even more than the rhyming and wordplay, Kendrick’s rhythmic choices steal the show. He builds tension by becoming busier over the course of the sixteen bars, really taking off in the back half. Kendrick structures the verse with the same musicality and thoughtfulness that a Nat King Cole or Miles Davis would bring to one of their solos. It’s a wonder to behold. —Shawn Setaro
11. “Untitled 02”
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Verse: 3
Best line: “Cornrow Kenny, he was born with a vision/All morning with the mixed dashboards, triple digits/Parallel park like an alien came visit/Slideshow for the night show, ten bitches.”
Kendrick has so many classics it’s easy to forget that he quietly dropped an album that would define the careers of so many peers with untitled unmastered. It’s a brilliantly raw album, low stakes but still featuring peak-Kendrick throughout. His third verse on “Untitled 02” is an absolute masterclass, featuring braggadocious shit-talking in such a clever way that it takes a few listens to wrap your head around his metaphors. He compares himself and Top Dawg to Kobe and Phil, willing to kill for his label boss, who in turn won’t let anyone come near his star artist. The third verse of “Untitled 02” is a masterpiece alongside Kendrick’s most revered work. —Will Schube
10. “Control”
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Verse: 2
Standout line: “I’m important like the Pope, I’m a Muslim on pork/I’m Makaveli’s offspring, I’m the King of New York/King of the Coast; one hand, I juggle ’em both”
If you were a rapper in 2013, it was almost more offensive for Kendrick to leave you off of his incendiary “Control” verse than for him to go at you. Both Big Sean and Jay Electronica deliver quality verses on the song, which was originally intended for the former’s Hall of Fame, but Lamar simply steals the show. One moment he’s calling himself “the King of New York,” the next he’s comparing molly-popping rappers to wealthy white kids club-hopping, and ultimately he puts himself in the same breath as JAY-Z and Nas. Eventually, he sets his sights on his peers, rapping “I’m usually homeboys with the same n****s I’m rhymin’ with/But this is hip-hop, and them n****s should know what time it is,” before reeling off a list of rivals ranging from Mac Miller to Pusha-T to Drake, effectively making his own version of the XXL Freshman List. In the years since its release, few verses have stopped the rap internet dead in its tracks like Kendrick’s on “Control.” —Grant Rindner
9. “King Kunta”
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Verse: 3
Standout line: “Straight from the bottom, this the belly of the beast/From a peasant to a prince to a motherfuckin’ king”
“King Kunta” is one of the best tracks on Kendrick’s To Pimp a Butterfly, and he raps as if he had foresight as to just how big of a hit the track would become. It’s a minimalistic slice of neo-funk, with Kendrick utilizing the unending space of Sounwave’s production to pick and choose his most aggressive moments. He lives in the pocket, but on the third verse, he gives himself a victory lap to make his claim as the king of Compton. He leaves the courthouse with 20 million behind him, a devoted legion of followers eager to act on his every word. “King Kunta” is a landmark song in K.Dot’s discography, and his closing argument proves he’s one of the best to ever do it. —Will Schube
8. “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst”
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Verse: 3
Standout line: “Fightin’ for your rights, even when you’re wrong/ And hope that at least one of you sing about me when I’m gone”
The beat from “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst” comes from Like and Skhye Hutch, and it’s a balm in the middle of the hectic good kid, m.A.A.d. city. Kendrick is contemplative on the track, looking back on the origins of his upbringing, taking the POV of his partner’s brother, who Kendrick tragically witnessed die. Kendrick plays with narrative strategies throughout, switching perspectives on verse two, referencing Section.80 and Tupac’s influence on his work. The entire track is a stunning display of Kendrick’s lyrical depth, but on verse three, he steals the show with an all-time verse. Kendrick’s relatively death-obsessed on the song, and on this final verse he tries to come to terms with these obsessions. He asks, “Am I worth it? Did I put enough work in?” Kendrick poses this question, and we all emphatically confirm that we’ll be singing his name long after he’s gone. —Will Schube
7. 2013 BET Cypher
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Verse: 1
Standout line: “What I been doing? I’m about to crack the Da Vinci Code/Yeah and nothing’s been the same since they dropped ‘Control’”
“I say, ‘Hold up, wait a minute/Your career ain't shit unless you got some Kendrick in it.’”At the 2013 BET Awards, Kendrick Lamar was riding high, making off with awards for Best New Artist, Best Male Hip-Hop Artist, and Best Collaboration, in addition to dropping one of the evening’s signature verses. Rapping over Mobb Deep’s “Shook Ones (Part II)” sets the bar an inch below the ceiling, but Kendrick cleared it with grace and irrepressible swagger. Back then, Lamar was generally seen as one of the more humble, cerebral, and soft-spoken rap upstarts, but here he was putting as much distance as possible between himself and his peers, slyly referencing his verse on “Control” that left the whole industry awestruck. The 2013 BET Awards were the first of many victory laps for Kendrick Lamar, but in his freestyle verse, he made sure he passed the competition once more for good measure. —Grant Rindner
6. “Fear”
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Verse: 3
Standout line: “The shock value of my success put bolts in me/All this money, is God playin’ a joke on me?”
You know Kendrick’s lyrical performance on “Fear” is a seminal achievement in part because YouTube is littered with analyses from English professors and conspiratorial remixes where the verses are played in reverse. It’s the kind of song that inspires fanatical close readings from college students and devout studies from diehard fans. “Fear” is the kind of song that makes you want to learn every word and commit it to memory. Kendrick plays with the dread of aging throughout the track, growing 10 times more fearful in each verse, beginning as a 7 yearold in verse one, a 17 year old in verse two, and a 27 year old in verse three. By the time this narrative trick reaches its apex, Kendrick’s fear has grown 10 times over. He raps, “When I was 27, I grew accustomed to more fear/Accumulated 10 times over throughout the years/My newfound life made all of me magnified/How many accolades do I need to block denial?” It’s both comforting and horrifying to realize that even someone as talented as Kendrick encounters imposter syndrome. On the one hand, he’s just like us. On the other, if even he has fears of failure, what hope do the rest of us have? He adds, “At 27 years old, my biggest fear was bein’ judged/How they look at me reflect on myself, my family, my city.” Kendrick carries his city, his family, his generation on his shoulders. Heavy lies the crown. —Will Schube
5. “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe (Remix)”
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Verse: 3
Standout line: “Should have been in the pen/But now my pen write with morphine/I heal n****s, touch down with more fiends”
Kendrick once admitted that when he initially heard Jay-Z’s verse on the “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe (Remix),” he had to give himself a brief pep talk. “When I heard that thing he sent back I said to myself, ‘I can’t be no floozy on this mother fucker for sure.’” But as it turns out, he didn’t really need it. While Hov certainly held it down on his end, Kendrick’s third verse left nothing else to be said. His verse is both a declaration of his greatness and a challenge to his peers. After comparing himself to Jesus in his first verse, Kendrick is merciless as he brags about his strong lyricism (“My pen write with morphine/I heal n****s, touch down with more fiends”) and pokes fun at washed-up rappers. If “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe (Remix),” is a sort of passing of the torch between Jay-Z and Kendrick, his third verse proves why he’s the right guy for the job. —Jessica McKinney
4. “Nosetalgia”
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Verse: 2
Standout line: “When I was ten, back when nine ounces had got you ten/And nine times out of ten, n****s don’t pay attention.”
On “Nosetalgia,” an uber-confident look at the drug epidemic from a child’s POV, Compton Kenny spits a nostalgic verse that channels Doughboy from Boyz ‘N Da Hood to create pure gurney music. “You wanna see a dead body? Instrumentals from my momma’s Christmas party,” he shares. He even one-ups the always-descriptive raps of Pusha-T by vividly illustrating a childhood that lacked options (“Quantum physics could never show you the world I was in”) and bad experiments with laced marijuana (“Ooh, wee, cut me some slack, weed never did that”). With a verse that complemented the grotesque nature of “Nosetalgia,” Kendrick’s verse played out like a post-“Control” victory lap run by hip-hop’s young O-Dog. —Kevin L. Clark
3. “Blacker the Berry”
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Verse: 3
Standout line: “So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street/When gang-banging make me kill a n***a blacker than me? Hypocrite”
“I’m the biggest hypocrite of 2015/When I finish this if you listen then sure you will agree,” Kendrick begins on the third verse of “The Blacker the Berry.” On the track, he takes the perspective of Black man who is outraged by the violence committed against Black people. And while he starts out critical of systemic racism in America, it isn’t until the final line that we see why he is the hypocrite he initially warned them about. “So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street/When gang-banging make me kill a n***a blacker than me? Hypocrite,” he raps on the song’s final bar. His lyricism and storytelling on “The Blacker the Berry” is already raw, but his cadence that cuts through the KOZ and Boi-1d-produced beat amplifies his message even more. —Jessica McKinney
2. “Duckworth”
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Verse: 1
Best line: “Then you start remindin' them about that chicken incident/Whoever thought the greatest rapper would be from coincidence?”
Structured as one long verse, “Duckworth” is a true story about a long ago run-in between Kendrick’s father and TDE CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith. It was a meeting that, but for some quick thinking (and some free chicken and biscuits), could have irreparably changed the course of popular culture. The lyrics gain extra traction because of the beat switches, which lend a sense of forward motion and gravity to the tale. True to a song about luck and chance, luck and chance played no small part in its creation. 9th Wonder told me that big artists (“Rappers rappers—rappers-everybody-knows rappers” is how he described it) had already picked all three beats that appear in the song, but never used them. Never did two biscuits mean so much. This is storytelling at its finest. —Shawn Setaro
1. “m.A.A.d. city”
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Verse: 1
Standout line: “This is not a rap on how I’m slingin’ crack or move cocaine/This is cul-de-sac and plenty Cognac and major pain/Not the drill sergeant, but the stress that weighin’ on your brain”
“Brace yourself, I’ll take you on a trip down memory lane.” As soon as Kendrick uttered those words, we should have known he was about to deliver a verse we’d keep coming back to for years. One of Kendrick’s greatest strengths is his innate ability to write intricate depictions of his own life in a way that reflects society at large, and that’s exactly what he pulls off here. He doesn’t need to get preachy to make a point. He’d rather take you on a walk through his neighborhood and show you what’s really happening in the streets of America. “m.A.A.d city” is an absolute masterpiece as a whole—it’s no accident it tops many Best Kendrick Lamar Songs lists—but the first verse is a particularly striking piece of songwriting. Kendrick has a way of turning phrases that immediately conjure vivid images, followed by aftershocks of double meanings and deeper cultural references that come in waves. “Bodies on top of bodies, IVs on top of IVs/Obviously the coroner between the sheets like the Isleys.” This is Kendrick Lamar’s life, poured out in stunning detail for 127 seconds. By the time he stamps the verse with an emphatic yelp of the song’s title, Kendrick has let us into an intimate corner of his world with astonishing clarity, pulling off one of the all-time great rap verses in the process. Brace yourself. —Eric Skelton
