Wired 25: Kendrick Lamar's Top 25 Verses

Now that we know Kendrick Lamar is dropping To Pimp A Butterfly on March 23 [ed. note: it arrived a week early], the real obsessing can begin. After all, how many times has the latest Rolling Stone mag cover artist’s guest verse low key been the best verse on someone else’s whole album. With three full albums under his belt, he has a considerable amount of his own bars too.

It all begs the question: what has been his best 16 so far. Obviously, all bars aren’t created equal and that’s where the fun begins. This installment of Wired 25 aspires to do what so many of K.Dot’s rhymes have done–inspire some dialogue. With that, let’s get to the business of ranking Kendrick Lamar’s 25 best verses.

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Photo: Aftermath Entertainment/Top Dawg Entertainment

25. “Westside, Right On Time” [verse 2]

“Twenty years later, hi hater. He might not be the best, but hes putting himself in the conversation.”

24. “Fragile”

The Kendrick verse on Tech N9ne’s “Fragile” was crafted with this very type of list in mind. Oh well. It’s a return to the stop and go flow from “Blessed” with the self-awareness of someone who just enjoyed the most commercially successful year of his career. That always makes for great content.

23. “Hol Up” [verse 1]

Just because he doesn’t bother to beef over a double entendre doesn’t mean he won’t drop a dozen or so of them in a song. You knew what time it was right after that “jumpoff” line.

22. “U.O.E.N.O. (Remix)”

Some tough talk, alliteration, and a flatscreen for Sway? You don’t even know.

21. “Black Lip Bastard (Remix)”

Maybe this is when the irritation set in. From that line about the parking garage to the ratchet talk about Rihanna and Nicki Minaj, the full arsenal was on display here. So yeah, no more talk about any other crews and cliques please.

20. “Swimming Pools (Drank)” [verse 2]

How powerful of a statement is it that an anti-drinking anthem gets people in the club turning up?

19. “Monster (Freestyle)”

“I’m going after Kanye, Lupe Fiasco, and Nas, Snoop Dogg, and Mr. Andre, Eminem, Bussa Buss Rhymes.” Kendrick was big game hunting long before that “Control Verse.”

18. “Kush & Corinthians” [verse 2]

The flow was airtight, but this wasn’t just flowing for the sake of displaying some lyrical pyrotechnics. That second verse about lying and looking up at the ceiling in contemplation of prayer is a problem.

17. “Cartoon & Cereal”

Kendrick getting autobiographical put a whole new spin on that Saturday morning ritual. Darkwing Duck lost service. How many people hopped on the Gunplay bandwagon after this dropped?

16. “Rigamortis” [verse 2]

For those who previously slept, “Rigamortis” took the relentless flows from tracks like “Look Out For Detox” and “The Heart Pt. 2” but focused them into a digestible format.

15. “Buried Alive (Interlude)”

One of the initial and dopest verses about the vices of the industry and the vanity he knew. It felt like the initiation. Yeah, we blame Mr. OVO XO.

14. “Ab-Soul’s Outro”

“The next time I talk about money, hoes, clothes, God, and history all in the same sentence just know I meant it. And you felt it, because you too are searching for answers.”

13. “B***h Don’t Kill My Vibe (Remix)” [verse 2]

Maybe instead of Jordan and Kobe this song should’ve featured A.I. putting Mike on skates. If Shawn’s a black Beatle, he needs a 10-minute drum solo.

12. “The City”

Kendrick came through and bodied the chorus. Then he had fun with a couple familiar rap tropes like double entendres, rhyming the same word, and flowing acapella. You know…no big deal.

11.“Blessed”

It’s easy to get caught up in the staccato, stop and start flow or that mean second-person narrative. Run it back and it serves as instructions.

10. “Control”

How do you separate “Control” from the statement it made its associated hype? Go back to the bars before he mentioned his peers. You can chop off that whole “competition” segment and still have one of K.Dot’s better verses.

9. “m.A.A.d city” [verse 1]

A trip down memory lane? Nah, this was a nightmare on Rosecrans expertly narrated by Mr. Duckworth. This was the type of verse that had critics comparing good kid, m.A.A.d city to The Odyssey.

8. BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher

“Tucked a sensitive rapper back in his pajama clothes…”

7. “Illuminate”

He is ruler, highness; the Prince of Zamunda and what the prune does. That line about holding the coast together with his fingertips should have been a precursor to “Control.”

6. “HiiiPower”

Who said a black man in the Illuminati? In hindsight, this was an early indicator of what could be with “The Blacker The Berry.” In between flipping crazy lines, Kendrick contemplates his own spirituality and 2012. It came and went, now it’s time for that legend part.

5. “Nosestalgia”

You wanna see a dead body? This one hit extremely close to home for ‘80s babies who know about selling fiends soap and seeing video game systems get pawned. If every verse is a brick, this was definitely 36 grams on the triple beam scale.

4. “Sing About Me” [verse 2]

The art of storytelling in all its glory. Even without the catch that this picks up where “Keisha’s Song” left off, and raps from the perspective of Keisha’s sister, it’s a shockingly real narrative. Honestly choosing between the “best” verse on “Sing About Me” is a no-win situation.

3. “Look Out For Detox”

At some point, you realize this is one continuous verse that covers everything from Kendrick’s house getting raided, jackleg preachers, and how good he can rap. A good two minutes and 50 seconds of straight bars.

2. “The Blacker The Berry” [verse 3]

Much like “Control,” there will be arguments about the timing and context around the song. But the actual bars? Well, he seemingly summed up the entire black experience in five-and-a-half minutes. So if the worst thing you can say is, “This song is too new,” that won’t fly.

1. “The Heart Pt. 2”

That whole section about beefing over turf verses beefing over a verse and the worthlessness of a double entendre pretty much sealed it. If you weren’t already familiar with Kendrick blacking out for the better part of five-minute intervals, this was a formal introduction courtesy of “A Peace Of Light” by The Roots.