Five Of The Best Feature Rappers In The Game
posted in: Music News • Urban
Everyone wants to be a star. Especially rappers. While many brag about their ability to court members of the opposite sex, the wide breadth of their earthly possessions, their height of their stacks, and most importantly, swag, it all really boils down to status. Which, in turn, is attention. The higher one’s prestige, the greater their worth and the more eyeballs and ears they will attract.
Fortunately in hip-hop there is also a deep tradition of collaboration. Posse cuts are always dope. And a rapper without their beatmaker would just be a solo street accapellist. Spitting bars out in public, especially with a hardened affect while talking about violence and an ostentatious lifestyle, would not be a good look on anybody. Except maybe on this guy.
And you’re not him.
Which brings us to the topic of today’s piece, the feature rapper. When would the motivation to stand out ever be stronger then on someone else’s track? A game changing guest verse (or a couple hundred of them, in some rapper’s cases) has been enough in the past to launch careers much in the way a Top 40 charting single would. So here are some of our picks for the best feature rappers in the game right now. Please note that this list is objectively correct; we came to these rappers after a series of rigorous tests that followed the scientific method. Lab coats were worn while this list was put together.
2 Chainz
Choice line: “Ok now ketchup to my campaign/Coupe the color of mayonnaise” from “Mercy” by Kanye West, featuring Big Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz
TRU. YEAH. UHH. 2 CHAINZ.
If you have even the slightest interest in hip-hop circa 2012 then you’ve heard some variation of the lines above. 2 Chainz, born Tauheed Epps and who used to go by the name Tity Boy, has become more than a household name this year. He’s omnipresent. We’re not even going to be talking about the singles that have come out from his debut album Based On A T.R.U. Story. Epps has been featured on eight singles in 2012 alone. As for album cuts, he’s been on at least 42. It’s hard to get an exact track on how many songs 2 Chainz has guested on, but thanks to Alex Eaton and SPIN, we have a supercut of 2 Chainz saying pretty much every variation on his signature “2 Chainz!” catchphrase. You’re welcome.
Ludacris
Choice line: “It’s time to set your clock back bout long as you can/ I stop daylight, it’s Ludacris the maintenance man,” from “One Minute Man” by Missy Elliott, featuring Ludacris and Trina
Ludacris is pretty gosh darn rich. Worth somewhere in the ballpark of $70 million, Luda has earned his money through a combination of hit singles, actorly turns, and some remarkably fortuitous guest spots. Among other spots, his donation of urban credibility to Justin Bieber’s mega-hit “Baby” certainly earned him some paper. But let’s go back in time a bit, to 2001. The Christopher Bridges of yesteryear had just spit on Missy Elliott’s “One Minute Man,” a song on which he basically claimed to be a love making mechanic; the “all-nighter who could shoot all fire,” Luda could stop time with the power of his lovemaking. Back to “Baby;” “When I was thirteen/ I had my first love.” They’re both good, for different reasons.
Bun B
Choice line: “Put my trust in my left and my right hand/ Grinding through the night and I keep my family tight” from “Bezzle” by T.I., featuring 8Ball, MJG, and Bun B
If consistency is a virtue then Bernard Freeman is a saint. Once the half of legendary southern rap two piece UGK with the late Pimp C, Bun B has become the go-to guest feature on the mixtape circuit. Why else would he be on “The Feature Heavy Song” from Wale’s The Mixtape About Nothing? The number of songs that Bun B has been featured is staggering. It’s hard to choose one verse from the epoch that his been Bun B’s rap career thus far, but T.I.’s “Bezzle” might be the one. A southern rap artifact circa 2003, “Bezzle” features 8Ball, MJG, and Tip all in fine form. But Bun manages to steal the show.
El-P
Choice line: “And every time you think my fifteen minutes of fame are up/ I’ll spit another sixteen to prove to the world I fucking own it,” from “The Last Huzzah (Remix)” by Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire, featuring Das Racist, Danny Brown, Despot, and El-P
El-Producto’s style isn’t for everyone. Born Jamie Meline, El-P has generally gotten more recognition as a producer then for his rhymes. Meline was responsible for some pretty incredible beats for the likes of Cannibal Ox and Aesop Rock that helped put Definitive Jux, the now defunct record label he ran, on the map. But El-P doesn’t slack as a rapper either. His style isn’t for everyone though; the bars that this New York City native spits are caked in grit and ripped from the pages of an unpublished dystopian science fiction novel. He’s been featured on a number of his label mates’ releases but his most notable recent feature was on a remix of “Huzzah” by Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire that turned the solo original into a hipster-approved posse track including the likes of Das Racist, Danny Brown, and Despot. El-P manages to demolish the competition with his verse though with a bit of algebraic verbal wizardry. It has to be heard to be believed, really.
Inspectah Deck
Choice line: “Yo castastrophe, none can match me, naturally nasty/ Manually smash your faculty, verbal assault and battery,” from “The X (Ya’ll Know The Name)” by The X-Ecutioners featuring Pharoahe Monch, Xzibit, Skillz, and Inspectah Deck
It’s a minor tragedy that Inspectah Deck is as slept on as he is. As a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Deck has never seen the solo commercial success that fellow groupmates Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, RZA, or Method Man have. So he doesn’t have a lot of hit singles. But Inspectah is capable of a scene stealing verse and able to out rap any other member of the collective on some of their finest tracks. The obvious example is “Triumph,” a track that sees Deck reference Socrates, Shinobi, lotteries, and killer bees. But Inspectah Deck can also shine outside of the presence of other Wu-Tangers. Consider Deck’s contribution to ” The X (Ya’ll Know The Name)”
Honorable Mention: Rick Ross
Choice line: “New Mercedes Sedan/The Lex Sport/So many cars/DMV thought it was mail fraud,” from “Devil in a New Dress” by Kanye West featuring Rick Ross
The Bawse Ricky Rozay is about as divisive as a figure can be in today’s rap game. Many would balk at the noition of Ross as a good rapper in any setting. However, Ross earned a spot on this because he, argugably, had the best verse on Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. On a record featuring absolute fire from Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z, and a litany of other heavyweights, Ross absolutely destroys his verse on “Devil In A New Dress.” Don’t believe it? Plenty of people were shocked by Ross’ contribution. Ross apparently wasn’t though. Cognizant of his dominance on the song, he had a music video made just for his verse.
Got any others that should have been included here? Let us know in the comments!
More like this: