What makes a good rap line? What makes a great rap line? What makes a rap line one of the greatest in hip hop history?
A few things: sometimes a line is great because a rapper manages to pack in so many meanings into such few words (the way Jay-Z does it); sometime a line is great because it’s an extraordinary showcase of a rapper’s lyrical ability (think Big L’s punchlines); and sometimes a rap line is a great rap line, just because, it’s a fucking great rap line (think 2 Chainz or Lil Wayne).
So allow us to introduce: the 100 greatest rap lines in hip hop history, in chronological order.
“Broken glass everywhere, people pissing on the stairs, you know they just don’t care”
Artist: Melle Mel
Song: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five – “The Message”
Released: July 1, 1982
“La-di-da-di, we like to party, we don’t cause trouble, we don’t bother nobody”
Artist: Slick Rick
Song: Doug E. Fresh & MC Ricky D – “La Di Da Di”
Released: August 13, 1985
“6 in the morning, police at my door, fresh Adidas squeak across the bathroom floor”
Artist: Ice-T
Song: Ice-T – “6 in the Mornin'”
Released: 1986
“I came in the door, I said it before, I never let the mic magnetize me no more”
Artist: Rakim
Song: Eric B. & Rakim – “Eric B. Is President”
Released: 1986
“Now Peter Piper picked peppers, but Run rocked rhymes”
Artist: Run–D.M.C.
Song: Run–D.M.C. – “Peter Piper”
Released: May 15, 1986
“My Adidas walk through concert doors, and roam all over coliseum floors”
Artist: Run–D.M.C.
Song: Run–D.M.C. – “My Adidas”
Released: May 15, 1986
“Cruisin’ down the street in my ’64”
Artist: Eazy-E
Song: Eazy-E – “Boyz-n-the Hood”
Released: March 3, 1987
“It’s been a long time, I shouldn’t have left you, without a strong rhyme to step to”
Artist: Rakim
Song: Eric B. & Rakim – “I Know You Got Soul”
Released: July 7, 1987
“I take seven emcees put ’em in a line”
Artist: Rakim
Song: Eric B. & Rakim – “My Melody”
Released: July 7, 1987
“Put a quarter in your ass ’cause ya played yourself”
Artist: Big Daddy Kane
Song: Marley Marl ft. Kool G Rap, Craig G, Masta Ace & Big Daddy Kane – “The Symphony”
Released: 1988
“Straight outta Compton, crazy motherfucker named Ice Cube, from the gang called Niggas Wit Attitudes”
Artist: Ice Cube
Song: N.W.A. – “Straight Outta Compton”
Released: July 10, 1988
“Fuck the police comin’ straight from the underground”
Artist: Ice Cube
Song: N.W.A. – “Fuck tha Police”
Released: August 8, 1988
“I never ever ran from the Ku Klux Klan, and I shouldn’t have to run from a black man”
Artist: Kool Moe Dee
Song: The Stop the Violence Movement – “Self Destruction”
Released: January 15, 1989
“Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to me”
Artist: Chuck D
Song: Public Enemy – “Fight the Power”
Released: July 4, 1989
“One, and here comes the two to the three and four”
Artist: The D.O.C.
Song: The D.O.C. – “It’s Funky Enough”
Released: August 1, 1989
“Don’t call it a comeback, I been here for years”
Artist: LL Cool J
Song: LL Cool J – “Mama Said Knock You Out”
Released: September 14, 1990
“I sit alone in my four-cornered room, starin’ at candles”
Artist: Scarface
Song: Geto Boys – “Mind Playing Tricks on Me”
Released: July 1, 1991
“Verbal assassin, my architect pleases, when I was 12, I went to Hell for snuffin’ Jesus”
Artist: Nas
Song: Main Source ft. Nas, Joe Fatal & Akinyele – “Live at the Barbeque”
Released: July 23, 1991
“Back in the days when I was a teenager, before I had status and before I had a pager”
Artist: Q-Tip
Song: A Tribe Called Quest – “Excursions”
Released: September 24, 1991
“Yo, microphone check one, two, what is this? The five foot assassin with the roughneck business”
Artist: Phife Dawg
Song: A Tribe Called Quest – “Buggin’ Out”
Released: September 24, 1991
“Rawr! Rawr! Like a dungeon dragon”
Artist: Busta Rhymes
Song: A Tribe Called Quest ft. Leaders of the New School – “Scenario”
Released: September 24, 1991
“One, two, three and to the four, Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr. Dre is at the door”
Artist: Snoop Dogg
Song: Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg – “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang”
Released: December 15, 1992
“I like ‘em brown, yellow, Puerto Rican or Haitian, name is Phife Dawg from the Zulu Nation”
Artist: Phife Dawg
Song: A Tribe Called Quest – “Electric Relaxation”
Released: November 9, 1993
“Ghostface catch the blast of a hype verse, my Glock burst, leave in a hearse, I did worse”
Artist: Ghostface Killah
Song: Wu-Tang Clan – “Bring da Ruckus”
Released: November 9, 1993
“Homicide’s illegal and death is the penalty, what justifies the homicide, when he dies, in his own iniquity?”
Artist: Masta Killa
Song: Wu-Tang Clan – “Da Mystery of Chessboxin’”
Released: November 9, 1993
“I grew up on the crime side, the New York Times side”
Artist: Raekwon
Song: Wu-Tang Clan – “C.R.E.A.M.”
Released: November 9, 1993
“I never sleep, ’cause sleep is the cousin of death”
Artist: Nas
Song: Nas – “N.Y. State of Mind”
Released: April 19, 1994
“Visualizin’ the realism of life in actuality, fuck who’s the baddest, a person’s status depends on salary”
Artist: Nas
Song: Nas ft. AZ – “Life’s a Bitch”
Released: April 19, 1994
“I’m out for presidents to represent me”
Artist: Nas
Song: Nas – “The World Is Yours”
Released: April 19, 1994
“Either you’re slingin’ crack rock or you got a wicked jump shot”
Artist: The Notorious B.I.G.
Song: The Notorious B.I.G. – “Things Done Changed”
Released: September 13, 1994
“Birthdays was the worst days, now we sip Champagne when we thirsty”
Artist: The Notorious B.I.G.
Song: The Notorious B.I.G. – “Juicy”
Released: August 9, 1994
“I met this girl when I was ten years old, and what I loved most, she had so much soul”
Artist: Common
Song: Common – “I Used to Love H.E.R.”
Released: September 27, 1994
“E-I-H-T, now should I continue? Yeah, you left out the G ’cause the G ain’t in you”
Artist: DJ Quik
Song: DJ Quik – “Dollaz + Sense”
Released: October 15, 1994
“I smash mics like cornbread, you can’t kill me, I was born dead”
Artist: Big L
Song: Big L – “Put It On”
Released: November 13, 1994
“I got you stuck off the realness, we be the infamous”
Artist: Prodigy
Song: Mobb Deep – “Shook Ones Part II”
Released: February 7, 1995
“And even as a crack fiend, Mama, you always was a black queen, Mama”
Artist: 2Pac
Song: 2Pac – “Dear Mama”
Released: February 21, 1995
“L’s a clever threat, a lyricist who never sweat, comparing yourself to me is like a Benz to a Chevrolette”
Artist: Big L
Song: Big L – “M.V.P.”
Released: March 28, 1995
“There’s a war goin’ on outside no man is safe from”
Artist: Prodigy
Song: Mobb Deep – “Survival of the Fittest”
Released: April 25, 1995
“Me and the RZA connect, blow a fuse, you lose, half-ass crews get demolished and bruised”
Artist: Raekwon
Song: Raekwon – “Incarcerated Scarfaces”
Released: August 1, 1995
“Through the lights, cameras, and action, glamor, glitters, and gold”
Artist: Nas
Song: Raekwon ft. Ghostface Killah & Nas – “Verbal Intercourse”
Released: August 1, 1995
“Illuminati want my mind, soul and my body, secret society, trying to keep they eye on me”
Artist: Prodigy
Song: LL Cool J ft. Keith Murray, Prodigy, Fat Joe & Foxy Brown – “I Shot Ya (Remix)”
Released: November 21, 1995
“Out on bail, fresh out of jail, California dreamin'”
Artist: 2Pac
Song: 2Pac ft. Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman – “California Love”
Released: December 3, 1995
“And even after all my logic and my theory, I add a “motherfucker” so you ignant niggas hear me”
Artist: Lauryn Hill
Song: Fugees – “Zealots”
Released: February 13, 1996
“We used to fight for building blocks, now we fight for blocks with buildings that make a killin'”
Artist: Jay-Z
Song: Jay-Z – “D’Evils”
Released: June 25, 1996
“I live by the beat like you live check-to-check, if it don’t move your feet, then, I don’t eat, so we like neck-to-neck”
Artist: Andre 3000
Song: OutKast – “Elevators (Me & You)”
Released: July 9, 1996
“I ain’t a killer, but don’t push me, revenge is like the sweetest joy next to gettin’ pussy”
Artist: 2Pac
Song: 2Pac ft. Outlawz & Prince Ital Joe – “Hail Mary”
Released: November 5, 1996
“I bomb atomically, Socrates’ philosophies and hypotheses, can’t define how I be dropping these mockeries”
Artist: Inspectah Deck
Song: Wu-Tang Clan – “Triumph”
Released: February 11, 1997
“I’m not sayin I’m number one, uhh I’m sorry, I lied, I’m number one, two, three, four and five”
Artist: KRS-One
Song: KRS-One – “Step into a World (Rapture’s Delight)”
Released: March 3, 1997
“Your reign on the top was short like leprechauns, as I crush so-called willies, thugs, and rapper-dons”
Artist: The Notorious B.I.G.
Song: The Notorious B.I.G. – “Kick in the Door”
Released: March 25, 1997
“Reunited, double LP, world excited, struck a match to the underground, industry ignited”
Artist: GZA
Song: Wu-Tang Clan – “Reunited”
Released: June 3, 1997
“I’m from where niggas pull your card, and argue all day about, who’s the best MCs, Biggie, Jay-Z or Nas?”
Artist: Jay-Z
Song: Jay-Z – “Where I’m From”
Released: November 4, 1997
“Dead in the middle of Little Italy, little did we know that we riddled some middlemen who didn’t do diddly”
Artist: Big Pun
Song: Big Pun ft. Fat Joe – “Twinz (Deep Cover ’98)”
Released: April 28, 1998
“I said, “What you wanna be?” She said, “Alive”, it made me think for a minute, then looked in her eyes”
Artist: Andre 3000
Song: OutKast – “Da Art of Storytellin’ (Pt. 1)”
Released: September 29, 1998
“Things just ain’t the same for gangstas”
Artist: Dr. Dre
Song: Dr. Dre – “The Watcher”
Released: November 16, 1999
“So what do you say to somebody you hate, or anyone tryna bring trouble your way? Wanna resolve things in a bloodier way? Just study a tape of N.W.A”
Artist: Eminem
Song: Dr. Dre ft. Eminem – “Forgot About Dre”
Released: March 28, 2000
“Will Smith don’t gotta cuss in his raps to sell records, well, I do, so fuck him and fuck you too”
Artist: Eminem
Song: Eminem – “The Real Slim Shady”
Released: April 18, 2000
“I don’t do black music, I don’t do white music, I make fight music for high school kids”
Artist: Eminem
Song: Eminem – “Who Knew”
Released: May 23, 2000
“I’m far from broke, got enough bread, and mad hoes, ask Beavis, I get nothing Butthead”
Artist: Big L
Song: Big L – “’98 Freestyle”
Released: August 1, 2000
“Ayo, I break bread, ribs, hundred dollar bills”
Artist: Prodigy
Song: Prodigy – “Keep It Thoro”
Released: November 14, 2000
“Motherfuckers say that I’m foolish, I only talk about jewels, do you fools listen to music or do you just skim through it?”
Artist: Jay-Z
Song: Jay-Z ft. Eminem – “Renegade”
Released: September 11, 2001
“Don’t worry if I write rhymes, I write checks”
Artist: Diddy
Song: Black Rob, Mark Curry & Diddy – “Bad Boy For Life”
Released: November 27, 2001
“My grind’s ’bout family, never been about fame, from days I wasn’t able, there was always ‘caine”
Artist: Malice
Song: Clipse – “Grindin'”
Released: May 14, 2002
“His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, there’s vomit on his sweater already, mom’s spaghetti”
Artist: Eminem
Song: Eminem – “Lose Yourself”
Released: October 28, 2002
“They say I walk around like I got a S on my chest, nah, that’s a semi-auto, in a vest on my chest”
Artist: 50 Cent
Song: 50 Cent – “What Up Gangsta”
Released: February 6, 2003
“Hommo shot me, three weeks later he got shot down, now it’s clear that I’m here for a real reason, ‘cause he got hit like I got hit, but he ain’t fuckin’ breathin'”
Artist: 50 Cent
Song: 50 Cent – “Many Men (Wish Death)”
Released: February 6, 2003
“If skills sold, truth be told, I’d probably be lyrically Talib Kweli, truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense, but I did 5 mill’ – I ain’t been rhyming like Common since”
Artist: Jay-Z
Song: Jay-Z – “Moment of Clarity”
Released: November 14, 2003
“Allow me to re-introduce myself, my name is Hov, OH, H-to-the-O-V”
Artist: Jay-Z
Song: Jay-Z – “Public Service Announcement (Interlude)”
Released: November 14, 2003
“She got a light-skinned friend look like Michael Jackson, got a dark-skinned friend look like Michael Jackson”
Artist: Kanye West
Song: Kanye West ft. Twista & Jamie Foxx – “Slow Jamz”
Released: December 2, 2003
“Drinking sake on a Suzuki; we in Osaka Bay”
Artist: Cam’ron
Song: Cam’ron – “Down and Out”
Released: December 7, 2004
“I’m not a businessman; I’m a business, man, let me handle my business, damn”
Artist: Jay-Z
Song: Kanye West ft. Jay-Z – “Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix)”
Released: June 15, 2005
“I used to hit the kitchen lights, cockroaches everywhere, hit the kitchen lights: now it’s marble floors, everywhere”
Artist: Young Jeezy
Song: Young Jeezy – “Thug Motivation 101”
Released: July 26, 2005
“I had a dream I could buy my way to heaven, when I awoke, I spent that on a necklace”
Artist: Kanye West
Song: Kanye West – “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”
Released: May 15, 2007
“Spaceships don’t come equipped with rearview mirrors”
Artist: Andre 3000
Song: UGK ft. OutKast – “Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You)”
Released: June 6, 2007
“My bitch a choosy lover, never fuck without a rubber”
Artist: Pimp C
Song: UGK ft. OutKast – “Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You)”
Released: June 6, 2007
“If you die, tell them that you played my game, I hope your bullet holes become mouths that say my name”
Artist: Lupe Fiasco
Song: Lupe Fiasco – “Put You On Game”
Released: December 18, 2007
“I’m a venereal disease, like a menstrual bleed, through the pencil, and leak on the sheet of the tablet in my mind”
Artist: Lil Wayne
Song: Lil Wayne – “A Milli”
Released: April 23, 2008
“Safe sex is great sex, better wear a latex, ’cause you don’t want that late text, that “I think I’m late” text”
Artist: Lil Wayne
Song: Lil Wayne ft. Kanye West – “Lollipop (Remix)”
Released: June 10, 2008
“I father, I Brooklyn-Dodger them, I jack, I rob, I sin, Aw, man—I’m Jackie Robinson, ‘Cept when I run base, I dodge the pen”
Artist: Jay-Z
Song: Jay-Z – “Brooklyn Go Hard”
Released: December 1, 2008
“They call me Jay Electronica—fuck that, call me Jay Elec-Hanukkah, Jay Elec-Yarmulke, Jay Elect-Ramadan, Muhammad as-salaam-alaikum, RasoulAllah Subhanahu wa ta’ala through your monitor”
Artist: Jay Electronica
Song: Jay Electronica – “Exhibit C”
Released: December 22, 2009
“Ironic, you been sleeping on the one that you been dreaming ’bout”
Artist: J. Cole
Song: Kanye West ft. Pusha T, CyHi The Prynce, Big Sean & J. Cole – “Looking for Trouble”
Released: November 5, 2010
“Dark Knight feeling, die and be a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain”
Artist: Jay-Z
Song: Kanye West ft. Jay-Z, Pusha T, Cyhi the Prynce, Swizz Beatz & RZA – “So Appalled”
Released: September 24, 2010
“Too many Urkels on your team, that’s why your wins low”
Artist: Kanye West
Song: Kanye West – “Dark Fantasy”
Released: November 22, 2010
“Had cyphers with Yeezy before his mouth wired, before his jaw shattered, climbing up the Lord’s ladder”
Artist: Rick Ross
Song: Kanye West ft. Rick Ross – “Devil in a New Dress”
Released: November 22, 2010
“Bitch, real Gs move in silence like lasagna”
Artist: Lil Wayne
Song: Lil Wayne ft. Cory Gunz – “6 Foot 7 Foot”
Released: December 16, 2010
“I’m a fuckin’ walkin’ paradox, no, I’m not”
Artist: Tyler, the Creator
Song: Tyler, the Creator – “Yonkers”
Released: February 14, 2011
“So I ball so hard, motherfuckers wanna fine me”
Artist: Jay-Z
Song: Jay-Z & Kanye West – “Niggas in Paris”
Released: September 13, 2011
“Fredo in the cut, that’s a scary sight”
Artist: Lil Reese
Song: Chief Keef ft. Lil Reese – “I Don’t Like”
Released: March 11, 2012
“Bitch, you wasn’t with me shootin’ in the gym”
Artist: Drake
Song: Rick Ross ft. Drake & French Montana – “Stay Schemin'”
Released: April 17, 2012
“She got a big booty so I call her Big Booty”
Artist: 2 Chainz
Song: 2 Chainz ft. Kanye West – “Birthday Song”
Released: July 24, 2012
“If I told you I killed a nigga at sixteen, would you believe me?”
Artist: Kendrick Lamar
Song: Kendrick Lamar ft. MC Eiht – “M.A.A.D City”
Released: October 22, 2012
“Hold up, wait a minute, y’all thought I was finished?”
Artist: Meek Mill
Song: Meek Mill – “Dreams and Nightmares”
Released: October 30, 2012
“I’m Makaveli’s offspring, I’m the King of New York, King of the Coast; one hand, I juggle ’em both”
Artist: Kendrick Lamar
Song: Big Sean ft. Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica – “Control”
Released: August 14, 2013
“I might sell a brick on my birthday, thirty-six years of doin’ dirt like it’s Earth Day”
Artist: Pusha T
Song: Pusha T – “Numbers on the Boards”
Released: May 10, 2013
“Mitch caught a body about a week ago”
Artist: Bobby Shmurda
Song: Bobby Shmurda – “Hot Nigga”
Released: July 25, 2014
“I’m a gorilla in a fuckin’ coupe, finna pull up to the zoo, nigga”
Artist: Chief Keef
Song: Chief Keef – “Faneto”
Released: October 31, 2014
“I just fucked your bitch in some Gucci flip flops”
Artist: Future
Song: Future – “Thought It Was a Drought”
Released: July 17, 2015
“I was runnin’ through the 6 with my woes”
Artist: Drake
Song: Drake – “Know Yourself”
Released: February 13, 2015
“I’m runnin’ with the rebels, it’s the three-man weave with the Lord and the devil”
Artist: Jadakiss
Song: Schoolboy Q ft. Jadakiss – “Groovy Tony / Eddie Kane”
Released: July 8, 2016
“My guillotine, drank promethazine”
Artist: Future
Song: Future – “Mask Off”
Released: April 18, 2017
“To all of my young niggas, I am your Ghost and your Rae, this is my Purple Tape, save up for rainy days”
Artist: Pusha T
Song: Pusha T – “If You Know You Know”
Released: May 25, 2018
