After letting one of many many Spotify playlists shuffle on through the other day, I realised that feature verses is something that is an immediate priority to talk about. In this post I'll be listing just some (could honestly note hundreds and hundreds down) that I feel steal the song, and is worthy of skipping immediately too. Some of these will be very well known, other less established but still just as deserving of your ears.
Ultralight Beam - Kanye West ft. Chance the Rapper
I am by no means a fan of Chance, in fact I have tried multiple times to get into his music but I just can't hear the attraction that others praise him for. With a new album out this year maybe that'll change, but his feature on Kanye's TLOP was one of the standout moments of the album. His soft Chi Town voice fits perfectly with the gospel infused production in the song and it is actually very very good.
1Train - ASAP Rocky ft. Kendrick Lamar, Joey Badass, Danny Brown, Yelawolf, Action Bronson & Big KRIT
Technically speaking this is cheating, but this cut from Rocky's debut album LONG.LIVE.A$AP acts as a cypher for a lot of the best up and comers at the time (2013) with each of them boasting an impressive verse showing off their world play, flow switching and rhyme scheme skills. It really is down to personal preference at who has the best verse here, but my personal choice is Big KRIT who closes the track with a seriously impressive flow.
Ride Out - Schoolboy Q ft. Vince Staples
This is my choice for feature of the year in 2016. Q puts Vince on a grimey, gang-banging, Hoover street instrumental and it works perfectly. His flow is actually symbiotic with the beat and it's one of my favourite songs from a very solid album. Get your speakers on loud and listen to this bad boy.
Patiently Waiting - 50 Cent ft. Eminem
This is the first appearance from Em on this list and it won't be the last. There is so many that I could include from Eminem's feature list but will try to restrict it to a select few, with this being one of his very best. Marshall was at the peak of his own ability and the rap game in general between 2002-2006 and Patiently Waiting showcased that if you have Em feature on your song, it is no longer YOUR song.
The City - The Game ft. Kendrick Lamar
The Game, an Aftermath artist, needed some LA energy to feature on his song The City, which is a track about the city of Compton and what life is like on the West side when part of the Bloods. Kendrick is drafted in for the hook, which is repeated three times before final one being an extended set of bars, which is the start of nearly two minutes of acapella spitting from K Dot with an incredible aggressive flow, matching the theme of the song better than anyone else.
Devil In a New Dress - Kanye West ft. Rick Ross
What is potentially my second favourite Kanye track ever, DIAND is produced from a beautiful sample of Smokey Robinson's 'Will you love me tomorrow?' with an added guitar solo four minutes into the song. This is then followed by a colossal Rick Ross verse which catches me off guard every single time I hear it, due to it being recorded with so much conviction and strong lyricism... but it is Rick Ross? Absolute mega tune.
Opps - Vince Staples & Yugen Blakrok
An underrated cut from the Black Panther soundtrack, feature vocals from Kendrick and verses from Vince and relatively unknown artist Yugen Blakrok. The beat mixes electronic layers, suitably fro Vince Staple's usual style, but it is Blakrok's flow that is the highlight of the song. She spits a liquid verse that has nowhere near enough recognition, largely due to how scarce her music is (or at least was when I checked). At the time of this song being released, she had no songs on Spotify, and just two videos on Youtube.
The Ends - Travis Scott ft. Andre 3000
An unlisted feature from Travis' Birds In the Trap Sing McKnight, one that stylistically is a contrast to what 3stacks usually is associated with, but that doesn't stop his verse blending perfectly with the psychedelic and spacey trap beat that the verse is played over. An interesting collaboration that needs to be expanded upon further and not just in this song.
I Just Wanna Party - YG ft. Schoolboy Q & Jay Rock
The only time you'll see me post positive stuff about a cliche DJ Mustard beat, but this song serves as an anthem for LA's gang culture, with Crip fuelled lyrics from Schoolboy Q and a hard hitting verse from Jay Rock. Jay Rock might have the best batting average for features that I've heard as he never disappoints, and uses that gritty tone to deliver COLD bars. Big tune.
American Dream - Jeezy ft. J. Cole & Kendrick Lamar
December of 2017 was full of hype for this track, with Jeezy managing to get the two heavyweights on the same song, something that Hadn't been done since Cole's Forbidden Fruit in 2013. Unfortunately, it didn't quite pan out to be the clash of the titans that everyone wanted, as Cole dominated the song with one of his best features to date. 32 bars addressing the problems within the justice system of America, police killings and the emotional effect it has on the families involved. Kendrick's input was a mere outro consisting of 8 bars repeated twice. Wasted potential. Not to overlook Jeezy's contribution to his own song with a solid performance, but not quite Cole on this one.
Monster - Kanye West ft. Rick Ross, Jay Z, Bon Iver & Nicki Minaj
More of a well known song here from Kanye's MBDTF, where the biggest surprise of the entire album (maybe even over Rick Ross's verse on Devil In A New Dress) was Nicki Minaj's feature on this track. Not only did she hold her own against the likes of Kanye and Jay, but she bodied them, which played a massive role into propelling her into the lazy, repetitive and sometimes hard to listen to pop-rap superstar that she is today. But in all seriousness, great verse.
After the Storm - Kali Uchis ft. Tyler, the Creator
This feature from Tyler is truthfully very short, but the beat is just too funky to not include. Kali's silk vocals over this jazzy funkadelic instrumental paves the way for Tyler to smoothly swing by, drop his verse, and be gone again. The rap element to the song is so refreshing and it would not flow as well with it missing.
Chloraseptic Remix - Eminem ft. Phresher & 2 Chainz
After Eminem released his worst ever album with Revival in 2017, he released a remix to one of the album tracks where he himself fought back at the critics for slating the project (even though they were right). The remix featured a verse from Phresher, who already did the hook for the original, as well as a 2 Chainz verse which was scrapped from the album. Whilst Eminem responding with some amazing wordplay and a phenomenal rhyme scheme, 2 Chainz had very overlooked verse which showed off the best of his, fair to say, inconsistent ability.
Yeah Right - Vince Staples ft. Kendrick Lamar
Out of all the songs on the list, this might be the peak slap anthem. To keep this brief, it is a song with big crashing electronic drums and almost distorted high hats with an interval portion in the middle, with vocals from Swedish singer Kucka, before a surprise unlisted Kendrick feature absolutely cleans up. Get this song on, LOUD.
Thank You - Busta Rhymes ft. Q-Tip, Kanye West & Lil Wayne
Star studded line up for this one, but Tribe's Q-Tip shows how much natural talent will always fit the current sound. From being part of the iconic A Tribe Called Quest in the peak of the late 80's early 90's to being in a song with more modern greats and still having the best feature. Slick tune.
So Appalled - Kanye West ft. Jay Z, CyHi the Prynce, Pusha T, Swizz Beats & RZA
There's something about Kanye where he just loves to be the vessel to some of the best feature verses that artist's put out in the entirety of their careers. No complaints I suppose. With so many big boys on this song, you'd think it would be difficult to pinpoint just one standout verse. But for me, CyHi the Prynce, Kanye's ghostwriter for many years, stands out as the top verse. Especially when considering at the time, he was the least known out of all the artist featured on this track. CyHi recorded his verse whilst waiting around in the studio and it was Beyonce who said that he needs to be on it. Punchlines and wordplay a plenty among some goats.
Money Trees - Kendrick Lamar ft. Jay Rock
As I said before, Jay Rock delivers every single time he is called upon, and this feature here may be his very best. It was one of the most talked about points of GKMC and sounds just as good seven years later since it's initial release. Massive massive verse from Rock, essential listen.
Drop the World - Lil Wayne ft. Eminem
I think the process of recording this was around the time where Eminem was writing his remaining GOAT level verses, and the slump towards Relapse and beyond start to form. Two of the best wordsmiths go head to head on this track, but yet again, Eminem showed why his feature game is so good. Incredible flows, melodic intro to his verse, commentary on the state of rap at the time and one of his fastest verses ever (for about a year before new music came out). Classic.
Runaway - Kanye West ft. Pusha T
Fuck it, one more Kanye outing. This one is my favourite Ye song of all time, and as good as Pusha's verse is, every single element of the song is perfect and one of the best produced songs since the turn of the millennium. The three minute outro might be a bit unnecessary but the artistry is worth listening to. Pusha serves as a story teller to match the ideas and themes of what this song is about, he was even forced to record five times to ensure it was perfect.
Boblo Boat - Royce Da 5'9 ft. J. Cole
This is another velvety smooth track from Royce's album The Book of Ryan, with Cole rolling through with a beat riding verse that needs more attention. It is subtle yet braggadocios, with lines implying that he has new work on the way. This ultimately went on to be true with the release of KOD a month later.
That'll do for now, but I will most likely add more when it comes to mind or I discover something new. So as a belated Valentines gift to you all, please accept this list of songs to improve your music collection. Thanking you.
Whilst you are here, sooth your ears from the the straight fire that these above songs have provided with some sweet dulcet tones from a new sexy vocalist xx
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