Photo: Bad Boy Records

Nothing can get a hip hop fan going more than a hot 16 (sometimes more, sometimes less).

It is one's ability to put rhymes together that can boggle the mind that makes them a true emcee. Whether they're displaying a brilliant verbal exercise, have a story to tell or murdering someone on their own track.

Making a great hip hop song is one thing. But sometimes putting together one sharp verse is all you need to earn you legendary status.

Not surprisingly, our list of the 100 greatest rap verses (equipped with snippets of each) is based on lyricism, delivery, cultural impact and overall awesomeness.

So get ready to pick your jaw up off the floor, as diehard fans demand more...

100. Phife Dawg on A Tribe Called Quest’s “Buggin Out” (Verse 1)

"Yo, microphone check one two what is this/The five foot assassin with the roughneck business/I float like gravity, never had a cavity/Got more rhymes than the Winans got family..."

99. Pusha T on “Nosetalgia” (Verse 1)

"Twenty plus years of selling Johnson & Johnson/I started out as a baby face monster/No wonder there's diaper rash on my conscience/My teething ring was numbed by the nonsense..."

98. 50 Cent on “May Men (Wish Death)” (Verse 3)

"In the bible it says, what goes around, comes around/ ****** 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 f****** breathing..."

97. El-P on “The Last Huzzah (Remix)” (Verse 5)

"In the end when a dozen or so adjourn to reason/You'll find the verdict return corrupted in murderous seasons/With inverted 31's and other unlucky omens/That's why I chug 7 and 7's til I'm f***** homeless/And every time you think my fifteen minutes of fame are up/I'll spit another sixteen to prove to the world I f***** own it..."

96. Method Man on “All I Need” (Verse 1)

"Shorty, I'm there for you anytime you need me/For real girl, it's me in your world, believe me/Nothin' make a man feel better than a woman/Queen with a crown that be down for whatever/There are few things that's forever, my lady/We can make war or make babies, back when I was nothin'/You made a brother feel like he was something/That's why I'm with you to this day boo, no frontin..."

95. Rick Ross on Kanye West’s “Devil In a New Dress” (Verse 3)

"Had cyphers with Yeezy before his mouth wired/Before his jaw shattered climbin' up the Lord's ladder/We still speedin', runnin' signs like they don't matter/Uh, hater talkin' never made me mad/Never that, not when I'm in my favorite paper tag/Therefore G4s at the Clearport/When it come to tools, fool I'm a Pep Boy/When it came to dope, I was quick to export/Never tired of ballin' so it's on to the next sport/New Mercedes sedan, the Lex Sport/So many cars DMV thought it was mail fraud..."

94. Fatlip on The Pharcyde’s “Passin’ Me By” (Verse 4)

"Now there she goes again, the dopest Ethiopian/And now the world around me be gets moving in slow motion /When-ever she happens to walk by - why does the apple of my eye/Overlook and disregard my feelings no matter how much I try?/Wait, no, i did not really pursue my little princess with persistence/And I was so low-key that she was unaware of my existence..."

93. Killer Mike on Reagan (Verse 2)

"But thanks to Reaganomics, prisons turned to profits/Cause free labor is the cornerstone of US economics/Cause slavery was abolished, unless you are in prison/You think I am bull******, then read the 13th Amendment..."

92. Drake on Rick Ross’ “Stay Schemin’” (Verse 2)

"It bothers me when the Gods get to acting like the broads/Guess every team doesn't come complete with n**** like ours/That's why I see no need to compete with n**** like y'all/I just ask that when you see me you speak up n**** that's all/Don't be ducking like you never wanted nothing..."

91. Black Thought on Big Pun's "Super Lyrical" (Verse 2)

"Black Thought the super lyricist, your arch-nemesis/Still with the Punisher, that's my accomplice/Stressin' to emcees how they don't really want this/Electrifying s*** his excellency Thought spit/These cats they sentimental such with a gentle touch/Dancin' double dutch and all sayin' nothin' much/My sound wave liftin' your chin up like uppercuts/New found ways of rippin' s*** up, I de-ve-lop..."

90. Kanye West on “Jesus Walks” (Verse 1)

"You know what the Midwest is?/Young and Restless/Where restless n***** might snatch ya necklace/And next these n***** might jack ya Lexus/Somebody tell these n***** who Kanye West is/I walk through the valley of Chi where death is/Top floor of the view alone will leave you breathless..."

89. Sticky Fingaz on Eminem’s “Remember Me?” (Verse 2)

"Better come better than better to be a competitor/This vet is ahead of/The s*** is all redder, you deader and deader/A medic instead-a the cheddars and creda/Settle vendetta one metal Beretta from ghetto to ghetto/Evidence? NOPE! Never leave a shred-of..."

88. 2 Chainz on Kanye West’s “Mercy” (Verse 4)

"Now catch up to my campaign/Coupe the color of mayonnaise/I'm drunk and high at the same time/Drinkin' champagne on the airplane/Spit rounds like the gun range/Beat it up like Rampage..."

87. The D.O.C. - "Portrait of a Masterpiece" (Verse 1)

"Let's take a trip but not of the physical/Sense of direction on a kid who's artistical/Through a gallery of thoughts, of course it's dope/Pay it tough like the name on my rope/Watch it be weary instead of steppin' wit the boys/A musical massacre of inadequate noise/By the new authority 'cause of majority/Of peers who hear will award superiority/To those who know you knew now it's inevitable/I laid the track and it's simple unforgettable..."

86. Notorious B.I.G. on “Unbelievable” (Verse 1)

"Live from Bedford-Stuyvesant, the livest one/Representing BK to the fullest/Gats I pull it/Bastards duckin' when Big be buckin..."

85. Lupe Fiasco on “Dumb It Down” (Verse 3)

"And I'm brainless, which means I'm headless/Like ichabod crane is/Or foreplay-less sex is, which makes me saneless/With no neck left to hang the chain with/Which makes me necklace-less, like a necklace theft/And I ain't used my headrest yet/They said they need proof like a vestless chest/About the best-fed f-f jet in the nest/Who exudes confidence and, excess depth..."

84. Nas on “Rewind” (Verse 1)

"The bullet goes back in the gun/The bullet hole's closing this chest of a n****/Now he back to square one/Screaming, "Shoot don't please"/I put my fifth back on my hip/It's like a VCR rewinding a hit...'

83. Rass Kass on "Nature of the Threat" (Verse 1)

"Migration created further mutation/Genetic drifts, evolution through recombination/Adaptation to the climate/As the Caucus Mountain man reverted to that of a primate/Savage Neanderthals, until the late Paleolithic age..."

82. Twista on “Adrenaline Rush” (Verse 3)

"All you haters try to murder me so now it's kill season/And even though I'm still bleedin/I'm comin after you cause I'm still breathing/And y'all can't trace me/I bury my victims in the wall like Gacy too lyrical/And since its nipple my umbilical these flows is critical/This music is miracle like I'm biblical..."

81. Posdnuos on De La Soul's "Stakes Is High" (Verse 3)

"Yo, people go through pain and still don't gain/Positive contact just like my main man/Who got others cleaning up his physical influence/His mind got congested/He got the nine and blew it/Neighborhoods are now hoods cause nobody's neighbors/Just animals surviving with that animal behavior/Under I who be rhyming from dark to light sky/Experiments when needles and skin connect/No wonder where we live is called the projects"

80. Eminem on Notorious B.I.G.’s “Dead Wrong” (Verse 3)

"There's several different levels to Devil worshipping, horse's heads/human sacrifices, cannibalism; candles and exorcism/Animals having sex with 'em; camels mammals and rabbits/But I don't get into that, I kick the habit..."

79. Andre 3000 on UGK’s “Int’l Players Anthem” (Verse 1)

"So I typed a text to a girl I used to see/Sayin' that I chose this cutie pie with whom I wanna be/And I apologize if this message gets you down/Then I CC'ed every girl that I'd see-see 'round town/And hate to see y'all frown, but I'd rather see her smilin'/Wetness all around me, true, but I'm no island/Peninsula maybe/It makes no sense, I know crazy..."

78. LL Cool J on “I’m Bad” (Verse 1)

"If you think you can out rhyme me, yeah boy I bet/Cause I ain't met a m******** who can do that yet/Trendsetter I'm better my rhymes are good/I got a gold name plate that says I wish you would..."

77. Jadakiss on DMX’s “Blackout” (Verse 1)

"Yo, I used to have bad luck/Now you might see me in a Jag truck/Mad stuck either with a dime or a bad duck/Double R T with the matching bandana/38-snub blue steel with no hammer/And I see all ya n***** tryin' to glance at the Kiss/Cuz I walk around with your whole advance on my wrist..."

76. Big Daddy Kane on “Raw” (Verse 1)

"While you stand dazed and amazed, I'll bust a little rhyme/With authority, superiority/And captivate the whole crowd's majority/The rhymes I use definitely amuse/Better than Dynasty or Hill Street Blues/I'm sure to score, endure for more without a flaw/'Cause I get raw..."

75. Snoop Dogg – “Deep Cover” (Verse 2)

"Creep with me as I crawl through the hood/Maniac, lunatic, call 'em Snoop Eastwood/Kickin dust as I bust $%^# peace/And, the ***** drug police..."

74. Pimp C on Jay-Z's “Big Pimpin’” (Verse 3)

"Uh, smokin out, throwin' up, keepin' lean up in my cup/All my car got leather and wood, in my hood we call it buck/Everybody wanna ball, holla at broads at the mall/If he up, watch him fall, n**** I can't $%#@ witch ya'll/If I wasn't rappin' baby, I would still be ridin Mercedes/Chromin' shinin' sippin' daily, no rest until w***** pay me/Uh, now what y'all know bout them Texas boys/Comin' down in candied toys, smokin weed and talkin' noise..."

73. Lauryn Hill on the Fugees' “How Many Mics” (Verse 1)

"Plus you use that loop over and over /Claiming that you got a new style/Your attempts are futile, Ooh chile/Your puerile, /Brain waves are sterile/You can't create, you just wait to take, my tape's/Laced with malice/Hands get calloused /From gripping microphones from here to Dallas/Go ask Alice if you don't believe me/I get Inner Visions like Stevie..."

72. Royce Da 5’9 on “Hip Hop” (Verse 1)

"It's - HIP HOP!, strong or not/This is rap basketball, stats all you got/Long as you hot, and your flow could hold up/To knowing all of your short goals is long shots!/Ninety percent of you n***** ain't hard/Here just to get a rep, you not gang stars/The finest flow will amaze, rap without me/minus The Source, minus the Quotable page..."

71. KRS-One on “My Philosophy” (Verse 3)

"How many MC's must get dissed/Before somebody says, "Don't f*** with Kris!"/This is just one style, out of many/Like a piggy bank, this is one penny/My brother's name is Kenny - that's Kenny Parker/My other brother I.C.U. is much darker/Boogie Down Productions is made up of teachers/The lecture is conducted from the mic into the speaker..."

70. MC Lyte on “Paper Thin” (Verse 1)

"When you say you love me, it doesn't matter/It goes to my head as just chit chatter/You may take this egotistical or just or worry free/But what you say I take none of it seriously/And even if I did I wouldn't tell you so/I'd let you pretend to read me..."

69. Kurupt on Dr. Dre's “Puffin on Blunts and Drankin’ Tanqueray” (Verse 3)

"Wrecks I flex murderous rhymes to leave you all dead/What said is all said its already spoke/The dead is the dead I ain't no ^*%$#* joke/I murder &$^!@* as a hobby/One of my idols aint no joke so why in the &^#% should I be/Fly me to the Bahamas, ruff rhymer/Dramas what your kickin, wicked is how Im a/Approach ya, the locster, whos quick to up and smoke ya/Your lookin like a smoka, grinnin like the joker..."

68. Cee-Lo on Outkast’s “Git Up, Git Out” (Verse 1)

"You need to git up, git out, cut that bull**** out /Ain't you sick and tired of having to do without /And what up with all these questions? /Act as though you know something I don't/Do you have any suggestions?/Cuz every job I get is cruel and demeaning /Sick of taking trash out and toilet bowl cleaning/But I'm also sick and tired of struggling/I never ever thought I'd have resort to drug smuggling..."

67. Notorious B.I.G. on "Long Kiss Goodnight" (Verse 1)

"I make yo mouthpiece obese like Della Reese/When I release, you lose teeth like Little Cease/N**** please/Blood floods your dungarees/And that's just a half of my warpath/Laugh now cry later, I rhyme greater/Than the average playa hater, and spectators/Buy my CD twice/They see me in the streets they be like yo he nice/But that's on the low though/Be the cats wit no dough, tried to play me at my show/I pull out 4-4's, and go up in they clothes..."

66. Tupac Shakur on “Changes” (Verse 1)

"I see no changes, wake up in the morning and I ask myself:/"Is life worth living? Should I blast myself?"/I'm tired of being poor and, even worse, I'm black/My stomach hurts so I'm looking for a purse to snatch/Cops give a damn about a negro/Pull the trigger, kill a n*****, he's a hero/"Give the crack to the kids: who the hell cares?/One less hungry mouth on the welfare!"

65. Scarface on Jay-Z's “This Can’t Be Life” (Verse 3)

"Now as I walk into the studio, to do this with Jig'/I got a phone call from one of my n***/Said my homeboy Reek, he just lost one of his kids/And when I heard that I just broke into tears/And see in the second hand; you don't really know how this is/But when it hits that close to home you feel the pain at the crib..."

64. Mos Def on “Mathematics” (Verse 1)

"The universe expands length/The body of my text possess extra strength/Power-lift the powerless up out of this towering inferno/My ink so hot it burn through the journal/I'm blacker than midnight on Broadway and Myrtle/Hip-Hop passed all your tall social hurdles/Like the nationwide project-prison-industry complex/Working-class poor: better keep your alarm set/Streets too loud to ever hear freedom ring/Say evacuate your sleep, it's dangerous to dream..."

63. Lil Wayne on DJ Khaled’s “We Takin’ Over” (Verse 5)

"I am the beast/Feed me rappers or feed me beats/I am untamed, I need a leash/I am insane, I need a shrink/I love brain, I need a leech/Why complain on easy streets?/I don't even talk, I let the Visa speak/And I like my sprite Easter pink"

62. Talib Kweli on Black Star's “Thieves In the Night” (Verse 1)

"Our morals are out of place and got our lives full of sorrow/And so tomorrow coming later than usual/Waiting on someone to pity us while we finding beauty in the hideous/They say money's the root of all evil but I can't tell/You know what I mean, pesos, francs, yens, cowrie shells, dollar bills/Or is it the mind state that's ill?/Creating crime rates to fill the new prisons they build/Over money and religion there's more blood to spill/The wounds of slaves in cotton fields that never heal, what's the deal?"

61. Andre 3000 on Outkast’s “Aquemini” (Verse 4)

"My mind warps and bends floats the wind count to ten/Meet the twin Andre Ben/Welcome to the lion's den/Original skin many men comprehend/I extend myself so you go out and tell a friend/Sin all depends on what you believing in/Faith is what you make it that's the hardest s*** since MC Ren/Alien can blend right on in wit' yo' kin/Look again 'cause I swear I spot one every now & then/It's happenin' again wish I could tell you when/Andre this is Andre y'all just gon' have to make amends..."

60. Jay-Z on “Dead Presidents 2 (Verse 1)

"Ahh, who wanna bet us that we don't touch lettuce/Stack cheddars forever, live treacherous all the et ceteras/To the death of us, me and my confidants, we shine/You feel the ambiance, y'all n***** just rhyme/By the ounce dough accumulates like snow/We don't just shine, we illuminate the whole show; you feel me?"

59. Lil Kim on Mobb Deep’s “Quiet Storm (Remix)” (Verse 2)

"This &%$@ knock for blocks through hardtops/In the parking lots, where my n**** Rock like to spark-a-lot/My Brooklyn style speak for itself/Like a wrestler, another notch under my belt/The embezzler, chrome treasurer/The U-N-O competitor, I'm ten steps ahead of ya/I'm a leader, y'all on some following *$#^/Coming in this game on some modeling &^%@..."

58. DMX on “Slippin’” (Verse 1)

"I been through mad different phases like mazes/To find my way and now I know that happy days are not far away/If I'm strong enough I'll live long enough to see my kids/Doing something more constructive with their time/Than bids I know because I been there/Now I'm in there sit back and look/At what it took for me to get there..."

57. GZA on “Labels” (Verse 1)

"I'm ruthless my clan don't have to act wild/That s*** is jive, an old sleeping bag, profile/This soft comedian rap s*** ain't the rough witty/On the reel to reel it wasn't from a tough city/N***** be game, thinking that they lyrical surgeons/They know their mics are formed at virgin/And if you ain't boned a mic you couldn't hurt a bee/That's like going to Venus driving a mercury..."

56. Bun B on UGK's “Murder” (Verse 2)

"From here to overseas/We do what we please/Don't trip cause we flip/Light up a dip/I'm breakin' 'em off from they hip to yo lip/Go ask that boy Skip/That n**** Bun rip/With one clip, soon as the gun slip..."

55. Rakim on “Paid In Full” (Verse 1)

"Thinking of a master plan/'Cuz ain't nuthin' but sweat inside my hand/So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent/So I dig deeper but still coming up with lint/So I start my mission, leave my residence/Thinking how could I get some dead presidents..."

54. R.A. the Rugged Man on “Uncommon Valor: A Vietnam Story” (Verse 2)

"Call me Thorburn, John H., staff sergeant/Marksman, skill in killin', illin', I'm able and willin'/Kill a village elephant, rapin' and pillage a village/Illegitimate killers, US Military guerrillas/This ain't no real war, Vietnam s***/World War II, that's a war, this is just a military conflict..."

53. Big Pun on “Twinz (Deep Cover ’98)” (Verse 1)

"Dead in the middle of Little Italy little did we know/that we riddled some middleman who didn't do diddly..."

52. Raekwon on Wu-Tang Clan's “C.R.E.A.M.” (Verse 1)

"I grew up on the crime side, the New York Times side/Stayin' alive was no jive/Had second hands/Mom's bounced on old man/So then we moved to Shaolin land/A young youth, yo rockin' the gold tooth, 'Lo goose/Only way I be gettin' the G off was drug loot/And let's start it like this, son/Rollin' with this one and that one/Pullin' out gats for fun..."

51. Jadakiss on “We Gonna Make It” (Verse 3)

"Might find your man dead in the ocean/(He be aight though)/You know dead rappers get better promotion/Why we don't laugh at death, and cry at birth/Never say you can't do it til you try it first/Be the young n***** eager to pull it/But it's a message in everything trust me, even a bullet..."

50. Eminem on Jay-Z’s “Renegade” (Verse 2)

"Since I'm in a position to talk to these kids and they listen/I ain't no politician but I'll kick it with 'em a minute/'Cause see, they call me a menace and if the shoe fits I'll wear it/But if it don't, then ya'll swallow the truth grin and bear it/Now who's the king of these rude ludicrous lucrative lyrics?/Who could inherit the title, put the youth in hysterics?/Using his music to steer it sharing his views and his merits..."

49. Big L on “98 Freestyle” (Verse 1)

"How come, you can listen to my first album/And tell where a lot of n***** got they whole style from?/So what you actin for?/You ain't half as raw, you need to practice more/Somebody tell this n**** somethin,' 'fore I crack his jaw/You runnin with boys, I'm runnin with men/I'ma be rippin the mics until I'm a hundred and ten/Have y'all n***** like, "Damnit this n**** done done it again."

48. Prodigy on “Keep It Thoro” (Verse 1)

"Ayo, I break bread, ribs, hundred dollar bills/Peel on Ducatis and other four wheels/Write a book full of medicine and generate mills/Tour the album, only for more sales/We used to catch those on the block with crills/Now it's paid shows, promoters post up bills/Sign dems only if the math is real/If you can't match numbers then you can't have the Head &#@!$ In Charge/And s***, live n***** rhymes artist Pardon, P dub shines regardless..."

47. Common on “The 6th Sense” (Verse 2)

"Immortalized by the realness I bring to it/If revolution had a movie I'd be theme music/My music, you either fight, #^&@, or dream to it/My life is one big rhyme, I try to scheme through it/Through my shell, never knew what the divine would bring to it/I'd be lying if I said I didn't want millions/More than money saved, I wanna save children..."

46. Jay Electronica on “Exhibit C” (Verse 2)

"They call me Jay Electronica/F*** that, call me Jay ElecHannukah/Jay ElecYarmulke/Jay ElectRamadan Muhammad Asalama'Aleykum Rasul'Allah subhana wa ta'Allah through your monitor/My uzi still weigh a ton, check the barometer/I'm hotter then the motha****** sun, check the thermometer..."

45. Nas on Raekwon’s “Verbal Intercourse” (Verse 1)

"Through the lights cameras and action, glamour glitters and gold/I unfold the scroll, plant seeds to stampede the globe/When I'm deceased, by then the beast arise like yeast/To conquer peace leaving savages to roam in the streets/Live on the run, police paying me to give in my gun/Trick my wisdom, with the system that imprisoned my son..."

44. Eminem on “Till I Collapse” (Verse 2)

"Music is like magic there’s a certain feeling you get when you're real/And you spit and people are feeling your s***/This is your moment and every single minute you spend trying to hold onto it/'Cause you may never get it again/So while you’re in it try to get as much s*** as you can/And when your run is over just admit when it's at its end/Cause I'm at the end of my wits with half this s*** that gets in/I got a list,here's the order of my list that it's in/It goes Reggie, Jay-Z, Tupac and Biggie, Andre from OutKast, Jada, Kurupt, Nas and then me/But in this industry I'm the cause of a lot of envy, so when I’m not put on this list the s*** does not offend me..."

43. Guru on Gang Starr’s “Moment of Truth” (Verse 2)

"Suicide? Nah, I'm not a foolish guy/Don't even feel like drinking, or even gettin' high/Cause all that's gonna do really, is accelerate/The anxieties that I wish I could alleviate/But wait, I've been through a whole lot of other s***, before/So I oughta be able, to withstand some more/But I'm sweating though, my eyes are turning red and yo/I'm ready to lose my mind but instead I use my mind/I put down the knife, and take the bullets out my nine..."

42. Black Thought on The Roots’ “Web” (Verse 1)

"The way Thought put it down be confusing some of y'all/Cats can't walk while chewin' your gum 'n all/With a keyboard got do with a drum 'n all/School 'em on stage like I'm doin' a seminar/Professional type, I'm adjusting my mic/Go to war kid I'll give you any weapon you like/Give you something to run from/Bust off your dum-dum/Stop kid, that hot s*** you know where it come from..."

41. Jay-Z on Kanye West’s “Diamonds From Sierra Leone” (Verse 2)

"The chain remains, the game is in tact/The name is mine, I'll take blame for that/The pressure's on, but guess who ain't gon' crack? [laughs]/Pardon me I had to laugh at that/How could you falter when you're the rock of Gibraltar/I had to get of the boat so I could walk on water/This ain't no tall order, this is nothin to me/Difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week/I do this in my sleep/I sold Kilos of coke, I'm guessin' I can sell CD's/I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man/Let me handle my business, damn!"

40. KRS-One – “MCs Act Like They Don’t Know (Verse 1)

"Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everybody/Call up KRS, I'm guaranteed to rip a party/Flat top, braids, bald heads or natty dread/There once was a story about a man named Jed/But now Jed is dead, all his kids instead/Want to kick rhymes off the top of they head/Word, what go around come around I figure/Now we got white kids callin' themselves n*****.../The tables turned as the crosses burned/Remember You. Must.Learn."

39. Nicki Minaj on Kanye West’s “Monster” (Verse 3)

"Okay, first things first I'll eat your brains/Then I'mma start rocking gold teeth and fangs/'Cause that's what a m********** monster do/Hairdresser from Milan, that's the monster do/Monster Giuseppe heel that's the monster shoe/Young Money is the roster and a monster crew/And I'm all up all up all up in the bank with the funny face/And if I'm fake I ain't notice 'cause my money ain't..."

38. Notorious B.I.G. on “Notorious Thugs” (Verse 1)

"Armed and dangerous/Ain't too many can bang with us/Straight up weed; no angel dust/Label us "Notorious thug-a** n*****/That love to bust," it's strange to us/Y'all n***** be scramblin', gamblin'/Up in restaurants with mandolins and violins/We just sittin' here tryna win, try not to sin/High off weed and lots of gin/So much smoke, need oxygen/Steadily counting them Benjamins/N****, you should too/If you knew what this game'll do to you..."

37. Rakim on “Lyrics of Fury” (Verse 2)

"The scene of a crime every night at the show/The fiend of a rhyme on the mic that you know/It's only one capable, breaks-the unbreakable/Melodie unmakable, pattern unescapable,/A horn if want the style I posses/I bless the child, the earth, the gods and bomb the rest/For those that envy a MC it can be/Hazardous to your health so be friendly/A matter of life and death, just like a Etch-a-sketch/Shake 'till your clear, make it disappear, make the next/After the ceremony, let the rhyme rest in peace/If not, my soul'll release!"

36. Ghostface Killah on Wu-Tang’s “Impossible” (Verse 3)

"But suddenly a chill came through it was weird/Felt like my man, was cast out my heaven now we share/Laid on the stretcher, blood on his Wally's like ketchup/Deep like the full assassination with a sketch of it/It can't be, from Yoo-hoo to Lee's/Second grade humped the teachers, about to leave/Finally this closed chapter, comes to an end/He was announced, pronounced dead, y'all, at twelve ten..."

35. LL Cool J on EPMD’s “Rampage” (Verse 3)

"The Ripper, the master, the overlordian'/Playing MC's like a old accordion/I get the inspiration from unnecessary station/Them sayin I was vacationin'/You can't quote with your weaker throat/Tryin to sneak a peek at how I freak the notes/Major MC's become minor B-flats/So retire the mic, get your chains and your bats/Here's your chance to advance, get in your stance/I shoot the holster off your cowboy pants..."

34. Lil Kim on Puff Daddy’s “All About the Benjamins (Remix)” (Verse 4)

"Wanna bumble wit the Bee huh?/Bzzzz, throw a hex on a whole family/Dressed in all black like the Omen/Have your friends singing 'This is for my homey'/And you know me, from makin n***** so sick/Floss in my 6 with the Lex on the wrist/If it's murder, you know She Wrote it/German Luger for your ass b****, deepthroat it."

33. Kendrick Lamar on “m.A.A.d city” (Verse 2)

"Brace yourself, I'll take you on a trip down memory lane/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 weighing on your brain/It was me, L Boog, and Yan Yan, YG Lucky ride down Rosecrans/It got ugly, wavin' yo' hand out the window – check yourself!/Uh, Warriors and Conans/Hope euphoria can slow dance/With society, the driver seat the first one to get killed/Seen a light-skinned n**** with his brains blown out/At the same burger stand where [beep] hang out..."

32. Redman on EPMD’s “Headbanger” (Verse 4)

"My style is mad funka-to-the-delic with the irrelevant/S*** that I kick backflips any four ***** (yeah)/Deduct and I dip then I SWITCH/To an incredible n**** with a *nickle* nine on the hip/I always got played by a honey dip/But now I'm on the money tip/So now I call the honey dip honey *****" 

31. Lil Wayne on “A Milli” (Verse 1)

"A millionaire, I'm a young money millionaire/Tougher than Nigerian hair/My criteria compared to your career this isn't fair/I'm a venereal disease like a menstrual bleed/Through the pencil and leak on the sheet of the tablet/In my mind 'cause I don't write s*** 'cause I ain't got time/'Cause my seconds, minutes, hours go to the almighty dollar/And the almighty power of that ch, ch, ch, ch chopper/Sister, brother, son, daughter, father, m******* a copper/Got the Maserati dancin' on the bridge ****** poppin'/Tell the coppers hahahaha you can't catch 'em, you can't stop 'em/I go by them goon rules if you can't beat 'em then you pop 'em/You can't man 'em then you mop 'em,/You can't stand 'em then you drop 'em/You pop 'em 'cause we pop 'em like Orville Redenbacher!"

30. Scarface on “Born Killer” (Verse 2)

"My momma did her part/But it ain't her fault that I was born with out a heart/In other words I'm heartless dude/I don't love me, how the **** I'mma love you?/That's right, you guessed it/I'm legally insane, marked manic depressive/I'm takin' all types a medication/To keep me out the mood of premeditatin'/Yo, the log around my lone is worse/I'm having thoughts of killin me, but I'm killing you first..."

29. O.C. on “Times Up” (Verse 1)

"You lack the minerals and vitamins, irons and the niacin/F*** who that I offend, rappers sit back I'm bout to begin/Bout foul talk you squawk, never even walked the walk/More less destined to get tested, never been arrested/My album will manifest many things that I saw did or heard about/Or told first hand, never word of mouth..."

28. Pharoahe Monch on Organized Konfusion’s “Bring It On” (Verse 1)

"Spit it out, spit it out, go ahead spit out, that itty bitty style you upchuck/Betta believe I ****** MC's from the rear it appears you're stuck up!/It's my terminology that strikes the mind and rips this beat apart/You know the many styles I choose will bruise crews from the start/I flow awkwardly that's awkwardly I flow that's to the rhythm/Incisions are made into the brain and then I begin to give em/A lobotomy, follow me!/I'm shapin your brain like pottery/(All over the track!)/Gimme the P-H, gimme the A-R/Gimme the O-A gimme the H-E, Pharoahe..."

27. Kool G. Rap on Marley Marl’s “The Symphony” (Verse 3)

"Take a deep breath, because you don't have another left/Coming back like I'm avengin' my brother's death/Making veterans run for medicine/'cause I put out more lights in a fight than con edison/Rip the damn cage like I'm on a rampage/And if you want rage, I'm-a make front page/Read the headlines, suckers, today's the deadline/Your head is way past bedtime..."

26. Cappadona on Ghostface Killah’s “Winter Warz” (Verse 4)

"You heard of the rasp before but kept waitin/for the sun of song, I keep dancehalls strong/Beats never worthy of my cause, I prolong/Extravangza, time sits still/No propoganda, be wary of the skill/As I bring forth the music, make love to your eardrum/Dedicated to rap n**** beware of the fearsome/Lebanon Don, Malcolm X beat threat/CD massacre, murder to cassette."

25. Canibus on The Lost Boyz’s – “Beast from the East”

"The Canibus is spitten till' he's spitless/50 bars of total sickness, you wont forget this/I'm puttin' every wack emcee alive on my s*** list/Verbally vicious, telekinetically gifted/Took you a minute, to exhibit that I'm sick wit it/Now you tell me who you think is damaging s***/going once, going twice/Sold to that n**** name Canibus..."

24. Slick Rick on “Children’s Story” (Verse 1)

"Once upon a time not long ago/When people wore pajamas and lived life slow/When laws were stern and justice stood/And people were behaving like they ought ta good/There lived a lil' boy who was misled/By another lil' boy and this is what he said/'Me and you, Ty, we gonna make some cash/Robbin' old folks and makin' tha dash'"

23. Lauryn Hill on “Lost Ones” (Verse 1)

"It's funny how money change a situation/Miscommunication leads to complication/My emancipation don't fit your equation/I was on the humble, you on every station/Some wan' play young Lauryn like she dumb/But remember not a game new under the sun/Everything you did has already been done/I know all the tricks from Bricks to Kingston/My ting done made your kingdom wan' run/Now understand L. Boogie's non violent/But if a thing test me, run for mi gun/Can't take a threat to mi newborn son/L's been this way since creation/A groupie call, you fall from temptation/Now you wanna ball over separation/Tarnish my image in your conversation/Who you gon' scrimmage, like you the champion/You might win some but you just lost one"

22. Chuck D on “Black Steel In the Hour of Chaos” (Verse 1)

"I got a letter from the government/The other day/I opened and read it/It said they were suckers/They wanted me for their army or whatever/Picture me given' a damn - I said never/Here is a land that never gave a damn/About a brother like me and myself/Because they never did/I wasn't wit' it, but just that very minute/It occurred to me/The suckers had authority/Cold sweatin' as I dwell in my cell/How long has it been?/They got me sittin' in the state pen..."

21. Mos Def on Blackstar’s “Thieves in the Night” (Verse 2)

"Yo, I'm sure that everybody out listening agree/That everything you see ain't really how it be/A lot of jokers out running in place, chasing the style/Be a lot going on beneath the empty smile/Most cats in my area be loving the hysteria/Synthesized surface conceals the interior/America, land of opportunity, mirages and camouflages/More than usually, speaking loudly/Saying nothing, you confusing me, you losing me/Your game is twisted, want me enlisted in your usury/Foolishly, most men join the ranks cluelessly/Buffoonishly accept the deception, believe the perception/Reflection rarely seen across the surface of the looking glass/Walking the street, wondering who they be looking past..."

20. Tupac Shakur on “Hail Mary” (Verse 1)

"I ain't a killer, but don't push me/Revenge is like the sweetest joy next to getting p****/Picture paragraphs unloaded, wise words being quoted/Peeped the weakness in the rap game and sewed it..."

19. Bid Daddy Kane on “Set It Off” (Verse 1)

"As I shoot the gift MC's stand stiff/While my rhymes stick to you like skippy and jif/Feel my blood fist, or my death kiss/The rap soloist, you don't want none of this/Supreme in this era, I reign with terror/When I grab the mic believe you're gonna hear a/Fascinatin' rhyme as I enchant them/So let's all sing the big daddy anthem/Go with the flow, my rhymes grow like an afro/I entertain again and Kane'll never have no/Problem, I can sneeze, sniffle and cough/E-e-e-even if I stutter I'mma still come off/Cos rappers can't understand the mics I rip/They sure enough ain't equipped, that's why they got flipped..."

Astrid Stawiarz

18. Q-Tip on A Tribe Called Quest’s “Excursions” (Verse 1)

"Back in the days when I was a teenager/Before I had status and before I had a pager/You could find the/Abstract listening to hip hop/My pops used to say, it reminded him of be-bop/I said, well daddy don't you know that things go in cycles/The way that Bobby Brown is just ampin' like Michael/Its all expected, things are for the lookin'/If you got the money, Quest is for the bookin'/Come on everybody, let's get with the fly modes/Still got room on the truck, load the back boom..."

17. Big L on “Ebonics” (Verse 1)

"Check it, my weed smoke is my lye/A ki of coke is supply/When I'm lifted, I'm high/With new clothes on, I'm fly/Cars is whips and sneakers is kicks/Money is chips, movies is flicks/Also, cribs is homes, jacks is pay phones/Cocaine is nose candy, cigarettes is bones/A radio is a box, a razor blade is a ox/Fat diamonds is rocks and jakes is cop/And if you got rubbed, you got stuck/You got shot, you got bucked/And if you got double-crossed, you got f*****."

16. Melle Mel on “The Message” (Verse 5)

"A child is born with no state of mind/Blind to the ways of mankind/God is smiling on you but he's frowning too/Because only God knows what you'll go through/You'll grow in the ghetto living second-rate/And your eyes will sing a song called deep hate..."

Paul Hawthorne

15. Nas on Main Source’s “Live at the BBQ” (Verse 1)

"Verbal assassin, my architect pleases/When I was twelve, I went to hell for snuffing Jesus/Nasty Nas is a rebel to America/Police murderer, I'm causing hysteria/My troops roll up with a strange force/I was trapped in a cage and let out by the Main Source/Swimming in women like a lifeguard/Put on a bulletproof n**** I strike hard/Kidnap the President's wife without a plan/And hanging n***** like the Ku Klux Klan/I melt mics till the sound wave's over/Before stepping to me you'd rather step to Jehovah/Slamming MC's on cement/Cause verbally, I'm iller than a AIDS patient..."

Scott Gries

14. Andre 3000 on Outkast’s “Elevators” (Verse 4)

"True I got more fans than the average man but not enough loot to last me/To the end of the week, I live by the beat like you live check to check/If you don't move yo' foot then I don't eat, so we like neck to neck..."

Carlo Allegri

13. Ice Cube on N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton” (Verse 1)

Straight outta Compton, crazy ******** named Ice Cube/From the gang called N***** With Attitudes/When I'm called off, I got a sawed off/Squeeze the trigger, and bodies are hauled off..."

12. Jay-Z on “Can I Live” (Verse 1)

"My pain wish it was quick to see, from sellin 'caine/Til brains was fried to a fricaisse, can't lie/At the time it never bothered me, at the bar/Gettin my thug on properly, my squad and me/Lack of respect for authority, laughin hard/Happy to be escapin poverty, however brief/I know this game got valleys and peaks, expectation/for dips, for percipitation we stack chips, hardly/The youth I used to be, soon to see a mill'in/No more, Big Willie my game has grown prefer you call me William..."

11. Notorious B.I.G. on Craig Mack’s “Flava in Ya Ear (Remix)” (Verse 1)

"N***** is mad I get more butt than ash trays/F*** a fair one, I get mine the fast way/Ski mask way, n**** ransom notes/Far from handsome, but damn a n**** tote/More guns than roses, foes is shaking in their boots/Invisible bully like The Gooch/Disappear, vamoose, you're wack to me/Take them rhymes back to the factory/I see the gimmicks, the wack lyrics, the s*** is/Depressing, pathetic, please forget it/You're mad cause my style you're admiring/Don't be mad, UPS is hiring..."

10. Busta Rhymes on A Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario” (Verse 7)

"Uh, uh uhh, all over the track man/Uh, pardon me, uhh, as I come back/As I did it yo I heard you beg your pardon/When I travel to the Sun I roll with the squadron/Rawr rawr like a dungeon dragon/Change your little drawers cause your pants are saggin'/Try to step to this, I will fits you in a turban/And had you smelling ripe, like some old stale urine."

9. AZ on Nas’ “Life’s a B****” (Verse 1)

"Visualizing the realism of life and actuality/F*** who's the baddest a person's status depends on salary/And my mentality is orientated/I'm destined to live the dream for all my peeps who never made it..."

8. Big Pun on “Dream Shatterer” (Verse 1)

"I'm the first Latin rapper to baffle your skull/Master the flow, niggaz be swearin' I'm blacker than coal/Like Nat King, I be rapping and tongue's packing/The ones, magnums, cannons and Gatling guns/It's Big Pun!/The one and only son of Tony...Montana/You ain't promised manana in the rotten manzana..."

7. Inspectah Deck on Wu-Tang Clan’s “Triumph” (Verse 1)

"I bomb atomically Socrates' philosophies/And hypothesis can't define how I be dropping these/Mockeries lyrically perform armed robbery..."

6. Prodigy on Mobb Deep’s “Shook Ones Pt. II” (Verse 1)

"You can put your whole army against my team and/I guarantee you it'll be your very last time breathing/Your simple words just don't move me/You're minor, we're major/You all up in the game and don't deserve to be a player/Don't make me have to call your name out/Your crew is featherweight/My gun shots'll make you levitate/I'm only nineteen but my mind is old/And when the things get for real my warm heart turns cold..."

5. Eminem on “Lose Yourself” (Verse 1)

"His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy/There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti/He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready to drop bombs/But he keeps on forgetting what he wrote down/The whole crowd goes so loud/He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out/He's choking how, everybody's joking now/The clock's run out, time's up, over, blow!"

4. Notorious B.I.G. on Puff Daddy’s “Victory” (Verse 2)

"Francis, M to the iz-H phenomenal/Gun rest under your vest by the abdominal/Rhyme a few bars so I can buy a few cars/And I kick a few flows so I can pimp a few ****/Excellence is my presence, never tense/Never hesitant, leave a ***** bent real quick/Real sick, raw nights, I perform like Mike/Anyone - Tyson, Jordan, Jackson/Action, pack guns, ridiculous/And I'm, quick to bust, if my ends you touch/Kids or girl you touch, in this world I clutch/Two auto-matoes, used to call me fatso/Now you call me Castro..."

3. Rakim on “Follow the Leader” (Verse 1)

"Get in the flow - and you can picture like a photo/Music mixed mellow maintains to make/Melodies for MC's motivates the breaks /I'm everlasting, I can go on for days and days/With rhyme displays that engrave deep as X-rays/I can take a phrase that's rarely heard, flip it/Now it's a daily word..."

2. Snoop Dogg on Dr. Dre’s “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang” (Verse 1)

"Give me the microphone first, so I can bust like a bubble/Compton and Long Beach together/Now you know you're in trouble/Ain't nothin' but a G thang, baby/Two loc'ed out *****, so we're crazy/Death Row is the label that pays me/Unfadeable, so please don't try to fade this"

1. Nas on “New York State of Mind” (Verse 1)

"Rappers I monkey flip em with the funky rhythm I be kicking/Musician, inflicting composition/of pain I'm like Scarface sniffing cocaine/Holding a M-16, see with the pen I'm extreme, now/Bullet holes left in my peepholes/I'm suited up in street clothes/Hand me a nine and I'll defeat foes/Y'all know my steelo with or without the airplay/I keep some E&J, sitting bent up in the stairway/Or either on the corner betting Grants with the celo champs/Laughing at baseheads, tryin' to sell some broken amps/G-Packs get off quick, forever n***** talk s***/Reminiscing about the last time the Task Force flipped/N***** be running through the block shootin'/Time to start the revolution, catch a body, head for Houston/Once they caught us off-guard, the Mac-10 was in the grass and/I ran like a cheetah with thoughts of an assassin/Pick the Mac up, told brothers, "Back up," the Mac spit/Lead was hitting n*****, one ran, I made him back flip/Heard a few chicks scream, my arm shook, couldn't look/Gave another squeeze, heard it click, "yo, my s*** is stuck"/Try to cock it, it wouldn't shoot, now I'm in danger/Finally pulled it back and saw 3 bullets caught up in the chamber/So now I'm jetting to the building lobby/And it was full of children probably couldn't see as high as I be/(So what you saying?) It's like the game ain't the same/Got younger n***** pulling the triggers, bringing fame to their name/And claim some corners, crews without guns are goners/In broad daylight, stickup kids: they run up on us/4-5's and gauges, Macs, in fact/Same n***** will catch a back-to-back, snatching your cracks in black/There was a snitch on the block getting n****s knocked/So hold your stash 'til the coke price drop/I know this crackhead who said she's got to smoke nice rock/And if it's good, she'll bring you customers in measuring pots/But yo, you gotta slide on a vacation, inside information/Keeps large n***** erasin' and their wives basin'/It drops deep as it does in my breath/I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death/Beyond the walls of intelligence, life is defined/I think of crime when I'm in a New York state of mind."