That Rakim is one of the best rappers of all time, and that “Paid in Full” is a foundation hip-hop track, is one of those things that gets said so often and so easily it’s ironically become almost meaningless. When’s the last time you really listened to “Paid in Full”? I mean really listened? See more…

While he almost never gets mentioned in the “best emcees of all-time” conversation, most likely because of the Southern bias, Houston great Scarface at the very least deserves a mention. Any man that can put out a track like “I Seen A Man Die”, off his 1994 album “Diary”, is not your usual emcee. See more…

I know I’m going to catch a lot of heat for this, but as far as I’m concerned, Ghostface Killah isn’t just the best emcee to come out of Wu-Tang, he’s one of the best rappers alive, period. Constantly on the verge of not making sense, grippingly narrative, unstoppably creative, Ghost has a style that can not be imitated or duplicated. Can anyone else pull off his flow from “Run”? See more…

Since he’s now more well known for an (incredibly ironic) run playing a cop on Law & Order, and his marriage to former Payboy bunny Coco, than his raps, it’s easy to forget just how major Ice-T was back in the day, but lately I’ve been playing a lot of old school Ice, like his hallmark cut “6 ‘n the Morning” off his 1987 debut “Rhyme Pays”, and let me tell you, the man could rhyme. See more…

If I said I was putting a verse of Reflection Eternal’s seminal “Train of Thought” I bet most heads would assume I was going to launch into Kweli’s work on “The Blast”, but while “Blast” is far more well known, it’s actually Kweli’s work on the banging “Move Somethin’” that always got me the most fired up. More than a decade later and this ish still goes hard. See more…

When a reader pointed out to me this week that I’d so far neglected to include Slick Rick’s classic-of-all-classics “Children’s Story” in our classic verse series I of course assumed they were wrong. I couldn’t possibly call myself a lover of hip-hop and make such an egregious oversight. Nope, turns out I actually am in idiot. See more…

I don’t know how I keep forgetting, but the man with the mask is the the most creative, innovative and enigmatic voice in hip-hop, so I thought it was only right I gave him some shine with a classic verse. Ladies and gentlemen, behold, “Accordion”. See more…

Nas’ best verse is a debate that could last for days in and of itself, but I thought I’d take the chance to give some shine to one of my favorites from God’s Son, “Verbal Intercourse”. Coming off Raekwon’s classic in its own right “Only Built for Cuban Linx” album, Nas drops by for a guest verse and ends up taking over the whole track. See more…

I know, I know, we already did a Black Star track (see “Definition”), but “Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star” is a classic album, so there shouldn’t be any doubt that it contains more than one classic track. In fact, “Respiration” is not just one of my favorite tracks ever, it may just be my favorite track ever. Period. Goddamn I miss Mos Def rhyming like this. See more!

And now for what I’m sure will be one of the most controversial picks in Classic Verse history. While “don’t call me The” Game has earned legions of loyal fans, he’s also inspired hatred on a massive scale, mostly from the hip-hop head community. While overall I’m more in the latter group than the former (his “R.E.D.” mixtape was decent), I will give it up to the man; “Dreams” was one of the best debut songs by any artist. See more…