The five scariest rap verses in hip-hop history
Hip-hop gives rappers the platform to spill their guts, be it threatening lyrics or candid thoughts about suicide. A combination of these things have resulted in some of the most shocking and memorable moments in music history.
Whether it’s attacking other artists in the industry, venting over troubles with a significant or drunkenly opening up about dark thoughts, we’ve seen it all over the years. More than ever, rappers are feeling more comfortable about laying it all on the floor.
From Ice Cube letting off steam in the 1990s to Tyler, The Creator introducing the world to his graphic lyrics, fans have been taken on whirlwind of horror throughout each decade; no matter how controversial the content might be.
With Halloween just around the corner, we take a look at five of the scariest rap verses in the history of the genre.
Scariest rap verses in hip-hop history:
Tyler, The Creator – ‘Yonkers’
Tyler, The Creator put his twisted mind on display from the get-go with the menacing ‘Yonkers’. Through violent wordplay and disses, the Odd Future leader paints a brutal picture of putting an end to pop music, complete with suicidal lyrics. The track may end with death, but the second verse targeted at Paramore’s Hayley Williams, B.o.B and Bruno Mars is one of the key reasons it was met with so much controversy.
Scariest lyric: “(What you think of Hayley Williams?)/ Fuck her, Wolf Haley robbin’ them/ I’ll crash that fuckin’ airplane that that f-ggot n-gga B.o.B is in/ And stab Bruno Mars in his goddamn esophagus/ And won’t stop until the cops come in.”
Eminem – ‘Kim’
‘Kim’ was the product of Eminem breaking up with Kim Mathers and being inspired by a movie he watched. Instead of writing a cheesy love song, he decided to pour out his frustration with angry lyrics about splitting amid having a daughter together. He knew it was a “fucked-up” track but believed it showed how much he cared about her, capturing the mood of an argument between them. The final verse was the most vivid.
Scariest lyric: “Don’t you get it, bitch? No one can hear you/ Now shut the fuck up, and get what’s comin’ to you/ You were supposed to love me/ Now bleed, bitch, bleed! Bleed, bitch, bleed! Bleed!”
Kendrick Lamar – ‘u’
The third verse of ‘u’ finds a drunken Kendrick Lamar battling with depression. You can hear the cracks in his voice as he spits from the perspective of a guilty conscience in his head, reluctantly welcoming listeners into his mind of mood swings and the stresses of the world. So much so that he admits to crying himself to sleep at night. It’s K.Dot at his most vulnerable, resulting in one of the most impressive moments of his career to date.
Scariest lyric: “Should’ve killed yo’ ass long time ago/ You should’ve felt that black revolver blast a long time ago/ And if these mirrors could talk it’d say, “You gotta go”/ And if I told your secrets the world’ll know money can’t stop a suicidal weakness.”
Geto Boys – ‘Mind Playing Tricks on Me’
‘Mind Playing Tricks on Me’ is arguably the most popular Hip Hop song about paranoia. In the first verse, Scarface takes fans into his dark mind of burning bodies as a result of the gangsta lifestyle, setting the tone for Geto Boys‘ Willie D and Bushwick Bill to follow suit. He doesn’t hold back, admitting the paranoia he’s dealing with has come to the point of holding a gun to his head at night.
Scariest lyric: “At night I can’t sleep, I toss and turn/ Candlesticks in the dark, visions of bodies bein’ burned/ Four walls just starin’ at a n-gga/ I’m paranoid, sleepin’ with my finger on the trigger.”
Dr Dre & Ice Cube – Natural Born Killaz
Dr Dre and Ice Cube combined in 1994 for ‘Natural Born Killaz’, reuniting for the first time since N.W.A split up. The song was intended to appear on their scrapped joint album titled Heltah Skeltah, but ended up on 1994’s Murder Was the Case soundtrack, with the lyrics resulting in their frightening best and Cube comparing himself to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in the third verse.
Scariest lyric: “He steps in the single door/ Got his ass whipped with twenty lashes like they do up in Singapore/ So I’ma pull a fuckin’ Jeffrey Dahmer/ Now he’s suicidal, just like Nirvana.”