The Best Rap Singles of 2012

By Chaz Kangas Mon., Dec. 17 2012 at 4:00 AM

A$AP Rocky

Let's be honest: It's been a great year for hip-hop. Mainstream and underground MCs made some of the most refreshing and innovative work in years. It's been a good year for albums, for sure, but also a dynamite one for singles. Here are our picks for the five best five, from artists around the country, of 2012.

5. T.I. f/ Lil Wayne
"Ball"
T.I. dominated hip-hop not long ago, before his personal problems slowed his roll. But "Ball" is a back-to-basics jam, or better yet call it back-to-bounce, as it features nods to classic rap call-and-responses over a the quintessential New Orleans "Triggerman" beat. Throw in the excellent Marc Klasfeld-directed video and the fact the both MCs sound like they're having an absolute blast, and you've got one of either artists' most galvanizing cuts in years.

4. Danny Brown
"Grown Up"
 After a critically heralded 2011, in which he pushed the limits of hip-hop, Brown released this year "Grown Up," a comparably conventional autobiographical sketch -- that's also wonderfully fun. Perhaps best known for its video featuring an immediately lovable kid playing Brown as a child, the song memorably combines Brown's sharp wit, inimitable flow and attention-commanding storytelling.

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John Stark

I agree Edward, I don't really listen to mainstream music but the question was best rap song not hip-hop.the real hip hop gets no airplay currently

ChazKangas

@John Stark Actually, hip-hop is the culture and rap is the music of the culture. If you trace the genre's history back to hip-hop's founders, you'll realize that these five songs are "as hip-hop" as any other.

Edward Prudhomme

I don't get it. Are any of these songs advancing rap as an art form, do they have anything to say that's positive? Besides the Kendrick Lamar cut, the rest in all reality are pretty weak. Can you honestly say that any of those songs will become classics? nope!

ChazKangas

@Edward Prudhomme Whether you evaluate these songs stylistically, lyrically or from a production stand point, all five of these songs are absolutely advancing rap as an art form. I don't see how that's debatable.

As for saying something "positive," why should that matter? Why is rap the only artform where some sort of unspoken morality is required by some in order to evaluate its merit? Art is art. If it has a particular message (like the Kendrick Lamar cut, or the Danny Brown cut which you missed) great, but the idea that a song only has substance or value if it's a public service announcement is silly. If that were the case, then you're essentially saying the first eight years of hip-hop pre-"The Message" are worthless. Hip-hop needs balance, and a big part of that balance is, as the founders would say, "cold rockin' a party to the break-a break-a dawn."

And yes, honestly, these songs will become classics.