Meek Mill, Kendrick Lamar Top Complex’s Best Rap Verses of 2025 List

Complex magazine put Meek Mill's "Proud of Me" and Kendrick Lamar's yet-to-drop "Chains & Whips" at the top of their 15 Best Rap Verses of 2025 (So Far) rankings. The list, out June 30, picks the finest verses from the first half of 2025.

Pusha T grabbed third place with his sharp-tongued "So Be It." Drake's smooth flow on "Gimme A Hug" landed fourth, while NBA YoungBoy's raw "Alive" rounded out the top five. The picks mix big names with fresh talent, weighing skill, story craft, and street buzz.

The choice of Kendrick's unreleased track as second place sparked debate online. "The whole Kendrick verse ain't even drop yet lol. And Pusha verse was only like 6 bars lol. JID should be #1 as it stands. Then after Dot verse comes out fully, then he can be at the top," wrote one fan on X.

Another unimpressed fan wrote, "There's no way Gimme a hug is top 5 and cLOUDs should be at least top 3." Meanwhile, some users also supported Complex's list, stating, "damn a publication came out with an actual interesting hiphop list for once."

"Chains & Whips" will drop on Clipse's new album, Let God Sort Em Out, on July 11. The track caused a split between Clipse and their labels Def Jam and UMG after they pushed to cut parts of Lamar's verse.

"They wanted me to ask Kendrick to censor his verse, which of course I was never doing. And then they wanted me to take the record off. And so after a month of not doing it, Steve Gawley, the lawyer over there, was like, 'We'll just drop the Clipse.'" Pusha T shared with GQ. After cutting ties with Def Jam, the record will now be released via Roc Nation, Jay-Z's entertainment company.

The Complex list shows hip-hop's global reach. UK stars Central Cee and Little Simz made the cut at spots 13 and 14. JID's tight bars earned sixth place, with Billy Woods and Joey Bada$$ close behind.

Roc Nation stepped in after the Def Jam split, signing Clipse and backing their first full album since 2009.