09 til Infinity (part 4)

TM88 ft. Sosojuicy & Strap Da Fool - I Want That
(From F.I.L.A 25 (Forever I Love Atlanta) album; 2025)


Hat tip to N-Sky Valley for this one. File this song under 'they don't make 'em like this anymore... except when they do.' Back to the Futuristic Swag era again with this battle-of-the-sexes song. I don't believe there were any battle-of-the-sexes songs in the original Futuristic Swag era, but there have been two killer jams since: I Want That here and This Or That by Mr. 2-17 & The Ratchets.

Mr. 2-17 ft. The Ratchets - This & That
(From Know What I'm Sayin 2 mixtape; 2014)


Rock the jingle bells to all Martorialist readers. It's that time of the year to revisit Kurtis Blow performing Christmas Rappin' on British TV in January 1980 wearing a hideous 70s shirt & suit combo.

Fear Of A Wack Jacket

YouTube stays undefeated for Rap ephemera: behold this early 90s TV commercial for Public Enemy's short-lived clothing brand Rapp Style. A pertinent reminder that rapper clothing lines have always been corny and always will be corny. Flava Flav? More like Flava Free amrite. Those Public Enemy baseball jerseys were $38 back in 1991/1992, but you've gotta be makin' money like Barry White if you wanna procure a vintage one in 2025.

Potential name for a Public Enemy luxury Eurotrash fashion line: Cold Lanvin With Flavor.

Cum On Feel The Boiz

Trunk Boiz ft. Seiji Oda, Ajaya Jones & Lil' Ricefield - I Can Tell
(From I Can Tell single; 2025)


Seiji Oda put Trunk Boiz on a track earlier this year, now Trunk Boiz have returned the favour and let Lil' Ricefield cadge a ride too. This song is unapologetic bait for Bay Area Rap mavens, which means muggins here is the target audience. Real Hip-Hop! They used to do it out in the park(ing lot!)

The obligatory best rap songs of 2025 post

It's my anniversary!

Know Y? It was 40 years ago this year that I first properly heard Rap music in 1985 via Big Rap Singles™ like Run-D.M.C's King Of Rock, Doug E. Fresh & MC Ricky D's The Show and Whistle's (Nothing Serious) Just Buggin'. All 3 songs were U.K top 40 chart hits which made their way into the orbit of lil' old me at the tender age of 9 and 10 years old. No lie, there were zero Big Rap Singles™ of that quality this year, and 2025 might be the worst year for Big Rap Singles™ in the genre's history. Imagine being a 9 or 10 year old kid in 2025 and your first exposure to Rap music is some Godawful recent Big Rap Singles™ by Drake, Travis Scott and Gunna. My condolences to the poor lil' bastard.

Obviously there were great Rap singles in 2025, it's just that they didn't blossom into Big Rap Singles™ because the industry is useless, the DJs are clueless and the audience are hopeless... especially in the U.K nowadays lol. I'm not talkin' about Fugazi's catalogue when I say this is a margin walker era for Rap connoisseurs. It beez that way sometimes, papi. The only time I heard new American Rap songs I like played outside in 2025 was when I put a handful of choonz on the pub playlist.

I'm huntin', we out chea on a choon chase, and everything on my blog will be my database. So, here's a list of my favourite 2025 Rap songs, the vast majority of which are singles. No hierarchy of preference because rating and ranking songs is for the birds. There's a handful of 2024 songs here which I'm considering 2025 songs for a variety of respective reasons. I talk sense condensed into the form of a post, full of no dudz from my dome to the top my toes.

Favourite Rap songs of 2025 IMHO:
Juvenile ft. Mannie Fresh - Party
Ezale - Hang Wit Them or Can U Blame Me
Lil' M.U. - Top Of Cars
Murs - Silverlake Rec League
Papo2oo4 & Subjxct 5 - Chopper City Pap
Young Bleed ft. Cold187um - Welcome 2 Da Trap
MelloBuckzz ft. Monaleo - Move Pt 2
Monaleo - We On Dat
Seiji Oda ft. Iamsu - HUU!
OnlyHeaven - Text
LARussell ft. Wiz Khalifa - I Might Be
Wiz Khalifa & DJ Fresh - What's Hannin' (On The Radar performance)
BunnaB - Mad Again
YG ft. Buddy & The Gang - 2004
Slick Rick ft. Giggs - Stress
De La Soul - Don't Push Me
Mobb Deep - Against The World
Pookie F'n Rude ft. E-40 - Da N***a (video mix)
Myaap ft. Vae Vanilla & 3200 Tre - Feeling Dis
Jim Jones - Jomo
JD ft. J Money, Sean Paul, BunnaB & Bankroll NI - Magic City Money
X-Raided - Queen of Hearts
Luh Tyler - Florida Boy
Kurious - When The Coffee Kicks In
TREE & Parallel Thought - Hang Out
504icygrl - Work
Aesop Rock - Send Help
WNC Whop Bezzy & 70th Street Carlos - GZ & Souljas
Duke Deuce - Run Up A Check
Bruiser Wolf & Harry Fraud - Boss Up
Sturdyyoungin - Respectfully
Lord Sko ft. Grand Puba - Girbaud Talk
Supahbadd - I Am
Aone ft. The Jacka & Buss Da Husalah - Mobb Right Now
41 - Lisp
Young Devi D - First Day Out

Favourite British Rap songs of 2025 IMHO:
Nine & Dex - Power Ranger
Pete & Bas - Whirlybird
SL ft. Knucks & Sainte - Summertime
Ceebo - Jook
Jordy ft. Ceebo - Rainy Day

Favourite non-Rap songs of 2025 IMHO:
Real Lies - Let The Lips Fall Where They May
PinkPantheress - Illegal
Jenevieve - Head Over Heels
Olivia Dean - Man I Need
The Guy - Blaze Or Die
Turnstile - Birds

Related: the 2025 late pass awards.

The 2025 late pass awards

If you a loko ass reader I'ma call you with that Shaq, a backpack ass reader I'ma talk to you about Y@k, a Bay ass reader I'ma call you about The Pack, came up on Rap music in 1985 and I never, ever came back. Plz believe it's time for my annual list of old songs I've discovered this year which became new favourites. Yeah, I'm late to all these tracks, but so what? Every song in this post will rock yah like the Casbah. Got twenty, that's plenty, yet I still want more. Also kinda fonda Kylie singles from 1994.

Best non-2025 Other Rap songs I discovered in 2025:
Roxanne Shante vs. Sparky D - Round 1 (1985)
Strictly Dope - Never Be Beat (1990?/2007)
O.Z - It's A Black Thing (1990)
Three Below Zero AKA MOOD - Mr. Everything (1995/2016)
G. Dep - Reflections (1996)
Cozmik Law - Loot 'A Getcha (Coast Ta Coast Bust That Dial Mix) (1997)
Z-Man - Night Owl (1998)
Gift of Gab - Rhyme Like A Nut! (1999)
People Under The Stairs ft. Murs - Pulp Fiction (2000)
Edan - Eyeblink (version 2) (200?)
Dru Down - I Rock (2002)
Big Scoob - Say It Loud (American & Proud) (2002)
Murs ft. Shock G & Humpty Hump - Risky Business (2003)
Murs - The Night Before (2003)
Tony Yayo ft. Max B & French Montana - Do It Right (2009)
Young Bari - I Rep That Blocka (2011)
Big Hongry - Early One Morning (2020)
KenTheMan - Not My N*gga (extended version) (2023)
Mello Buckzz ft. G-Herbo - Hmm.. BD (2024)
DCG Shun & DCG Bsauv - Steppers Freestyle (2024)


Best non-2025 Other Genres™ songs I discovered in 2025:
Link Wray - Big City After Dark (1962)
The Renegades - Thirteen Women (movie version) (1966)
John Cameron - Mean Machine (1981)
The Cramps - Weekend On Mars (live) (1983)
Onirico - Stolen Moments (1991)
Never On Sunday - Urban Rains (1992)
Kylie Minogue - Confide In Me (1994)
Real Lies - Oh Me, Oh My (UNREAL mix) (2021)

Peter Bwadshaw

"I can't afford a rainy day fund because day after day the rainy days come-es"

Jordy ft. Ceebo - Rainy Day
(From Rainy Day single; 2025)


Where better to make a rap song about rainy days than the drizzly island of Britain? Fresh for slate-grey skies, here's the winter counterpart to Summertime by SL, Knucks & Sainte. In fact, this song is a prime example of Knucks-core: sad lad Road-Rap which is palatable to Guardian readers. Shout out to Barney Ronay, we in this bitch!

Martorialist-approved Rap songs with Rain in the title:
Raekwon & Ghostface ft. Blue Raspberry - Rainy Dayz (1995)
Khayree ft. Mac Dre - It's Rainin' Game (1997)
Missy Elliot - The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) (1997)
Diamond D ft. John Doe - When It Pours It Rains (1999)
People Under The Stairs - Acid Raindrops (2002)
Megalon - Rain Blood (2002)
50 Cent - When It Rains It Pours (2005)
Beanie Sigel ft. Bun B - Purple Rain (2005)
Gucci Mane - Rain Man (2006)
The Jacka - Heavy Rain (2007)
ABN - Rain (O.G version) (2008)
Prodigy - Raining Guns and Shanks (2009)
Z-Ro ft. Shaq - Stop The Rain (2020)

My Mind Spray 20

The most accurately succinct description of Young Bleed's music I've ever heard was by Bleed himself on Give and Take when he said "you know I let the beats bang and slowly do my thang."

Kurious' Mystery Mixtape and Slick Rick's Victory album were released as overpriced boutique vinylz, so is it really too much to ask to get CD releases of both? If a CD release is good enough for G. Dep's tracks from the 1990s then it's good enough for new releases by Kurious and Slick Rick.

Ezale's website is selling t-shirts, hoodies, hats, lighters, toy trains which you use as blunt passers, carbonated fizzy drinks and damn near everything except physical copies of his Town Taxes album. Rappers are so annoying sometimes.

Lil' M.U's Top Of Cars is definitely the 2025 equivalent of Dude 'n Nem's Watch My Feet. Unfortunately it didn't hit the UK top 40 singles chart like Watch My Feet did back in 2007 or 2008.

Checking the current UK top 40 singles chart, and the only rapper who appears is a white scally from Liverpool in a balaclava... and it isn't even the kid who made Packs and Potions.