The best rap songs of February 2025, and one horrible snippet

Was February unseasonably warm where you live too? I think that’s why the past month felt especially turnt up — not only are the days longer, but it’s 66 and sunny out. I didn’t take a week off work, but it feels like spring break came early. A lot of the hip-hop that’s been catching my ear this month has been accordingly energetic: three especially high-octane SoundCloud loosies I keep returning to are “STUPID DUMMY JAWNTS” by synful (think ian meets d0llywood1), “Victoria’s Secret” by Xaviersobased (Xavier, please tell us what VS perfume you’re buying), and “no manners” by Devstacks and OsamaSon (Dev has been producing some seriously beautiful instrumentals in recent months).

Broadly, I feel like wordplay and more complicated flows are cycling back en vogue for rap, though in more diverse fashion than the traditionally lyrical style of rappers like Ghostface Killah or Kendrick Lamar. On the more verbose side are artists like Nino Paid and Rio Da Yung OG, whose verses on paper read almost as good as they sound on wax; on the other, more acrobatic hand, you might situate rappers like Fakemink and Ronshach, whose vocal timbre and agile syntax can turn boilerplate subject matter into memorable one-liners.

A quick rundown: The best mixtape of February 2025 was Rio Da Yung OG’s RIO FREE (Something Happen) deluxe, though I’m also keen on Ronshach’s The Red Apple and of course, Porch 2 The Pent by 1900 Rugrat (#DyinBoutRespect). 1900Rugrat isn’t just a street rapper, but a lover too — his ballad “Tender” was one of the most romantic rap songs of February 2025, alongside “wolf” by skaiwater and RADA and “krazy 4 u” by Chow Lee and 2300.

If don’t nobody understand why horses only wear side parts I sure df do 😂😭

— GloRilla 🦍 (@GloTheofficial) March 4, 2025

I also want to give a big shoutout to GloRilla this month, who shot her shot at streamer Duke Dennis on “ILBB2 [Remix]” with Jorjiana, hopped on a new remix of 2023 strip club thumper “Hell Woods 2” by Chicagoan Queen Key, and dropped a fresh video for last month’s Lil Baby collab/WHAM high point “Redbone.” She says she’s recorded “damn near” another album and it looks like she just did a video with Gelo the “Tweaker.” Even taking into consideration her banner 2024, it’s impressive. Siri, define “winning streak.”

Nine Vicious addresses recent allegations in a new snippet

“I know I f*cked up, I admit I was horny… Damn, all that lying on X” pic.twitter.com/D4fu5ateOm

— Kurrco (@Kurrco) March 5, 2025

“I know I fucked up, I admit I was horny.” These lines from a snippet of a new song shared by Nine Vicious on IG Live this week are meant to address an ongoing grooming scandal faced by the YSL-signed rapper. But don’t worry, it only gets worse from there, devolving into a particularly perverse and arrogant dismissal of serious allegations.

Last week, two young women claimed the buzzing artist had hit on them via Instagram DM while they were underage and he was “AT LEAST” 20. Initially, it seemed as though Nine Vicious would ignore the accusations and grant his fans enough “plausible” deniability to keep listening. Then he dropped this snippet on IG Live, painting his accusers as clout-chasing liars and subtly comparing his controversy to XXXTentacion, who faced charges of domestic abuse prior to his death. There’s likely no coming back from this, but label head Young Thug isn’t abandoning him yet: Last night, possibly in damage control mode, Young Thug tweeted a couple of Nine Vicious lyrics from his Drake-flipping breakout “U Fancy” — maybe he don’t have internet?

Last year, Monaleo told me she’d been struggling with writer’s block for much of 2023, though you probably couldn’t tell by listening to her riotous September mixtape Throwing Bows. At her best, she’s an effortless punchline dispenser with a gyroscopic flow, perfectly smooth over any instrumental, and “PTP [Remix]” is accordingly breezy and bossed up.

Handclaps on the 1 and 3 push the atmospheric synths of “PTP [Remix]” into overdrive as Babyfxce E realizes one of his hoes has gone missing. His insistent raps don’t miss a measure as he grows increasingly nonchalant about sexual fidelity — “Dog said he hate the hoes, bro, we show the hoes love;” “You hit my ho, that bitch a ho, it really ain’t that deep.”

Naturally, Monaleo sees a good verse as a challenge, and so she’s giggling about men with loose watches and hilariously asserting she “can’t link with DDG.” My favorite moment on the song might be when she says all her foreigns are German then sneers, “Guten Tag,” or perhaps the obvious-yet-effective “bitches wanna SZA with the Top Dawg, TDE.” My favorite moment in the video has to be the staged intro, where Babyfxce E calls up Monaleo to throw a party — for two rappers with an excess of charisma, it’s charmingly wooden. When rappers are bad at acting, we call that authenticity.

The verses on this song are cool — EsDeeKid and Rico Ace both nail their own off-kilter pockets — but it’s really the glitchy wraith9 instrumental and that sticky Fakemink hook that propel this track. The way he curls the line “crazy/hoes act scandalous” around a pregnant pause is mesmerizing and destined to linger in my subconscious as an intrusive thought for the remainder of the year. Shout to producer AT for this sick bass-boosted remix, which will happily shred your subwoofer.

If you like hyperpop or electronic-inflected SoundCloud rap, this song will perfectly scratch an itch you didn’t know you had. The xai.flp and EliWTF beat goes beyond ear candy, all arpeggiated synths and overdriven bass, and maxon glides through like a crocodile in water, his low-voiced murmur barely making a ripple. When he croons “my name stuck up in they mouth like cavity,” his voice skips up a couple notes to make sure the line sticks to you. By contrast, guest rapper Percaso cannonballs into the liquid instrumental, splashily detailing the activities of the listener’s girlfriend — the duo go together like sea salt and caramel.

If you don’t think Nino Paid is the best rapper alive right now, you’re entitled to your wrong opinion. His early February album Love Me As I Am positioned the DMV rapper as “pain rap’s ambivalent master,” a refreshingly human perspective on a genre that often slips into sterile materialism and egochecking. His simple poetic approach belies the emotional heft of his lyrics; every time I hear him rap, “what if I’m already trying my hardest? Fuck that, what if I’m already done for,” it pierces me.

Not content to rest on his laurels, Nino has been recording new material apace this month. Maryland producer Sparkheem (“MILLION DOLLAR BABY” by Tommy Richman, “What It Was” by Goonew) tweeted a snippet of a downtempo song possibly titled “CAME A LONG WAY,” where Nino bemoans the lack of support from people around him; on Atlanta rapper Rich Nanni’s new EP No Aesthetic, he drops off a microverse about a beautiful thick woman wearing Chanel and hiding firearms for him on “WTF;” and Nino just dropped a video for the sunnily skipping “Tomorrow Will Be Better,” an uncharacteristically optimistic cut. And I’ve been going back to this snippet of “the old me” Nino tweeted, where he sighs, “old head told me this shit’ll get better, I wish I could ask him why would he lie?”

The best of his new releases has to be “Overcame” by Lil Tony, where Michigan producer wizardpem flips a Tenniscoats sample into a pristine slice-of-life backdrop. “When I die, will I go straight to hell or where my father at?” Nino muses. Lil Tony isn’t going to let his guest steal the spotlight though, splitting DistroKid money with his father and his daughter, reminiscing on robbing people for their sneakers, and detailing the surprised expression on the face of a private plane pilot before recalling how no one picked up his prison calls. A poignant sample can grant even the blandest emotions depth, but here, Lil Tony and Nino Paid’s heartfelt raps feel even more evocative than the dreamy instrumental.

osoic, “demure”
Jim Legxacy, “Father”
Skrilla, “Doot Doot (6 7)”
FLEE feat. Kai Slick, “MOTION”
STAR BANDZ feat. BabyChiefDoit, “Mirror Mirror”
EBK Jaaybo, “The Biggest G (First Day Out)”
prettifun feat. Cayo Banks, “Sparky”
HolottaCheese, “CLERMONT”
AZ Chike, “Whatx2”
Bossman Dlow, “Sum Out Of Nun”
Harto Falion & Evilgiane, “UN LOVE ABLE”
RRoxket, “Flying”