Image via Denzel Curry on Facebook

Denzel Curry ft. Rick Ross - "Knotty Head"

When we think back to the best verses of 2016, I hope we remember the first two minutes seconds of "Knotty Head." Denzel Curry is ferocious from the start—"Jumpin' in the door, kamikaze / Origami if the neighbors saw me"—and doesn't slow the pace until he's finished, two hooks and verses later.

The gasping, defiant delivery makes up the first half of "Knotty Head." The second contains an above average Rick Ross verse ("Obituary on his mother’s fireplace / Baby mother fuck another sucker on a blind date"), and don't skip the outro if you played video games in the '90s. "Knotty Head" is off Curry's Imperial, required listening for anyone interested in rap's rising class.—Graham