The Best Rap Songs of 2012

2012 was a good year for rap music. Fresh faces like Kendrick Lamar and 2 Chainz (a long time bench player with Ludacris’s Disturbing the Peace squad) made a major impact, while industry vets like Kanye West, El-P and Nas all returned with quality releases.

The Bay Area held it down with two new radio slappers from E-40 and Clyde Carson, a solid mixtape from Andre Nickatina and new music from Fillmore rapper DaVinci. Here is 20 of our top picks for the year.

What were your favorite releases of 2012?

*Disclaimer: This list is mostly street rap and potentially NSFW. If you are offended by profanity, sexual content, etc., this playlist is not for you.

Matt Crawford is content director for Boulevards New Media, Inc. and Metro Newspaper and managing editor of SF Station. Follow him @Metro_Matt.