Top 100 Rap Songs of 2007

Forget sending a demo tape, Termanology exhibits his skills on "So Amazing" with DJ Premier on the boards. In an ideal world, this song would trigger an intense bidding war among all the majors.

The great thing about this song -- besides the obvious fact that Preemo is still the producer to beat -- is that the theme changes depending on who's clutching the mic. Skyzoo indulges in a lyrical exercise that references 2 decades worth of Preemology ("I'm in a 'New York State of Mind' when I 'Kick in the Door' with 'A Million and One Questions' when I'm bringing it on"), while Torae compares the collaboration to past classics ("It's reminiscent of Nas & Jay or Billy & Womack").

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2007 was the year of Chicago. Not only did the Windy City contribute 3 albums to 07's best top 10 joints, it also introduced us to this cool duo. "Black Mags" is a sonical collision of different styles and genres, from hyphy to boom bap.

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What does it say of the music industry when the best song on your album ends up as a hidden track? Rich Boy's clever indictment of societal imbalance will make even the grimiest gangbanger put down his gun and pick up a book. Proof that smart is the new gangsta.

Scarface once swore of rap music, but all that did was make us miss him badly. As this hard-hitting banger affirms, 'Face learned one hard lesson during his break: Never say never.

Exuberant hip-pop funk from the Timbaland of this generation.

All three Clansmen on this song brought their A-game along for the ride. Combine their vigorous lyrical exercise with a RZA beat so great even Memphis Bleek could've made it a hit, and you've got the best song on 8 Diagrams.

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"Surviving the Times" is a relentlessly introspective and sincere summary of Nas' rap career. It chronicles his early days as an unsigned MC who "didn't even know what a record advance meant" to his emergence as a living legend.

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They lost their record deal, regained it after several years, then lost a group member. So, Bone Thugs did what any wise crew would do: they turned their struggle into rhymes and asked Akon to sing his heart out. Talk about music therapy.