The 42 Best Lil B Songs of 2011

Lil B is a ridiculous man. His discography is so swollen it would take a room of fulltime historians just to index it, let alone listen to every track enough times to fully absorb his complete back catalogue. Surely the Bay Area rapper can’t recall every single track with his name attached, cutting new music almost as regularly as he hits up his fans on Twitter. This is a dude who has set up over 150 MySpace accounts as he continuously reached his upload limit. He has no filter.

Building his repuation through a sheer tidal wave of good music over the past couple of years, 2011 saw some landmarks for the still only 22-year-old BasedGod. He was named in XXL magazine’s freshman class of the year (many would argue he’s been the standout performer in a group that included Big KRIT, Yelawolf and Mac Miller) and, after a slew of mixtapes, he finally dropped an official album, which sounded much the same as his other releases and was just as free. But despite minor and silly scrapes with other rappers over the unusually titled I’m Gay, nothing stopped his extraordinary output. In 2011 Lil B continued to put up Gucci Man 2009 or Lil Wayne 2007-like numbers.

I thought an extended list of his best songs this would be a good format in my attempts to get to grips with Lil B’s output (for this year at least). He’s not got a ‘Yonkers’ or a YouTube sensation like ‘Gucci Gucci’. What he does have though is the ability to seduce listeners with his never-ending drawl. Lil B’s extraordinary output makes sense when you examine his flow. It’s as if he never leaves the studio booth, spitting one continuous verse that’s later chopped up and placed over various lo-fi beats.

01. ‘Motivation’
from Angels Exodus

Few rappers acknowledge their fans on record as much as Lil B. For example, on the closing minute of the BasedGod Velli mixtape he stops rapping and takes time to thank every one of his Twitter, Facebook and YouTube followers. Humility and hip-hop don’t always go hand-in-hand, but Lil B appears to be genuinely surprised by his success, and probably draws significant impetus from his listeners.

But ‘Motivation’ is not an ode to his fans; instead it’s a show of strength against his detractors, of which there are many, claiming their unkind words only fuel his ambition. “Give it up one time for the player haters/Y’all motivate me so I gotta thank you,” asserts B. He doesn’t name names but he doesn’t have to. Have a look online and you’ll find there’s a sizeable group of hip-hop fans and various industry people who think B can’t actually rap. What makes ‘Motivation’ such a sturdy retort is not that he’s aiming his crosshairs at his enemies as such, but that he truly spits fire on this one, urged to life by a symbol-heavy instrumental from Clams Casino.

02. ‘Gon B Okay’
from I’m Gay

One of I’m Gay’s many life-affirming jams, on ‘Gon Be Okay’ Lil B tells America to keep their head up, going as far as opening the track with a clip from an Obama speech circa-2008. In 2011, the whole ‘Change’ rhetoric sounded a bit dated, but with a Joe Hisaishi sample – lifted from the soundtrack to Spirited Away, a brilliant and haunting Japanese animation classic – this one easy to love.

03. ‘Grove St. Party’ by Lil Wayne feat. Lil B
from Sorry 4 The Wait Mixtape

As prolific as he is, Lil B rarely jacks beats or does guest spots. Certainly not compared to Lil Wayne, who will inevitably lay down a verse on every semi-popular beat. But unlike B, Wayne almost never enters the studio without bringing his A-game. The BasedGod is too unfocused to self-edit and too weird to leave his odd lyrical experiments unreleased. On ‘Grove St. Party’ though, Wayne’s presence is enough to light a fire under B, and he holds his own against Wayne’s A game, which is made all the more impressive by the duos choice of beat: Waka Flocka Flame’s monstrous ‘Grove St. Party’. It’s about as far removed from B’s lofi style as you get.

04. ‘I Got AIDS’
from BasedGod Velli

A safe sex anthem that’s as blunt as its title. Lil B plays the part of a newly-diagnosed AIDS victim tasked with phoning his girl with the news before ending with an extended spoken word interlude warning of the potential dangers of unprotected sex. Heavy-handed sure (and criminally unaware that medical breakthroughs have meant HIV is not the death sentence it once was), but a good example of B’s straight-talking lyrical style which is both semi-hilarious and oddly compelling.

05. ‘Real 100’
from Black Flame

Lil B fan’s like to proclaim that their man is bringing back the glory days of west coast hip-hop. It’s something B himself doesn’t seem particularly keen to play down, even going as far as using a blended image of himself and 2pac on the cover of BasedGod Velli. On ‘Real 100’ though, it’s as if the west never went away. A mid-nineties beat with prominent handclaps and an old-fashioned G-Funk whistle, you can almost feel the lowrider steering wheel in your hand and LA’s pavement beneath your wheels. And B’s loose, ramshackle style was one of his most interesting flows of the year.

06. ‘How I Feel’
from Illusions of Grandeur

Lil B spitfires rhymes over ‘Africa’ by Toto, before his flow descends into a hilariously ineloquent pontification on how, despite being born in 1989, he was a child of the nineties. Evidence, if you needed it, that someone who spends this much time in a recording booth has no time to actually sit and pre-plan his rhymes.

07. ‘I’m In The Streetz’
from I Forgive You

Having impressed alongside Lil Wayne on the ‘Groove St. Party’ instrumental, Lil B cuts an original Waka Flocka-esque anthem, but with his own unique flourishes. The vocal is grainy – poorly recorded even – but The BasedGod harnesses the cheap nature of the track, turning his voice into an almost incomprehensible drone to add extra grit.

08. ‘King Cotton’
from BasedGod Velli

“How the fuck we couldn’t vote because the colour of our skin?” Lil B talks about the whole history of racism over one of the year’s most understated, soulful beats.

09. ‘Up In Smoke’
from BasedGod Velli

A smokey, hazy blues guitar flutters over the track, complimenting Lil B’s laid back drawl. Further proof that despite the somewhat unfiltered nature of his rhymes, B can adjust his flow to suit a track.

10. ‘Cocaine Killer’
from Illusions of Grandeur

Another classic Lil B character piece, here the BasedGod inhabits the guise of a doomed drug dealer over a suitably cold sample. A rare moment when B is draws inspiration from that old hip-hop standard; dope pushing.

And the rest:

11. ‘Fuckin With Da Fiens’ from Black Flame

12. ‘Ms Woman’ from Black Flame

13. ‘Based for your Face’ from Illusions of Grandeur

14. ‘Never Came Out’ from BasedGod Velli

15. ‘Gold House’ from Black Flame

16. ‘1 Time’ from Angels Exodus

17. ‘What You Think About It’ from BasedGod Velli

18. ‘The Growth’ from Angels Exodus

19. ‘BasedGod Velli’ from BasedGod Velli

20. ‘No Pressure’ from Illusions of Grandeur

21. ‘Down 4 To Long’ from Black Flame

22. ‘Ghetto Dreams’ from BasedGod Velli

23. ‘Baby Baby’ from Illusions of Grandeur

24. ‘I Seen That Light’ from I’m Gay

25. ‘The Growth’ from Angels Exodus

26. ‘Cold Nights in Boston’ from BasedGod Velli

27. ‘1 Time - Remix’ from I’m Gay

28. ‘Who You Love’ from ‘Illusions of Grandeur’

29. ‘All My Life’ from Angels Exodus

30. ‘Neva Stop Me’ from I Forgive You

31. ‘Trapped in Prison’ from I’m Gay

32. ‘Illusions of Grandeur’ from ‘Illusions of Grandeur’

33. ‘Logged In’ from Black Flame

34. ‘Angels Prayer’ from ‘Illusions of Grandeur’

35. ‘I’m Too Real’ from I Forgive You

36. ‘Unchain Me’ from I’m Gay

37. ‘What it Feel Like’ from ‘Illusions of Grandeur’

38. ‘My Last Chance’ from I’m Gay

39. ‘Heard Her Cry’ from I Forgive You

40. ‘Hood Changed’ from XXL’s 2011 Freshman Mixtape

41. ‘Can I Live 4real’ from I Forgive You

42. ‘Open Thunder Eternal Slumber’ from ‘I’m Gay’