Chances are you’ve heard a lot about Drake by now if you’ve been paying any attention to developments in the world of hip-hop this year. Even if you haven’t, though, you must know the three guests he lined up for his new tune “Forever”: just some pals named Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Eminem. This super-power summit — call it this year’s “Swagger Like Us” — came together for the soundtrack to an upcoming LeBron James documentary.
That athletic connection, plus the sheer level of stars involved, means we would feel remiss not to identify a winner here. And while all four rappers come off well enough, one verse clearly stands head and shoulders above the rest, and that’s Eminem’s. His light-speed, acrobatic flow simply makes everything that comes before it irrelevant. I’m talking serious verse-of-the-year contender status. Does it say something about rap in 2009 that the oldest guy on this track steals the show so easily from his more current counterparts? (Wait, don’t answer that question — too depressing.)
But surely I’m not a flawless ref. So give “Forever” a listen for yourself below (some NSFW language), then make your pick. Who delivered the best performance on this song: Weezy, Kanye, Em, or Drake himself?
More from EW’s Music Mix:
Famed pop songwriter Ellie Greenwich dead at 68
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Whitney Houston album leaks … on QVC
Michael Jackson ‘Remix Suite’: How do they measure up to the originals?






Comments (1-15) of 57 Add your comment
this song is fire. Eminem’s verse is serious. Why wasnt he rappin like this on his own album?? sigh…
what are you talking about? em’s last album was AMAZING!! the relapse was an experimental flow album, every song he did he was trying to go further with his flow. if u didnt notice, every single eminem album has a different flow. so this is the one for relapse, big deal! the lyricism is AMAZING and way better than this ringtone crap we’ve been hearing for the last 5 years
Eminem hasnt been rappin seriously on his own album since the eminem show. But when your featured on sombodys track you have to be the best
Em went hard on this,
list is
Em
Drake
Kanye
Wayne
very good song, it looks like some serious vesrses…eminem is by far the best out of them , i guess he is coming back..
i love this song
i like it
“Last name ever…first name greatest…like a sprained ankle, boy I ain’t nothing to play with.” hahahahaha
this song is horrible
We can argue for days about who had the best verse but let me (a bonafide hip-hop fanatic who has over 1,000 “original” CD’s in his collection) give you my opinion.
Eminem was born around the Golden Era of Rap…Biggie, 2Pac, Jay-Z, Nas, Wu-Tang, etc. which was all about delivery, flow & lyrics (rhyming skills)!
Drake was born around the Bubblegum/Ringtone Era; which is all about hooks & punch lines (just to get that next platinum hit song).
Everyone had some amazing & memorable punch lines…but they all saved the best for last! It’s a shame that most urban hip-hop fans won’t give Em the respect he deserves because he doesn’t use street lingo in his rhymes. But let me tell you that the only other rapper that can spit like that is Sean Carter and the only rapper who has the balls to do it on this track is Marshall Mathers…the Greatest Rapper of All-Timesss.
yeah eminem was the best on the whole track
drake absolutely owned this track, em tore it up nice too…a little disappointed with kanye and weezy though, i expected better from them
SIIIIIIIIIIICK!!!
WHOA!! The So Called “Best Rapper Alive” Just Got Dominated By The Real Best Rapper…EMINEM
Yea I Agree With Vagina lol
Weezy f baby u r the best huh.
Kanye West Kanye West
Star creator in hip-hop
eminem is and always has been sick, so stop hating on him and his last album. just becuz you didnt get the artistry in the songs doesnt mean it wasnt great, it just means you dont have great taste.