It's been a hell of a year for hip-hop, with the big dogs all dropping albums, the underground bubbling like never before and a crop of up-and-comers putting out some of the best music in years. But with so much great music floating around, hip-hop fans were bound to miss some things. XXL is here to round up the 25 best slept-on hip-hop songs of the year—hey, one list that won't have "Control" on it!—so you don't have to. We've left these unranked; we'll leave the ordering up to you. —Dan Rys (@danrys)

Previously: The 25 Best Songs of 2013
The 25 Best Mixtapes Of 2013
The 25 Best Albums Of 2013
Top Kanye West Moments Of 2013
Breaking Down Kendrick Lamar’s “Control” Verse: Its Nine Biggest Storylines


Alex Wiley featuring Chance The Rapper and GLC, "Spaceship II"
Mixtape: Club Wiley
The only thing more dope than re-making a Kanye classic was getting GLC to reprise his cameo. This is Chicago 3.0.


Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, "Deeper"
EP: Deeper
MadGibbs have been putting out dope joints for a couple years now in small doses, but this is one of their toughest.


French Montana featuring Max B, "Once In A While"
Album: Excuse My French
For an album with monster tracks like "Pop That" and "Ain't Worried About Nothin'," the project's opening song got overlooked way too much. This hook is just as infectious as anything else on Excuse My French and deserved a little more shine.


Big K.R.I.T. featuring Big SANT, "How U Love That"
Mixtape: King Remembered In Time
It's that Mississippi swamp K.R.I.T., and Big SANT comes in and leaves only destruction in his wake. He's like an updated Bun B for the future.


Mac Miller featuring Jay Electronica, "Suplexes Inside of Complexes and Duplexes"
Album: Watching Movies With The Sound Off
People forget that there was a world before "Control" when Jay Electronica's name still sent shivers of expectation down the spines of die-hard hip-hop fanatics. Flipping and spinning nursery rhymes and Disney characters to suit his narrative, this was his best verse of the year.


Gucci Mane featuring Rich Homie Quan, "Can't Trust Her"
Mixtape: Trap House 3
Gucci's had more negative headlines this year than you could count on two hands, but collaborating extensively with young buck Rich Homie Quan was not one of them. This is a standout cut, and it doesn't even come from their collaborative album, Trust God Fuck 12. Damn.


A$AP Rocky featuring Gunplay and A$AP Ferg, "Ghetto Symphony"
Album: Long.Live.A$AP
Was there a time before A$AP Ferg's "Work"? It's almost hard to remember now. He and Rocky trade competing OutKast references, but it's Gunplay who steals the show.


Earl Sweatshirt featuring Domo Genesis, "Knight"
Album: Doris
Earl's album was a lot darker than a lot of people anticipated, but that doesn't take away from its greatness, and this track is an example of that. Domo was one of many bright spots on the album—this arguable wasn't even his best Doris verse; that might've been "20 Wave Caps"—but this album closer caught the Odd Future duo in blinding form.


Skeme, "Different"
Album: Ingleworld
With his album freshly out, "Different" has quickly become one of its standout tracks. He's still flying distinctly under the radar, but Skeme's on the come-up quick. You could tell this shit's different.


Logic featuring Casey Veggies, "Like Me"
Album: N/A
Logic's spent most of his year on tour, but this unreleased track is the first taste off his forthcoming Def Jam debut. With Maryland MC in form like this, it's bound to be a project that can't be ignored.


Big Sean featuring Nicki Minaj and Juicy J, "MILF"
Album: Hall Of Fame
It's nothing new to hear Nicki change up her voice to suit a character, but the raunch of this track is perfect for her vocal-bending antics. Let go of the pretension and embrace the traditional storyline flipped on its head.


Young Thug, "2 Cups Stuffed"
Mixtape: 1017 Thug
One of New Atlanta's brightest stars, Young Thug caught a lot of ears this year with 1017 Thug. "2 Cups Stuffed" catches his careening-nearly-out-of-control flow on one of his most powerful songs.


Jay Z, "Open Letter"
Album: N/A
It's hard to imagine that a track that provoked a response from the President of the United States could be considered "slept on," but it definitely was. Swizz laced the absolutely crazy beat, and Jay addressed everything from his maligned trip to Cuba to bringing the Nets to Brooklyn, and still managed to call himself the Bob Dylan of Rap Music. Y'all learned that day.


Starlito and Don Trip featuring Kevin Gates, "Leash On Life"
Album: Step Brothers 2
Don Trip and Starlito had one of the best, most slept-on albums of the entire year, and this is one of the top tracks from the project. It's dark, it's deep, it's evocative, and Kevin Gates laces the hook the way only Kevin Gates can.


Snootie featuring Yo Gotti, "Yayo"
Mixtape: Nov. 19th: The Mixtape
Say what you want, but Yo Gotti and his CMG crew can write hooks. Loco.


Deniro Farrar featuring DuRu Tha King, "Social Status"
Mixtape: The Patriarch 2
One of 2013's best driving songs for one of 2013's brightest youngsters. Vice Records' newest signing didn't disappoint this year.


Scotty ATL featuring Starlito and Killa Kyleon, "My Shoes"
Mixtape: F.A.I.T.H.
Swirling production, an all-star Starlito cameo, and a powerful coming out party for up-and-comer Scotty ATL. Take 'em way back, Scotty.


eXquire, "Cherry Raindrops"
Mixtape: Kismet
eX went to a dark place on the intro, but took command when the verse kicked in and got real vulnerable. Esoteric shit.


Cam'ron featuring 2 Chainz, "Snapped"
Mixtape: Ghetto Heaven Vol. 1
This is vintage cinematic Cam, telling the story of a long, bad breakup, with Cam penning hilarious misdeeds. Relegating Chainz to a fadeout may have been kind to Tity after that.


Rapsody, "Thank You Very Much"
Mixtape: She Got Game
Middle finger to all the haters for two and a half vindictive minutes. Best line: "Tell me, how's ridin' the bus?"


Joey Bada$$ featuring Smoke DZA, "Death of YOLO"
Mixtape: Summer Knights
DZA comes in sounding like he's a missing puzzle piece of Pro Era. He and Joey fit perfectly.


Tree featuring Danny Brown, "No Faces"
Mixtape: Sunday School II: When Church Lets Out
The beat is syrupy and drawn out—not unlike some Flatbush Zombies slow-burners—and Tree and Danny come in and crush it like they're certified straight out of old-school Houston.


Roc Marciano featuring Action Bronson and Willy The Kid, "Sincerely Antique"
Mixtape: The Pimpire Strikes Back
An album full of straight up Criminology raps, and this one stands out the brightest. Throw the rice, throw the rice.


ScienZe featuring Blu, "Charlie Brown"
Album: Ella
Rainy day beats with Blu rapping over them forever, please. ScienZe seems like he knows just what he's doing.


Statik Selektah featuring Raekwon, Black Thought and Joey Bada$$, "Bird's Eye View"
Album: Extended Play
Is this the most star-studded and slept-on album of the year? Statik laces up something that two generations of vivid rhymers can all relate to.

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