After we managed to narrow down some of the finest Wretch 32 tracks, it seemed only right to do the same for his most epic freestyles. The lyrical powerhouse that is Wretch 32 has be going strong since as far back as 2006 with his first mixtape.
As well as dropping several incredible solo efforts, Wretch has punctuated these by destroying every feature he’s been on, and by doing the rounds and raising the bar on every major freestyle platform. With all those bars, there is no way that one feature alone could do the man justice. So we’ve gathered Wretch 32’s top five freestyles to date, which should certainly whet your appetite while you wait for Growing Over Life to drop on Friday.
Daily Duppy
Wretch made his long awaited appearance on our own legendary Daily Duppy series, and this performance proves that it was truly worth waiting for. From the moment the beat drops, Wretch 32 makes the onslaught of metaphors, similes and complete and utter manipulation of the English language look ridiculously easy. Even though the stellar editing goes a long way in helping us to catch all the bars, it still takes a MINIMUM of 20 listens at least for even the most seasoned listeners amongst us. Bar to look out for: “I’m Biggie, rolling like I’m with Puff and them in the film/Ain’t ironic why I’m eating, my company’s worth a mil.”
Behind Bars
Wretch blesses the hugely popular A$AP Mob instrumental “Trillmatic” which he glides over effortlessly and proves that his flow is as masterful as his lyrics. When listening to Wretch, there really are a ton of quotables, but I had to pick one! Bar to look out for: “Tottenham’s Man’s city but I got Arsenal faith/ I got an Ox in the Chamber don’t make me blast away.”
F64
We take it right back to 09, when Wretch featured on the first season of the popular, but now defunct F64 series. As usual Wretch wastes no time going to work on the classic Onyx instrumental “Last Days”. Younger listeners might recognize the beat from the final battle on 8 Mile. Even as far back as 09, Wretch’s lyrical prowess is undeniable as he riddles bar after bar with his trademark double entendres. Bar to look out for: “Underground’s on my shoulders I’m benching the floor/Press up, now my CD’s in store/Am I next up? I can only see the applause.”
Fire In The Booth (Part 1)
It wouldn’t be a collection of best freestyles if we didn’t include Fire in the Booth. This was Wretch’s first time on the show back in 2012. This freestyle was sandwiched between the 2011 release of his album Black and White and a few weeks away from his mixtape Wretchercise. Wretch had just tasted mainstream success for the first time and was facing the usual criticism of “selling out” so this freestyle showed the naysayers just how wrong they were and Wretch was still firing like he always has been. Bar to look out for: “I’m a foundation spitter with no makeup/A foundation spitter with no grades cuz/But I got a A Class and a few acres/Woah I guess that’s what the brain does it makes you work with your strengths/See I’m better with the pen then I am at going pen.”
Fire In The Booth (Part 2 ft. Avelino)
WIf you’ve watched all of these you’ll have known that Wretch doesn’t normally do filler, but literally every line, every single last line, on Wretch’s verse is jam packed with gems. While most MCs these days beg for wheel ups, Wretch chastises Charlie for the unwanted spin, but goes straight back in without missing a beat and drops the hardest verse of 2015. He made arguably the hardest FITB to date look so easy. Bar to look out for: “The titanic aint going down because of me/See I can’t swim but I’ll be the anchor for the scene/See how do they expect musicians to stay afloat/When all our sales keep going down the stream.”