Even outside of the Snake & Bat camp, 2013 was a pretty damn good year for music.

Strictly musically speaking, this year we saw some of the most experimental and unique beat selections to come out in some time, and we saw the mainstream start to take some chances that both surprised us and made us say “About damn time”!

As we look back on 2013 and some of the biggest mainstream bangers of the year, there’s only one thing missing…a Strange verse!!!

With that in mind, we compiled 10 of the hottest tracks of 2013, and imagined what they’d be like with one or more Strange artists thrown into the mix.

Enjoy!

1. Pusha T – “King Push“

The opening track to Pusha T’s latest solo effort is one of the most exciting beat selections we heard all year, and even though it wasn’t produced by Joaquin Phoenix, it’s still an absolute neck-breaker of a track and has some of the most interesting drum patterns ever. Given the militant nature of the drum sounds and the percussive feel of the track, this would be a perfect one for Tech N9ne to lend his equally percussive vocals to. And besides, we’ve always wanted a Tech/Pusha collab.

2. Kanye West – “BLKKK SKKKN HEAD“

One of the most abrasive tracks from easily the most polarizing release of the year, BLKKK SKKKN HEAD features crunchy soundscapes & tribal drums, a sound that we feel Wrekonize would flourish over. Whether you liked Yeezus or not, you can’t deny that Wrekonize would absolutely slaughter this beat.

3. Chance The Rapper – “Pusha Man“

Hailed as one of the top releases of the year, Acid Rap, the free release from Chance The Rapper, swiftly and undeniably cemented Chance’s spot in the top contenders for emcees that are going to blow the fuck up in 2014. “Pusha Man” takes the heavy bass & slowed-up hook of your typical dirty south beat and flips it on it’s head into a happy-go-lucky sing along. We think a double time verse from Rittz would even this track out perfectly and turn it into something completely different.

4. YG ft. Jeezy & Rich Homie Quan – “My Nigga“

Undeniably the 2013 ignorap anthem, you’ll be hard pressed to go to a club or turn on a radio without hearing YG’s ode to the street bromance “My Nigga” (or “My Hitta” if it’s on the radio…smh). The infectious synth tones and minimalist instrumentation are just begging to be ridden over by Kutt Calhoun and Stevie Stone, who would add some much needed soul to the track and definitely step the bars up. In fact, why hasn’t this happened yet? [Hops on phone]

5. Jay Z – “Crown“

DWAMN this beat is dirt mcgirt!! In our humble opinion, this track absolutely SCREAMS “Godemis”. We can already hear his snarling 16’s weaving in and out of this bass-heavy instrumental, calling out lackluster rappers…and probably mentioning the insufflation of some sort of powdered narcotic.

6. Problem ft. Bad Lucc – “Like Whaaat“

Let’s just get this out of the way right now. We have yet to get sick of Problem’s “Whaaaaaat” adlib, and probably never will. As far as the track goes, the bay influence is immediately apparent, and the heavy, low bass juxtaposed with the clap-snares make this the perfect track for Krizz Kaliko to hop on there. Throw in E-40 as an added bonus and a nod to the bay, and you’ve got remix GOLD.

7. Big Sean ft. Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica – “Control“

The beat that gave birth to arguably the most incendiary verse of the year, “Control” spawned hundreds of remakes & remixes, so what’s one more? As this instrumental seems to just bring the beast out in every emcee that touches it, we’re thinking: fuck it, throw the whole roster on there and just make everyone else quit rap.

8. Eminem – “Rap God“

C’mon, son? Who else would we put on this shit. Do we even have to say it? Tech N9ne. Maaaybe throw Wrekonize in for good measure because we know he’s capable of spraying napalm over beats like this. NEXT.

9. Childish Gambino – “Worldstar“

Take away Childish’s clever braggadocio and you’ve actually got a pretty haunting beat on this one. The bass is heavy, and the additional percussion in the track sounds oddly like drumming on a rib cage with xylophone mallets, so we’re going to give this one to Brotha Lynch Hung. We feel like the Ripgut General would be a perfect fit on this instrumental (until the end when it gets all weird and jazzy, but no one’s rapping over that part anyway so….).

10. A$AP Ferg ft. A$AP Rocky – “Shabba Ranks“

While Ferg & Rocky lend a reggae feel to this track, the instrumental itself is the perfect playground for 2 reckless emcees such as Ubiquitous and Godemis (see what we did there? Playground? haaaaaa…ok) to showcase their lyrical abilities. It’s basically just a bass heavy loop with some cool horns and xylophones in the background…The best Cru would slay this.

Well, there’s our 10 picks. If anyone wants to find instrumentals of any of these songs and throw some Strange vocals over the top, by all means do that shit (just don’t try and sell it, we tend to not dig that). We can’t wait to see what crazy ass beats come out in 2014! Until then, keep it Strange!

• What tracks did we miss?
• Do you think another artist would’ve sounded better on any of these tracks?

Get at us below in the comments section!