When Drake and Central Cee stepped in front of the green neon at OnTheRadar, it felt like the curated freestyle platform had hit its peak (and like we’d be hearing “combination” in a Toronto accent for the rest of our lives). In the two and a half years since, OTR has become a rite-of-passage for any and all artists trying to spike their visibility during a rollout. The performances are still good, but the spark hasn’t been quite the same.
Thankfully, they came back in a big way with their ongoing cypher series, this week’s being 22 minutes of freestylers bringing rap back to its roots. While the name “New Class” usually implies a group of teens and 20-somethings who haven't been around long, OnTheRadar breaks that mold, featuring rappers well into their thirties. Hailing from Detroit, New Jersey, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Oakland, these artists have radically different styles but similarly high-level wordplay.
10. La Reezy
WHO: A New Orleans-born upstart who opened for Little Simz on tour in 2025.
BEST BAR: “All these rappers probably want the Kendrick moment / I’ll let em all have it, I’m the unicorn pony.”
Considering his past co-signs from Tyler, the Creator and Kendrick Lamar, La Reezy doesn’t feel the need to justify his presence here. His NOLA drawl (I’m a sucker for the accent) and animated, André 3000-esque delivery hit more than any standout bars (respectfully) but at least it made me want to check out more of his music.
9. Ovrkast.
WHO: An Oakland multi-hyphenate who’s already produced for Drake and Earl Sweatshirt.
BEST BAR: “I produced this beat by the way.”
Props to Ovrkast. for calling out how Satanic the government is, though the hardest mic drop has nothing to do with the contents of his verse, but the casual flex that he produced the beat everyone is rapping over.
8. Chris Patrick
WHO: An underground rapper from New Jersey with effortless candor and vulnerable bars.
BEST BAR: “How you performative with these hoes and can’t f*cking perform? How you hustle to dickride clout but don’t hustle for more?”
Chris Patrick couldn’t turn in a bad verse on his worst day. But dropping a freestyle so soon after the damage he did on stream with Kai Cenat is a double-edged sword because the bar is now 20 feet up and hard to beat. This was a casual showing for Patrick.
7. Reuben Vincent
WHO: The Charlotte-bred 9th Wonder protégé who calls himself an idiosyncratic old soul.
BEST BAR: “Team spirit, Nirvana / You die and come to find out that ego and pride makes small fish become piranhas.”
If I close my eyes I could mistake 25-year-old Reuben Vincent for a seasoned 90s vet. I can tell rap comes easy to him by the way he weaves in storytelling about his upbringing in the Queen City of Charlotte, NC. He has one of the more aggressive verses of the bunch: “I made a promise to God that I’ma get away with murder.”
6. SWAVAY
WHO: A rising Atlanta rapper, producer, and singer previously mentored by James Blake.
BEST BAR: “I don’t believe in manifestation, signs of having luck bc that’s kinda like you fuck with God but just won’t dap him up.”
Swavay is the only one in the cypher to make his whole portion a conversation with God. In a cypher it’s expected to brag about how great of a rapper you are, so by taking the less-rapped-about route, he automatically stands out. Then he gets the biggest laugh of the cypher by dropping the Game’s endlessly memed "Red Rolls, White Ceiling" bar. While everyone else looks to the next class, he’s looking up at the man above.
5. Marlon Craft
WHO: A Hell’s Kitchen lyricist who’s earned cosigns from Method Man and Havoc.
BEST BAR: “You know how hard it was to capture all this passion in my soul and transmute it into something to be sold, now they want me to owe?”
Marlon Craft’s performance serves as the perfect response to Ray Vaughn’s critique of the "vultures" stealing from the sport. Even though Marlon actually precedes him in the cypher, his verse feels like he’s catching a layup assist from Vaughn’s bars later on. He sticks to a relatively classic flow—one that might otherwise feel dated—but he doesn't need to be flashy to prove his point. Instead, he defends the soul in his craft: “This ain’t A.I., I got this good from practicing.” He stands tall as the rare white rapper who has put in 15 years without ditching the genre for country music.
4. Nasaan
WHO: The son of the late Detroit legend and D12 rapper Proof.
BEST BAR: “For any n***ga ready to swing, swing for my nuts / I’ll drop a n***ga once, get up drop again deluxe.”
If anyone thought Nasaan was a nepo baby, this cypher should put those accusations to rest. Referencing hometown icon Royce Da 5’9’s “Hi Rihanna,” his verse pays homage and simultaneously calls out the media platform Revolt TV. The singsong quality of his verse gives it replay value, bumping him above other verses here that stick closer to the traditional cypher format.
3. MARCO PLUS
WHO: An Atlanta rapper whose bouncy Southern voice reminds me of J.I.D. and Earthgang.
BEST BAR: “I love my fans but I’m only rapping for the money.”
Marco Plus is a veteran of life’s worst-case scenarios, and his overly straightforward bars hit home. I was in awe by how nonchalantly his blade-sharp pen carves out stories of dead friends and drug addiction. His tongue-in-cheek admission that he’s “only rapping for money” despite loving his fans absolutely fried me.
2. Ben Reilly
WHO: A Brooklyn-born, Atlanta-raised rapper, singer, and songwriter, named after the Scarlet Spider from Marvel Comics.
BEST BAR: “Make the coupe Sydney Sweeney just to keep n****s abreast/I'm double breasted, follow suit while the rest get addressed.”
I lost count of the flow switches and "best bar" contenders—#2 was the lowest I could possibly rank him. Ben’s delivery is fluid, then intentionally choppy, then back to fluid again. He cleverly flips Mystikal’s “Help the bear” line and stretches the imagination with his "son/sun" wordplay. He raps exactly how his name is defined, like each line is swinging to the next. He is flexible, fantastic, and had the entire room tuned in with their mouths agape.
1. Ray Vaughn
WHO: A Long Beach-bred powerhouse and TDE’s current sniper.
BEST BAR: “They screamin’ “industry plant” but they left blood on her leaves.”
Ray Vaughn’s verse was one “Happy Black History Month” delivered with a middle finger for the vultures. In a powerful show of solidarity for TDE-mate Doechii, Vaughn dismantled the "industry plant" narrative pushed by Adin Ross. He yells fuck ICE while mentioning Sinners, Toy Story, Dairy Queen, S-curl perms and a variety of topics that you wouldn’t imagine fitting into a rhyme schemes together. But he sticks the landing. What makes it work, and makes it clearly the best of the class’s verses—is that rather than being preachy, Ray’s obviously having so much fun with it. It felt like a formal rescinding of every cookout invite ever extended to the "guests" of the culture (Sorry Marlon) Vaugn made sure he not only had the strongest message but the hardest verse.