My usual response to “What kind of music do you like?” is ‘Everything!”. This is true because I like a whole lot of R n B, Afro Beats/Pop, Juju, Highlife, Soul, Jazz, Hip Hop, Classical and even corny pop music. But Rap music stands apart in my opinion because it is a combination of things I really enjoy — spoken word and poetry. I like to think I am a connoisseur of fine art and music so here are my top 10 rap songs of all time.
10, 50 Cent — In Da Club
This song off the Get Rich or Die Tryin’ album was as much a monster hit as any monster hit can be. This song ushered in a new wave of Hip Hop music and 50 created an entire movement (G-Unit) of this. Credit to Dr Dre and Eminem for recognizing his talent. At a point, 50 Cent was on a world tour lasting over a year and reportedly performed in over 100 countries. I don’t think 50 has ever been able to surpass this single and even his debut album. Good thing he diversified into TV and Film. He did well with the show Power.
9, Get Yo Freak On — Missy Elliot
Before we had Nicki or Cardi we had Missy, Da Brat and Lil Kim. Get Yo Freak On is a fun party song with incredible production by Timberland. In the early 2000’s, this was all we played at our school socials with Queens College. Missy Elliot with this song ushered in a type of rap music that could be fun and quirky but without losing lyrical content. This song comes in at number 9 because it showed rap music can be flexible and is more than life in the ghetto, guns and drugs.
8, N.W.A — Fuck Tha Police
The early days of hip hop were quite turbulent and exemplified in the lyrics and overall music of the early pioneers of the movement. N.W.A consisted of the late Easy E, Ice Cube, DJ Yella and Dr Dre. Fuck the Police as a song, was a protest against police brutality and if one watches the horrific George Floyd video, one wonders if anything has really changed in America. This song has more cuss words than a Naira Marley concert and it comes in as number 8 because of what the song stands for.
7, Lupe Fiasco — The Show Goes On
Lupe for me is one of the best rappers who ever existed. He is a classic lyricist who could have made a great living as a poet. The Show Goes On dropped in 2012 and was nominated for the Grammy awards the same year Jay Z dropped Otis and Wiz Khalifa dropped Black and Yellow. Kanye West eventually won with All of the Lights. Lupe combines a unique ability of free flowing rapping and lyrics that provoke thought to make his music. Something that many rappers find hard to do.
6, Eminem — Stan
Our favorite Caucasian rapper comes in at number 6 with Stan. Stan was released in 2000 off the Marshall Mathers LP album. This was also the first time I heard Dido sing. Stan is about a fan who is obsessed with his favorite artiste and eventually goes crazy. Eminem is undoubtedly the best story teller in rap music and this record shows it perfectly. He delivered the story while giving us classic flows. Our neighbor had a stereo so my and I would gather round and listen to this song all day. Eminem is definitely one of the best to ever come into the rap game.
5, Bone Thugs ’N’ Harmony — Cross Roads
Bone Thugs are what your other rap groups want to be when they grow up. That’s it. That’s the sentence. Because in the 90’s nobody was rapping like them and they were your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper.
Made of 4 guys from Cleveland, Ohio namely Layzie Bone, Bizzie Bone, Wish Bone, Krayzie Bone they were proteges of Eazy E of N.W.A and were actually signed to his label Ruthless Records in 1993. Following the death of Eazy E in 1995, the group released this soulful rap song as a tribute to their mentor. Crossroads is a deeply emotional song and Bone Thugs showed how deep rap music can get. I still listen to this song almost everyday.
4, 2pac Shakur — Changes
Tupac was another story teller who delivered his lines without any filter. He said his mind and was never afraid to take a stand. Officially released in 1998, Changes was one of the last songs Tupac recorded. In fact, Tupac reportedly recorded over 150 songs in his last year on earth sometimes 3–5 songs a day… talk about a work ethic!
Changes was nominated for Best Rap Solo at the 2000 Grammy awards and remains the only song ever to be nominated posthumously. I deeply relate with this record because Tupac talks about police brutality, life in the ghetto, poverty and the dangers of gun violence. Issues we are still dealing with in Africa. I still listen to this song almost everyday.
3, Kanye West — Through The Wire
‘but I’m a champion, so I turn tragedy into triumph/ make music that’s fire, spit my soul through the wire’
Lyrics from the greatest Kanye song so far. Kanye is such a captivating rapper because of how he delivers his stories with poetry in music. I describe Kanye as a poet who raps. Kanye dropped one of the best albums ever in ‘College Drop Out’ in 2004 and Through the Wire was the first single off the album blowing everyone away! Kanye West was involved in a ghastly motor accident and had to have his jaw wired shut but 3 weeks after the accident, while his jaw was still wired shut, Kanye recorded this master piece. You can hear him talk about his poor upbringing and turning adversity into success. Another rap classic!
2, Jay Z/Linkin Park -Numb/Encore
When the icon Jay Z teamed up with Linkin Park to record a mash up album in 2006, very few expected this master piece to come out of their little experiment because that’s what it was really… an experiment. Nobody mixes rock music and rap music but Jay Z and Linkin Park showed it is possible. Though they were not the first to try this experiment, Run DMC had a song with the great band Aerosmith in 1986 called Walk This Way but Jay Z/Linkin Park had more commercial success. Take the flow and style of Jay Z and put it on a high tempo rock beat and Numb/Encore is the result. Only icons and legends in their respective fields will attempt this and both artistes teach us that collaborations are more good than bad.
And number one… drum roll please!!!!
1, Notorious B.I.G — Juicy
Juicy has everything you want in a rap song. Great story telling, precise flow, poetry and perfect lyrics delivery. Juicy was the first single of the Ready to Die album by BIG. One of the best lyricists of all time, Biggie Smalls chronicles his life and struggles and successes in the song. Released in 1994, BIG rose to the top of all the charts and rightly earned himself the title of one of the greats that ever lived. The unfortunate ‘beef’ that led to the deaths of him and 2pac Shakur denied the world of his art for a longer period.
