Moments ago, I finished reading Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President. That title is not hyperbolic: a mad man shot the president, medicine failed him, and as a result he was assassinated. It is a book I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone interested in history. James Garfield is not exactly a well-known president and on the surface, it's easy to understand why. He was only in office for six months before getting killed and the last two months, he was so debilitated that he was useless. So he was an active president for effectively four total months.
I feel like more people should know about him though. That's why you should read that book. It's well-written, full of details, and thoroughly explains important background details. However, I am also aware that most of you will not buy a book because of my word. This book has had such a great effect on me that I feel compelled to at least share with whomever reads this about the amazing tale.
First off, James Garfield is maybe - without hyperbole - the greatest man who ever became president. I use maybe because I do not have the necessary knowledge of the character of all presidents to be able to declare it with certainty. He was raised dirt poor, who believed in the power of education above all else, and inexplicably rose to the presidency without ever actually wanting it. He was a staunch supporter of civil rights for black citizens, believing them to be equal to all men at a time when that was not even close to the prevailing opinion. I could go on, but I think you get the picture. Most presidents, you need some sort of scale upon which to grade their character: they owned slaves, they were philanderers, they were alcoholics, they were incompetent, they needlessly caused wars, or they committed mass genocide (ok so we don't even really need to pretend Andrew Jackson was in anyway a good person).
You don't need to do this with Garfield. There's a saying that I'm going to butcher, but I'll get the basic meaning right: The people who are attracted to the power that politics brings are typically not the people you want in power. Garfield did not power. He had no plans to become president. However the Republicans were deeply divided leading up to the Election of 1880. The two factions were the Stalwarts and the Half-Breeds.
This is where it gets a bit confusing. The main issue that divided the parties was political patronage. Stalwarts were heavily corrupt, rewarding jobs based off loyalty and support, not merit. The Half-Breeds were against that. Seems simple right? Except that Half-Breeds mostly wanted civil service reform so they could keep black people out of power. The man responsible for the eventual civil service reform act argued against the Thirteenth Amendment for instance. So the politics of the time were pretty fucked up. Glad we've moved past that though!
This division led to nobody having the necessary votes for 30+ ballots. They could not agree on former president Ulysses S. Grant, a Stalwart, and James Blaine. There was a third candidate, John Sherman, who also had significant votes. Garfield had been picked by Sherman to give a rousing speech to promote the candidate. And what happened is nothing short of amazing. He was so good with his speech that he inadvertently caused the crowd to want him and not the three candidates running. When it became clear that they would not agree among the three candidates, Garfield's name was slowly but surely making ground - completely against Garfield's wishes. He had NO desire to be president. When the inevitable happened, he was not happy, but in shock. He accepted the presidency because he felt an obligation to do so.
Due to the fact that the party was deeply divided, he picked a mixture of Half-Breeds and Stalwarts. His pick for vice president, Chester A. Arthur, was a joke. He was a puppet for Roscoe Conkling, who sure sounded like a miserable human being. Nobody took Arthur seriously as he was wholly unqualified for his position and was openly working with Conkling while VP. Conkling was willing to work against the president if the president didn't bow to his every command and Garfield was having none of that shit so effectively the vice president was working against Garfield in helping Conkling.
The spoils system brought many people to the White House in search of a job. This led to some crazies, including Charles Guiteau. I believe Guiteau was genuinely insane. He would fixate on something and would give it his absolute all and would fail at it. Every time. He failed at everything he ever tried to do. In a near death experience, he was convinced God saved him for a special purpose and that special purpose was politics. So he wanted to use the spoils system to become ambassador to Paris. He was truly deranged. He was relentless, to the point where Secretary of State Blaine claimed he had seen him up to 10 times before the assassination attempt. Eventually, when his efforts kept getting rejected, he thought he needed to kill Garfield in order to save the country. So he shot him on July 2.
This is where the story turns surreal. The shot was evidently non-fatal as it missed his vital organs. Doctors didn't know this. They also didn't believe in germs. They couldn't see them so they refused to believe them. Joseph Lister had successfully convinced Europe about the importance of antiseptic surgery by 1881, but he had made very little progress in America. So when Garfield was shot, he was on a dirty train station floor and up to 10 doctors used their unsanitized hands while treating the wound and even searching for the bullet.
A truly horrible doctor, Doctor Bliss - that's his actual name, took charge and everybody kind of accepted it. He was an egotistical doctor who would rather be right than save someone's live. If that's not true, at the very least, he would not entertain the notion that he was wrong. You'll have to read the book to get at his misdeeds and just how ego-driven he was, but the theory is that if Garfield were left alone, he would live. (This includes the 10 or so doctors who may have infected him).
Not knowing the bullet hit no major arteries, Doctor Bliss needed to find the bullet. And one man was convinced he could find the bullet and that man was Alexander Graham Bell. Holy shit was he another amazing person. You probably only know him as the creator of the telephone - which sure is kind of a big deal - but he did that at the age of 28. He lived to be 75. He effectively created the metal detector in order to find the bullet. Another fact: his newly born son died while he was trying to perfect the metal detector because he couldn't breathe. So he created an early version of a breathing tube that breathed for the child. (He was also connected to the Eugenics movement later in his life, soooo not everything is perfect here)
Bell tried his invention on Garfield, but there were two problems: Bliss was so confident that the bullet was on his right side that he wouldn't even let Bell check the left side. The bullet was of course on the left side of his body. He was also on a bed with metal springs so all in all, the metal detector could have theoretically worked if they did anything right. So the bullet wasn't found until after his death, which happened after he suffered mightily for two months. He lost over 100 pounds from not eating, puss was coming out of him constantly (no need to worry about that, assures Doctor Bliss), and he was likely dehydrated (which the doctor helped out with by giving him alcohol of course). He died a slow, agonizing death that he apparently never showed as he remained his normal, genial self. So that's depressing.
The death did bring about change. Chester A Arthur became president and basically modeled his presidency after Garfield, abandoning Conkling and becoming a respected president against all odds. He was apparently motivated in part by letters from Julia Sand, a woman who felt inspired to write to Arthur to encourage him and give him political advice. Arthur saved all 23 letters she sent to him. The autopsy on Garfield revealed a horrifying truth that led Bliss to be disgraced, and antiseptic surgery to eventually be accepted. Unfortunately, they still didn't think presidents needed protection as it felt "un-American" so it took until William McKinley was assassinated for the Secret Service to be established.
Conkling was basically forced out of politics after making a power play that backfired. Arthur abandoned him and he died being his stubborn self. He walked three miles in one of the most severe recorded blizzards in American history, which led to his eventual death. The American people were joined together by Garfield's death in collective mourning. When Garfield wanted to visit the sea before he died, they took him on a special train. The train didn't have enough power to go over a hill so 200 people help carry the train over the hill. I'm not sure there's ever been a president as beloved as Garfield was when he was president, besides probably George Washington. (I'm going to read a biography of him next for sure)
The frustrating part of it all is that Garfield didn't want the presidency. Guiteau would be allowed nowhere near him in modern times. He would have sufficiently shown he was unstable and a threat well before he ever committed to assassinating him. He would have lived just 20 years later with medicine improving. And yet, he died because he got shot in the wrong year. And he suffered one of the most humiliating, horrible deaths I've ever read about (at the end, he was was fed through his rectum). And he sounded like a genuinely good, caring person! Life's not fair clearly.
Monday, October 3, 2016
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Having an Existential Crisis
The last few days, I have been hit by an existential crisis (crisis feels too strong of a word, but by the definition, I am having an existential crisis). I have wondered what the point of life was, tried to understand the concept of there being "nothing" when you die (which I may add is not something I am certain of, but the very possibility itself was enough to send me down a rabbit hole), and tried to wrap my head around the universe itself. I was sending my mind in places that sent shivers down my spine and my thoughts were equivalent to running a race that never ends. Up late at night with nothing but my thoughts, I have needed to have noise to drown them out. I haven't slept well.
I'm 23-years-old. I know that I should not think these things because I will not be faced with these problems for hopefully a considerable amount of time. And yet I want to answer them or at least soothe my fears, because I definitely don't want to be thinking these things with death on my rearview mirror. I want to face these problems now.
My first act was to share some of these thoughts on Twitter. That was productive but did ultimately not help me stop facing these questions when lying in bed. I will say the knowledge that other people go through this too is comforting. You can "know" that other people are going through it, but when people share it with you personally - or as personal as Twitter can get - you actually realize this is a normal process of life.
So I decide to just google "How to Get Over An Existential Crisis." Got a problem in 2016? Google it. So I scoured a few sites and read a few things. Some of them were written from a clinical perspective, some from personal experience, and some just went through a whole list of theories. Ultimately, one thing in particular did stand out as why I'm having these issues NOW.
One guy, somewhat condescendingly to be honest, asked the person who proposed a similar question to mine, to analyze the rest of his life first. He asked a whole bunch of questions that essentially came down to "Are you satisfied with your life right now?" Which drove me straight to what my real problem is: I'm afraid that at the end of my life, I'm going to look back and think I didn't do anything with it. That I wasted this opportunity.
That's a symptom of how I've felt since basically the day I decided to change my major from journalism to "I just fucking need to graduate." I don't know what to do and the possibilities are endless. Ah, but therein lies the problem. The possibilities are endless. I could do (mostly) anything. How the hell am I supposed to make a decision? I haven't been able to yet and it's been over a year since I graduated. Am I just going to go through life constantly in fear that I will make the wrong decision therefore making me not want to make a decision at all?
My other issue is that I still live with my parents and work on the weekends, two things that have contributed to a less than ideal social life. I mostly like my current job - not as a career, but for now - but it's extremely inconvenient if you want to do anything on the weekend. During winters, I work nights and during summer, I work all day in the sun and by the time I come home, I don't want to do anything for the rest of the day. So while I don't consider myself unhappy, all of these things have contributed to an overall sense of stagnancy.
This is my first solution: to write about it. After all, that's something I love doing and would like to continue. I'm going to try to write more about different things. I have a few short stories that I wrote for a class that I may post on this website. I love/hate when I post something and anxiously await any reply to what I've written. No matter what I do, I will probably always write. I would like to make it a career, but it's not exactly that easy since there's not a whole lot of money in it unless you make it big with a book (the other big avenue is journalism, which I didn't like). That's why I'm so grateful the Internet exists, because I don't necessarily need to write for money in order to write.
So how do you deal with an existential crisis? I guess the answer is to do whatever you need to do to feel fulfilled in life. What do I need to do to get fulfilled in my life? I don't know the exact answers, but I do know that when I'm 69-years-old and I look back on my life, I really want to be able to have this sense that I have not wasted this life. I have taken advantage of life. I've done something. I can look back and be satisfied. I don't think I will fear death because I did everything I could and there's nothing I can do about whatever happens when you die. Because that's where my real fear is: not necessarily death itself, but that when I die, I'll feel like a piece of shit for not doing anything with it.
I'm 23-years-old. I know that I should not think these things because I will not be faced with these problems for hopefully a considerable amount of time. And yet I want to answer them or at least soothe my fears, because I definitely don't want to be thinking these things with death on my rearview mirror. I want to face these problems now.
My first act was to share some of these thoughts on Twitter. That was productive but did ultimately not help me stop facing these questions when lying in bed. I will say the knowledge that other people go through this too is comforting. You can "know" that other people are going through it, but when people share it with you personally - or as personal as Twitter can get - you actually realize this is a normal process of life.
So I decide to just google "How to Get Over An Existential Crisis." Got a problem in 2016? Google it. So I scoured a few sites and read a few things. Some of them were written from a clinical perspective, some from personal experience, and some just went through a whole list of theories. Ultimately, one thing in particular did stand out as why I'm having these issues NOW.
One guy, somewhat condescendingly to be honest, asked the person who proposed a similar question to mine, to analyze the rest of his life first. He asked a whole bunch of questions that essentially came down to "Are you satisfied with your life right now?" Which drove me straight to what my real problem is: I'm afraid that at the end of my life, I'm going to look back and think I didn't do anything with it. That I wasted this opportunity.
That's a symptom of how I've felt since basically the day I decided to change my major from journalism to "I just fucking need to graduate." I don't know what to do and the possibilities are endless. Ah, but therein lies the problem. The possibilities are endless. I could do (mostly) anything. How the hell am I supposed to make a decision? I haven't been able to yet and it's been over a year since I graduated. Am I just going to go through life constantly in fear that I will make the wrong decision therefore making me not want to make a decision at all?
My other issue is that I still live with my parents and work on the weekends, two things that have contributed to a less than ideal social life. I mostly like my current job - not as a career, but for now - but it's extremely inconvenient if you want to do anything on the weekend. During winters, I work nights and during summer, I work all day in the sun and by the time I come home, I don't want to do anything for the rest of the day. So while I don't consider myself unhappy, all of these things have contributed to an overall sense of stagnancy.
This is my first solution: to write about it. After all, that's something I love doing and would like to continue. I'm going to try to write more about different things. I have a few short stories that I wrote for a class that I may post on this website. I love/hate when I post something and anxiously await any reply to what I've written. No matter what I do, I will probably always write. I would like to make it a career, but it's not exactly that easy since there's not a whole lot of money in it unless you make it big with a book (the other big avenue is journalism, which I didn't like). That's why I'm so grateful the Internet exists, because I don't necessarily need to write for money in order to write.
So how do you deal with an existential crisis? I guess the answer is to do whatever you need to do to feel fulfilled in life. What do I need to do to get fulfilled in my life? I don't know the exact answers, but I do know that when I'm 69-years-old and I look back on my life, I really want to be able to have this sense that I have not wasted this life. I have taken advantage of life. I've done something. I can look back and be satisfied. I don't think I will fear death because I did everything I could and there's nothing I can do about whatever happens when you die. Because that's where my real fear is: not necessarily death itself, but that when I die, I'll feel like a piece of shit for not doing anything with it.
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Top 100 Rap Songs: #20-1
My journey is finally over. Well at the time of writing this, it's not really over, but by the time you read this, it will be. The point is that this list has consumed a large part of my life for the past month. It's a longer process than you imagine. You don't just know the top 100 songs off the top of your head. You might know some of them and you might think you know some of them, but once you start writing down the songs, you'll find you have more songs than you thought. Next you thing you know, you have 175 songs and you need to cut it down to 100. The first 25-30 are easy to cut and then it becomes difficult. Then you have to start cutting the popular songs that maybe don't have the lyrics or the lyrically solid songs that are kind of bland musically.
Now you're down to 130. You thought it was difficult at 150, but this is another level. Now you have to cut 30 songs you really wanted to make the list. So you start cutting songs. Just to be sure you're not missing anything, you're exploring options you maybe missed and then you stumble on a few songs you realize need to make the list. So now you're adding songs instead of cutting them. So you have the 100 songs. You still need to order the songs, write the post, in the middle of writing the post you realize you don't like where one song is ordered so you move it which makes you wonder if you don't like the order of any other spots, and then you tweak the order again. So yeah, it was a long process.
Even though he didn't provide any of the top 20 songs that will be listed here, Maq (@elmaquino) looked over my initial list and added 25 songs and I picked some of his songs for this list. He's also a huge Jay-Z fan and I was not, so he in some way influenced most of the Jay-Z selections as well. So special shoutout to him for helping me with the list.
I'm going to do something a little different here. Since I consider all of these songs to be the best of the best, I'll be posting a few lines from the song that highlight the lyrical talent of the artist. Let's get started.
#20 "ATLiens" - Outkast
Album: ATLiens
Year: 1996
Now, my oral illustration be like clitoral stimulation
To the female gender, ain't nothing better
Let me know when it's wet enough to enter
If not I'll wait, because the future of the world depends on
If or if not the child we raise gon' have that nigga syndrome
I really feel that if we tune it, it just might get picked on
Or will it give a fuck about what others say and get gone
I don't think this is the best written Outkast song. Andre 3000 and Big Boi have both had songs where they've been better lyrically. But it seems like if you wanted to show somebody a song that best represents what Outkast is, this is the song you show them. It doesn't hurt that the beat is an earworm and the hook is catchy. In fact, with "if you like fish and grits and all that pimp shit," Outkast is representing Southern rap. I don't usually like when rappers twist words to fit a rhyme scheme, but damn if "O-yea-yer" doesn't work for some reason. In what is clearly a song designed for party use more than introspection, the lyrics are better than they need to be, especially my highlighted portion.
#19 "Moment of Truth" - Gang Starr
Album: Moment of Truth
Year: 1998
Now I'm contemplating in my bedroom pacing
Dark clouds over my head, my heart's racing
Suicide? Nah, I'm not a foolish guy,
Don't even feel like drinking or even getting high
But wait, I've been through a whole lot of other shit before
So I ought to be able to withstand some more
I'm ready to lose my mind, but instead I use my mind
I put down the knife, and take the bullets out my nine
Rap is a young man's game. Rakim was 19 when he made Paid in Full, Biggie was 21 when he was working on Ready to Die, and Nas was 20 when Illmatic was released. It's also common for rappers to decline pretty fast. Gang Starr is the exception in both regards. Guru, the MC portion of Gang Starr, was 27 when Gang Starr released their first album. He became better lyrically with each successive album. By the time Moment of Truth was released in 1998, he was 36-years-old. That's pretty much unheard of in rap (at least at the time). But listen to these lyrics. "Actions have reactions, don't be quick to judge, you may not know the hardships people speak of, it's best to step back and observe with couth, for we all must meet our moment of truth." That's the kind of lyric that makes you feel insignificant and petty for judging other people. We're all the same. Have empathy. This just is a really great song to listen to if you're struggling.
#18 "Dear Mama" - 2Pac
Album: Me Against the World
Year: 1995
Cause when I was low you was there for me
And never left me alone because you cared for me
And I could see you coming home after work late
You're in the kitchen trying to fix us a hot plate
Ya just working with the scraps you was given
And Mama made miracles every Thanksgiving
But now the road got rough, you're alone,
You're trying to raise two bad kids on your own
And there's no way I can pay you back
But my plan is to make you understand
You are appreciated
I don't know if I'd made this point before, but I give extra points for rappers who choose to explore topics that nobody else does. I don't believe that making a song dedicated to your mother was a popular thing before 2Pac made "Dear Mama." It has become something of a popular thing since then, but 2Pac showed it was ok to be a thug and still make an extremely heartfelt song for your mother. It's the details in this song that make it great. And 2Pac comes across as extremely genuine throughout the song, just wanting to show his mom that he appreciates her. He acknowledges that he was a bad kid and it was difficult for her to raise him. He even tries to explain why he's gone the direction he's gone, saying he doesn't feel guilty because he likes to pay rent on time.
#17 "Jesus Walks" - Kanye West
Album: College Dropout
Year: 2004
We rappers is role models, we rap we don't think
I ain't here to argue about his facial features
Or here to convert atheists into believers
I'm just trying to say the way school need teachers
The way Kathie Lee needed Regis, that's the way I need Jesus
So here go my single dog radio needs this
They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus
That means guns, sex, lies, video tapes,
But if I talk about God my record won't get played huh?
Where the hell is this Kanye right now? I needed a reminder after Life of Pablo that Kanye could actually.. you know rap. This song is fantastic. As far as individual songs go, Kanye does not getter better than this. I acknowledge he has made a better album than College Dropout, but he has not made a better song than "Jesus Walks." The production, the lyrics, it's all perfect.
#16 "Shook Ones Part II" - Mobb Deep
Album: The Infamous
Year: 1995
I don't got time for your petty thinking mind
Son, I'm bigger than those
Claiming that you pack heat, but you're scared to hold
And when the smoke clears, you'll be left with one in your dome
13 years in the projects, my mentality is what, kid?
You talk a good one, but you don't want it
Sometimes I wonder do I deserve to live
Or am I going to burn in hell for all the things I did?
No time to dwell on that cause my brain reacts
A lot of rap songs have dark content in their lyrics, but not many songs have managed such a threatening beat. You don't want to get caught hanging around this beat. This beat alone has the capability of killing you. This is Mobb Deep's threat towards wannabe gangsters. The shook ones refer to people who are halfway crooks, who aren't willing to go as far as they need to go in order to succeed in Queensbridge. Havoc and Prodigy are willing to do that. I picked my highlighted lyric because it reveals the mentality behind Havoc (and probably Prodigy) - he briefly wonders if he's going to hell, but can't linger on that thought too much because it will make him a halfway crook. This beat is probably now more well-known as the beat behind the climactic battle in 8 Mile.
#15 "Juicy" - Notorious B.I.G.
Album: Ready to Die
Year: 1994
And my whole crew is lounging
Celebrating every day, no more public housing,
Thinking back on my one-room shack
Now my mom pimps a Ac with minks on her back
And she loves to show me off of course,
Smiles every time my face is up in The Source,
We used to fuss when the landlord dissed us,
No heat, wonder why Christmas missed us
Birthdays was the worst days,
Now we sip champagne when we thirsty
If you want an idea of how "Started from the Bottom" is supposed to sound like, look no further than "Juicy" which actually explains how his life use to be, how is life is now, and some of the hardships he had to go through. In the first verse, it's almost a rap history lesson as he goes through some of the people who he used to listen to and that hip hop was never supposed to take it this far. But he's also explaining his origins - how he got into rap the first place - so it works. In the next two verses, he explains the differences between then and now. It's got his trademark flow, and an inspirational hook. What more can you ask for?
#14 "Life's a Bitch" - Nas
Album: Illmatic
Year: 1994
I'm destined to live the dream for all my peeps who never made it,
Cause, yeah, we were beginners in the hood as 5 Percenters
But something must've gotten in us, cause all of us turned to sinners,
Now some are resting in peace and some are sitting in San Quentin,
Others, such as myself, are trying to carry on tradition,
Keeping this Schweppervescent street ghetto essence inside us,
Cause it provides us with the proper insight to guide us
Even though we know, somehow we all gotta go,
But as long as we leaving thieving,
We'll be leaving with some kind of dough
As you can see, I posted just about AZ's entire verse here. It might legitimately be one of the best verses of all time. You listen to this verse and you wonder why AZ never got big. Fun fact about this song: Nas almost sampled "Juicy Fruit," otherwise known as the same song that Biggie sampled in "Juicy." That would have been a weird coincidence and I'm glad it worked out this way. This is somewhat of a depressing song in the sense that "life's a bitch and then you die" is sort of nihilistic point of view. It's a viewpoint I'm sure a lot of people understand though and it's a twisting of the common hip hop topic: you never know when you're gonna die, so live for today. Nas chooses to smoke weed. If you listen to the Illmatic, you would not believe how much he references smoking.
#13 "It Was a Good Day" - Ice Cube
Album: The Predator
Year: 1992
Today was like one of those fly dreams,
Didn't even see a berry flashing those high beams
No helicopter looking for a murder
2 in the morning, got the Fatburger
Even saw the lights of a Goodyear blimp,
and it read "Ice Cube's a pimp,"
Drunk as hell but no throwing up,
Halfway home and my pager still blowing up,
Today I didn't even have to use my AK
I gotta say it was a good day
How great does Ice Cube's good day sound? It sounds amazing. He gets with a girl he's been crushing on since the 12th grade, he plays a game of pickup basketball with his friends and plays like MJ, he's ignored by the cops, there's no smog in LA, nobody dies, and a freaking blimp says "Ice Cube's a pimp." It switches back-and-forth between things that could happen (like playing really well in a basketball game) and things that are hopeful, but probably won't (the blimp thing). It's a good day for him and the world really - nobody got murdered and people can go outside without the threat of smog. This is a song that instantly puts me in a good mood and makes me feel like I'm having a good day.
#12 "D'Evils" - Jay-Z
Album: Reasonable Doubt
Year: 1996
Whoever said illegal was the easy way out, couldn't understand
The mechanics and the workings of the underworld, granted
Nine to five is how you survive, I ain't trying to survive,
I'm trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot
Life ills poisoned my body, I used to say fuck mic skills,
I never prayed to God, I prayed to Gotti,
That's right it's wicked, that's life I live it
There are not that many wildly acclaimed and near unanimously agreed upon classic albums. Reasonable Doubt, one of those albums, was my one blind spot where I hadn't really given it a listen. In preparation for this post, I gave it a listen. A serious listen. I was expecting the Biggie/Jay-Z song to be the one that hit me the hardest. Not that it was bad, but it kind of underwhelmed me. I loved D'Evils almost instantly. This is a DJ Premier beat and the beat goes a long way towards why I loved this song immediately. Then I looked at the lyrics and Jay-Z comes up with this line:
"My hand around her collar, feeding her cheese,
she said the taste of dollars was shitty so I fed her fifties,
About his whereabouts, I wasn't convinced,
I kept feeding her money 'til her shit started to make sense."
That worldplay is insane. And that wasn't even the excerpt of the song I picked. Nor was it my favorite line. "Nine to five is how to survive, I ain't trying to survive, I'm trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot" was. This song is about how the "d'evils" - basically temptation and greed - corrupts the ghetto and how it has affected him. (And if you're wondering why d'evils, he pronounces it da evils, but spelled out it's devil so the devil is tempting him)
#11 "Mind Playing Tricks On Me" - Geto Boys
Album: We Can't Be Stopped
Year: 1991
I often drift while I drive
Having fatal thoughts of suicide,
Bang and get it over with
And then I'm worry free, but that's bullshit
I got a little boy to look after
And if I died then my child would be a bastard
I had a woman down with me
But to me it seemed she was down to get me
She helped me out in this shit
But to me she was just another bitch
Now she's back with her mother
Now I'm realizing that I love her
Now I'm feeling lonely
My Mind is playing tricks on me
I have loved this song for a very long time. I don't think rap verses can get much better than the two Scarface verses. Willie D's verse is alright and Buschwick Bill's is just kind of weird, but Scarface's two verses are why this song is here. "Now I'm realizing that I love her, now I'm feeling lonely" is said in just about the most depressing and honest way I've ever heard in a rap song. It makes you think he fucked it up and is regretting it. Gangsta rap tends to glorify the drug-dealing lifestyle and the Geto Boys are no exception, but this song makes it sound fucking horrible. He's constantly in fear of his life, he's on the verge of suicide, he's ruined his relationship, nothing at all sounds good about the way he's living his life. The lyrics come equipped with a beat that somehow sounds disapproving? I hear the beat and my first thought is one of my parents just standing there in silence, shaking their head in disapproval. This is not a complaint as the beat goes perfectly with the song.
#10 "The Message" - Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
Album: The Message
Year: 1982
Broken glass everywhere,
People pissing in the stairs, you know they just don't care
I can't take the smell, can't take the noise
Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice
Rats in the front room, roaches in the back,
Junkies in the alley with a baseball bat
I tried to get away but I couldn't get far
Cause a man with two truck repossessed my car
Don't push me, cause I'm close to the edge
I'm trying not to lose my head
It's like a jungle sometiems
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under
I doubt this was the first socially conscious rap song, but it had to have been one of the first and the others probably weren't assisted by a fantastic beat that very much sounds like it was made in 1982 but also still sounds really good now. Before 1987 - essentially before Paid in Full - the rhymes were extremely simple, putting an inordinate amount of focus on the content of the lyrics. Considering hip hop started as a party genre, most rap songs haven't exactly aged very well. (For an example of someone who has not aged well, look no further than Kurtis Blow.) This is a notable exception and the reason is because the content of "The Message" stands the test of time. Rapped by Melle Mel, this song paints a portrait of a poor neighborhood. Obviously they're trying to send out a message and the song lives up to the title.
#9 "I Ain't No Joke" - Eric B & Rakim
Album: Paid in Full
Year: 1987
Write a rhyme in graffiti in every show you see me in
Deep concentration cause I'm no comedian
Jokers are wild if you want to be tamed
I treat you like a child then you're gonna be named
Another enemy, not even a friend of me
Cause you'll get fried in the end when you pretend to be
Competing cause I just put your mind on pause
And I can beat you when you compare my rhyme with yours
I wake you up and as I stare in your face you seemed stunned
Remember me, the one you got your idea from?
But soon you start to suffer, the tune'll get rougher
When you start to stutter, that's when you had enough of
Biting it will make you choke, you can't provoke
You can't cope, you should have broke
Because I ain't no joke
Just say that verse out loud and you realize it's poetry. Nobody before Paid in Full was anywhere near what Rakim was doing here. It wasn't typical to write a verse that essentially was just you announcing your superiority above all other rappers and just letting the words speak for themselves. But the rhymes were simple. Rakim essentially invented the multisyllabic rhyme in hip hop, or at the least popularized it. It sounds weird now, but nobody was rhyming "enemy" with "friend of me." The kind of rhyme that doesn't look like it rhymes until you say it out loud. Eric B wasn't among the best producers of the time, but he was probably in the second tier. (Off the top of my head, Rick Rubin, the Bomb Squad, and Dr. Dre were all better. He was probably equal to BDP and Marley Marl though I'm definitely willing to accept both were better too.)
#8 "Fight the Power" - Public Enemy
Album: Fear of a Black Planet
Year: 1990
Elvis was a hero to most,
But he never meant shit to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was
Simple and plain
Mother fuck him and John Wayne
Cause I'm black and I'm proud
I'm ready and hyped plus I'm amped
Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps
Sample a look back you look and find
Nothing but rednecks for 400 years if you check
Don't worry be happy was a number one jam
Damn if I say it you can slap me right here
Oh boy. We're getting into political motherfucking songs. I love this verse. He backtracks a bit later in life on calling Elvis a racist. But the point I think was that he made a shit ton of money making black music. Also this was a song that demanded attention. I can forgive an exaggeration. Just look at the content of the lyrics. He's making some good points. And it's still relevant today.
"To revolutionize make a change nothing's strange,
people people were are the same,
no we're not the same,
cause we don't know the game."
Tell me that still doesn't apply to today. White people and black people don't operate under the same rules. This song will be as relevant and important as the day it came out until things change.
#7 "Stan" - Eminem
Album: Marshall Maters LP
Year: 2000
See, I'm just like you in a way; I never knew my father neither
He used to always cheat on my mom and beat her
I can relate to what you're saying in your songs
So when I have a shitty day, I drift away and put 'em on
Cause I don't really got shit else so that shit helps when I'm depressed
I even got a tattoo of your name across the chest
Sometimes I even cut myself to see how much it bleeds
It's like adrenaline, the pain is such a sudden rush for me
See everything you say is real and I respect you cause you tell it
My girlfriend's jealous 'cause I talk about you 24/7
This is about as good as storytelling rap can get. Eminem knows how to craft a compelling story. It's told basically perfect too. He slowly reveals hints that his fan is unhinged, gradually revealing more and more things that make you start to be concerned about what's gonna happen. The production is top notch as well, foreshadowing the dark ending with a haunting beat. Also the background noises such as the thunderstorm going on when he's driving in his car make it feel more real. This is probably the song that even non-Eminem fans will listen to and be like "Ok so he's definitely talented." I put this at #7 despite the fact that I genuinely do not listen to this song very much. I'll skip it if it comes on and I think the reason is because I need to listen to the whole thing and I need to pay attention. This isn't background music that you can listen to when you're studying.
#6 "Suicidal Thoughts" - Notorious B.I.G.
Album: Ready to Die
Year: 1994
All my life I been considered as the worst
Lying to my mother, even stealing our her purse
Crime after crime, from drugs to extortion
I know my mother wished she got a fucking abortion
She don't even love me like she did when I was younger
Sucking on her chest just to stop my fucking hunger
I wonder if I died would tears come to her eyes,
Forgive me for my disrespect, forgive me for my lies
We're starting to reach the point where I just want to post the whole song as my example lyric. In an album where Biggie has consistently and constantly expressed his willingness to die, this was the only way to end the album. I'm fairly certain Ready to Die would still be considered a classic if this wasn't the ending, however this is the perfect ending to that album. This is another song that is greatly helped by the background noises. Usually an annoying presence, Diddy (or whatever he's calling himself now) is on the other end of the phone. The song being framed as a phone conversation makes it sound like this guy is really about to commit suicide. Diddy gradually starts getting more frantic and worried as the song goes on as you notice that he keeps interjecting more and more. It adds to the tension of the song. The gunshot at the end and the phone drop also sound real. Apparently to make it sound authentic, Biggie actually fell on the ground and made the huge thud himself.
#5 "Verbal Intercourse" - Raekwon feat. Nas
Album: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Year: 1995
Through the lights, cameras, and action, glamour glitters and gold
I unfold the scroll, plant seeds to stampede the globe
When I'm deceased, by then the beast arise like yeast
To conquer peace leaving savages to roam in the streets
Live on the run, police paying me to give in my gun
Trick my wisdom with the system that imprison my son
Smoke a gold leaf I hold heat, nonchalantly
I'm raunchy, the things I do is real, it never haunts me
While, funny style niggas roll in the pile
Rooster heads profile on a bus to Riker's Isle
Holding weed inside they pussy with they minds on the pretty things in life
Props as a true thug's wife
It's like a cycle, niggas come home, some'll go in
Do a bullet, come back, do the same shit again
From the womb to the tomb, presume the unpredictable
Guns salute life rapidly, that's the ritual
Holy fucking shit. I had to post Nas' entire verse because I couldn't figure out what to cut out. That is one of the greatest rap verses of all time. I recommend going on Rap Genius and looking at the annotations. Guess what? You get to listen that verse and then you listen to Raekwon. And then you get to listen to Ghostface Killah. It does not get better than that. I have nothing else to add to this honestly.
#4 "Fuck Tha Police" - NWA
Album: Straight Outta Compton
Year: 1988
Fucking with me cause I'm a teeenager
With a little bit of gold and a pager
Searching my car, looking for the product
Thinking every nigga is selling narcotics
You'd rather see me in the pen
Than me and Lorenzo rolling in a Benz-o
Beat a police out of shape
And when I'm finished, bring the yellow tape
To tape off the scene of the slaughter
Still getting swoll off bread and water
I don't know if they fags or what
Search a nigga down, and grabbing his nuts
And on the other hand, without a gun they can't get none
But don't let it be a black and a white one
Cause they'll slam ya down to the street top
Black police showing out for the white cop
If there's one weakness to this song, it's that Ice Cube pretty much says everything that needs to be said in his one verse. MC Ren and Eazy-E don't have bad verses, but they pale in comparison to Ice Cube's verse. Any questions you might bring up are answered. What about the black police? Oh they're showing out for the white cop. This is certainly one of the most iconic songs in hip hop. It's probably one of the songs that make people not like hip hop. It expressed a long held belief by black people that felt they were being unfairly treated by cops. It may have arguably even led to the LA riots, though obviously not directly. It may seem like I shouldn't like a song that says "Fuck the police" - a view which I don't share (fuck police unions though) - but I really do believe black people were and are treated differently by cops. This is a natural extension of the frustration that results from that. And it's one of the best records of all time.
#3 "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" - Pete Rock & CL Smooth
Album: Mecca and the Soul Brother
Year: 1992
When I date back I recall a man off the family tree
My right hand Poppa Doc I see
Took me from a boy to a man so I always had a father
When my biological didn't bother
Taking care of this so who am I to bicker
Not a bad ticker but I'm clocking pop's liver
But you can never say that his life is through
5 kids at 21 believe he got a right too
First thing you need to understand about this song is that it was made in remembrance of "Trouble" T. Roy. Hence the name of the song. He was a good friend of Pete Rock and CL Smooth. Somehow Pete Rock created one of the most perfect beats of all time in mourning for his friend. This song has a power over me. Whenever I hear this song, I have to pause. Pete Rock is a fucking genius. This perfectly sums up every emotion that has ever existed when you think of a memory of someone. It has hints of sadness, regret, happiness, pretty much any emotion you have felt when remembering someone who you've lost. If I ever lose a really good friend of mine, I will listen to this song sometime after it happened and I’ll just start fucking weeping. I am positive of this. CL Smooth composes the lyrics and it's almost biographical.
#2 "C.R.E.A.M." - The Wu-Tang Clan
Album: Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Year: 1993
But as the world turn I learned life is hell,
Living in the world no different from a cell
Every day I escape from Jakes giving chase, selling base
Smoking bones in the staircase
Though I don't know why I chose to smoke sess
I guess that's the time when I'm not depressed
But I'm still depressed and I ask what it's worth?
Ready to give up so I seek the old Earth
Who explained working hard may help you maintain
To learn to overcome the heartaches and pain
We got stickup kids, corrupt cops, and crack rocks, and
Stray shots, all on the block that stays hot
Leave it up to me while I be living proof
To kick the truth to the young black youth
You didn't actually think this wasn't going to make the list, did you? This classic song might have the most iconic and referenced hook in hip hop history and for good reason. It basically represents the ethos of all of rap music. Hell, it represents the ethos of life in general. We all make decisions based off money. That's probably why this song resonates so well. While your life is probably way
different than the Wu-Tang, all of us are still going through life to get money. Inspectah Deck has the better verse here, going through his issues - how he went to jail and it still feels like jail when he got out - but that he got some good advice to work hard from the elders. He's going to use his street cred - which he gained from going to jail - to "kick the truth to the young black youth." Not exactly stated what the truth is, but I'm guessing he's using the advice from his elders - to work hard - and will pass that down. Raekwon doesn't have a bad verse himself and actually pens one of the more memorable beginning lines in hip hop "I grew up on the crime side, the New York Times side, staying alive was no jive."
#1 "New York State of Mind" - Nas
Album: Illmatic
Year: 1994
I've taken rappers to a new plateau, through rap slow
My rhyming is a vitamin held without a capsule
The smooth criminal on beat breaks
Never put me in your box if your shit eats tape
The city never sleeps, full of villains and creeps
That's where I learned to do my hustle, had to scuffle with freaks
I'm an addict for sneakers, 20's of buddha and bitches with beepers
In the streets I can greet ya, about blunts I teach ya
Inhale deep like the words of my breath
I never sleep, 'cause sleep is the cousin of death
I lay puzzle as I backtrack to earlier times
Nothing's equivalent to the New York state of mind
For the record, I knew this was my #1 song before I even started finding the songs I would put on my list. It's no contest. This is the greatest hip hop song of all time made by the greatest rapper and greatest producer on the greatest album of all time. Just for good measure, there's also a sample of the first truly great rapper, Rakim, on this song. "New York State of Mind" is the perfect hip hop song. There's technically no chorus, just four and half minutes of nothing but rapping. Nas doesn't need a hook on this song. There's only one weak line in this entire song "And the stuff that I write is even tougher than dykes" which yeah that's a pretty weak line. But I can forgive especially when he writes shit like
"Rappers, I monkey flip 'em with the funky rhythm I be kicking,
Musician, inflicting composition,
I'm like Scarface sniffing cocaine
Holding an M16, see with the pen I'm extreme."
This just broke all the rules in the same way Paid in Full did back in 1986. Nas just rhymed monkey flip 'em with funky rhythm, musician, and composition. And it's not like he's just saying words, it all makes sense. This song is unbelievable and I do not think it will ever be topped.
If you're interested, below is a playlist of the 100 songs listed here and a bunch of other songs that were considered. I had to save some of the songs on my computer so they may not be available to you - such as D'Evils by Jay-Z - but 95% of the songs are available. I may add a few more (such as more Illmatic or Ready to Die songs), but I won't make the playlist longer than 200 songs.
#16 "Shook Ones Part II" - Mobb Deep
Album: The Infamous
Year: 1995
I don't got time for your petty thinking mind
Son, I'm bigger than those
Claiming that you pack heat, but you're scared to hold
And when the smoke clears, you'll be left with one in your dome
13 years in the projects, my mentality is what, kid?
You talk a good one, but you don't want it
Sometimes I wonder do I deserve to live
Or am I going to burn in hell for all the things I did?
No time to dwell on that cause my brain reacts
A lot of rap songs have dark content in their lyrics, but not many songs have managed such a threatening beat. You don't want to get caught hanging around this beat. This beat alone has the capability of killing you. This is Mobb Deep's threat towards wannabe gangsters. The shook ones refer to people who are halfway crooks, who aren't willing to go as far as they need to go in order to succeed in Queensbridge. Havoc and Prodigy are willing to do that. I picked my highlighted lyric because it reveals the mentality behind Havoc (and probably Prodigy) - he briefly wonders if he's going to hell, but can't linger on that thought too much because it will make him a halfway crook. This beat is probably now more well-known as the beat behind the climactic battle in 8 Mile.
#15 "Juicy" - Notorious B.I.G.
Album: Ready to Die
Year: 1994
And my whole crew is lounging
Celebrating every day, no more public housing,
Thinking back on my one-room shack
Now my mom pimps a Ac with minks on her back
And she loves to show me off of course,
Smiles every time my face is up in The Source,
We used to fuss when the landlord dissed us,
No heat, wonder why Christmas missed us
Birthdays was the worst days,
Now we sip champagne when we thirsty
If you want an idea of how "Started from the Bottom" is supposed to sound like, look no further than "Juicy" which actually explains how his life use to be, how is life is now, and some of the hardships he had to go through. In the first verse, it's almost a rap history lesson as he goes through some of the people who he used to listen to and that hip hop was never supposed to take it this far. But he's also explaining his origins - how he got into rap the first place - so it works. In the next two verses, he explains the differences between then and now. It's got his trademark flow, and an inspirational hook. What more can you ask for?
#14 "Life's a Bitch" - Nas
Album: Illmatic
Year: 1994
I'm destined to live the dream for all my peeps who never made it,
Cause, yeah, we were beginners in the hood as 5 Percenters
But something must've gotten in us, cause all of us turned to sinners,
Now some are resting in peace and some are sitting in San Quentin,
Others, such as myself, are trying to carry on tradition,
Keeping this Schweppervescent street ghetto essence inside us,
Cause it provides us with the proper insight to guide us
Even though we know, somehow we all gotta go,
But as long as we leaving thieving,
We'll be leaving with some kind of dough
As you can see, I posted just about AZ's entire verse here. It might legitimately be one of the best verses of all time. You listen to this verse and you wonder why AZ never got big. Fun fact about this song: Nas almost sampled "Juicy Fruit," otherwise known as the same song that Biggie sampled in "Juicy." That would have been a weird coincidence and I'm glad it worked out this way. This is somewhat of a depressing song in the sense that "life's a bitch and then you die" is sort of nihilistic point of view. It's a viewpoint I'm sure a lot of people understand though and it's a twisting of the common hip hop topic: you never know when you're gonna die, so live for today. Nas chooses to smoke weed. If you listen to the Illmatic, you would not believe how much he references smoking.
#13 "It Was a Good Day" - Ice Cube
Album: The Predator
Year: 1992
Today was like one of those fly dreams,
Didn't even see a berry flashing those high beams
No helicopter looking for a murder
2 in the morning, got the Fatburger
Even saw the lights of a Goodyear blimp,
and it read "Ice Cube's a pimp,"
Drunk as hell but no throwing up,
Halfway home and my pager still blowing up,
Today I didn't even have to use my AK
I gotta say it was a good day
How great does Ice Cube's good day sound? It sounds amazing. He gets with a girl he's been crushing on since the 12th grade, he plays a game of pickup basketball with his friends and plays like MJ, he's ignored by the cops, there's no smog in LA, nobody dies, and a freaking blimp says "Ice Cube's a pimp." It switches back-and-forth between things that could happen (like playing really well in a basketball game) and things that are hopeful, but probably won't (the blimp thing). It's a good day for him and the world really - nobody got murdered and people can go outside without the threat of smog. This is a song that instantly puts me in a good mood and makes me feel like I'm having a good day.
#12 "D'Evils" - Jay-Z
Album: Reasonable Doubt
Year: 1996
Whoever said illegal was the easy way out, couldn't understand
The mechanics and the workings of the underworld, granted
Nine to five is how you survive, I ain't trying to survive,
I'm trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot
Life ills poisoned my body, I used to say fuck mic skills,
I never prayed to God, I prayed to Gotti,
That's right it's wicked, that's life I live it
There are not that many wildly acclaimed and near unanimously agreed upon classic albums. Reasonable Doubt, one of those albums, was my one blind spot where I hadn't really given it a listen. In preparation for this post, I gave it a listen. A serious listen. I was expecting the Biggie/Jay-Z song to be the one that hit me the hardest. Not that it was bad, but it kind of underwhelmed me. I loved D'Evils almost instantly. This is a DJ Premier beat and the beat goes a long way towards why I loved this song immediately. Then I looked at the lyrics and Jay-Z comes up with this line:
"My hand around her collar, feeding her cheese,
she said the taste of dollars was shitty so I fed her fifties,
About his whereabouts, I wasn't convinced,
I kept feeding her money 'til her shit started to make sense."
That worldplay is insane. And that wasn't even the excerpt of the song I picked. Nor was it my favorite line. "Nine to five is how to survive, I ain't trying to survive, I'm trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot" was. This song is about how the "d'evils" - basically temptation and greed - corrupts the ghetto and how it has affected him. (And if you're wondering why d'evils, he pronounces it da evils, but spelled out it's devil so the devil is tempting him)
#11 "Mind Playing Tricks On Me" - Geto Boys
Album: We Can't Be Stopped
Year: 1991
I often drift while I drive
Having fatal thoughts of suicide,
Bang and get it over with
And then I'm worry free, but that's bullshit
I got a little boy to look after
And if I died then my child would be a bastard
I had a woman down with me
But to me it seemed she was down to get me
She helped me out in this shit
But to me she was just another bitch
Now she's back with her mother
Now I'm realizing that I love her
Now I'm feeling lonely
My Mind is playing tricks on me
I have loved this song for a very long time. I don't think rap verses can get much better than the two Scarface verses. Willie D's verse is alright and Buschwick Bill's is just kind of weird, but Scarface's two verses are why this song is here. "Now I'm realizing that I love her, now I'm feeling lonely" is said in just about the most depressing and honest way I've ever heard in a rap song. It makes you think he fucked it up and is regretting it. Gangsta rap tends to glorify the drug-dealing lifestyle and the Geto Boys are no exception, but this song makes it sound fucking horrible. He's constantly in fear of his life, he's on the verge of suicide, he's ruined his relationship, nothing at all sounds good about the way he's living his life. The lyrics come equipped with a beat that somehow sounds disapproving? I hear the beat and my first thought is one of my parents just standing there in silence, shaking their head in disapproval. This is not a complaint as the beat goes perfectly with the song.
#10 "The Message" - Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
Album: The Message
Year: 1982
Broken glass everywhere,
People pissing in the stairs, you know they just don't care
I can't take the smell, can't take the noise
Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice
Rats in the front room, roaches in the back,
Junkies in the alley with a baseball bat
I tried to get away but I couldn't get far
Cause a man with two truck repossessed my car
Don't push me, cause I'm close to the edge
I'm trying not to lose my head
It's like a jungle sometiems
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under
I doubt this was the first socially conscious rap song, but it had to have been one of the first and the others probably weren't assisted by a fantastic beat that very much sounds like it was made in 1982 but also still sounds really good now. Before 1987 - essentially before Paid in Full - the rhymes were extremely simple, putting an inordinate amount of focus on the content of the lyrics. Considering hip hop started as a party genre, most rap songs haven't exactly aged very well. (For an example of someone who has not aged well, look no further than Kurtis Blow.) This is a notable exception and the reason is because the content of "The Message" stands the test of time. Rapped by Melle Mel, this song paints a portrait of a poor neighborhood. Obviously they're trying to send out a message and the song lives up to the title.
#9 "I Ain't No Joke" - Eric B & Rakim
Album: Paid in Full
Year: 1987
Write a rhyme in graffiti in every show you see me in
Deep concentration cause I'm no comedian
Jokers are wild if you want to be tamed
I treat you like a child then you're gonna be named
Another enemy, not even a friend of me
Cause you'll get fried in the end when you pretend to be
Competing cause I just put your mind on pause
And I can beat you when you compare my rhyme with yours
I wake you up and as I stare in your face you seemed stunned
Remember me, the one you got your idea from?
But soon you start to suffer, the tune'll get rougher
When you start to stutter, that's when you had enough of
Biting it will make you choke, you can't provoke
You can't cope, you should have broke
Because I ain't no joke
Just say that verse out loud and you realize it's poetry. Nobody before Paid in Full was anywhere near what Rakim was doing here. It wasn't typical to write a verse that essentially was just you announcing your superiority above all other rappers and just letting the words speak for themselves. But the rhymes were simple. Rakim essentially invented the multisyllabic rhyme in hip hop, or at the least popularized it. It sounds weird now, but nobody was rhyming "enemy" with "friend of me." The kind of rhyme that doesn't look like it rhymes until you say it out loud. Eric B wasn't among the best producers of the time, but he was probably in the second tier. (Off the top of my head, Rick Rubin, the Bomb Squad, and Dr. Dre were all better. He was probably equal to BDP and Marley Marl though I'm definitely willing to accept both were better too.)
#8 "Fight the Power" - Public Enemy
Album: Fear of a Black Planet
Year: 1990
Elvis was a hero to most,
But he never meant shit to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was
Simple and plain
Mother fuck him and John Wayne
Cause I'm black and I'm proud
I'm ready and hyped plus I'm amped
Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps
Sample a look back you look and find
Nothing but rednecks for 400 years if you check
Don't worry be happy was a number one jam
Damn if I say it you can slap me right here
Oh boy. We're getting into political motherfucking songs. I love this verse. He backtracks a bit later in life on calling Elvis a racist. But the point I think was that he made a shit ton of money making black music. Also this was a song that demanded attention. I can forgive an exaggeration. Just look at the content of the lyrics. He's making some good points. And it's still relevant today.
"To revolutionize make a change nothing's strange,
people people were are the same,
no we're not the same,
cause we don't know the game."
Tell me that still doesn't apply to today. White people and black people don't operate under the same rules. This song will be as relevant and important as the day it came out until things change.
#7 "Stan" - Eminem
Album: Marshall Maters LP
Year: 2000
See, I'm just like you in a way; I never knew my father neither
He used to always cheat on my mom and beat her
I can relate to what you're saying in your songs
So when I have a shitty day, I drift away and put 'em on
Cause I don't really got shit else so that shit helps when I'm depressed
I even got a tattoo of your name across the chest
Sometimes I even cut myself to see how much it bleeds
It's like adrenaline, the pain is such a sudden rush for me
See everything you say is real and I respect you cause you tell it
My girlfriend's jealous 'cause I talk about you 24/7
This is about as good as storytelling rap can get. Eminem knows how to craft a compelling story. It's told basically perfect too. He slowly reveals hints that his fan is unhinged, gradually revealing more and more things that make you start to be concerned about what's gonna happen. The production is top notch as well, foreshadowing the dark ending with a haunting beat. Also the background noises such as the thunderstorm going on when he's driving in his car make it feel more real. This is probably the song that even non-Eminem fans will listen to and be like "Ok so he's definitely talented." I put this at #7 despite the fact that I genuinely do not listen to this song very much. I'll skip it if it comes on and I think the reason is because I need to listen to the whole thing and I need to pay attention. This isn't background music that you can listen to when you're studying.
#6 "Suicidal Thoughts" - Notorious B.I.G.
Album: Ready to Die
Year: 1994
All my life I been considered as the worst
Lying to my mother, even stealing our her purse
Crime after crime, from drugs to extortion
I know my mother wished she got a fucking abortion
She don't even love me like she did when I was younger
Sucking on her chest just to stop my fucking hunger
I wonder if I died would tears come to her eyes,
Forgive me for my disrespect, forgive me for my lies
We're starting to reach the point where I just want to post the whole song as my example lyric. In an album where Biggie has consistently and constantly expressed his willingness to die, this was the only way to end the album. I'm fairly certain Ready to Die would still be considered a classic if this wasn't the ending, however this is the perfect ending to that album. This is another song that is greatly helped by the background noises. Usually an annoying presence, Diddy (or whatever he's calling himself now) is on the other end of the phone. The song being framed as a phone conversation makes it sound like this guy is really about to commit suicide. Diddy gradually starts getting more frantic and worried as the song goes on as you notice that he keeps interjecting more and more. It adds to the tension of the song. The gunshot at the end and the phone drop also sound real. Apparently to make it sound authentic, Biggie actually fell on the ground and made the huge thud himself.
#5 "Verbal Intercourse" - Raekwon feat. Nas
Album: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Year: 1995
Through the lights, cameras, and action, glamour glitters and gold
I unfold the scroll, plant seeds to stampede the globe
When I'm deceased, by then the beast arise like yeast
To conquer peace leaving savages to roam in the streets
Live on the run, police paying me to give in my gun
Trick my wisdom with the system that imprison my son
Smoke a gold leaf I hold heat, nonchalantly
I'm raunchy, the things I do is real, it never haunts me
While, funny style niggas roll in the pile
Rooster heads profile on a bus to Riker's Isle
Holding weed inside they pussy with they minds on the pretty things in life
Props as a true thug's wife
It's like a cycle, niggas come home, some'll go in
Do a bullet, come back, do the same shit again
From the womb to the tomb, presume the unpredictable
Guns salute life rapidly, that's the ritual
Holy fucking shit. I had to post Nas' entire verse because I couldn't figure out what to cut out. That is one of the greatest rap verses of all time. I recommend going on Rap Genius and looking at the annotations. Guess what? You get to listen that verse and then you listen to Raekwon. And then you get to listen to Ghostface Killah. It does not get better than that. I have nothing else to add to this honestly.
#4 "Fuck Tha Police" - NWA
Album: Straight Outta Compton
Year: 1988
Fucking with me cause I'm a teeenager
With a little bit of gold and a pager
Searching my car, looking for the product
Thinking every nigga is selling narcotics
You'd rather see me in the pen
Than me and Lorenzo rolling in a Benz-o
Beat a police out of shape
And when I'm finished, bring the yellow tape
To tape off the scene of the slaughter
Still getting swoll off bread and water
I don't know if they fags or what
Search a nigga down, and grabbing his nuts
And on the other hand, without a gun they can't get none
But don't let it be a black and a white one
Cause they'll slam ya down to the street top
Black police showing out for the white cop
If there's one weakness to this song, it's that Ice Cube pretty much says everything that needs to be said in his one verse. MC Ren and Eazy-E don't have bad verses, but they pale in comparison to Ice Cube's verse. Any questions you might bring up are answered. What about the black police? Oh they're showing out for the white cop. This is certainly one of the most iconic songs in hip hop. It's probably one of the songs that make people not like hip hop. It expressed a long held belief by black people that felt they were being unfairly treated by cops. It may have arguably even led to the LA riots, though obviously not directly. It may seem like I shouldn't like a song that says "Fuck the police" - a view which I don't share (fuck police unions though) - but I really do believe black people were and are treated differently by cops. This is a natural extension of the frustration that results from that. And it's one of the best records of all time.
#3 "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" - Pete Rock & CL Smooth
Album: Mecca and the Soul Brother
Year: 1992
When I date back I recall a man off the family tree
My right hand Poppa Doc I see
Took me from a boy to a man so I always had a father
When my biological didn't bother
Taking care of this so who am I to bicker
Not a bad ticker but I'm clocking pop's liver
But you can never say that his life is through
5 kids at 21 believe he got a right too
First thing you need to understand about this song is that it was made in remembrance of "Trouble" T. Roy. Hence the name of the song. He was a good friend of Pete Rock and CL Smooth. Somehow Pete Rock created one of the most perfect beats of all time in mourning for his friend. This song has a power over me. Whenever I hear this song, I have to pause. Pete Rock is a fucking genius. This perfectly sums up every emotion that has ever existed when you think of a memory of someone. It has hints of sadness, regret, happiness, pretty much any emotion you have felt when remembering someone who you've lost. If I ever lose a really good friend of mine, I will listen to this song sometime after it happened and I’ll just start fucking weeping. I am positive of this. CL Smooth composes the lyrics and it's almost biographical.
#2 "C.R.E.A.M." - The Wu-Tang Clan
Album: Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Year: 1993
But as the world turn I learned life is hell,
Living in the world no different from a cell
Every day I escape from Jakes giving chase, selling base
Smoking bones in the staircase
Though I don't know why I chose to smoke sess
I guess that's the time when I'm not depressed
But I'm still depressed and I ask what it's worth?
Ready to give up so I seek the old Earth
Who explained working hard may help you maintain
To learn to overcome the heartaches and pain
We got stickup kids, corrupt cops, and crack rocks, and
Stray shots, all on the block that stays hot
Leave it up to me while I be living proof
To kick the truth to the young black youth
You didn't actually think this wasn't going to make the list, did you? This classic song might have the most iconic and referenced hook in hip hop history and for good reason. It basically represents the ethos of all of rap music. Hell, it represents the ethos of life in general. We all make decisions based off money. That's probably why this song resonates so well. While your life is probably way
different than the Wu-Tang, all of us are still going through life to get money. Inspectah Deck has the better verse here, going through his issues - how he went to jail and it still feels like jail when he got out - but that he got some good advice to work hard from the elders. He's going to use his street cred - which he gained from going to jail - to "kick the truth to the young black youth." Not exactly stated what the truth is, but I'm guessing he's using the advice from his elders - to work hard - and will pass that down. Raekwon doesn't have a bad verse himself and actually pens one of the more memorable beginning lines in hip hop "I grew up on the crime side, the New York Times side, staying alive was no jive."
#1 "New York State of Mind" - Nas
Album: Illmatic
Year: 1994
I've taken rappers to a new plateau, through rap slow
My rhyming is a vitamin held without a capsule
The smooth criminal on beat breaks
Never put me in your box if your shit eats tape
The city never sleeps, full of villains and creeps
That's where I learned to do my hustle, had to scuffle with freaks
I'm an addict for sneakers, 20's of buddha and bitches with beepers
In the streets I can greet ya, about blunts I teach ya
Inhale deep like the words of my breath
I never sleep, 'cause sleep is the cousin of death
I lay puzzle as I backtrack to earlier times
Nothing's equivalent to the New York state of mind
For the record, I knew this was my #1 song before I even started finding the songs I would put on my list. It's no contest. This is the greatest hip hop song of all time made by the greatest rapper and greatest producer on the greatest album of all time. Just for good measure, there's also a sample of the first truly great rapper, Rakim, on this song. "New York State of Mind" is the perfect hip hop song. There's technically no chorus, just four and half minutes of nothing but rapping. Nas doesn't need a hook on this song. There's only one weak line in this entire song "And the stuff that I write is even tougher than dykes" which yeah that's a pretty weak line. But I can forgive especially when he writes shit like
"Rappers, I monkey flip 'em with the funky rhythm I be kicking,
Musician, inflicting composition,
I'm like Scarface sniffing cocaine
Holding an M16, see with the pen I'm extreme."
This just broke all the rules in the same way Paid in Full did back in 1986. Nas just rhymed monkey flip 'em with funky rhythm, musician, and composition. And it's not like he's just saying words, it all makes sense. This song is unbelievable and I do not think it will ever be topped.
If you're interested, below is a playlist of the 100 songs listed here and a bunch of other songs that were considered. I had to save some of the songs on my computer so they may not be available to you - such as D'Evils by Jay-Z - but 95% of the songs are available. I may add a few more (such as more Illmatic or Ready to Die songs), but I won't make the playlist longer than 200 songs.
Monday, August 15, 2016
Top 100 Rap Songs: #21-79
Welcome to part two of the impossible experiment. In case you missed part one, just click here. Part two provides the meat of the rankings. I also probably thought about the middle 50 the least amount, because - like I said in part one - it doesn't make much difference to me what is 44th and what is 69th. The top songs are usually clearer and the back songs are easier because you kind of know what barely made the cut when trimming the list down to 100. The middle 50 are too in between for me to obsess over specific rankings. I'll make myself go crazy if I worried about that.
Since I have so many songs, I'll just get right to it.
#79 "Kill You" - Eminem
Album: The Marshall Mathers LP
Year: 2000
Eminem came out of nowhere and got huge from The Slim Shady LP. He pissed off a lot of people. People wondered if he was a fluke and what he would do for his second album. This is the first song off The Marshall Mathers LP. It is literally a song designed to piss people off and say as many vile things as possible. He's so transparently trolling people that it's obvious he doesn't mean it. Of course, it pissed people off and the controversy allowed him to get bigger than he was before, because people took the bait - hook, line and sinker. (This was hardly a new thing in rap. Ice T, Geto Boys, and others have all gotten MORE famous because people complained about their lyrics, which only made people interested in those lyrics.)
#78 "Chief Rocka" - Lords of the Underground
Album: Here Come the Lords
Year: 1993
Even when I'm not putting a new Ready to Die song on here, I'm technically putting a Ready to Die song on here. What's that you say? How is this a Ready to Die song? It's not, but "Machine Gun Funk" samples this song and uses "I live for the funk, I die for the funk" as its chorus. That's not why I put this on here though, because this is a fantastic song on its own. CHIEF ROCKA
#77 "Paper Trail$" - Joey Bada$$
Album: B4.DA.$$ (What an obnoxious album title)
Year: 2015
I've listened to a few Joey Bada$$ songs. Not a lot. I had no indication he was capable of a song like this. He is helped by possibly the greatest hip hop producer ever, DJ Premier, and yes I think he's better than Dr. Dre. (I may try to run a tally of how many DJ Premier beats land on this list, but it's definitely up there.) The topic of the song is easily explained by his twisting of C.R.E.A.M. by saying cash ruins everything around me.
#76 "Bring the Noise" - Public Enemy
Album: It Takes a Million to Hold Us Back
Year: 1988
Well I'll say this: #77 brought maybe the worst album name I've ever seen and It Takes a Million to Hold Us Back is maybe one of the best. "Bring the Noise" is Chuck D ranting against critics, the radio stations that won't play him, and media.
#75 "Living in the World Today" - GZA
Album: Liquid Swords
Year: 1995
Judging by the song title, you could be fooled what this song is about. It's important to listen to the second part of the hook: "If you living in the world today, you be hearin' the slang that the Wu-Tang say." So it's basically about showing GZA's superiority lyrically to other rappers. Sometimes I feel like the Wu-Tang are just on another level because that's essentially what every song of theirs is about (some exceptions) and yet it never fails to prove true.
#74 "Take it in Blood"- Nas
Album: It Was Written
Year: 1996
Two Nas songs and still none from Illmatic? Don't worry it's coming. As you can imagine, I feel Nas gets a bad rap with his non-Illmatic albums. It Was Written is certainly criminally underrated. The title refers to the fact that if you're going to take money from Nas, you're going to need to take it in blood... which is how he ends the song. (Though "MCs are crawling out every hole in the slum, you be alright like blood money in a pimp's cum" is a better finishing lyric in the same song. I do understand why he didn't name the song Blood Money in a Pimp's Cum.)
#73 "How Could I Just Kill a Man" - Cypress Hill
Album: Cypress Hill
Year: 1991
If I'm being honest, this song is on this list because the beat coupled with the chorus is highly addictive and awesome. Despite having a lame rap name - B-Real really? - he's pretty good lyrically on this song and that was all I needed to put this song here.
#72 "South Bronx" - Boogie Down Productions
Album: Criminal Minded
Year: 1987
For some reason, "The Bridge is Over" is more highly regarded and famous of the BDP's diss songs in the Bridge Wars between them and the Juice Crew. This song is much better. For one thing, "The Bridge is Over" is a bunch of words that amounts to just "You guys are so gay" while South Bronx actually effectively does what it is trying to do: assert the dominance of South Bronx in hip hop, first by making fun of MC Shan's style (which has not aged well at all), by detailing the history of South Bronx in hip hop, and then finishing him off with "I didn't hear a peep from a place called Queens." Also this was the beginning of KRS-One's career as in he literally did not have one before this song happened.
#71 "Forgot About Dre" - Dr. Dre
Album: 2001
Year: 1999
Did naming your album a future year - as in if I made an album and called it 2020 - used to be cool? Because I find that hard to believe, and yet I'd have to think that because Dr. Dre did that very thing. This entire song was penned by Eminem and funny enough the weak part of it is Eminem. My guess is that he didn't want to show up Dr. Dre and ended up overcompensating by making a clearly inferior verse to the two around him. Still a great song.
#70 "Who Am I? What's My Name" - Snoop Dogg
Album: Doggystyle
Year: 1993
Snoop Dogg gets away with a lot of shit on his lyrics that other rappers can't pull off. (Also murder) Like I'm starting to think he's just not that good of a lyricist, and has been coasting by on charisma and flow this whole time. Nobody else would be able to get away with spelling their name on half their songs for 20 years. Here, where it would be most appropriate, he does NOT spell his name. He does repeat it a bunch, but the point of the song is to introduce the world to Snoop Dogg and boy was that a success. Also, give George Clinton like 90% of the credit for this song being awesome and if you don't know what I mean listen to all of "Atomic Dog."
#69 "I Got 5 On It" - Luniz
Album: Operation Stackola
Year: 1995
This particular song is probably considerably higher than your average hip hop top 100 list, if it's even on that list. But I love this song a lot. Also how do you not add a song whose lyrics include "I take sacks to the face whenever I can?" (Surely he could have come up with a different term for weed)
#68 "Harlem Streets" - Immortal Technique
Album: Revolutionary Vol. 2
Year: 2004
A song about the reality of living life in Harlem has a haunting beat and a great hook: "Homicide Harlem, BLAOW, what's the problem?" Essentially, things that aren't normal have become normal and accepted, hence the sarcastic "What's the problem?"
#67 "Renegade" - Jay-Z
Album: The Blueprint
Year: 2001
This song is well-known for playing a key part in the Nas/Jay-Z rap battle, when Nas says "Eminem murdered you on your own shit" in "Ether." While Eminem has the better verses, Jay-Z nearly matches him. There's certainly an argument to be made that I have this song way too low, since it's two of the best at the top of their games over a great beat.
#66 "Bring the Pain" - Method Man
Album: Tical
Year: 1994
Method Man is not the best Wu-Tang member, but he is clearly distinct from the other members so that you instantly know it's Method Man when he starts rapping. Not all the members have that. So it's not particularly surprising that he released the first solo album of any Wu-Tang member. "Bring the Pain" is a solid example of what he brings to the table, though my favorite thing he ever did was his work on The Wire (pretty big spoiler there).
#65 "Award Tour" - A Tribe Called Quest
Album: Midnight Mauraders
Year: 1993
Oh how I wish there was A Tribe Called Quest equivalent in 2016. They may have been the face of alternative hip hop back in the early 1990s. They were certainly the most influential. "Award Tour" is a fine example, in both sound and lyrics, of the appeal of A Tribe Called Quest. But in all seriousness, is there a more dated 90s lyric than "Coming up with more hits than the Braves and the Yankees?" Both epitomized success in the 90s and now... not so much.
#64 "Hip Hop Saved My Life" - Lupe Fiasco
Album: Lupe Fiasco's The Cool
Year: 2007
An impeccably told story about a rapper who gives up drug dealing for rapping, which is apparently about Slim Thug? Who knew? Anyway, it's not clear if he even "made it," because the end of the song is just that his freestyle got played on the radio, which is cool, but not necessarily an indication of anything.
#63 "What They Do" - The Roots
Album: Illadelph Hallife
Year: 1996
Written at at the end of the golden age of hip hop and presumably prime in the thick of 2Pac copycats, The Roots wrote a song telling people to never do what "they" do, but to do your own thing. I'd say that's a pretty good message. It's aided by a smooth, heavenly beat.
#62 "Walk This Way" - Run-DMC
Album: Raising Hell
Year: 1986
"Walk This Way" is one of the most important songs in hip hop. It vaulted hip hop into the pop music world, proving that hip hop could have a place in pop. (It also revitalized Aerosmith's career) You have to give a lot of credit to Rick Rubin for this one, because neither Run nor D.M.C liked the idea of remaking the song. They eventually did it and the rest is history.
#61 "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" - Kendrick Lamar
Album: good kid, m.A.A.d. city
Year: 2012
This song is a much more complex song than what it would appear to be, which is probably not a surprise since it's Kendrick Lamar. I won't go into its meaning, because it's not exactly clear, but he goes after any combination of music executives, other rappers, and molly. All of them kill his vibe. It's possible he is also referring to women, though I don't think so.
#60 "Da Art of Storytellin Part 2" - Outkast
Album: Aquemini
Year: 1998
Well, I wish more songs were about the apocalypse or at least had that sense of grandeur. Andre 3000 uses the premise of an apocalypse and then makes it have the double meaning of how we don't treat Earth well. Big Boi plays it more straightforward, although I do appreciate his commitment to the bit when his last few lyrics are about how he needs to finish the verse, apocalypse be damned.
#59 "Stray Bullet" - Organized Konfusion
Album: Stress: The Extinction Agenda
Year: 1994
This song is sung from the perspective of a stray bullet. Literally. Well judging by the occasional bangs interjected, it's a few stray bullets. I can't really blame him, because a stray bullet doesn't have that many places to go. It's similar to Nas "I Gave You Power" except this came two years earlier. It effectively shows what careless shooting has the power to do.
#58 "Til I Collapse" - Eminem
Album: The Eminem Show
Year: 2002
Is there a more effective pre-game pump-up song than this? I'm not sure that there is. It's almost more effective playing this before a game than what the song is explicitly about: how Eminem won't stop killing the rap game until he dies... except for that eight-year period between The Eminem Show and Recovery where he was not killing the rap game.
#57 "Don't Sweat the Technique" - Eric B & Rakim
Album: Don't Sweat the Technique
Year: 1992
In 1986, Rakim changed the way people rapped with Paid in Full, one of the first great hip hop albums ever (certainly better than everything that came before it). By 1992, his style had integrated itself fully across hip hop. This is essentially him re-asserting his dominance over the people who copied him since then.
#56 "You Got Me" - The Roots
Album: Things Fall Apart
Year: 1999
A classic love story told in the form of a hip song with unlikely lovers and a sense of destiny to boot. Again, The Roots band elevates this song and an Erykah Badu hook makes this quite a lovely listen.
#55 "Rather Unique" - AZ
Album: Doe or Die
Year: 1995
Any reasonably big Nas fan should know who AZ is already. He's the only guest verse on Illmatic and he actually has a better verse than Nas on that song so the man has some talent. He followed that up with Doe or Die, a generally solid album that was mostly ignored, because the beats weren't anything special. Lyrically though, not a lot of people are better than AZ (at least at the time) and this song is probably the best example of that.
#54 "Gimme the Loot" - Notorious B.I.G.
Album: Ready to Die
Year: 1994
As I've said before, I think pretty much all of Ready to Die has a case to be on here. So it's hard for me to separate songs personally from each other. Gimme the Loot might be my favorite track even if I don't consider it the best because of the interplay between current Biggie and younger Biggie. He's so good at distinguishing his verses that I wouldn't be surprised if you've thought Biggie was trading quips with a completely different rapper this whole time.
#53 "Put it On" - Big L
Album: Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous
Year: 1995
Big L did not have a long rap career. He released his debut album when he was 20-years-old and wasn't able to release a second album before he died four years later at the age of 24. (He did have a few posthumous albums released). However, he was very well-respected in the short time he made his impact. This particular song doesn't attack any new subjects in rap, but his trademark flow is on full display here.
#52 "The Nigga Ya Love to Hate" - Ice Cube
Album: AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
Year: 1990
Ice Cube left NWA in December of 1989. He came out with his solo debut album five months later. That's nuts. I'm sure he had written some of it before leaving the group, but he didn't finish it the day before the album was released. At a minimum, he finished a month before the album was released. This was his first real song off that album. I'm not sure you can come up with a much better first song after breaking away from a group.
#51 "Lose Yourself" - Eminem
Album: 8 Mile
Year: 2002
Written from the perspective of B Rabbit in 8 Mile, this song could be inserted as a personal message to anyone who wants to make it in whatever field they are in. Take advantage of your opportunities and don't blow your shot. Honestly, if it wasn't for the upbeat beat, it's the type of the song that could hypothetically make you more nervous because of what he's actually saying. You may never get another shot. Well shit that's a lot of fucking pressure.
#50 "Uncommon Valor" - Jedi Mind Tricks
Album: Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell
Year: 2006
I listen to a lot of rap music. Not many artists nor songs stray too far from the usual topics. Jedi Mind Tricks went back 30 years and talked about Vietnam. Seeing as hip hop was mostly a party genre until the late 1980s with a few notable exceptions and that most hip hop artists begin their career really young, there is essentially zero crossover between Vietnam vets and hip hop artists. Nonetheless, Jedi Mind Tricks and R.A. the Rugged Man imagine as if they were. R.A. the Rugged Man's verse (second verse) is fucking insane like listen to it now insane. Do it.
#49 "None of Your Business" - Salt-N-Pepa
Album: Very Necessary
Year: 1993
Not "Push It?" "Whatta Man?" "Let's Talk About Sex?" I actually don't know if "None of Your Business" became famous or not - although it is the 5th most played song on Spotify, but that could easily just speak to its quality and not how famous it was. Anyway, this is an extremely feminist song in a genre that... lacks that (that's about the most generous way I could phrase that.) Salt-N-Pepa are laying down the law telling people it's none of our business what their sex life is like. Just asking for a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Obviously the content matters more, but this song is also catchy as hell.
#48 "What More Can I Say?" - Jay-Z
Album: The Black Album
Year: 2003
Nothing Jay-Z. There's nothing else you can say. Also, you clearly had nothing else left to say after The Black Album because damn you dropped far. The song is clearly about how Jay-Z has reached the top of the rap game and there's nothing else for him to do but retire. Because The Black Album was supposed to be his last album.
#47 "Bring Da Ruckus" - The Wu-Tang Clan
Album: Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Year: 1993
"Shaolin shadowboxing and the Wu-Tang sword style" is the perfect intro in the The Wu-Tang's near perfect first album. It just gets you in the mood for what's about to come. The Wu-Tang aimed to have a song announce their style and there's just about no better introduction than "Bring Da Ruckus." Each of the four verses are good, but I'm a particular fan of Inspectah Deck's.
#46 "Gin and Juice" Snoop Dogg
Album: Doggystyle
Year: 1993
Party songs don't come much better than this. The beat is majestic, Snoop's verses provide the atmosphere, and the hook is one of the catchiest hooks ever. You might succeed in not singing along to the chorus, but if you're drinking and you're at a party, game over.
#45 "I Seen a Man Die" - Scarface
Album: The Diary
Year: 1994
I told you I loved Scarface. This is a reflective song where Scarface is slow and clear in order for us to take in everything. The beat is haunting, setting the mood. It's a somber reflection on the violent life people choose to live through the eyes of a recently rehabilitated young man who just got released from prison.
#44 "Yesterday" - Atmosphere
Album: When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
Year: 2008
This song hits me like not many other songs do. The picture he paints throughout the song of a relationship that didn't end well and he can't fix it. You get on bad enough terms with someone you love that you don't talk anymore. Then that person dies and you cannot reconcile your issues. And you wish you could have, but you will never get that chance. That shit gets to me. That's not something you can just "get over." It will be with you for the rest of your life. Anyway, the song is powerful, because at first it seems like a fond memory for a typical relationship, but the ending reshapes the whole song.
#43 "Brenda's Got a Baby" - 2Pac
Album: 2Pacalypse Now
Year: 1991
Here is a well-detailed story about a mother who throws her newly born baby in the trash heap. That would seem to be a wholly unsympathetic person, but throughout the story we find out why. She's not smart, she has an absent mother, drug-addicted father, she has no role models, she's 12, and she got molested by her older cousin. I mean damn. This is all the more depressing for how plausible it is.
#42 Spottieottiedopaliscious - Outkast
Album: Aquemini
Year: 1998
A song that sounds like no other hip hop song, it features Andre 3000 and Big Boi talking - not rapping - about the night life of Atlanta and how it both provides an escape and sometimes is the cause of problems because of fights that break out at 3 am. Big Boi provides the title of the song with his Spottottiedopaliscious, which in his own words (though not on this song), describes a woman who is superfine, sexy, intelligent and jazzy all the same. It's a long song, but it's easy listening.
#41 "U.N.I.T.Y." - Queen Latifah
Album: Black Reign
Year: 1993
For as long as hip hop as been a thing, misogyny has been a problem. No where is this more evident than in the consistent and near universal use of the word bitch. This has predictably spread towards the listeners of hip hop, as hearing women casually called bitch all the time has made men think it's ok to call them that. Well Queen Latifah is fed up with that. This is her standing up for women and telling men to stop doing this.
#40 "Paul Revere" - Beastie Boys
Album: Licensed to Ill
Year: 1986
Holy shit. I just learned Licensed to Ill was originally titled Don't Be a Faggot. How fucking terrible of an idea would that have been? The record company thankfully refused to release the name under that title - for all the shit record companies get about this type of thing, they were absolutely, 100 percent correct here. Anyway, I could have gone a few different ways in choosing a Licensed to Ill song, but what better song than the song that describes the creation of the Beastie Boys itself?
#39 "Dance with the Devil" - Immortal Technique
Album: Revolutionary Vol. 1
Year: 2001
Well, I did not expect Immortal Technique to have two songs on this list before I started this project. But here we are and this one is quite something. It's a narrative rap where he describes a young man who had huge dreams of making a ton of money from hustling drugs. He is so eager to earn respect that he unknowingly rapes his mother (Listen to the song if this makes no sense to you.) This song is not to be taken literally as I'm assuming he's making the point that you shouldn't rape anyone because imagine if it was your own mother. A little blunt, but effective. Anyway, basically don't dance with the devil is the point overall.
#38 "Things Done Changed" - Notorious B.I.G.
Album: Ready to Die
Year: 1994
Biggie sets the stage for Ready to Die with "Things Done Changed," the first actual full-length song of the album. Back in the day, fights were settled with hands and people could actually go into the streets and play games. Now, everybody uses guns to settle disputes. Also it sets the mood of the album because the fact that things done changed has him stressed and presumably tired of it.
#37 "Lyrics of Fury" - Eric B & Rakim
Album: Follow the Leader
Year: 1988
I'm not sure there's a more appropriate title for Eric B & Rakim's second album than Follow The Leader, because he was the leader of the rap game at the time. Nothing shows off Rakim's lyrical skill better than this song off his second album. It also samples both James Brown and Funkadelic and you can't get much better than that.
#36 "Rewind" - Nas
Album: Stillmatic
Year: 2001
In this song, Nas tells an otherwise unremarkable, forgettable story of the fairly standard gangsta rap variety. Except for the part where he tells it in reverse. You just got to appreciate of how Nas is able to tell a Memento style story in a rap song.
#35 "Mama Said Knock You Out" - LL Cool J
Album: Mama Said Knock You Out
Year: 1991
This song has the greatest opening 12 seconds in hip history. The rest of the song is good too, but that opening 12 seconds hits you like a monsoon (Listen to the bass go boom.) This song randomly pops in my head all the time, especially that opening 12 seconds. "Don't call it a comeback" has to be one of the most memorable one-liners ever.
#34 "Still Dre" - Dr. Dre
Album: 2001
Year: 1999
Speaking of memorable opening songs, THIS BEAT hits you like a brick to the head and is good enough that it does not change one bit throughout the song and never gets old. Quite simply, this song is Dr. Dre telling people that he is still Dr. Dre.
#33 "B.O.B." - Outkast
Album: Stankonia
Year: 2000
This song is intense. It has the feeling of high speed car cheese with its frantic and rushed beat. Despite the chorus repeating "Bombs over Baghdad," this song isn't really political and that's just used because Andre 3000 thought it sounded cool. Nonetheless, these are two great verses and that beat just sucks you into the song.
#32 "Straight Outta Compton" - NWA
Album: Straight Outta Compton
Year: 1988
"You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge." That opening to this song and to the album itself is a necessary warning. You know shit's about to go down when you hear that opening. Smartly, Ice Cube gets the first verse, because Ice Cube is by far the most talented member and because he coins memorable starting lines. All the famous NWA songs were begun by Ice Cube and all of them stay in your brain. NWA didn't invent gangsta rap, but they certainly popularized it. And "Straight Outta Compton" is an excellent example of the genre done right.
#31 "Children's Story" - Slick Rick
Album: The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
Year: 1988
1988 is a pretty underrated year for rap. You got NWA at their height, Public Enemy at their height, Rakim at his height, and Slick Rick. All of these guys had completely different styles and all of them were great. Slick Rick though had - and I would argue still has - the most unique flow ever. I'm not saying it's the best, but I can't imagine anyone can replicate it. No one even tried as far as I can tell. The content of this song is probably too mature for a children's story, but it certainly is a lesson children need to know: don't rob people.
#30 "Classic (Better than I've Ever Been)" - DJ Premier feat. Rakim, Nas, & KRS-ONE
Album: None as far as I can tell
Year: 2007
Ok so I cheated a little here. The actual song includes Kanye West, but there's a version on Youtube without him on the song. Honestly, he doesn't belong on the song. Nas, KRS-One, and Rakim are lyrical masters of hip hop. Kanye is a genius producer, but not even close to their level lyrically. And DJ Premier provides the beat. So there's really no need for Kanye. I'll admit this is probably not the 30th best song of all time, but I can't say no to the only song featuring Nas, Rakim, and KRS-ONE, at least as far as I can tell. AND it's a DJ Premier beat.
#29 "9mm Go Bang" - Boogie Down Productions
Album: Criminal Minded
Year: 1987
As you can see, NWA didn't create gangsta rap as this probably qualifies as a gangsta rap song. It's near unrecognizable from what gangsta rap would become, but it has the same themes. For one thing, the tone of the song is childish - purposefully so I think. It's like he's singing it from the perspective of someone who doesn't think twice about using the gun, because he doesn't understand the consequences. I mean he kills three people in this song and doesn't seem the least bit bothered by it and this is from a dude who a year later made a movement called Stop the Violence to stop the violence in hip hop. So I don't think it's a stretch to think he's mocking people rather than glorifying it.
#28 "Regulate" - Warren G
Album: Regulate... G Funk Era
Year: 1994
The G funk era sure was short-lived. I appreciate the effort though Warren G. This is a classic back-and-forth street tale where Warren G gets robbed and later saved by Nate Dogg and then Nate Dogg takes him to a group of women. For being a Warren G song, this sure sounds like Nate Dogg's show. He gets to save his friend and get laid while Warren G stupidly goes into a dice game where he immediately gets a gun pulled on him. You'd think he be smarter than that.
#27 "Triumph" - Wu-Tang Clan
Album: Wu-Tang Forever
Year: 1997
I'm not sure if there's another song like this. This song features all nine members and the unofficial tenth member, Cappadona, over 5 and half minutes of nothing but rapping. ODB is in the intro and has a minor interjection in the middle, but that it's. ODB doesn't actually get a verse, GZA gets a total of six lines, and Cappadona's verse pales in comparison to the others, but otherwise every verse is classic Wu-Tang.
#26 "Let Me Ride" - Dr. Dre
Album: The Chronic
Year: 1992
I give credit to songs for accomplishing exactly what they are trying to do. With this song, Dr. Dre set out to create a song that you could blast in your car. There are probably a few songs that are better driving songs, but it's got to be close to the best song to bump to in your car. This is supposedly ghostwritten by RBX and he comes through in this song.
#25 "Doo Wop (That Thing)" - Lauryn Hill
Album: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Year: 1998
A lesson for both men and women: we need to watch out for those that are only after sex, fame, whatever. The point is they are not out there for true love so you shouldn't fall for those people. She dedicates a verse for the women and a verse for the men. The men's verse is more directed for men to start acting like... well men and not children.
#24 "99 Problems" - Jay-Z (No link cause Tidal)
Album: The Black Album
Year: 2003
Jay-Z lines out all of the issues he has in his life, none of which involve women, because... you know he was dating Beyonce at the time. He goes after the usual suspects: critics, rappers out to take his throne, advertisers, the paparazzi, and "man-ho." He also has an entire verse where he gets pulled over by a cop who wants to search him, but Jay-Z shows off his smarts by refusing to comply, knowing his rights. This covers just about every typical rap subject in one song. Add in a Rick Rubin beat and one of the most memorable hooks in hip hop, and you got yourself a classic.
#23 "m.A.A.d. city" - Kendrick Lamar
Album: good kid, m.A.A.d. city
Year: 2012
This is Kendrick's masterpiece as far as I'm concerned. The beat begins as a panicked, fast-pace rush as Kendrick goes through what it's like to live in the hood, such as how he first picked up on a guy he knew probably murdering someone when he was 9-years-old and how his cousin was killed in gang wars. Then it switches to a West Coast beat where the experienced "hood gangsta" MC Eiht is intent on teaching Kendrick some lessons. MC Eiht was a good choice, because his most well-known song is "Hood Took Me Under."
#22 "No Vaseline" - Ice Cube
Album: Death Certificate
Year: 1991
Diss songs don't get better than this. Ice Cube left NWA and backed off - didn't say anything about them for his first album. It's not clear how it started, but NWA went after Ice Cube in their 100 Miles and Runnin' EP, saying he was a Benedict Arnold. So Ice Cube responded with "No Vaseline." The first minute is just Ice Cube psyching himself up with clips of NWA talking and consistent "Here's what they think about you." The message was clear. They have no love for him. It creates the sense that Ice Cube reluctantly is doing this song because he knows they are done with him. And then... three verses just destroying the three key members of the NWA. There's a lot of double entendres here, most of which is a homophobic reading and the other just saying it like it is: they got screwed over monetarily by Jerry Heller.
#21 "I Used to Love H.E.R." - Common
Album: Resurrection
Year: 1994
I love this song and the reveal at the end of it is great, but I do have one slight issue with it. I feel like it could be more effective if it wasn't written in the golden age of hip hop. Granted, this was released as a single in 1993 before Wu-Tang, Nas, or Biggie released their debut albums, but there was plenty of great rap in 1992 and 1993. A Tribe Called Quest had released a few albums, The Roots just released their debut, Common would love Arrested Development's debut judging by these lyrics, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube had done a few albums, and Rakim made "Don't Sweat the Technique" the year before. But the art of how he made the song - I got to appreciate that.
That takes care of part two. Part three might not be finished tomorrow. I am scheduled to recap the baseball game so I'm not sure I'll have time to finish the post because all of my attention will be on the baseball game for three hours and an hour dedicated to writing that post. But I would like to finish it tomorrow since this has consumed my time for a good month. I'm thinking about posting the Spotify playlist to this tomorrow if anybody is interested.
Since I have so many songs, I'll just get right to it.
#79 "Kill You" - Eminem
Album: The Marshall Mathers LP
Year: 2000
Eminem came out of nowhere and got huge from The Slim Shady LP. He pissed off a lot of people. People wondered if he was a fluke and what he would do for his second album. This is the first song off The Marshall Mathers LP. It is literally a song designed to piss people off and say as many vile things as possible. He's so transparently trolling people that it's obvious he doesn't mean it. Of course, it pissed people off and the controversy allowed him to get bigger than he was before, because people took the bait - hook, line and sinker. (This was hardly a new thing in rap. Ice T, Geto Boys, and others have all gotten MORE famous because people complained about their lyrics, which only made people interested in those lyrics.)
#78 "Chief Rocka" - Lords of the Underground
Album: Here Come the Lords
Year: 1993
Even when I'm not putting a new Ready to Die song on here, I'm technically putting a Ready to Die song on here. What's that you say? How is this a Ready to Die song? It's not, but "Machine Gun Funk" samples this song and uses "I live for the funk, I die for the funk" as its chorus. That's not why I put this on here though, because this is a fantastic song on its own. CHIEF ROCKA
#77 "Paper Trail$" - Joey Bada$$
Album: B4.DA.$$ (What an obnoxious album title)
Year: 2015
I've listened to a few Joey Bada$$ songs. Not a lot. I had no indication he was capable of a song like this. He is helped by possibly the greatest hip hop producer ever, DJ Premier, and yes I think he's better than Dr. Dre. (I may try to run a tally of how many DJ Premier beats land on this list, but it's definitely up there.) The topic of the song is easily explained by his twisting of C.R.E.A.M. by saying cash ruins everything around me.
#76 "Bring the Noise" - Public Enemy
Album: It Takes a Million to Hold Us Back
Year: 1988
Well I'll say this: #77 brought maybe the worst album name I've ever seen and It Takes a Million to Hold Us Back is maybe one of the best. "Bring the Noise" is Chuck D ranting against critics, the radio stations that won't play him, and media.
#75 "Living in the World Today" - GZA
Album: Liquid Swords
Year: 1995
Judging by the song title, you could be fooled what this song is about. It's important to listen to the second part of the hook: "If you living in the world today, you be hearin' the slang that the Wu-Tang say." So it's basically about showing GZA's superiority lyrically to other rappers. Sometimes I feel like the Wu-Tang are just on another level because that's essentially what every song of theirs is about (some exceptions) and yet it never fails to prove true.
#74 "Take it in Blood"- Nas
Album: It Was Written
Year: 1996
Two Nas songs and still none from Illmatic? Don't worry it's coming. As you can imagine, I feel Nas gets a bad rap with his non-Illmatic albums. It Was Written is certainly criminally underrated. The title refers to the fact that if you're going to take money from Nas, you're going to need to take it in blood... which is how he ends the song. (Though "MCs are crawling out every hole in the slum, you be alright like blood money in a pimp's cum" is a better finishing lyric in the same song. I do understand why he didn't name the song Blood Money in a Pimp's Cum.)
#73 "How Could I Just Kill a Man" - Cypress Hill
Album: Cypress Hill
Year: 1991
If I'm being honest, this song is on this list because the beat coupled with the chorus is highly addictive and awesome. Despite having a lame rap name - B-Real really? - he's pretty good lyrically on this song and that was all I needed to put this song here.
#72 "South Bronx" - Boogie Down Productions
Album: Criminal Minded
Year: 1987
For some reason, "The Bridge is Over" is more highly regarded and famous of the BDP's diss songs in the Bridge Wars between them and the Juice Crew. This song is much better. For one thing, "The Bridge is Over" is a bunch of words that amounts to just "You guys are so gay" while South Bronx actually effectively does what it is trying to do: assert the dominance of South Bronx in hip hop, first by making fun of MC Shan's style (which has not aged well at all), by detailing the history of South Bronx in hip hop, and then finishing him off with "I didn't hear a peep from a place called Queens." Also this was the beginning of KRS-One's career as in he literally did not have one before this song happened.
#71 "Forgot About Dre" - Dr. Dre
Album: 2001
Year: 1999
Did naming your album a future year - as in if I made an album and called it 2020 - used to be cool? Because I find that hard to believe, and yet I'd have to think that because Dr. Dre did that very thing. This entire song was penned by Eminem and funny enough the weak part of it is Eminem. My guess is that he didn't want to show up Dr. Dre and ended up overcompensating by making a clearly inferior verse to the two around him. Still a great song.
#70 "Who Am I? What's My Name" - Snoop Dogg
Album: Doggystyle
Year: 1993
Snoop Dogg gets away with a lot of shit on his lyrics that other rappers can't pull off. (Also murder) Like I'm starting to think he's just not that good of a lyricist, and has been coasting by on charisma and flow this whole time. Nobody else would be able to get away with spelling their name on half their songs for 20 years. Here, where it would be most appropriate, he does NOT spell his name. He does repeat it a bunch, but the point of the song is to introduce the world to Snoop Dogg and boy was that a success. Also, give George Clinton like 90% of the credit for this song being awesome and if you don't know what I mean listen to all of "Atomic Dog."
#69 "I Got 5 On It" - Luniz
Album: Operation Stackola
Year: 1995
This particular song is probably considerably higher than your average hip hop top 100 list, if it's even on that list. But I love this song a lot. Also how do you not add a song whose lyrics include "I take sacks to the face whenever I can?" (Surely he could have come up with a different term for weed)
#68 "Harlem Streets" - Immortal Technique
Album: Revolutionary Vol. 2
Year: 2004
A song about the reality of living life in Harlem has a haunting beat and a great hook: "Homicide Harlem, BLAOW, what's the problem?" Essentially, things that aren't normal have become normal and accepted, hence the sarcastic "What's the problem?"
#67 "Renegade" - Jay-Z
Album: The Blueprint
Year: 2001
This song is well-known for playing a key part in the Nas/Jay-Z rap battle, when Nas says "Eminem murdered you on your own shit" in "Ether." While Eminem has the better verses, Jay-Z nearly matches him. There's certainly an argument to be made that I have this song way too low, since it's two of the best at the top of their games over a great beat.
#66 "Bring the Pain" - Method Man
Album: Tical
Year: 1994
Method Man is not the best Wu-Tang member, but he is clearly distinct from the other members so that you instantly know it's Method Man when he starts rapping. Not all the members have that. So it's not particularly surprising that he released the first solo album of any Wu-Tang member. "Bring the Pain" is a solid example of what he brings to the table, though my favorite thing he ever did was his work on The Wire (pretty big spoiler there).
#65 "Award Tour" - A Tribe Called Quest
Album: Midnight Mauraders
Year: 1993
Oh how I wish there was A Tribe Called Quest equivalent in 2016. They may have been the face of alternative hip hop back in the early 1990s. They were certainly the most influential. "Award Tour" is a fine example, in both sound and lyrics, of the appeal of A Tribe Called Quest. But in all seriousness, is there a more dated 90s lyric than "Coming up with more hits than the Braves and the Yankees?" Both epitomized success in the 90s and now... not so much.
#64 "Hip Hop Saved My Life" - Lupe Fiasco
Album: Lupe Fiasco's The Cool
Year: 2007
An impeccably told story about a rapper who gives up drug dealing for rapping, which is apparently about Slim Thug? Who knew? Anyway, it's not clear if he even "made it," because the end of the song is just that his freestyle got played on the radio, which is cool, but not necessarily an indication of anything.
#63 "What They Do" - The Roots
Album: Illadelph Hallife
Year: 1996
Written at at the end of the golden age of hip hop and presumably prime in the thick of 2Pac copycats, The Roots wrote a song telling people to never do what "they" do, but to do your own thing. I'd say that's a pretty good message. It's aided by a smooth, heavenly beat.
#62 "Walk This Way" - Run-DMC
Album: Raising Hell
Year: 1986
"Walk This Way" is one of the most important songs in hip hop. It vaulted hip hop into the pop music world, proving that hip hop could have a place in pop. (It also revitalized Aerosmith's career) You have to give a lot of credit to Rick Rubin for this one, because neither Run nor D.M.C liked the idea of remaking the song. They eventually did it and the rest is history.
#61 "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" - Kendrick Lamar
Album: good kid, m.A.A.d. city
Year: 2012
This song is a much more complex song than what it would appear to be, which is probably not a surprise since it's Kendrick Lamar. I won't go into its meaning, because it's not exactly clear, but he goes after any combination of music executives, other rappers, and molly. All of them kill his vibe. It's possible he is also referring to women, though I don't think so.
#60 "Da Art of Storytellin Part 2" - Outkast
Album: Aquemini
Year: 1998
Well, I wish more songs were about the apocalypse or at least had that sense of grandeur. Andre 3000 uses the premise of an apocalypse and then makes it have the double meaning of how we don't treat Earth well. Big Boi plays it more straightforward, although I do appreciate his commitment to the bit when his last few lyrics are about how he needs to finish the verse, apocalypse be damned.
#59 "Stray Bullet" - Organized Konfusion
Album: Stress: The Extinction Agenda
Year: 1994
This song is sung from the perspective of a stray bullet. Literally. Well judging by the occasional bangs interjected, it's a few stray bullets. I can't really blame him, because a stray bullet doesn't have that many places to go. It's similar to Nas "I Gave You Power" except this came two years earlier. It effectively shows what careless shooting has the power to do.
#58 "Til I Collapse" - Eminem
Album: The Eminem Show
Year: 2002
Is there a more effective pre-game pump-up song than this? I'm not sure that there is. It's almost more effective playing this before a game than what the song is explicitly about: how Eminem won't stop killing the rap game until he dies... except for that eight-year period between The Eminem Show and Recovery where he was not killing the rap game.
#57 "Don't Sweat the Technique" - Eric B & Rakim
Album: Don't Sweat the Technique
Year: 1992
In 1986, Rakim changed the way people rapped with Paid in Full, one of the first great hip hop albums ever (certainly better than everything that came before it). By 1992, his style had integrated itself fully across hip hop. This is essentially him re-asserting his dominance over the people who copied him since then.
#56 "You Got Me" - The Roots
Album: Things Fall Apart
Year: 1999
A classic love story told in the form of a hip song with unlikely lovers and a sense of destiny to boot. Again, The Roots band elevates this song and an Erykah Badu hook makes this quite a lovely listen.
#55 "Rather Unique" - AZ
Album: Doe or Die
Year: 1995
Any reasonably big Nas fan should know who AZ is already. He's the only guest verse on Illmatic and he actually has a better verse than Nas on that song so the man has some talent. He followed that up with Doe or Die, a generally solid album that was mostly ignored, because the beats weren't anything special. Lyrically though, not a lot of people are better than AZ (at least at the time) and this song is probably the best example of that.
#54 "Gimme the Loot" - Notorious B.I.G.
Album: Ready to Die
Year: 1994
As I've said before, I think pretty much all of Ready to Die has a case to be on here. So it's hard for me to separate songs personally from each other. Gimme the Loot might be my favorite track even if I don't consider it the best because of the interplay between current Biggie and younger Biggie. He's so good at distinguishing his verses that I wouldn't be surprised if you've thought Biggie was trading quips with a completely different rapper this whole time.
#53 "Put it On" - Big L
Album: Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous
Year: 1995
Big L did not have a long rap career. He released his debut album when he was 20-years-old and wasn't able to release a second album before he died four years later at the age of 24. (He did have a few posthumous albums released). However, he was very well-respected in the short time he made his impact. This particular song doesn't attack any new subjects in rap, but his trademark flow is on full display here.
#52 "The Nigga Ya Love to Hate" - Ice Cube
Album: AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
Year: 1990
Ice Cube left NWA in December of 1989. He came out with his solo debut album five months later. That's nuts. I'm sure he had written some of it before leaving the group, but he didn't finish it the day before the album was released. At a minimum, he finished a month before the album was released. This was his first real song off that album. I'm not sure you can come up with a much better first song after breaking away from a group.
#51 "Lose Yourself" - Eminem
Album: 8 Mile
Year: 2002
Written from the perspective of B Rabbit in 8 Mile, this song could be inserted as a personal message to anyone who wants to make it in whatever field they are in. Take advantage of your opportunities and don't blow your shot. Honestly, if it wasn't for the upbeat beat, it's the type of the song that could hypothetically make you more nervous because of what he's actually saying. You may never get another shot. Well shit that's a lot of fucking pressure.
#50 "Uncommon Valor" - Jedi Mind Tricks
Album: Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell
Year: 2006
I listen to a lot of rap music. Not many artists nor songs stray too far from the usual topics. Jedi Mind Tricks went back 30 years and talked about Vietnam. Seeing as hip hop was mostly a party genre until the late 1980s with a few notable exceptions and that most hip hop artists begin their career really young, there is essentially zero crossover between Vietnam vets and hip hop artists. Nonetheless, Jedi Mind Tricks and R.A. the Rugged Man imagine as if they were. R.A. the Rugged Man's verse (second verse) is fucking insane like listen to it now insane. Do it.
#49 "None of Your Business" - Salt-N-Pepa
Album: Very Necessary
Year: 1993
Not "Push It?" "Whatta Man?" "Let's Talk About Sex?" I actually don't know if "None of Your Business" became famous or not - although it is the 5th most played song on Spotify, but that could easily just speak to its quality and not how famous it was. Anyway, this is an extremely feminist song in a genre that... lacks that (that's about the most generous way I could phrase that.) Salt-N-Pepa are laying down the law telling people it's none of our business what their sex life is like. Just asking for a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Obviously the content matters more, but this song is also catchy as hell.
#48 "What More Can I Say?" - Jay-Z
Album: The Black Album
Year: 2003
Nothing Jay-Z. There's nothing else you can say. Also, you clearly had nothing else left to say after The Black Album because damn you dropped far. The song is clearly about how Jay-Z has reached the top of the rap game and there's nothing else for him to do but retire. Because The Black Album was supposed to be his last album.
#47 "Bring Da Ruckus" - The Wu-Tang Clan
Album: Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Year: 1993
"Shaolin shadowboxing and the Wu-Tang sword style" is the perfect intro in the The Wu-Tang's near perfect first album. It just gets you in the mood for what's about to come. The Wu-Tang aimed to have a song announce their style and there's just about no better introduction than "Bring Da Ruckus." Each of the four verses are good, but I'm a particular fan of Inspectah Deck's.
#46 "Gin and Juice" Snoop Dogg
Album: Doggystyle
Year: 1993
Party songs don't come much better than this. The beat is majestic, Snoop's verses provide the atmosphere, and the hook is one of the catchiest hooks ever. You might succeed in not singing along to the chorus, but if you're drinking and you're at a party, game over.
#45 "I Seen a Man Die" - Scarface
Album: The Diary
Year: 1994
I told you I loved Scarface. This is a reflective song where Scarface is slow and clear in order for us to take in everything. The beat is haunting, setting the mood. It's a somber reflection on the violent life people choose to live through the eyes of a recently rehabilitated young man who just got released from prison.
#44 "Yesterday" - Atmosphere
Album: When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
Year: 2008
This song hits me like not many other songs do. The picture he paints throughout the song of a relationship that didn't end well and he can't fix it. You get on bad enough terms with someone you love that you don't talk anymore. Then that person dies and you cannot reconcile your issues. And you wish you could have, but you will never get that chance. That shit gets to me. That's not something you can just "get over." It will be with you for the rest of your life. Anyway, the song is powerful, because at first it seems like a fond memory for a typical relationship, but the ending reshapes the whole song.
#43 "Brenda's Got a Baby" - 2Pac
Album: 2Pacalypse Now
Year: 1991
Here is a well-detailed story about a mother who throws her newly born baby in the trash heap. That would seem to be a wholly unsympathetic person, but throughout the story we find out why. She's not smart, she has an absent mother, drug-addicted father, she has no role models, she's 12, and she got molested by her older cousin. I mean damn. This is all the more depressing for how plausible it is.
#42 Spottieottiedopaliscious - Outkast
Album: Aquemini
Year: 1998
A song that sounds like no other hip hop song, it features Andre 3000 and Big Boi talking - not rapping - about the night life of Atlanta and how it both provides an escape and sometimes is the cause of problems because of fights that break out at 3 am. Big Boi provides the title of the song with his Spottottiedopaliscious, which in his own words (though not on this song), describes a woman who is superfine, sexy, intelligent and jazzy all the same. It's a long song, but it's easy listening.
#41 "U.N.I.T.Y." - Queen Latifah
Album: Black Reign
Year: 1993
For as long as hip hop as been a thing, misogyny has been a problem. No where is this more evident than in the consistent and near universal use of the word bitch. This has predictably spread towards the listeners of hip hop, as hearing women casually called bitch all the time has made men think it's ok to call them that. Well Queen Latifah is fed up with that. This is her standing up for women and telling men to stop doing this.
#40 "Paul Revere" - Beastie Boys
Album: Licensed to Ill
Year: 1986
Holy shit. I just learned Licensed to Ill was originally titled Don't Be a Faggot. How fucking terrible of an idea would that have been? The record company thankfully refused to release the name under that title - for all the shit record companies get about this type of thing, they were absolutely, 100 percent correct here. Anyway, I could have gone a few different ways in choosing a Licensed to Ill song, but what better song than the song that describes the creation of the Beastie Boys itself?
#39 "Dance with the Devil" - Immortal Technique
Album: Revolutionary Vol. 1
Year: 2001
Well, I did not expect Immortal Technique to have two songs on this list before I started this project. But here we are and this one is quite something. It's a narrative rap where he describes a young man who had huge dreams of making a ton of money from hustling drugs. He is so eager to earn respect that he unknowingly rapes his mother (Listen to the song if this makes no sense to you.) This song is not to be taken literally as I'm assuming he's making the point that you shouldn't rape anyone because imagine if it was your own mother. A little blunt, but effective. Anyway, basically don't dance with the devil is the point overall.
#38 "Things Done Changed" - Notorious B.I.G.
Album: Ready to Die
Year: 1994
Biggie sets the stage for Ready to Die with "Things Done Changed," the first actual full-length song of the album. Back in the day, fights were settled with hands and people could actually go into the streets and play games. Now, everybody uses guns to settle disputes. Also it sets the mood of the album because the fact that things done changed has him stressed and presumably tired of it.
#37 "Lyrics of Fury" - Eric B & Rakim
Album: Follow the Leader
Year: 1988
I'm not sure there's a more appropriate title for Eric B & Rakim's second album than Follow The Leader, because he was the leader of the rap game at the time. Nothing shows off Rakim's lyrical skill better than this song off his second album. It also samples both James Brown and Funkadelic and you can't get much better than that.
#36 "Rewind" - Nas
Album: Stillmatic
Year: 2001
In this song, Nas tells an otherwise unremarkable, forgettable story of the fairly standard gangsta rap variety. Except for the part where he tells it in reverse. You just got to appreciate of how Nas is able to tell a Memento style story in a rap song.
#35 "Mama Said Knock You Out" - LL Cool J
Album: Mama Said Knock You Out
Year: 1991
This song has the greatest opening 12 seconds in hip history. The rest of the song is good too, but that opening 12 seconds hits you like a monsoon (Listen to the bass go boom.) This song randomly pops in my head all the time, especially that opening 12 seconds. "Don't call it a comeback" has to be one of the most memorable one-liners ever.
#34 "Still Dre" - Dr. Dre
Album: 2001
Year: 1999
Speaking of memorable opening songs, THIS BEAT hits you like a brick to the head and is good enough that it does not change one bit throughout the song and never gets old. Quite simply, this song is Dr. Dre telling people that he is still Dr. Dre.
#33 "B.O.B." - Outkast
Album: Stankonia
Year: 2000
This song is intense. It has the feeling of high speed car cheese with its frantic and rushed beat. Despite the chorus repeating "Bombs over Baghdad," this song isn't really political and that's just used because Andre 3000 thought it sounded cool. Nonetheless, these are two great verses and that beat just sucks you into the song.
#32 "Straight Outta Compton" - NWA
Album: Straight Outta Compton
Year: 1988
"You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge." That opening to this song and to the album itself is a necessary warning. You know shit's about to go down when you hear that opening. Smartly, Ice Cube gets the first verse, because Ice Cube is by far the most talented member and because he coins memorable starting lines. All the famous NWA songs were begun by Ice Cube and all of them stay in your brain. NWA didn't invent gangsta rap, but they certainly popularized it. And "Straight Outta Compton" is an excellent example of the genre done right.
#31 "Children's Story" - Slick Rick
Album: The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
Year: 1988
1988 is a pretty underrated year for rap. You got NWA at their height, Public Enemy at their height, Rakim at his height, and Slick Rick. All of these guys had completely different styles and all of them were great. Slick Rick though had - and I would argue still has - the most unique flow ever. I'm not saying it's the best, but I can't imagine anyone can replicate it. No one even tried as far as I can tell. The content of this song is probably too mature for a children's story, but it certainly is a lesson children need to know: don't rob people.
#30 "Classic (Better than I've Ever Been)" - DJ Premier feat. Rakim, Nas, & KRS-ONE
Album: None as far as I can tell
Year: 2007
Ok so I cheated a little here. The actual song includes Kanye West, but there's a version on Youtube without him on the song. Honestly, he doesn't belong on the song. Nas, KRS-One, and Rakim are lyrical masters of hip hop. Kanye is a genius producer, but not even close to their level lyrically. And DJ Premier provides the beat. So there's really no need for Kanye. I'll admit this is probably not the 30th best song of all time, but I can't say no to the only song featuring Nas, Rakim, and KRS-ONE, at least as far as I can tell. AND it's a DJ Premier beat.
#29 "9mm Go Bang" - Boogie Down Productions
Album: Criminal Minded
Year: 1987
As you can see, NWA didn't create gangsta rap as this probably qualifies as a gangsta rap song. It's near unrecognizable from what gangsta rap would become, but it has the same themes. For one thing, the tone of the song is childish - purposefully so I think. It's like he's singing it from the perspective of someone who doesn't think twice about using the gun, because he doesn't understand the consequences. I mean he kills three people in this song and doesn't seem the least bit bothered by it and this is from a dude who a year later made a movement called Stop the Violence to stop the violence in hip hop. So I don't think it's a stretch to think he's mocking people rather than glorifying it.
#28 "Regulate" - Warren G
Album: Regulate... G Funk Era
Year: 1994
The G funk era sure was short-lived. I appreciate the effort though Warren G. This is a classic back-and-forth street tale where Warren G gets robbed and later saved by Nate Dogg and then Nate Dogg takes him to a group of women. For being a Warren G song, this sure sounds like Nate Dogg's show. He gets to save his friend and get laid while Warren G stupidly goes into a dice game where he immediately gets a gun pulled on him. You'd think he be smarter than that.
#27 "Triumph" - Wu-Tang Clan
Album: Wu-Tang Forever
Year: 1997
I'm not sure if there's another song like this. This song features all nine members and the unofficial tenth member, Cappadona, over 5 and half minutes of nothing but rapping. ODB is in the intro and has a minor interjection in the middle, but that it's. ODB doesn't actually get a verse, GZA gets a total of six lines, and Cappadona's verse pales in comparison to the others, but otherwise every verse is classic Wu-Tang.
#26 "Let Me Ride" - Dr. Dre
Album: The Chronic
Year: 1992
I give credit to songs for accomplishing exactly what they are trying to do. With this song, Dr. Dre set out to create a song that you could blast in your car. There are probably a few songs that are better driving songs, but it's got to be close to the best song to bump to in your car. This is supposedly ghostwritten by RBX and he comes through in this song.
#25 "Doo Wop (That Thing)" - Lauryn Hill
Album: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Year: 1998
A lesson for both men and women: we need to watch out for those that are only after sex, fame, whatever. The point is they are not out there for true love so you shouldn't fall for those people. She dedicates a verse for the women and a verse for the men. The men's verse is more directed for men to start acting like... well men and not children.
#24 "99 Problems" - Jay-Z (No link cause Tidal)
Album: The Black Album
Year: 2003
Jay-Z lines out all of the issues he has in his life, none of which involve women, because... you know he was dating Beyonce at the time. He goes after the usual suspects: critics, rappers out to take his throne, advertisers, the paparazzi, and "man-ho." He also has an entire verse where he gets pulled over by a cop who wants to search him, but Jay-Z shows off his smarts by refusing to comply, knowing his rights. This covers just about every typical rap subject in one song. Add in a Rick Rubin beat and one of the most memorable hooks in hip hop, and you got yourself a classic.
#23 "m.A.A.d. city" - Kendrick Lamar
Album: good kid, m.A.A.d. city
Year: 2012
This is Kendrick's masterpiece as far as I'm concerned. The beat begins as a panicked, fast-pace rush as Kendrick goes through what it's like to live in the hood, such as how he first picked up on a guy he knew probably murdering someone when he was 9-years-old and how his cousin was killed in gang wars. Then it switches to a West Coast beat where the experienced "hood gangsta" MC Eiht is intent on teaching Kendrick some lessons. MC Eiht was a good choice, because his most well-known song is "Hood Took Me Under."
#22 "No Vaseline" - Ice Cube
Album: Death Certificate
Year: 1991
Diss songs don't get better than this. Ice Cube left NWA and backed off - didn't say anything about them for his first album. It's not clear how it started, but NWA went after Ice Cube in their 100 Miles and Runnin' EP, saying he was a Benedict Arnold. So Ice Cube responded with "No Vaseline." The first minute is just Ice Cube psyching himself up with clips of NWA talking and consistent "Here's what they think about you." The message was clear. They have no love for him. It creates the sense that Ice Cube reluctantly is doing this song because he knows they are done with him. And then... three verses just destroying the three key members of the NWA. There's a lot of double entendres here, most of which is a homophobic reading and the other just saying it like it is: they got screwed over monetarily by Jerry Heller.
#21 "I Used to Love H.E.R." - Common
Album: Resurrection
Year: 1994
I love this song and the reveal at the end of it is great, but I do have one slight issue with it. I feel like it could be more effective if it wasn't written in the golden age of hip hop. Granted, this was released as a single in 1993 before Wu-Tang, Nas, or Biggie released their debut albums, but there was plenty of great rap in 1992 and 1993. A Tribe Called Quest had released a few albums, The Roots just released their debut, Common would love Arrested Development's debut judging by these lyrics, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube had done a few albums, and Rakim made "Don't Sweat the Technique" the year before. But the art of how he made the song - I got to appreciate that.
That takes care of part two. Part three might not be finished tomorrow. I am scheduled to recap the baseball game so I'm not sure I'll have time to finish the post because all of my attention will be on the baseball game for three hours and an hour dedicated to writing that post. But I would like to finish it tomorrow since this has consumed my time for a good month. I'm thinking about posting the Spotify playlist to this tomorrow if anybody is interested.
Sunday, August 14, 2016
Top 100 Hip-Hop Songs: #100-80
WOW! This was impossible. How do people make lists like this? There were a LOT of songs that I was convinced were going to be in the top 100 that ended up not making it. My list is my opinion. So obviously it doesn't matter. This exercise is already a success in my book, because I have been introduced to many great songs in the process, not to mention a greater appreciation for artists who I have failed to truly give a shot in the past.
I have decided to break up this top 100 list into three parts. The first part will be honorable mentions and the back 20. The second part will be the middle 50, and the last part will be the top 20. There is only one reason for this: I'm pretty sure no one would read however long one post would end up being.
My process for picking the songs is a mix of what I consider good, what I like, what is classic, and most importantly an emphasis on lyrics. For the most part, I leaned towards older songs, both because I think they are better and because newer songs haven't withstood the test of time that older songs have. There are 12 songs from the 1980s, 24 songs in the 2000s, and the rest are from the 1990s. In particular, 42 songs are from 1992-1996 alone, including 5 of the top six songs (though weirdly zero of the rest of the top ten)
The actual ranking of these songs doesn't matter for the most part. If you think I put a lot of thought into why I put a song 24th instead of 25th, you are mistaken. The important thing is that I put it on this list. It made the cut. But I definitely did not burden myself with each individual ranking. So if you think the 65th song is better than the 20th song, you're probably right. The specific rankings work better if it's a group of people more than one individual person. But I definitely sympathize with sites that try this now and understand why they all seem to suck. It's not an easy thing to do at all.
To begin the honorable mentions, here is a brief and incomplete list of artists that I think are good, have been good before, or some people consider them good that did not have any songs make the top 100 (not including artists who are featured on a song that made the list):
50 Cent
Big Daddy Kane
Big Pun
Blackalicious
Black Star
Brand Nubian
Chance the Rapper
Clipse
De La Soul
Drake
The Game
Ice T
Kid Cudi
Lil Wayne
Ludacris
Jay Electronica
J. Cole
Macklemore
MC Lyte
MF Doom
Too $hort
Xzibit
That's a pretty good list. None of them even speak on any of the songs I have. More than a few had a song that I thought would land on this list, but got cut in the process. Also, I strayed away from the instrumentals of hip hop so no DJ Shadow. I'm not sure he would have made my list anyway, but trying to fit in instrumental hip hop would make an already difficult list even more so.
I didn't exactly create a limit of songs one artist could have on this list, but I did kind of do that. In my head. For instance, I'm pretty sure Christopher Wallace would have more songs on this list if I didn't sort of limit his songs. I could have plausibly put just about the entire Ready to Die album on here and that's not as fun as including as many artists as possible. (In fact, you take about the five best albums or so in rap and they could plausibly have half the songs on this list. That's probably a little high but not by a whole lot.)
Honorable Mentions
"Rapper's Delight" - The Sugarhill Gang
I had this idea that I was going to put this at #100 and it was a great plan until the final cuts had to be made and I did not want to cut another song. Ultimately I decided that I was only putting this on there because it was the first ever commercial hip hop song and not because I actually thought it was one of the 100 best. Plus there's the whole "at least one verse was completely stolen" thing.
"Nuthing but a G Thang" - Dr. Dre
Ok so you probably expected this on the list. I expected this on the list. Truth be told, lyrically, this is not that great. That's not really why anyone listens to this song, but Snoop half-assed the lyrics. "The Next Episode" isn't on the list either. GET AT ME
"The Real Slim Shady" - Eminem
This should probably be on the list, but I chose to condense all Slim Shady persona songs into one selection, because they blend together in quality to me. This does NOT mean I only chose one Eminem song, you crazy Stans.
Every single song on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Yeah I don't know what to tell you guys. I considered a few songs from it, but somehow none made the cut. Kanye is not particularly well-represented here. I like Kanye a lot too. It's just the way it goes.
"White Lines" - Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five
This beat is amazing. It would make my top 20 beats all-time. God this really needed to find its way on this list somehow.
"Just a Friend" - Biz Markie
This is a good example of a song I was certain would make my top 100 list until it didn't. I think my mom singing along to it was what made me decide to cut it.
"They Want EFX" - Das EFX
I also wanted to include this on the list to represent their weird genre of absolutely nonsense lyrics that somehow made a great song, but ultimately the nonsense lyrics prevented me from keeping it.
"Sounds of Da Police" - KRS-ONE
WHOOP WHOOP! I like this song a lot, but the fact that it hits less hard than a certain NWA song and has roughly the same message is why I left it off.
"I Don't Give it a Fuck" - Bo$$
I have no idea why this song isn't more well-known. Apparently her career took a hit when it was revealed she was in an upper-class family and went to a private school. That 8 mile final battle was no joke man.
"Ain't No Half Steppin" - Big Daddy Kane
Apparently, there used to be a debate over Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One being the best rapper. I honestly have no idea how it was a debate as KRS-One is clearly better to me. (I also don't think either were the best at their times but that's another point.) With that said, this song makes me understand a little.
All the songs that didn't end up making the list on Illmatic and Ready to Die
It needed to be said.
#101 "Ride Wit Me" - Nelly
Album: Country Grammar
Year: 2000
Yeah I'm that guy. I have a Top 100 songs list with 101 songs. Easy explanation here. I am from St. Louis. Nelly needed to be on this list. I don't think I need to explain myself further.
#100 "Ambitionz as a Ridah" - 2Pac
Album: All Eyez on Me
Year: 1996
I'm not the biggest 2Pac fan. I'm one of those people who cannot fathom how the majority of people consider him the best rapper ever (Well I understand it. He died. Thus legend status.) Nonetheless, the man had some great individual songs. I consider this one of them (obviously).
#99 "Born Killer" - Scarface
Album: Mr. Scarface is Back
Year: 1991
This list poorly represents how much I like Scarface. On some days, he's in my top five rappers, usually on the days after I've listened to him. (That #5 spot changes all the time) So I had to have a song from his excellent solo debut album. "Your Ass Got Took" was also strongly considered from that album.
#98 "Rosa Parks" - Outkast
Album: Aquemini
Year: 1998
Outkast has a lot of songs on here considering I didn't get really into them until I began this quest. I have nothing to add except that this song landed them in legal trouble with Rosa Park's estate. Probably could have came up with a different name since this has nothing do with her.
#97 "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" - Digable Planets
Album: Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)
Year: 1993
Never has a title been more appropriate for a song than "Rebirth of Slick" because damn this song epitomizes slick.
#96 "No Rest for the Weary" - Blue Scholars
Album: Blue Scholars
Year: 2004
The title and the lyrics in the song allude to the working class people who continuously get screwed over by schools, wars, etc. Definitely a song where you should pay attention to the lyrics, but they picked a good beat so people who don't want to would probably still enjoy the song.
#95 "Tennessee" - Arrested Development
Album: 3 Years, 5 Months, And 2 Days In The Life Of...
Year: 1992
This is the standout track on their very good debut album. Speech (couldn't think of a more creative rap name than Speech??!) finds himself lost and this track is his process of trying to find himself. He ultimately concludes he needs to find himself in the place where he grew up, Tennessee. If you're a gangsta rap hater, Arrested Development agrees with you and you might like them.
#94 "Mass Appeal" - Gang Starr
Album: Hard to Earn
Year: 1994
DJ Premier is the greatest. This is about rappers who sell out to get mass appeal. It's also about showing off Guru's lyrical skill. All rap songs should in some way be showing off their lyrical skill in my opinion.
#93 "93 Til Infinity" - Souls of Mischief
Album: 93 Til Infinity
Year: 1993 (duh)
Amidst the difficulty in placing songs on the top 100 and where, I have to take advantage of an obvious ranking for a song called "93 Til Infinity." That is literally the only reason it is at this spot. It wouldn't be a lot higher though if it was just called "Til Infinity."
#92 "Clint Eastwood" - Gorillaz
Album: Gorillaz
Year: 2001
How do I show my appreciation for both Gorillaz (aka Blur lead singer Damon Albarn) and Del the Funky Homosapien? I know! In all seriousness, both of them are awesome and I'm glad I could kind of cheat and still have Del on this list without having a solo song by him (which I tried).
#91 "Trapped" - 2Pac
Album: 2Pacalypse Now
Year: 1991
Hot take: This is 2Pac's best album. Unburdened by the terribleness that is the Outlawz, there are no weak songs. (As a side note, you won't be seeing "Hit Em Up" on here because the Outlawz have three of the five verses). This song essentially says that, whether in prison or out of it, he's trapped because he's a black man in a poor neighborhood.
#90 "Undying Love" - Nas
Album: I Am...
Year: 1999
Well, this song is dark. This is a first-person account of a man who plans to propose to his girlfriend and finds her cheating. Needless to say, things do not go well. I posted a lyric video as my link because you should probably pay close attention to them.
#89 "Feel Me Flow" - Naughty by Nature
Album: Poverty's Paradise
Year: 1995
In terms of Naughty by Nature songs that feature impressive lyrical skill and great flow, it was between this and "Yoke the Joker." ("OPP" was not considered because the verses are literally just a guide on what OPP means) I have a greater attachment to this song for whatever reason so this won fairly easily.
#88 "One Day" - UGK
Album: Ridin' Dirty
Year: 1996
This song just sounds sooooo nice. It's pleasant listening to this song. It tackles maybe one of the most cliche, common topics in rap music: living for today, because one day you'll die and you might as well live good while you're living. Ronnie Spencer has a great voice for the hook.
#87 "Reunited" - The Wu-Tang Clan
Album: Wu-Tang Forever
Year: 1997
From Wu-Tang's second album, this song is about what just about every Wu-Tang song is about: not really anything but showing off each member's lyrical skill. And damn. This song actually features none of my favorite Wu Tang members! No Raekwon, no Ghostface, and no Inspectah Deck. Which really goes to show that there is no weak member in this group.
#86 "Make My" - The Roots
Album: undun
Year: 2011
In 2011, The Roots released a concept album called Undun, which is basically about a guy who chooses crime and living for today and paying the consequences later. Like I said, it's just about the most cliche topic in rap. This album distinguishes itself because it's The Roots so the music is fantastic and the album is told in reverse chronological order. This particular song features a great guest verse from the then up-and-coming Big KRIT.
#85 "The Ruler's Back" - Slick Rick
Album: The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
Year: 1988
Slick Rick is another artist that isn't represented enough in this list to show my love for him. Seriously, this list was difficult. If you want an idea on his impact on hip hop, he's apparently been sampled the most of any hip hop artist ever. This song could presumably have been a few other songs from The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, but this one got lucky.
#84 "Ready or Not" - The Fugees
Album: The Score
Year: 1996
"Killing Me Softly" is a beautiful song, but it's not a rap song so you will not see that here. This beat would not sound out of place on a Weeknd record. I much prefer listening to Lauryn Hill over The Weeknd. By a lot.
#83 "Criminology" - Raekwon
Album: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Year: 1996
Fair warning: This is the second Wu-Tang song, whether by an individual or by the group, and it's not going to be close to the last one I pick. So if you don't like the Wu-Tang, you might not like this list. You probably don't like rap though if that's the case, because who the hell doesn't like the Wu-Tang? Anyway Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is probably the best solo album by any member. It's close. Every song has Raekwon and Ghostface Killah and those are two of my favorites of the group so I am biased.
#82 "Ready to Die" - Notorious B.I.G.
Album: Ready to Die
Year: 1994
Not that it matters, but if you're a huge Biggie fan, I'll break the news to you now: Life After Death is shut out. I considered a few songs, but I'm actually not that big of a fan overall of that album (relatively speaking of course). On to the good news: Ready to Die is very much all over this list. So it's appropriate that the first song to be revealed to you guys is the song named after the album. I think the song's content is fairly obvious.
#81 "Da Rockwilder" - Method Man, Redman
Album: Blackout!
Year: 1999
I fully subscribe to the "more is less" theory, favoring short songs that are fantastic throughout over longer songs that tend to drag. But this song is too damn short! This is some of the best "blast in your car" music ever and it's over just like that.
#80 "Alright" - Kendrick Lamar
Album: To Pimp a Butterfly
Year: 2015
Welcome to Round Three of "I wish I could have included more songs by this artist to indicate how much I enjoy listening to them." To Pimp A Butterfly is one of the best and most underrated rap albums ever. I have a feeling history will look very kindly upon this album (not that it was poorly received or anything). This provides a cathartic song of sorts in the context of the album. I don't know if this is a political song, but it has turned into one. Judging by the music video, it was intended as one too. The verses outline the struggle and injustices and the chorus responds, enthusiastically and optimistically, that things are going to be alright. Hope in the face of hopelessness is what gets people through the day.
That concludes part one of my Top 100 Rap Songs. Is it just me or is the back 20 REALLY good? Nearly each song I ended up covering made me think "Damn do I have this too low?" I hope that's something I say for every song on this list honestly. Either I shortchanged the back 20 or there really are this many amazing rap songs. I guess you'll find out soon...
I have decided to break up this top 100 list into three parts. The first part will be honorable mentions and the back 20. The second part will be the middle 50, and the last part will be the top 20. There is only one reason for this: I'm pretty sure no one would read however long one post would end up being.
My process for picking the songs is a mix of what I consider good, what I like, what is classic, and most importantly an emphasis on lyrics. For the most part, I leaned towards older songs, both because I think they are better and because newer songs haven't withstood the test of time that older songs have. There are 12 songs from the 1980s, 24 songs in the 2000s, and the rest are from the 1990s. In particular, 42 songs are from 1992-1996 alone, including 5 of the top six songs (though weirdly zero of the rest of the top ten)
The actual ranking of these songs doesn't matter for the most part. If you think I put a lot of thought into why I put a song 24th instead of 25th, you are mistaken. The important thing is that I put it on this list. It made the cut. But I definitely did not burden myself with each individual ranking. So if you think the 65th song is better than the 20th song, you're probably right. The specific rankings work better if it's a group of people more than one individual person. But I definitely sympathize with sites that try this now and understand why they all seem to suck. It's not an easy thing to do at all.
To begin the honorable mentions, here is a brief and incomplete list of artists that I think are good, have been good before, or some people consider them good that did not have any songs make the top 100 (not including artists who are featured on a song that made the list):
50 Cent
Big Daddy Kane
Big Pun
Blackalicious
Black Star
Brand Nubian
Chance the Rapper
Clipse
De La Soul
Drake
The Game
Ice T
Kid Cudi
Lil Wayne
Ludacris
Jay Electronica
J. Cole
Macklemore
MC Lyte
MF Doom
Too $hort
Xzibit
That's a pretty good list. None of them even speak on any of the songs I have. More than a few had a song that I thought would land on this list, but got cut in the process. Also, I strayed away from the instrumentals of hip hop so no DJ Shadow. I'm not sure he would have made my list anyway, but trying to fit in instrumental hip hop would make an already difficult list even more so.
I didn't exactly create a limit of songs one artist could have on this list, but I did kind of do that. In my head. For instance, I'm pretty sure Christopher Wallace would have more songs on this list if I didn't sort of limit his songs. I could have plausibly put just about the entire Ready to Die album on here and that's not as fun as including as many artists as possible. (In fact, you take about the five best albums or so in rap and they could plausibly have half the songs on this list. That's probably a little high but not by a whole lot.)
Honorable Mentions
"Rapper's Delight" - The Sugarhill Gang
I had this idea that I was going to put this at #100 and it was a great plan until the final cuts had to be made and I did not want to cut another song. Ultimately I decided that I was only putting this on there because it was the first ever commercial hip hop song and not because I actually thought it was one of the 100 best. Plus there's the whole "at least one verse was completely stolen" thing.
"Nuthing but a G Thang" - Dr. Dre
Ok so you probably expected this on the list. I expected this on the list. Truth be told, lyrically, this is not that great. That's not really why anyone listens to this song, but Snoop half-assed the lyrics. "The Next Episode" isn't on the list either. GET AT ME
"The Real Slim Shady" - Eminem
This should probably be on the list, but I chose to condense all Slim Shady persona songs into one selection, because they blend together in quality to me. This does NOT mean I only chose one Eminem song, you crazy Stans.
Every single song on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Yeah I don't know what to tell you guys. I considered a few songs from it, but somehow none made the cut. Kanye is not particularly well-represented here. I like Kanye a lot too. It's just the way it goes.
"White Lines" - Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five
This beat is amazing. It would make my top 20 beats all-time. God this really needed to find its way on this list somehow.
"Just a Friend" - Biz Markie
This is a good example of a song I was certain would make my top 100 list until it didn't. I think my mom singing along to it was what made me decide to cut it.
"They Want EFX" - Das EFX
I also wanted to include this on the list to represent their weird genre of absolutely nonsense lyrics that somehow made a great song, but ultimately the nonsense lyrics prevented me from keeping it.
"Sounds of Da Police" - KRS-ONE
WHOOP WHOOP! I like this song a lot, but the fact that it hits less hard than a certain NWA song and has roughly the same message is why I left it off.
"I Don't Give it a Fuck" - Bo$$
I have no idea why this song isn't more well-known. Apparently her career took a hit when it was revealed she was in an upper-class family and went to a private school. That 8 mile final battle was no joke man.
"Ain't No Half Steppin" - Big Daddy Kane
Apparently, there used to be a debate over Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One being the best rapper. I honestly have no idea how it was a debate as KRS-One is clearly better to me. (I also don't think either were the best at their times but that's another point.) With that said, this song makes me understand a little.
All the songs that didn't end up making the list on Illmatic and Ready to Die
It needed to be said.
#101 "Ride Wit Me" - Nelly
Album: Country Grammar
Year: 2000
Yeah I'm that guy. I have a Top 100 songs list with 101 songs. Easy explanation here. I am from St. Louis. Nelly needed to be on this list. I don't think I need to explain myself further.
#100 "Ambitionz as a Ridah" - 2Pac
Album: All Eyez on Me
Year: 1996
I'm not the biggest 2Pac fan. I'm one of those people who cannot fathom how the majority of people consider him the best rapper ever (Well I understand it. He died. Thus legend status.) Nonetheless, the man had some great individual songs. I consider this one of them (obviously).
#99 "Born Killer" - Scarface
Album: Mr. Scarface is Back
Year: 1991
This list poorly represents how much I like Scarface. On some days, he's in my top five rappers, usually on the days after I've listened to him. (That #5 spot changes all the time) So I had to have a song from his excellent solo debut album. "Your Ass Got Took" was also strongly considered from that album.
#98 "Rosa Parks" - Outkast
Album: Aquemini
Year: 1998
Outkast has a lot of songs on here considering I didn't get really into them until I began this quest. I have nothing to add except that this song landed them in legal trouble with Rosa Park's estate. Probably could have came up with a different name since this has nothing do with her.
#97 "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" - Digable Planets
Album: Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)
Year: 1993
Never has a title been more appropriate for a song than "Rebirth of Slick" because damn this song epitomizes slick.
#96 "No Rest for the Weary" - Blue Scholars
Album: Blue Scholars
Year: 2004
The title and the lyrics in the song allude to the working class people who continuously get screwed over by schools, wars, etc. Definitely a song where you should pay attention to the lyrics, but they picked a good beat so people who don't want to would probably still enjoy the song.
#95 "Tennessee" - Arrested Development
Album: 3 Years, 5 Months, And 2 Days In The Life Of...
Year: 1992
This is the standout track on their very good debut album. Speech (couldn't think of a more creative rap name than Speech??!) finds himself lost and this track is his process of trying to find himself. He ultimately concludes he needs to find himself in the place where he grew up, Tennessee. If you're a gangsta rap hater, Arrested Development agrees with you and you might like them.
#94 "Mass Appeal" - Gang Starr
Album: Hard to Earn
Year: 1994
DJ Premier is the greatest. This is about rappers who sell out to get mass appeal. It's also about showing off Guru's lyrical skill. All rap songs should in some way be showing off their lyrical skill in my opinion.
#93 "93 Til Infinity" - Souls of Mischief
Album: 93 Til Infinity
Year: 1993 (duh)
Amidst the difficulty in placing songs on the top 100 and where, I have to take advantage of an obvious ranking for a song called "93 Til Infinity." That is literally the only reason it is at this spot. It wouldn't be a lot higher though if it was just called "Til Infinity."
#92 "Clint Eastwood" - Gorillaz
Album: Gorillaz
Year: 2001
How do I show my appreciation for both Gorillaz (aka Blur lead singer Damon Albarn) and Del the Funky Homosapien? I know! In all seriousness, both of them are awesome and I'm glad I could kind of cheat and still have Del on this list without having a solo song by him (which I tried).
#91 "Trapped" - 2Pac
Album: 2Pacalypse Now
Year: 1991
Hot take: This is 2Pac's best album. Unburdened by the terribleness that is the Outlawz, there are no weak songs. (As a side note, you won't be seeing "Hit Em Up" on here because the Outlawz have three of the five verses). This song essentially says that, whether in prison or out of it, he's trapped because he's a black man in a poor neighborhood.
#90 "Undying Love" - Nas
Album: I Am...
Year: 1999
Well, this song is dark. This is a first-person account of a man who plans to propose to his girlfriend and finds her cheating. Needless to say, things do not go well. I posted a lyric video as my link because you should probably pay close attention to them.
#89 "Feel Me Flow" - Naughty by Nature
Album: Poverty's Paradise
Year: 1995
In terms of Naughty by Nature songs that feature impressive lyrical skill and great flow, it was between this and "Yoke the Joker." ("OPP" was not considered because the verses are literally just a guide on what OPP means) I have a greater attachment to this song for whatever reason so this won fairly easily.
#88 "One Day" - UGK
Album: Ridin' Dirty
Year: 1996
This song just sounds sooooo nice. It's pleasant listening to this song. It tackles maybe one of the most cliche, common topics in rap music: living for today, because one day you'll die and you might as well live good while you're living. Ronnie Spencer has a great voice for the hook.
#87 "Reunited" - The Wu-Tang Clan
Album: Wu-Tang Forever
Year: 1997
From Wu-Tang's second album, this song is about what just about every Wu-Tang song is about: not really anything but showing off each member's lyrical skill. And damn. This song actually features none of my favorite Wu Tang members! No Raekwon, no Ghostface, and no Inspectah Deck. Which really goes to show that there is no weak member in this group.
#86 "Make My" - The Roots
Album: undun
Year: 2011
In 2011, The Roots released a concept album called Undun, which is basically about a guy who chooses crime and living for today and paying the consequences later. Like I said, it's just about the most cliche topic in rap. This album distinguishes itself because it's The Roots so the music is fantastic and the album is told in reverse chronological order. This particular song features a great guest verse from the then up-and-coming Big KRIT.
#85 "The Ruler's Back" - Slick Rick
Album: The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
Year: 1988
Slick Rick is another artist that isn't represented enough in this list to show my love for him. Seriously, this list was difficult. If you want an idea on his impact on hip hop, he's apparently been sampled the most of any hip hop artist ever. This song could presumably have been a few other songs from The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, but this one got lucky.
#84 "Ready or Not" - The Fugees
Album: The Score
Year: 1996
"Killing Me Softly" is a beautiful song, but it's not a rap song so you will not see that here. This beat would not sound out of place on a Weeknd record. I much prefer listening to Lauryn Hill over The Weeknd. By a lot.
#83 "Criminology" - Raekwon
Album: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Year: 1996
Fair warning: This is the second Wu-Tang song, whether by an individual or by the group, and it's not going to be close to the last one I pick. So if you don't like the Wu-Tang, you might not like this list. You probably don't like rap though if that's the case, because who the hell doesn't like the Wu-Tang? Anyway Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is probably the best solo album by any member. It's close. Every song has Raekwon and Ghostface Killah and those are two of my favorites of the group so I am biased.
#82 "Ready to Die" - Notorious B.I.G.
Album: Ready to Die
Year: 1994
Not that it matters, but if you're a huge Biggie fan, I'll break the news to you now: Life After Death is shut out. I considered a few songs, but I'm actually not that big of a fan overall of that album (relatively speaking of course). On to the good news: Ready to Die is very much all over this list. So it's appropriate that the first song to be revealed to you guys is the song named after the album. I think the song's content is fairly obvious.
#81 "Da Rockwilder" - Method Man, Redman
Album: Blackout!
Year: 1999
I fully subscribe to the "more is less" theory, favoring short songs that are fantastic throughout over longer songs that tend to drag. But this song is too damn short! This is some of the best "blast in your car" music ever and it's over just like that.
#80 "Alright" - Kendrick Lamar
Album: To Pimp a Butterfly
Year: 2015
Welcome to Round Three of "I wish I could have included more songs by this artist to indicate how much I enjoy listening to them." To Pimp A Butterfly is one of the best and most underrated rap albums ever. I have a feeling history will look very kindly upon this album (not that it was poorly received or anything). This provides a cathartic song of sorts in the context of the album. I don't know if this is a political song, but it has turned into one. Judging by the music video, it was intended as one too. The verses outline the struggle and injustices and the chorus responds, enthusiastically and optimistically, that things are going to be alright. Hope in the face of hopelessness is what gets people through the day.
That concludes part one of my Top 100 Rap Songs. Is it just me or is the back 20 REALLY good? Nearly each song I ended up covering made me think "Damn do I have this too low?" I hope that's something I say for every song on this list honestly. Either I shortchanged the back 20 or there really are this many amazing rap songs. I guess you'll find out soon...
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