->''Oh, crap! A random rap!''
-->-- '''dascottjr''', "{{Music/Friday}}", [[LiteralMusicVideo Literal Video Version]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-6XBbqoGRk]]

You're listening to a {{pop}} song, when suddenly, out of nowhere, a rapper jumps into the song. Then, almost as suddenly as he appeared, [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment he disappears into the night, and the song returns to normal.]]

It can be, but is not necessarily, a rapping bridge. This is generally due to deals made by record companies, since [[MusicIsPolitics they want to make the most money possible]]. Or, more simply, the two artists might be genuine friends collaborating. Such songs are often {{bowdlerise}}d on the radio, when the entire rap verse is deleted even if it contains nothing questionable, as if the musical concept itself is offensive.

A similar practice existed in the early 1940s (which could be called A Wild Texan Appears), where a guy with a southern accent suddenly started talking over the music without warning. The trope name is a pun on a line in the {{Franchise/Pokemon}} games "A wild appears!"

Compare with StealthHiBye.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime And Manga ]]

* In an episode of ''SamuraiChamploo'', a trio of local villagers come out of nowhere and start rapping about recent events, and then leave equally abruptly leaving the protagonists just as confused as the viewer.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Films ]]

* Who could forget the rapping dog in ''TitanicTheLegendGoesOn''?
* ''SisterAct 2'' has some isolated instances of rapping.
* [[TheLegendOfTheTitanic The sequel to the other animated Titanic movie]] gives us a rapping shark. [[BoastfulRap Yo, yo, yo! Look at my teeth!]]
* In a similar vein, the rapping Cheshire Cat in ''CareBears in Wonderland''.
* Those three rappers who make a cameo in ''Scenes From a Mall''. ("California! The sun shines hard! People wear shorts on the [[FunetikAksent bulla-vard]]!") They're not interrupting a musical number, but it's still pretty random.
* In ''Film/TeenWitch'', the main character and her friend happen upon a few street kids rapping. The main character uses her magic to give her friend the power to rap back at them. The film is otherwise not a musical. Except that one musical number where the girls burst out their expressions of heterosexuality.
* Tex Richman does this for his VillainSong in ''Film/TheMuppets''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBfBRT9WgDk Climax Jump (Gun Form)]]" and "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF37t0wT5lA Climax Jump (Den-Liner Form)]]", two of the many versions of ''{{Kamen Rider Den-O}}'''s opening theme, both feature a random rap by Ryutaros in the middle.
** A non-bridge example is "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOfHYvKzq2s Te wo Tsunagou]]" from ''KamenRiderOOO'' which features random rapping by Ankh.
* The ''Creator/ConanOBrien'' parody of "{{Friday}}" had a rapper show up, utterly confused by his own role in the song.
--> ''"Why is there a rapper here?''
--> ''What exactly am I here?''
--> ''Did I just rhyme 'here' wit 'here'?''
--> ''I am getting out of here!"''
--> ''"That was a rapper,''
--> ''Which makes this a real song!"''
* The German Olympic skater Katarina Witt appeared in several Christmas TV specials in the early 1990s. In one of them, [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment out of nowhere]] she suddenly breaks into a full-on rap.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy" opens with the Ringmaster unexpectedly rapping expository dialogue: a dramatic device not used before or since in the show's entire history.
* "Kick It!" from DrewCareysImprovAGanza is a regular improv scene which switches to rap and back at another player's command.


[[/folder]]

[[folder: Music ]]

* Music/KatyPerry's "California Gurls" features a rap by SnoopDogg.
** Also by Perry, a version of "E.T." (featured in the music video) had KanyeWest doing a rap in it.
** No less than four of the six singles off Perry's album ''Teenage Dream'' featured A Wild Rapper Appears. Only one, the aforementioned "California Gurlz", had the rap present on the album; for the others, the rap was added for the radio release.
* "Music/{{Friday}}", by Music/RebeccaBlack, is a well-known example of this trope, provided by producer Patrice Wilson.
* Music/JustinBieber frequently has rappers do this in his songs. The weirdest is "Never Say Never" with Jaden Smith, who isn't very good at it.
** "Baby" is a very popular song, and a clear-cut example if you're not familiar with the trope.
** As his appearance on a ChrisBrown mixtape track, as well as his freestyle over KanyeWest and {{Music/Jay-Z}}'s "Otis", prove, Justin Bieber is a pretty decent rapper himself. He never does it in his own songs though.
** Music/NickiMinaj pops in out of nowhere for a verse of "Beauty and a Beat." The implied date rape ("You know I'm gonna hit 'im with the ether") is a little offputting. [[hottip:*:To be fair, "ethering" is slang for utterly destroying someone in a verse (i.e. what {{Nas}} did to JayZ on the diss track "Ether") but why would you put such a hardcore rap reference on a ''Bieber song?'']]
* Ludacris, Music/{{T-Pain}}, Flo Rida, Pitbull and Music/LilWayne frequently enter this as they [[WolverinePublicity work in basically everything]] (the first is one of those who worked with Bieber).
** Fittingly, Ludacris has also worked with Music/{{Usher}}; the rap segment of "Yeah!" was his doing.
** Increasingly this is true with Music/RickRoss as well.
** KanyeWest, {{Eminem}} and {{Jay-Z}} have shades of this as well, but the collaborations they do like this are quite rare, and it's often much less jarring when they do so.
*** Case in point for each of them - Kanye in "American Boy" by Estelle, Eminem in Akon's "Smack That", Jay-Z in "Crazy in Love" by Beyonce, although it didn't work quite as well for Jay-Z in "Lost+" by Coldplay
** Kardinal Offishall is this to the Canadian market. Of note is his appearance in Raghav's "So Much", which features a unique take on the rap bridge (specifically, Raghav himself sings the first third of the bridge and Kardinal Offishall raps the final two-thirds).
* Subverted in "Rapture" by Music/{{Blondie}}, although considered the UrExample. Instead of someone else rapping in her song, Debbie Harry does it herself. Even when they had Coolio appear on "No Exit", they dodged having a true example of this trope - both Debbie Harry ''and'' Coolio were rapping in the verses.
* Oddly, when KanyeWest was in his Autotune-phase, "Amazing" felt very much like this, despite West being a rapper himself, after his singing for 2 and a half minutes, Young Jeezy's appearance is very jarring.
** Despite LilWayne at the time being the other major Autotuned rapper in the industry (although this depends on if you class {{T-Pain}} in what would be a very loose definition of the term "rapper"), his rap on "See You In My Nightmares" on the same album is as, if not more, jarring - especially since he sings the chorus on Autotune. You read that right: Two ''rappers'' (both of whom use Autotune frequently) did a song and made ''the rap part'' sound out of place.
* Jenna Rose's song "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DwT_2QQU64 My Jeans]]" has a rapper named Baby Triggy show up in the middle of the song.
* Music/{{REM}}’s "Radio Song" has KRS-One rapping at the end. Much later [[Music/ATribeCalledQuest Q-Tip]] would contribute a rap verse to "The Outsiders".
* "Underneath It All" and "Hey Baby" by NoDoubt - but note that Lady Saw and Bounty Killer are Jamaican Dancehall Reggae artistes, rather than rappers.
* Music/SonicYouth's "[[XtremeKoolLetterz Kool]] Thing" uses this. Although instead of delivering an actual rap, [[Music/PublicEnemy Chuck D]] just responds to Kim Gordon's spoken monologue with deliberately vague, meaningless hip-hop cliches ("Tell it like it is... Yeah, word up!")
* Hard 'n' Phirm's "Pi" features fellow comedian/musician Howard Kremer aka Dragon Boy Suede.
* Kevin Max's "Existence" has a bridge featuring Knowdaverbs from GRITS.
* 'Alligator Sky' by OwlCity.
** Three versions of the song exist, the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BctkkpkefSo original version with Shawn Christopher]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN5jTL_gvaQ one without any rapping]], and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-xRJ37wbZY another rap version with B.O.B.]] that hasn't been officially released and came about from a friendly back and forth between B.O.B. and Adam Young on Twitter.
** Live show version: Instead of playing the song without the rap portion, the album version of the rap is played...[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bci7bkxRK7w with Shawn Christopher appearing through a prerecorded projection]], similar to the kind used for Vocaloid live shows.
* A much earlier example: "Every Little Step" by Bobby Brown has a rap portion, though by Bobby himself.
* EmilieAutumn, of all people, does this in "Opheliac". It's done by Emilie herself, though.
* KevinRudolf has this in many of his songs, but it's justified due to him being signed to Cash Money Records and actually associating with the guest rappers on a regular basis. It doesn't make their appearances any less sudden, like with LilWayne on "Let It Rock" and RickRoss on "Welcome to the World". Often the lyrics of the rapping don't have any association with the rest of the song.
* Parodied by inversion in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI6CfKcMhjY Jack Sparrow by The Lonely Island]], where a rap song has a wild MichaelBolton appear...
** Also parodied in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5Otla5157c YOLO]], where their song is interrupted by [[KendrickLamar Kendrick Lamar]]'s rap... about investment and retirement advice. It's actually sound advice.
* "Electronic Pleasure" by [[NTrance N-Trance]].
* "Good Kill" by Too Much Joy ends with a rap by KRS-One. Oddly enough, this was released the same year he also appeared on {{REM}}'s "Radio Song".
* BadReligion's "Let Them Eat War" features a rap verse by Sage Francis.
* Parodied on the song "Pop Song" by JonLajoie
-->''And now the [[LampshadeHanging token rap verse]] that doesn't make any sense''
-->''But helps me get a small percentage of the urban music market''
* "Lost+" by {{Coldplay}}, courtesy of {{Jay-Z}}.
* Pete Townshend's "Who Are You (Gateway Remix)", which is basically his solo version of TheWho song, includes a rap verse by Hame.
* Inverted in the Music/{{Eminem}} song "Stan", which features refrains from pop singer Dido. The song helped get Dido's own single out.
* The now little-remembered CharityMotivationSong "Voices That Care" included a brief rap by WillSmith. This was even more jarringly, awkwardly done in the Dutch answer to this, “[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYynkgJi1s4 Als je iets kan doen]]” by Artiesten voor Azië.
* "We Are The World 2010" has a whole section of this.
* Parodied by The AxisOfAwesome in their ''How To Write A Love Song'' where Lee pops in with a rap in the middle of their R&B love song.
* "Roll the Bones" by {{Rush}}, provided by usual vocalist Geddy Lee, but with his voice drastically altered via studio effects.
* {{Madonna}}'s "Give Me All Your Luvin'" kind of doubles up on this - the bridge has both {{MIA}} and NickiMinaj rapping for a few lines each.
* MichaelJackson [[ItWillNeverCatchOn thought that rap wouldn't catch on, according to Quincy Jones]], back in TheEighties. Once he was proven wrong, wild rappers became a mainstay on his albums.
** "Black Or White" (''Dangerous'') has a rap bridge credited to a mysterious "L.T.B." The video has ''Macaulay Culkin'' lip-sync this part.
** "Jam" (''Dangerous'') features a rap by Heavy D.
** "This Time Around" (''[=HIStory=]'') and "Unbreakable" (''Invincible'') both feature TheNotoriousBIG
** "2 Bad" (''[=HIStory=]'') features Shaquille O'Neal.
** "Heartbreaker" and "Invincible" (''Invincible'') feature Fats.
* "Rollin' (The Ballad of Big & Rich)" by Big & Rich has a guest appearance by Cowboy Troy in the middle.
* Kirsty [=MacColl=]'s "Walking Down Madison" has a rap bridge by Aniff Cousins. He doesn't ''entirely'' appear out of nowhere though - he also gets the spoken line "would you like to see some more?" in the chorus.
* The JessieJ song "Price Tag" has a rap by B.o.B.
* The last verse of Riskay's positively delightful [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgWgEoaAYDY Smell Yo Dick]].
* {{Maroon 5}} has Wiz Khalifa appear in "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRaWnd3LJfs Payphone]]."
* Betty Wright And The Roots' ''Betty Wright: The Movie'' has three such appearances - SnoopDogg on "Real Woman", LilWayne on "Grapes On A Vine" and Robert "The Messenger" Bozeman on "Hollywould". Though The Roots are a hip-hop group, they only provide instrumentation on the album, and most of the vocals are sung by Betty Wright herself.
* Double-subverted by {{Music/Keane}}'s [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI9C9j0QgU4 Stop For A Minute.]] It features K'NAAN, a rapper, who [[PlayingAgainstType sings]]. But right after the second chorus, he abruptly switches to rapping.
* Three tracks on Music/{{Giulietta}}'s debut album ''Ascension'' featured an uncredited MC. Her sophomore album/mixtape, ''911: Code Pink'', featured no less than ''seven'' rappers, all credited.
* Music/DaisyDaresYou's [[OneHitWonder sole hit]], "Number One Enemy", features Chipmunk, whose appearance is one BigLippedAlligatorMoment within the song.
* "You're Freaking Me Out Girl" by Wired All Wrong has a rap bridge provided by Count Bass D. He was most likely brought in due to connections with Wired All Wrong's vocalist Matt Mahaffey - both hail from Tennessee, and Count Bass D was once signed to Spongebath, the independent label Mahaffey co-founded.
* Not quite a rap break, but the Music/{{Anthrax}} song 1000 Points of Hate features dj scratching by Music/PublicEnemy's Terminator X.
* DisneyChannel examples:
** "Tell Me Something I Don't Know" by SelenaGomez features one by an uncredited rapper.
*** "Intuition" features raps by Eric Bellinger.
** "Who's That Boy" by DemiLovato features a rap by Dev. (However, since they almost sound similar, it's hard to tell if Demi or Dev was doing the rap in the middle of the song.)
** "Liberty Walk" by MileyCyrus, rapped by Miley herself.
* The cartoon themed group ''{{Gorillaz}}'' is famous for this. Their hit single off the first album - called Clint Eastwood - featured Del The Funky Homosapien as the random rapper. It would go on from there.
* Islands' "Where There's A Will There's A Whalebone" is sort of unusual, as it technically features more rapping than singing, yet still feels like an example of this: usual vocalist Nick Thorburn sings in the beginning and end of the song, but the whole middle section is ceded to guest rappers Subtitle and Busdriver.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEgcLrgxUOw All I Need Is Love]] by Music/CeeLoGreen and TheMuppets has a rap bridge... performed by [[BreakoutCharacter Pepe the King Prawn]].
* Reggae song "Informer" by Snow features producer M.C. Shan jumping in to rap for a bit.
* Madcon's cover of "Beggin'" by Music/FrankieValliAndTheFourSeasons is slightly more upbeat than the original, but just when you think it could be a worthy cover of a classic song, a random rapper appears. Fans of the original weren't happy -- ''at all''!
* BruceSpringsteen has this happen on the song "Rocky Ground" from his album Wrecking Ball features background vocalist Michelle Moore rapping the song's final verse.
* The JonasBrothers song "Burnin Up" features a rap by the brothers' bodyguard Big Rob.
* The Music/BradPaisley song "Accidental Racist" features Music/LLCoolJ doing one of the strangest rapping bits of all time.
* ArianaGrande's "The Way" features Mac Miller doing the intro and the middle of the song.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* The album version of ''{{VisualNovel/Kanon}}'''s ending theme has a random and [[GratuitousEnglish incomprehensible]] rap segment. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_pQMSWY7o0&t=04m30s No, really.]]
* The first boss theme for ''VideoGame/{{Einhander}}'', [[http://youtube.com/watch?v=FjLSrlCYeFg surprisingly an]] EarWorm. This rap was justified by being a sample from a then-famous disc, so even ''ArTonelico'' [[http://youtube.com/watch?v=winKFP3Pelg got in on the fun]].
* The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBDa4wTq0oI Final Fight stage theme]] in CapcomVsSNK has a gangster rap segment, complete with profanity. Even more wild is that you can only hear those lyrics when playing the arcade version of the game. The console ports of the game cut out the rap segment, because of the profanity.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Animation ]]

* WebAnimation/HomestarRunner: Inverted with "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Rap Song]]" by [[PissTakeRap Coach Z]] (accidentally) featuring Peacey P. The song itself is all rap, but has an R&B break, performed by Tenerence Love. "[[http://www.homestarrunner.com/loadingscreens.html Loading Screens]]" is a straight example, as is "[[http://www.homestarrunner.com/trudgemank.html Trudgemank]]".

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* "In the Ocean Blue" from the third series of ''CharlieTheUnicorn''
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnXiQw6LNjg This cover]] of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoHBWjP2pbI this song]].
* "Do You Wanna Date My Avatar?" by Felicia Day has a wild rap verse performed by Jeff Lewis (Vork) and Sandeep Parikh (Zaboo).
* Lampshaded and [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] in the KeyOfAwesome [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AL14KGWTU0 parody]] of Music/KatyPerry's "ET":
-->'''Katy Perry:''' ''[[Music/KanyeWest Kanye]],/Why are you here?/I don't like this version./You're not on the album.''
-->'''Kanye West:''' ''Katy, ungh,/Let me be clear, ungh./Every single pop hit/Needs a rapper on it.''
* ToddInTheShadows said that he checked out {{Justin Bieber}}'s new Christmas album because a live version of a song had one featuring BustaRhymes.
** While many of the songs he has reviewed include the trope, his review of "Girl On Fire" by Alicia Keys parodies it with random momentum-destroying appearances by WebVideo/TheRapCritic to talk about Nicki Minaj's added verses.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Exaggerated in the ''PhineasAndFerb'' episode "Spa Day", which has a song with relaxing, lounge music, except for a completely out-of-the-blue rap tune interrupting it in the middle - the catch being that the rap section made up the majority of the song.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDramaIsland Total Drama World Tour]]'': Harold interrupts some songs to start rapping, much to the others' annoyance.
* The ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' song "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5uujMb_hbo BellyButton]]".
* The opening theme to ''WesternAnimation/LibertysKids'', with a rap courtesy of Aaron Carter:
--> I take my heart into battle
--> Give that freedom bell a rattle
--> Gonna have independence signed
--> I'll sign right here on the dotted line
--> Red, white, and blue, never give up
--> We represent America!
* ''SchoolhouseRock'' has one in the form of a rapping walrus during the solo parts of the otherwise rock & roll-themed "Save the Ocean" in "Earth Rock", provided by Eric "Badlands" Booker.
* In one of their tie-in music videos, ''TheSimpsons'' did an in-universe one, with Bart interrupting a school recital to perform "Do the Bartman." (Amusingly, this would be referenced in a CallBack on the TV show proper about a decade later, with a character, no other than [[TheDitz Ralph Wiggum]], mocking it by saying "That is ''so'' 1991!")

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