Awesome Music / Rap

• Kool & the Gang. Nigh everything they've done is enough to make you jump up from your seat, but in off case that "Heaven At Once", "Jungle Boogie", "Hollywood Swingin'"," or "Celebration" weren't awesome enough for you, there's the utterly stunning "Light Of Worlds", with it's children's choir, steady sax, with rapid funk beats pushing you the whole way, all the while giving a message of unity to the world, from the America America forgot. Brilliant.
• Outkast's "Hey Ya" is a fun upbeat dance tune. Folk band Obadiah Parker takes that and turns it into a plaintive lament that is so awesome its ridiculous.
  • To be fair, the original always had the same emotional impact in the lyrics, it just played the lyrical dissonance card pretty hard. It's even lampshaded in the song when Andre states that "You all don't wanna hear me, you just wanna dance"
  • Speaking of OutKast, "B.O.B." might just be the most epic hip-hop song ever written. Heck, most of Stankonia, especially "Ms. Jackson" though.
  • Add Aquemini to the list of great OutKast albums with special mention going to "Rosa Parks", "SpottieOttieDopeliscious", and Return of the "G".
  • What happens when UGK and OutKast meet up over a classic soul sample? Pure magic.
• They're very obscure, but Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip have a talent of mixing meaningful lyrics with awesome lyrics. Listen to the haunting "Magician's Assistant" or the Radiohead sampling "Letter From God To Man".
• Earth, Wind & Fire! Even though they're quite old now, good music never, ever gets old. Especially music like theirs. In particular, they were masters at taking sounds, riffs, melodies of all sorts, and making them work and flow together all at once. A perfect mix of soul, funk, pop, jazz and rock, and, most importantly, their words hit you strong. And they weren't half bad in concert either.
  • BA DE YA DE YA DE YA!
  • Not as well known as their other songs, but "Yearnin' Learnin'" is just as much a masterpiece, both for its soulful message and the boogie beat that sticks with you.
• James Brown's "Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul" (from the Motherlode album) is the ultimate piece of Funk.
  • "Soul Power '74". Man, where sound clips mix with funk, and, man, that SAX.
• Eminem
  • "I'm Slim Shady, yes I'm the real Shady, all you other Slim Shadys are just imitating..."
  • Eminem + Marilyn Manson = Freakin' AWESOME, and the lyrics even more so.
  • And for that matter, The Slim Shady LP and The Marshall Mathers LP. To a lesser extent you could note the Eminem Show.
  • Even those who don't like rap can call "Love the Way You Lie" to be one of the best songs of 2010.
  • The song "Lose Yourself" from Eminem's movie 8 Mile. IT EVEN BEAT U2.
  • "Won't Back Down" from Recovery is just incredible.
  • "Till I Collapse" anyone? Both this and "Won't Back Down" were used in trailers for Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops, respectively, because of their popularity.
  • The spine-chillingly heartbreaking Stan.
  • "Now this looks like a job for me, so everybody just follow me, 'cause we need a little controversy, 'cause it feels so EMPTY without me!"
  • Em would like you to know that he's Not Afraid.
  • The Marshall Mathers LP 2. All of it. Just a few examples:
    • The 2-part Bad Guy, which is a sequel to "Stan", is mind-blowing. If you can't appreciate the flow, lyricism, and storytelling in this song, you just don't like hip hop.
    • Groundhog Day is pure vintage Eminem. The youthful nasal flow, quirky lyrics, and long verses are a perfect reminder that Em is finally back to his roots. Too bad it's only on the deluxe edition....
    • Headlights is an emotional, long-awaiting apology to Em's mother. It is breathtaking.
    • Survival, arguably the most rock-influenced song Em has ever done, is one of the most aggressive and in-your-face tracks he has ever laid a verse on.
    • The Monster (ft. Rihanna), hands down one of Em's best songs. It features some of his most aggressive lines and spits in his career, all contrasted with Rihanna's beautiful vocals.
    • Berzerk is probably his hardest-hitting song, with noticeably angry rapping and a few Epic Riffs here and there. Pure gold.
  • Even the divisive Encore and Relapse (although the latter has since been Vindicated by History) have some gems hidden on them. From the former, you get Mosh, a political Anti-Bush anthem that is one of the angriest songs Em has ever recorded, and from the latter, you get Deja Vu, featuring one of Dr. Dre's best beats to date. There's more, but those are just a few highlights.
• Stevie Wonder "Superstition" from Talking Book.
  • Also "Higher Ground" from Innervisions. And on the softer side, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" and "Isn't She Lovely" from Songs in the Key of Life Although that last might be more Heartwarming, since he wrote it about his daughter (and wrote recordings of her voice into it! Can you say "awwwwww"?)
  • "Living for the City". Not only does Stevie play all the instruments on the song, but it also turns into a message about systematic racism once you get to the traffic noises in the middle of the song.
• Hip Hop Artist Jay-Z definitely has a lot of songs like this.
  • First of all, "D.O.A (Death of Auto-Tune)"
  • Also, "Run This Town", featuring Rihanna and Kanye West. The remix from E.S. Posthumus is just as good, if not better than the original.
  • If you havin' girl problem, I feel bad for you, son.
  • "Empire. State. Of. Mind." Big Applesauce done oh so right.
  • His debut album Reasonable Doubt could very well be his best, but "Brooklyn's Finest" stands out. Why? Simple: It features Jay-Z's friend, The Notorious B.I.G.. They just tear up the mic together.
  • Sometime after that, he came up with a classic that was so good he managed to do it at Carnegie Hall with a full complement of orchestral instruments. And to take it a step further? He asked Just Blaze and M.O.P to come along for the remix and DUMP FIYAH.
• Nas's Illmatic is pretty much an entire album of some of the greatest hip-hop songs ever made, but "The World Is Yours" and "It Ain't Hard To Tell" take it Serial Escalation. It's not just Illmatic that has great songs. "One Mic" and "Ether" in particular are some of his best with "Ether" being extra awesome for being considered one of the greatest diss raps off all time.
• This page cannot exist without Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain". And you can't mention Funkadelic without mentioning Parliament when talking about awesome music. "Dr. Funkenstein" and "Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples" don't even scratch the surface.
• Somebody say HEYYYYYYY, WE WANT SOME PUUUUUSSS-SAYYYYY!!!! C'mon, you can't deny the 2 Live Crew makes danceable and highly sex-fueled dirty rap, a notable example being the aforementioned "We Want Some Pussy", the kicker of their debut album.
• Not only thanks to its catchy hook, "Oh Shit" by The Pharcyde is easily one of alternative hip hop's best tunes of all time, also thanks to its unadulteratedly hilarious lyrics.
• "Push It To The Limit". Just listening to it makes you feel unstoppable.
• Girl Talk takes overplayed hip-hop and fuses it with classic pop/rock. And it sounds awesome. Paranoid Android and Jay-Z?
• Fort Minor (aka, Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park)
• The entirety of rap supergroup Deltron 3030's self-titled concept album. Del tha Funkee Homosapien has never been better.
• Internet rapper DZK - known for his sites on YTMND as well as his incredibly vulgar yet witty rap style - gets a CMOA after making "VA Tech Aftermath (Still Ballin')". Written in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, it was a response to Cho Seung Hui's anti-capitalism and anti-wealth manifesto. The response? A whole list of ways he'd spend massive amounts of money to spite Cho's senseless violence.
• "Fifty In Five" by Hilltop Hood is the last fifty years of world history summed up in one five-and-a-half minute track.
• Wu-Tang Clan's "Triumph". Title says it all. Also, the opening verse is Moment of Awesome for Inspectah Deck.
• The Notorious B.I.G.:
  • "Unbelievable" is pure lyrical asswhoopin.
  • "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems" combines brilliant lyrics with some of the best melodies ever heard in rap music.
  • "Hypnotize", off of "Life After Death", is worth listening to just for the instrumental (sampled from Herb Alpert) and the absolute confidence in Biggie's voice when he spits his rhymes.
• Flobots - "White Flag Warrior". Tears and chills every time, especially for those with family in the military.
• 2Pac was very reliable for awesome hip-hop music. "Hit 'Em Up" is considered by many to be one of the greatest diss tracks in rap history, and marks the climax of tension in the highly heated East Coast-West Coast rivalry of gangsta rap. One can only imagine how Biggie must have felt when he heard this song for the first time...
• The Sugarhill Gang.
• Lupe Fiasco in general, but "Kick, Push" deserves a special mention.
  • Food and Liquor is excellent all around, but "Hurt Me Soul" and "American Terrorist" overshadow every other track that's not "Kick, Push".
  • The apocalyptic Streets On Fire from 'The Cool'.
• Redman's "Let's Get Dirty (I Can't Get In Da Club)" is probably one of the most hardcore party tunes around. Roaring melodies? Check. Redman's signature raging rap? Check. Funky lyrics? Check. This song has everything to put the party people's feet on fire! And the music video (click the link to watch it) pretty much lampshades it.
• Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise", based on "Pastime Paradise" from Songs in the Key of Life, a thought provoking piece on the criminal life of many people living in the hood.
• The song "Forever" by Drake, featuring Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and the reason the song is on this page, Eminem. There's a reason half the comments say that the song REALLY begins at 4:51.
• Diddy-Dirty Money. "Coming Home".
  I'm coming home, coming home
  Tell the world that I'm coming home
  Let the rain wash away
  All the pain of yesterday
  I know my kingdom awaits
  And they've forgiven my mistakes
  I'm coming home, coming home
  Tell the world that I'm coming home
• Spin called Cage's Depart from Me "the most seamless, compelling union of hip-hop and modern rock since the two genres first collided".
• Nomak's "Wind Beat" is a simply untouchable instrumental.
• What do you get when you take an okay 1992 R&B song by SWV, and remix it with Michael Jackson's "Human Nature" (from Thriller) as the backing track? One of the finest New Jack Swing songs EVER, and one of the top selling R&B singles of 1993.
• You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge..... And from there "Straight Outta Compton" by NWA only gets better, despite its controversial reputation. NWA post-Ice Cube was pretty good too. Check "100 Miles and Runnin'" out for a start.
• The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. It's stated to be one of the greatest hip hops by critics and the ending made Mama by Genesis what it is today.
• What do you get when you mix The X-Ecutioners and Linkin Park? Pure awesomeness. It's Going down indeed!
• The X-Ecutioners by themselves are quite wonderful, too.
• Childish Gambino a.k.a Donald Glover, just has songs that'll just get you hyped faster than nobody's business. Top three being "Freaks and Geeks", "Not Going Back", and "Bonfire".
• Under-appreciated group The Knux has been churning out kickass track after track but seem to have caught the attention of everyone with their single "Run" (NSFW for the video). "Bang! Bang!" is a great example of their earlier sound, a rawer hodgepodge that sounds like it could have been done by Outkast.
• "Fast and Giant Take That" by internet speed rapper Mac Lethal.
• TechN9ne has many of these due to his dynamic flows and intelligent and varied rhyme schemes like "Like I Died" and its official remix ft. Krizz Kaliko and Mr. Smith.
  • "Too Much" (ft. Kutt Kalhoun) would also be a great example because of its incredible flow and cinematic production.
  • Welcome To The Midwest ft. Krizz Kaliko sampling Dean Martin's 'Sway'.
  • Stars; a wonderful start to Tech's twisted mythical album, Welcome to Strangeland.
    • Unfair ft.Ces Cru and Krizz Kaliko from the same album.
    • Who Do I Catch.
    • Negro spiritual-esque Slave ft. Krizz Kaliko & Kutt Kalhoun.
  • Tech's verse on What'chu Tellin' Me by Tha Rellez.
  • From his All 6's And 7's album:
    • Worldwide Choppers ft. Yelawolf, Busta Rhymes, Twista, Ceza, D-Loc, U$0, and Twisted Insane.
    • Am I A Psycho ft. Hopsin & B.O.B is dark, catchy, and Nightmare Fuel as all hell.
    • He's A Mental Giant.
  • King Of Darkness album:
    • Show Me A God.
    • K.O.D (King Of Darkness).
    • Blackened The Sun for its over the top 'grimdarkness'.
  • The second track from his album, Everready: The Religion ; No Can Do ft. Krizz Kaliko.
    • Tech's verse on Welcome To My World which begins at 2:30.
    • Riotmaker.
    • Come Gangsta is his response to the many critics at the time who said that he wasn't 'gangsta enough' and was catering to white people.
    • This Is Me.
• When Warren G and Nate Dogg are on the same track you can expect a pure rap classic which is what you get with "Regulate".
• A Tribe Called Quest's "Hot Sex". The instrumental alone is awesome.
• Mos Def's "Mathematics" is an awesome six-minute lesson in political economy/state of the nation address, with samples from James Brown, Erykah Badu and Ghostbusters.
• MC Hammer, though overplayed in his heyday (and today to some extent), has some pretty kickass songs on his underrated The Funky Headhunter, such as "Somethin For The O.G.s", "Oaktown", "It's All That", "Break Em Off Somethin Proper", "Pumps And A Bump", and "Don't Stop".
• Public Enemy brought us "Bring The Noise" from It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, a song so awesome they sampled it themselves repeatedly on the same album it first appeared on and was also performed by Anthrax with the original artists! And Harder Than You think would be Power Metal if it wasn't rap.
• Two words: Die Antwoord. Every song of theirs is amazing, but Baby's On Fire, Fatty Boom Boom, I Fink U Freeky, Enter The Ninja, Evil Boy, Wat Kyk Jy, and XPEN$IVE $H1T most definitely stand out.
• For Hopsin, if only one of his songs tends to stand out as truly awesome, it's his Ill Mind of Hopsin 5, an acrimonious "The Reason You Suck" Speech to the whole Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll lifestyle and especially the teenagers who emulate it.
• Almost anything made by K-Rino. He can make conspiracies sound cool. Just listen to his flow...
  • Journey Thru The Metaphor Labyrinth
  • The Sorcerer's Den
  • Doctor Jack
• From Kid Creole & the Coconuts, we present to you "Stool Pigeon".
• Reks' "25th Hour" is lyrical excellence. Actually, Reks in general is a great rapper.
• De La Soul has some great songs. "Eye Know", "Me, Myself, and I", and "The Magic Number" from Three Feet High And Rising are all worth listening to.
• In addition to being catchy, "Shadrach" by Beastie Boys is quite funky. Which it should be, being based on a sample of "Loose Booty" by Sly and the Family Stone.
• Oh my God, Becky, look at her butt. It is so big. She looks like one of those rap guys's girlfriends. But, you know, who understands those rap guys? They only talk to her because she looks like a total prostitute, OK? I mean, her butt, it's just so... Big! I can't believe it's so round and so out-there, I mean... Gross! Look! She's just so... BLACK! I like big butts and I cannot lie.
• Wiz Khalifa rapping over Schala's Theme.
• Craig Mack's "Flava in Ya Ear" is a strong track with an awesome beat. But it could be better. How so? Get LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, and Rampage to bring their "A" Game. Oh, and kick it off with an epic verse by The Notorious B.I.G.. That's the Flava In Ya Ear Remix.
  P.Diddy: Baaaaad Boooys... Come out and Plaaaayyyyy!
• Cameo's "Talkin' Out the Side of Your Neck" is an awesome but surprisingly political song from the group that gave us "Candy" and "She's Strange". Then, Texas Southern University's marching band, the "Ocean of Soul", turned it into the theme song of just about every Historically Black College and University Marching Band (and several predominantly black high schools, too!) for about thrity years now.
• With only a tribal beat, a catchy choir that recalls Bastille's hit song "Pompeii", and lyrics about rising from being a weed dealer to someone who wants to inspire the best in people, "Mandela" by Cyhi The Prynce is an amazing song from start to finish.
• The Weeknd:
  • "Devil May Cry" is an emotional roller coaster from an incredibly talented songbird.
  • The entirety of Starboy. From the epic title track and "I Feel It Coming" (both collaborations with Daft Punk, no less), to "Reminder", "Party Monster" and "False Alarm", Abel shows that even after abandoning his cynical, drug-and-sex-fueled persona he can still make astonishing pieces.
• Ante Up by MOP is a car-shaking song that hooks you in and starts with a blast. It never loses its energy even when the rappers confess they understand how dangerous their crime-ridden lifestyle is.
• If you want to understand the immediate, dangerous, infectious, clever, and catchy appeal of El-P and Killer Mike as Run the Jewels, then Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck). (Featuring Zach de la Rocha, as well!) The fact that this song has been popularized by the Black Panther trailer is nothing short of well-deserved: "Legend Has It", off of "RTJ 3", is another banger of the highest quality, when every instrument (the drums, the horns, the vocal samples) wants to stay into your head.
• Kendrick Lamar isn't one of the most critically acclaimed rappers of the New Tens for nothing, as evidence by life-affirming anthems such as Alright and Humble, detailed depictions of life in the ghetto like m.A.A.d. city and Duckworth, and moments of vulnerability found in songs like u and Sing About Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst can confirm.
• British rappers slowthai and Skepta deliver a pure "fuck you" song with "Inglorious". It's bold, it's loud, it's in-your-face, it's impossible not to dance.

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