Awesome Rap

(PG-13: Lyrics) “I don’t wanna fit in anyway, I’d rather be a misfit.” South Africa’s enigmatic duo teamed up with The Black Goat on this track that will hit close to home for anyone ever bullied, taunted, or harassed for standing out from the crowd.

The end of Return of the Jedi saw its original Yub Nub song wiped out in one of George Lucas’ awful “special editions.” Auralnauts give the Ewoks the anthem they deserve with this rap track from their alt-Star Wars episode VI The Last Laser Master.

Long before rap music existed, Theodore Geisel (aka “Dr. Seuss”) was a true master of rhymes. But could his words be used in a rap? Win Nevaluze proves just that, as he recites There’s a Wocket in My Pocket to the tune of Walk It Talk It by Migos f/Drake.

Mashup maker Happy Cat Disco brilliantly combined House of Pain’s Jump Around with Meghan Trainor’s No Excuses, resulting in a track that will have you dancing right there in your office chair. The trippy imagery was plucked from the Disney classic Dumbo.

The big screen adaptation of Ernest Cline’s wonderful Ready Player One comes out soon, but we won’t be hearing Demi Adejuyigbe’s theme song because it was apparently just too good for Spielberg. This is so much better than every original song that was up for an Oscar.

Directors Greg&Lio shot this video for French musician OrelSan, which features a seemingly endless cast of characters for the rapper to march through. The smooth tracking shot was captured using an expertly piloted drone. The subtitled version has a little bonus at the end.

(PG-13: Language) We already know that rapper Mac Lethal can spit verses fast, but he recently took on a viewer who challenged him to rap 300 words in a minute. Lethal decided to showboat, and instead bested that number by 25%. Check the YouTube page for full lyrics.

(PG-13: Language) “They criticizing the lyrics, guess everybody’s a critic, look: I push the limit while rappers is pushing gimmicks. I use it to push my pen and then add it to the premise hook.” Wu-Tang. New album. ‘Nuff said.

(PG-13: Language) In what just might be the best/worst idea since Sharknado, this action comedy simultaneously spoofs Straight Outta Compton and cheesy horror flicks by setting loose a giant mutant snake in the middle of the story of an up and coming rap group.

(PG-13: Language) “I was ravin’ in the desert til the sun gave me red skin, I told you that I’m no saint, I see hawks, I just spin…” Mac Lethal incorporates the names of every US pro football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and soccer team into a cohesive 3-minute rap.

Director Philip Andelman and Eko’s interactive music video for Know No Better provides dueling perspectives on the life of a young man. With a click of the mouse or trackpad, you can bounce between his real life and his imagined one on demand.

Dropout proves you can make a rap song about anything, with their hilarious track about how dope it is to wear heelys, those kids’ shoes with little wheels built into them. Get ready to hear “When I wear my heelys, I give all the girls feelies” everywhere when this blows up.

(PG-13: Language) Mass Appeal Records compiled 14 tracks used throughout the four seasons of Silicon Valley, including the title track Stretch Your Face, Nas and DJ Shadow’s recently released Systematic, and Wu-Tang’s new track Don’t Stop.

“The most raw form of energy in music that we have in the UK.” Drake’s latest album More Life brought grime to the mainstream. Vox spoke with Beats 1 UK radio host Julie Adenuga to find out the origins and characteristics of this fast rising genre.

(PG-13: Language) We already know that rapper Mac Lethal has mad skills. Here, he takes on some of the many different sub-genres of rap and hip hop from the lighthearted braggadocio of the 1980s to horrorcore to Miami trap and everything in between.

(Flashing images) “JVC is nice; I’ve been around Japan; It’s electronic, calls me Viktor; High on the scales, off the Richter.” Director Kris Merc’s dope visual feast is the perfect complement to hip hop legends Kool Keith and MF Doom’s track about a rapper with super powers.

“I’m different. I know that I’m different.” An 11-year-old boy wrote a rap about his so-called friend who started bullying him. He was too nervous to perform it himself, so he sent it to Mac Lethal, who obliged. Isaac, it’s time to show Thomas the door. You deserve better, kid.

Send a 20,000 inch meat lover’s where the cheese is gooey… and a female driver dat’ll feed it to me. Mac Lethal likes pizza. After all, he’s the guy who bought his whole audience a stack of them. Here, he calls his favorite pizza place, and orders the only way he knows how.

(PG-13: Language) Isaiah Howard (@isaiahxavier10) uses the smartphone app musical.ly to create totally trippy selfie music videos, which feature fast camera movements, and rapid edits which are at once completely disorienting and hypnotic.

Impressionist Mikey Bolts takes on the 1999 Blackalicious classic Alphabet Aerobics, matching each letter of the alphabet to a cartoon character, and raps each part in their voice. We swear, the more we look at Mikey, the more we think he’s actually Peter Brady.

Kawehi is a fully self-contained marching band as she walks down the sidewalk and performs her latest song, a rallying cry she wrote when was tired of being put down for being a “silly woman.” It’s an inspiring tune that people of all genders and races can get behind.

2017 Tiny Desk Contest winner Tank and the Bangas effortlessly combine smooth jazz, spoken word, hip hop, R&B, love and humor. Watch them play one of the best Tiny Desk sets we’ve ever seen. If they don’t blow up globally, there truly is no justice in this world.

(PG-13: Language) The extraordinarily talented rapper Mac Lethal received a hateful, obnoxious, slur-filled comment from a low-life internet troll. So what did he do? He decided to respond to the message with a little critique of the dude’s grammar and spelling.