Rap

Musician Luca Stricagnoli continues to wow us with his fingerstyle arrangements of popular songs, this time taking on Eminem’s rap anthem Lose Yourself from the movie 8 Mile, giving it a whole new sound and texture that still had us moving our arm to the beat when the rhythm kicked in.

“Now I slay beats… ‘member when I would slay freaks.” Houston rapper Tobe Nwigwe’s smooth sound and positive vibes are a breath of fresh air, complemented by soulful backing vocals and jazzy instrumentals as he performs Houston Tribute, Caged Birds, Against the Grain, Shine, and I’m Dope. at the NPR offices.

The 1979 Sugar Hill Gang track Rapper’s Delight put hip hop on the map for many of us. Now enjoy a cover of the seminal rap track, as performed by the trio of Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, courtesy of YouTuber Steven Rosenthal. It seems like Siri has the best sense of rhythm.

(PG-13: Language) Musician Cove AKA Covergeist is a master at creating acoustic versions of rap music. His interpretation of Eminem… er The Real Slim Shady’s Without Me is our favorite, but his versions of Lose Yourself and Snoop Dogg and Pharrell’s Drop It Like It’s Hot are also worth a listen.

From Dr. Dre to Eminem to Biz Markie, here are 40 popular rap and hip hop songs as you’ve never heard them before. Listen as musician Florian Mohr tickles the ivories in this toned-down, one-take piano medley of these classics.

“I’m a pro when I bone but I do it pro-bono.” Oakland A’s fans The Lonely Island pay tribute to baseball players (and steroid abusers) Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, and their after-dark antics with the ladies. From the Netflix special The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience.

We love a good musical mashup, and this is one of the best we’ve heard in a while. 888sentz posted this track by Bass211, which perfectly combines Stevie Wonder’s Superstition, Cypress Hill’s Insane in the Brain, Run-DMC’s My adidas, and a dash of Beastie Boys’ an open letter to new york.

(PG-13: Language) Musician and producer O’hene Savànt just dropped what might be the most epic rap ever released, a 30-minute long autobiographical song comprised of “scenes” about a man whose love of music drives his life, and the struggles he faces along his path.

(PG-13: Language) Mylo the Cat is back with an epic new edit, re-voicing the 1970s Saturday morning classic with the sounds of ODB, Method Man, Inspectah Deck, Capadonna, U-God, The RZA, The GZA, Masta Killa, Ghostface Killah, and Raekwon.

(PG-13: Language) Adam Sandler returns to what made us love him in the first place with his Netflix standup special 100% Fresh. This digital exclusive clip offers a taste of what to expect, a gem of a rap about a man just living an ordinary life like the rest of us.

(PG-13: Language) “Steak. Affirmative rare. From a bear.” Musician and madman Stepasaur performs a kind of bad lip reading of his own, as he raps poetic about what the crew of the Starship Enterprise is having for dinner, and the aftermath of Captain Kirk’s poor choice.

(PG-13: Language) “I ain’t walking in a trap with a crowd of mobsters, this is a comprehensive rap all about lobsters.” Mac Lethal is sick and tired of played-out rap themes, so he’s decided to do something about it. In his new series, he’ll rap about anything but the usual tropes.

(PG-13: Language) Mac Miller shows how much he’s grown both as a rapper and as a person in his sweet visit to NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert. He performed Small Worlds, What’s the Use and 2009, the latter two from his new album Swimming.

Videogamedunkey takes a moment away from his usual snarky video game reviews to give us a little rap tune about a bunch of random stuff that proves you can rap about just anything, and with a good beat and smooth flow, it’ll work. Also we are now really hungry for wings.

(PG-13: Language) Filmmakers Thibaut Duverneix and Mathieu Léger take us on a wild ride through the disjointed mind of rapper Tierra Whack, playing out as 15 one-minute mini movies, each shot on a different set. The scenes are loaded with style, humor, and attitude.

(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.