Awesome Rap

Rap duo Joey Valence and Brae have a sound much like the Beastie Boys. But it’s their intentionally lo-fi music video that got our attention. Their goal was simple – shoot it from the worst camera angles. It’s mostly a 360º camera view that they didn’t convert to VR. They took a similar approach for Watch Yo Step. (Thanks, Rob!)

After an attempt to sell jars of candied eggplant, a group of grandmas from the Greek isle of Crete decide it’s time to market to a broader audience. So they put their heads together and made a rap video about living the eggplant (aka aubergine) life. Watch with captions on.

Eminem achieved most of his popularity in the early 21st century. But what if he started making hits back in medieval times? Beedle The Bardcore has the answer with this hour-long, 13th-century performance of Slim Shady’s greatest hits including Lose Yourself, Without Me, Stan, Smack That, and Ass Like That.

(PG-13: Lyrics) Brooklyn meets Oslo in DJ Cummerbund’s mashup of Jay-Z’s Dirt Off Your Shoulder and A-ha’s Take on Me. Beyoncé, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Marvin Gaye, and Randy “Macho Man” Savage help round out the track.

There I Ruined It transform’s N.W.A.’s West Coast rap anthem into a West German polka anthem, trading blunts for beers, Los Angeles for lederhosen, AKs for accordions, and adding an unwanted oompah band sound to Straight Outta Compton.

“Warner’s wouldn’t send a screener… so I’ve only seen the trailer.” Sweetlegs presents a rap song about Denis Villeneuve’s much-anticipated and frequently-delayed adaptation of Dune, and reminds us that fear is the mind-killer when it comes to trying to figure out if it’s going to be good or not before it comes out.

(PG-13: Lyrics) Musicians Tom McGovern and A. Rob present a rap song about living large while watching their carbon footprints and saving gas money so they can spend it on gold chains. My Prius celebrates Toyota’s fuel-sipping hybrid, and extolls the benefits it affords its owners.

(PG-13: Language) Musician Akintoye spits an incredible sequence of rhymes about inequality and current state of affairs after years of oppression. His rapid-fire rap gets faster and faster as it reaches its apex. In case you needed any help pronouncing his name, he’s got you covered.

Videogamedunkey presents the debut single off of his fictitious album “Yo Peter, pass me the meatballs.” The prolific video game reviewer offers up a rap about his mad YouTube and gaming skillz set to the tune of The Notorious B.I.G.’s Mo Money Mo Problems, which itself is set to the tune of Diana Ross’ I’m Coming Out.

“Some of the best kills that I have ever seen… and that ain’t bad for a PG-13.” With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 47%, X-Men Apocalypse wasn’t exactly the best of the franchise. Sweetlegs’ rap about watching the movie while hungover reminds us of some of its more redeeming qualities.

MyloTheCat chopped up old Super Friends cartoons and made the Legion of Doom rap Wu-Tang Clan’s Uzi (Pinky Ring). Stars Sinestro as U-God, The Riddler as Raekwon, Scarecrow as Ghostface Killah, Lex Luthor as The RZA, Captain Cold as Method Man, Bizarro as Inspectah Deck, Black Manta as Masta Killa, and Brainiac as the GZA.

“Jumps over everything, even King Kong.” Aesop Rock’s wonderfully lighthearted hip-hop track Long Legged Larry celebrates the life and legend of a heroic bullfrog. Rob Shaw’s music video and Jeremy Fish’s character design bring Larry to life with a beard and a sweatband. Long Legged Larry for Mayor!

(PG-13: Language) Remixer William Maranci has a new trick up his sleeve – taking existing songs and swapping out the instrumentals over and over again. Here, he takes Eminem’s Rap God and backs it with 55 different tracks, from Nirvana’s In Bloom to They Might Me Giants’ Ana Ng to the theme from Curb Your Enthusiasm.

(PG-13: Lyrics) “Keanu Reeves, cyber arm under my sleeve… I blast ’em all, watch ’em fall like autumn leaves.” Hip hop masters Run the Jewels contributed a song to the soundtrack of Cyberpunk 2077 under the pseudonym “Yankee and the Brave,” which happens to be the title of one of Killer Mike and EL-P’s other recent tracks.

(PG-13: Language) Freestyle rapper Harry Mack likes to hang out on video chat platform Omegle, where he asks the people it pairs him up with to give him three words to incorporate into his rap. This clip includes a few of his sessions, but if you’re short on time, skip to 12:36.

“Suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be.” UK rapper slowthai’s smooth and emotive ballad borrows a line from The Beatles’ Yesterday, but its accompanying one-shot music video by Oscar Hudson is anything but derivative, as it follows the story of a man experiencing one very strange fever dream.

(PG-13: Gore) The video for Siberian rapper Dmitry “Husky” Kuznetsov’s track Never Ever is a bloody journey into the world of a janitor who is tasked with cleaning up the aftermath of deadly gang battles. It’s a macabre subject handled with visual aplomb by writer/director Evgenii Bakirov and cinematographer Kirill Groshev.

It’s impossible to listen to the Young MC track Bust a Move without doing exactly what its title says. Remixer Bill McClintock combined MC’s infectious rhythms with Buffalo Springfield’s timeless protest song For What It’s Worth, giving it a groovy new sound. Listen close, and you’ll catch some Def Leppard, GN’R, and Van Halen too.

With the NPR offices temporarily off-limits, they’re continuing the Tiny Desk series with new episodes recorded at musicians’ homes. Here, MC Sa-Roc brings her smooth blend of hip hop, soul, social commentary, and spiritualism to bear, with a set of four poetic tracks loaded with meaningful messages. That’s Sol Messiah on DJ duties.

(PG-13: Language) Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia melds pop, disco, and funk into a chart-topping dancefloor banger. But Kyle Brauch gave the album a whole new sound by deftly remixing every track with 1990s hip-hop. The mashup includes raps from DOA, Xzibit, DMX, Dre, 2Pac, Snoop Dogg, and more.

(PG-13: Lyrics) With the NPR offices closed for now, their Tiny Desk Concert series is soldiering on without a live audience. In this intimate concert from The Roots’ singer and lyricist Black Thought, as he performs and tells stories about three new songs: Thought Vs. Everybody, Yellow, and Nature of the Beast f/Portugal. The Man.

With a little help from some beats by Dr. Dre, actor and comedian Wes Tank proves that Dr. Seuss books work exceptionally well as rap songs. His “Fox in Sox” rap is our favorite, but his versions of “Green Eggs and Ham” and “The Lorax” are pretty damned entertaining too.

De La Soul’s “3 Feet High And Rising” is one of our favorite albums of all time. It simultaneously melded infection grooves and lyrics with esoteric breaks that defied conventions. Now, learn about (almost) every sample that was used on the record in this great clip from nama hecc.

The Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique is one of the greatest rap albums of all time. As was the case with most of their tunes, they relied heavily on samples to create their beats. In this clip from Nama Hecc, they provide a comparison of each track with the samples they so brilliantly incorporated.

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.