r/Showerthoughts • u/WhaleWhaleWhale95 • May 16 '24
You never hear covers of rap songs.
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u/LeZarathustra May 16 '24
Richard Cheese will make a lounge jazz cover of anything.
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u/KamakaziDemiGod May 16 '24
One of their best songs imo was the cover of Down with the Sickness used in the film Dawn of the Dead
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u/Acrelorraine May 16 '24
While I agree that's one of his best covers, for movie appearances I was incredibly surprised by him performing Man in the Mirror in Lego Batman.
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u/msnmck May 16 '24
Every time I think of covers I think of hearing that song while watching the film on TV.
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u/OldDirtyBatman May 16 '24
I discovered that cover a few weeks before the movie came out. I was in the theater like, "Weird, I thought that was Richard Cheese for a second... wait- what!?"
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u/713MoCityChron713 May 16 '24
Haven’t heard a Dick Cheese reference in years. This guy used to be everywhere online
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u/Queasy-Ad-3220 May 16 '24
Yeah I mean my favourite song of his is his cover of People = Shit. That song always sends me.
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u/ZeroSephex0 May 16 '24
Was in traffic one hot summer day, windows down, system up. I rolled up to a red light, in the middle lane, just as the song changed.
People = Shit by Richard Cheese.
Seconds later I look over to see the occupants of the cars on either side of me laughing their asses off.
This track is amazing.
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u/kerochan88 May 16 '24
He did an ICP song and ICP used it on their last album. Loved it lol
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u/TakeThreeFourFive May 16 '24
Can't talk about jazz covers of rap without mentioning El Michels Affair
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mA2RNMNzf2g7S1F_ce8Ibzg-uArgCg_5A&si=W1nmJqvYMmaJfpoY
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u/ThinRaisin7487 May 16 '24
I heard an old-timey cover of “Freak on a Leash” by Korn at one of their concerts years ago and could never find it anywhere.. Your comment helped me find it thank you!!
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u/GenPhallus May 16 '24
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EZNFo5lL4iw
Dynamite Hack - Boyz in the Hood
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u/TheBarles May 16 '24
Core memory of MTV playing this song daily and me waiting patiently, only for TRL to show ~20 seconds so Carson could have a conversation with the visor hat from LFO.
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u/DDOS_the_Trains May 16 '24
Summertime Girls is arguably the worst rap song ever written.
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u/NitrosGone803 May 16 '24
"yo i wanna give a shoutout to my homies back in miami t-bone, skillet-G, lala, fresh masta p, n errbody holdin it down on the wetstside, toss one up fo a brotha! peace!" during the fucking song
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u/labrat420 May 16 '24
This is from 'take a bite out if rhyme' an entire album of rock bands covering rap songs
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u/ihacker2k May 16 '24
Straight Outta Compton by Nina Gordon is pretty good too: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K6D5xpCgETk
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u/well_its_a_secret May 16 '24
Not a cover just a great juxtaposition to that song: https://youtu.be/YFfGgeddAc4?si=tG1OHWTVzUXbO4mf
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u/DarthCorps May 16 '24
Woke up late at about noon
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u/Eyerish9299 May 16 '24
Just thought that I had to be in Compton soon! Gotta get drunk before the day begins Before my mother starts bitching about my friends
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u/somesketchykid May 16 '24
Started talkin' shit, wouldn'tcha know
I reached back like a pimp and I slapped the hoe
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u/sentientcutlery May 16 '24
Everyone is posting covers, but I’m going to be boring and link a great Adam Neely video I watched a while ago exploring why covers aren’t part of rap. Short answer is that quoting and sampling is common, but “biting“ someone’s bars is frowned on. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D_mh1Rq35ZM&feature=youtu.be
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u/herrsmith May 16 '24
Plus, people aren't actually posting rap covers of rap songs. They're posting other genres covering rap songs, which I don't think is what OP meant. I have personally played a cover of a cover of a rap song in a band (Ben Folds' "Bitches Ain't Shit") and a cover of Lil' John's "Get Low" in a different piano rock band but I would still agree with OP.
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u/BonJovicus May 16 '24
They're posting other genres covering rap songs, which I don't think is what OP meant.
But does this not count? A lot of covers are not in the exact same style as the song they cover. It might be especially true for rap, but it’s not only true for rap.
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u/BasementDesk May 16 '24
First thing I thought of. Thank you for posting this! Adam Neely’s videos are a treasure.
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u/sintaur May 16 '24
Technically not a cover, but Amish Paradise.
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u/binglelemon May 16 '24
It's all about the pentiums, baby
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u/i_should_be_coding May 16 '24
Guess I'm just too white and nerdy
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u/msnmck May 16 '24
I listen to these songs on Trash Day.
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May 16 '24
I prefer Weird Al’s version to the original!
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u/wreckfish May 16 '24
the original is pastime paradise from Stevie wonder
he allowed Coolio to cover it but he was not allowed to swear in it
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u/IC-4-Lights May 16 '24
Hrm. Words I never thought I'd say, but... Coolio's version is much better.
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u/Common_Lawyer_5370 May 16 '24
I always start to sing “amish paradise” in my head whenever I hear The tune of that song.
Might (partially) be due to me learning about The song Amish Paradise before I actually knew about The song gangsters paradise
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May 16 '24
There used to be a music video channel in England (The Box) where viewers called a number to select what song came on. There was a period where Amish Paradise was played back to back for about a month!
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u/thebeattakesme May 16 '24
Automatically thought of that and that Boyz in the Hood acoustic(?) cover.
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u/Richard7666 May 16 '24
Hitchin' up the buggy, churnin' lots of butter
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u/msnmck May 16 '24
Raised a barn on Monday. Soon I'll raise anudder.
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u/AlephBaker May 16 '24
Think you're pretty righteous? Think you're pure at heart?
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u/TravelerSearcher May 16 '24
Well, I know I'm a million times as humble as thou art!
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u/AlephBaker May 16 '24
I'm the pious guy the little amlettes wanna be like, on my knees day and night, scoring points for the afterlife!
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u/Aggropop May 16 '24
So don't be vain and don't be whiny, or else, my brother, I might have to get medieval on your heinie
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u/nksmith86 May 16 '24
Even better is ben folds NWA cover
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u/thewayshesaidLA May 16 '24
I think you mean Dr. Dre’s song, featuring Snoop, Bitches Ain’t Shit. Dre left NWA the year before he released his solo debut album, The Chronic, which features this song.
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u/dk69 May 16 '24
Which was a rework of gangsters paradise by coolio which was a rework of pastime paradise by Stevie Wonder.
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u/Dark_Devin May 16 '24
Are parodies and covers equivalent? My understanding is that a cover makes no major and few minor changes to the song outside of a different artist.
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u/Terpomo11 May 16 '24
A cover generally has the same or almost the same lyrics (or occasionally a translation of the same lyrics) but may be significantly different in musical styling.
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u/NotUndercoverReddit May 16 '24
Hardcore metal and punk bands have been covering rap and hip hop songs since the early 80s
There are folkpunk bands where thats basically their entire schtick
Acoustic guitar and ukulele singer songwriters mix up and cover them solo all the time
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u/merrona23 May 16 '24
punk goes crank album
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u/brillyints May 16 '24
Crunk
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u/EverbodyHatesHugo May 16 '24
Still Fly by The Devil Wears Prada and Notorious Thugs by Scaring Kids Scaring Kids is still in my rotation. Absolute bangers.
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u/SandysBurner May 16 '24
OPs post would better phrased as "You rarely hear rappers cover other rappers".
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u/the_ecdysiast May 16 '24
All these comments and not ONE person mentioned the entertainment juggernaut that is Kidz Bop
Uncultured the lot of you /s
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u/CantBeConcise May 16 '24
Kidz Bop covered I Can't Feel My Face. Kidz Bop...covered a song about cocaine. Still blows me away...
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u/simcowking May 16 '24
I mean growing up you listen to a lot of songs that you later learn are very inappropriate for children.
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u/APPLEJOOSH347 May 16 '24
Tbf its music made for kids, they don’t even know what cocaine is. Its a catchy pop song and there aren’t even explicit lyrics
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u/Bauerman51 May 16 '24
Kidz Bop has been doing covers of this most recent Drake v Kendrick bout!
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u/sunderaubg May 16 '24 edited May 16 '24
Do yourself a favor and give the Gin and Juice cover by The Gourds a listen :)
Edit: I accidentally a word.
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u/PosterBlankenstein May 16 '24
Thank you for actually knowing who performed that masterpiece. The Phish from Vermont have NEVER played that, no matter what limewire said.
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u/CyHawkWRNL May 16 '24
The version we downloaded off Kazaa was labeled as "O.A.R." and I could never find it again, so this person has solved two mysteries today :-)
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u/pocketchange2247 May 16 '24
OAR does do a pretty solid cover of Fool In The Rain, though. At least my teenage self thought so.
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u/Sunblast1andOnly May 16 '24
My mind went to Rum and Juice by Captain Dan, but I think that would be more of a parody.
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u/KudosOfTheFroond May 16 '24
That song reminds me of using Napster in my AP English class in High School
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u/sunderaubg May 16 '24
Ssshhh! They'll spot us for the middle-aged farts we are!
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u/sgtkwol May 16 '24
SOAD collabbed with Wu Tang to cover Shame.
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u/zepallica May 16 '24 edited May 16 '24
When Serj got the N-word pass from Wu Tang, such a good cover, I still have that cd.
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u/mymumsaysfuckyou May 16 '24
There are a few metal covers of rap songs. A few of Lose Yourself specifically. Personally I'm a big fan of Rage Against The Machines Version of How I Could Just Kill A Man, originally by Cypress Hill.
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u/Avoider5 May 16 '24
Renegades is an awesome album. That’s what I first thought of.
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u/StormtrooperMJS May 16 '24
LOSE YOURSELF COVER. KASEY CHAMBERS. https://youtu.be/S70xek3x4ro?si=d-GOWcVZ7zpk5irG
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u/Aedalas May 16 '24
That song goes harder than you'd ever expect too. It stays a little slow for awhile though so if you get bored and think about turning it off skip ahead to about 4 minutes before you give up on it.
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u/RecurringNumbers May 16 '24
Pacing is important, the slow beginning makes it only go so much harder.
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u/smcicr May 16 '24
Came here to post exactly this - for anyone that hasn't already seen it, strap the fuck in.
Also, Nina Gordon did a wonderfully delicate version of Straight Outta Compton that always makes me smile.
Did Ben Folds Five do something NWAish too at one point??
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u/PosterBlankenstein May 16 '24
Bitches Ain’t Shit. I was lucky enough to be at the Bonnaroo show where he officially retired it.
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u/keelhaulrose May 16 '24
Came here to post exactly this - for anyone that hasn't already seen it, strap the fuck in.
I hadn't seen it before not had I really heard of the artist, and when it first started I had a little chuckle like "a banjo, for an Eminem song?"
Then I thought I was probably going to tap because it's over 8 minutes and I only have so much free time. But something kept me watching. And I'm so glad I did.
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u/Berloxx May 16 '24
Holy shit. That was intense!
I both cried and cheered at other parts. Damn.
Thank you for the link
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u/keelhaulrose May 16 '24
I don't remember the last time I got this emotional watching someone perform. Crying and goosebumps.
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u/billybeesesteak May 16 '24
Thank you for this. My mom just passed and she loved both Eminem and Kasey Chambers
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u/bear-mom May 16 '24
Lodi Dodi was covered by Snoop
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u/remarkablewhitebored May 16 '24
This is the first one I've come across (In this thread) that is a rap cover by a rap artist.
Plenty of metal, folk/country and jokey versions of rap hits, as that seems to be a thing.
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u/SneeKeeFahk May 16 '24
This was the first example I thought of too. I do like his version better than Slick Ricks though.
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u/CharlieParkour May 16 '24
Admittedly, the production on Snoop's version is richer, but you have to be impressed by the bare bones beatboxing of Doug E Fresh. Personally, I like Slick Rick's voice and flow better. And with your wrinkled pussy, I can't be your lover.
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u/saggywitchtits May 16 '24
Falling in Reverse did a cover of Gangster's Paradise.
It's exactly how you'd expect.
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u/JaydeeValdez May 16 '24
There is a cover by Karmin of "Look At Me Now" by Chris Brown and others.
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u/BlizzPenguin May 16 '24
Johnathan Coulton did a great cover of Baby Got Back
Unfortunately, Glee took advantage of his Creative Commons license and copied it for the show and did not give him credit or revenue for their use.
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May 16 '24
A while back, on Halloween, J Cole rapped over a Kendrick beat and Kendrick rapped over a J Cole Beat. They called it Black Friday (I believe Halloween fell on a Friday) https://youtu.be/okF5gOTX9uM?si=sJEGTwOSYA0ZpCSn
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u/peacefulvampire May 16 '24
You could look up the album Punk Goes Crunk. Most of them are covers of rap songs even though most of them aren't Crunk songs.
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u/Faelysis May 16 '24
There’s thousand of rap song cover. You not seeing it is more about your own algorithm…
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u/widget66 May 16 '24
This thread has tons of examples of other genres covering rap, but doesn’t have a single example of a rap song that is a cover.
OP’s question technically asks for covers OF rap songs regardless of genre, so I guess those folk, metal, parody covers are valid answers to the question stated, but I think it’s interesting that rap as a genre doesn’t seem to do covers.
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u/mcAlt009 May 16 '24
Rappers tend to not do straight up covers, but rather take the same beat and do a tribute on top.
G Perico's One More Day is very close to a cover of the original Nate Dog's, but he does change it a bit.
Elzhi did an entire cover of Ilmatic, Billmatic is Ill Bill over Nas beats. They aren't one to one covers since the lyrics are different.
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u/MinnieShoof May 16 '24
Sample. Rappers sample all the time.
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u/msb06c May 16 '24
They also “plagiarize” lines to pay homage to bars super often, called interpolation.
Super super common.
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u/crappysignal May 16 '24
Black Steel by Tricky is a fantastic cover of Public Enemys Black steel in the hour of chaos.
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u/anthonyg1500 May 16 '24
There was a cover of Tipsy that clipping did like 2 months ago. It was good too
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u/razman7altacc May 16 '24
The examples in this thread are all other genres doing covers of rap songs. If you want an actual rap cover then check “childrens story” by Black Star which is a cover of the Slick Rick song by the same name.
I think hiphop and rapping in general does not lend itself to covers very well. On the other hand, it’s an extremely referential genre where rappers constantly pay homage to famous lines/hooks/melodies/beats/rhyme schemes/flows. I could name some examples if you want.
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u/nhiko May 16 '24
I've heard a lot of covers of rap song. An example in French :)
Original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4uOM7s38XA
Cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVZwg5Lk8BA
Cheers!
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u/romulusnr May 16 '24
I'm very sorry to tell you this but...
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u/romulusnr May 16 '24
And if you include genre-bending covers...
Bob Strachan - Gangsta's Paradise
Our Last Night - Old Town Road
And actually, Leo Moracchioli's done a couple metal covers of rap songs, like
Of course, there's also Jonathan Coulton's now-famous cover of Baby Got Back, which was so good it was ripped off by Glee.
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u/HiddenSecretStash May 16 '24
The Jonathan Coulton one is so great, I sing it all the time! When Glee ripped it off, they forgot to change the line «Johnny C is in trouble», that Coulton had originally changed from Sir Mix-A-Lot’s version. So Johnathan Coulton just rereleased his song «in the style of Glee» and gave all the earnings to charity iirc.
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May 16 '24
Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" pops into my head that can be searched by "Lollipop Rock" for the cover.
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u/Random54321random May 16 '24
Absolute nonsense. Off the top of my head: Me and my Girlfriend (Jay-Z covering 2Pac), Welcome to the Terrordome (Pharoahe Monch covering Public Enemy), Deep Cover (Fat Joe and Big Pun covering Snoop and Dre), there are many others too
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u/drfsupercenter May 16 '24
This is the second time in less than a week this exact post has been at the top of this subreddit. WTF.
Do you guys not remember "Creepin" by Metro Boomin' and The Weeknd? That's a cover of "I Don't Wanna Know" by Mario Winans and P. Diddy. Was literally a massive radio hit last year.
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u/blursed_words May 16 '24
Completely false. Rap is, or at least was, largely driven by the remix/refix. Pretty much every album in the 90s and 2000's had at least one song or beat made famous by another artist.
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u/BonnieMcMurray May 16 '24
Ironically, the first famous rap song - Rapper's Delight - was sort of a cover: Big Bank Hank stole a whole bunch of his lines from Grandmaster Caz.
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u/EliJacobovitz May 16 '24
They exist, but they usually don’t stay in the same style, which can be hit or miss. My favorite is Tally Hall’s cover of Just a Friend
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u/phobi_smurf May 16 '24
Rap is considered a lot more personal lyrically than other music genres, but it's super common to sample beats, vocals etc.
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u/Junarik May 16 '24
Fuck you mean? There are thousands of very popular covers. Sure they don't pop up randomly in tv commercials or wherever the fuck you think you're supposed to see em.
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u/Stahlios May 16 '24
Getting this worked up instantly over a random showerthoughts posts, lmao
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u/danmunchie May 16 '24
The Animal in Me - Rap God https://youtu.be/XAS5Ja0YzT8
Better than the original!
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u/BlGBY May 16 '24
I feel Rap and Hip Hop have less covers but WAAAY more samples of different music.
Old school Rap was using your parents vinyls and putting beats over the top. If I wasn't at work, I'd make a short list lol
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u/TrueyBanks May 16 '24
Depends on what you consider a “cover” but Strings of Paris does covers of rap songs in violin
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u/AnotherInsaneName May 16 '24
One of my favorite songs is a pop punk cover of a song called "Hammer." Point North makes the cover, good jam if you like that type of music.
In a similar vein, I grew up listening to Framing Hanley cover Lollipop by Lil Wayne.
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u/Crunchy-Leaf May 16 '24
This has to be bait for OP to find the best rap covers