Hip-hop doesn’t have to be totally self-serious. Oftentimes, rap fans’ choices for the greatest rappers of all time are based on prestigious albums with big concepts and/or flashy lyricism. But sometimes, the most effective rapping is the most simple. A lot of times, the simple rhyming makes for some of the funniest material.
Across hip-hop’s history, there have been many witty rappers. But Noisey has selected 10 of the funniest across the genre and culture, along with some of their most gut-busting lyrics.
2 Chainz
2 Chainz is as hilarious as he is inventive. What other rapper would say Givenchy in a way that mimics a sneeze? Why bother looking for a better way to say she has a big booty than to call her Big Booty on Birthday Song? Perhaps my favorite line is on “U Da Realest“, where he raps, “Rest in peace to all the soldiers that died in the service/I dive in her cervix.”
Ghostface Killah
Ghostface Killah’s mission statement was to rap the illest, most fly bars imaginable on cool beats. He achieved his goal while also delivering some of the most surreal, ridiculous lines of all time. Ghost will boast about eating “seasoned giraffe ribs” on “Nutmeg”, while comparing his rhymes to garlic. People are still trying to figure out what that means.
Fox BD
The hilarity in Fox BD’s rapping is almost exclusively in his ad-libs. The Arkansas rapper will rip a few bars and always accentuate it with an ad-lib in case you didn’t understand where he was going. “Who is that Twitter b***h? That my company (Latinas),” he raps on the hook for “Skoot Over or Get Rolled Over”. Then, he’ll rap about how drinking a Mountain Dew made a woman say his “d**k little”. Listening to Fox BD collab with his brother YTB Fatt is like eavesdropping on two country dudes having a conversation.
Baby Mel
Baby Mel raps about drug dealing and having sex with women like he’s on Saturday morning Cartoon Network. On “EAT MY D”, he’ll cartoonishly tell a woman to rip his clothes off with the horniness of Johnny Bravo.
Cam’ron
Cam’ron had the uncanny ability to make fun of you in the most absurd, spiteful way possible. Take “IBS”, where he says his irritable bowel diagnosis means “it ain’t my fault if I s**t on y’all.” Additionally, the Dipset leader was extremely eccentric with how he would describe mundane luxuries and activities. On “Harlem Streets“, he’s not just going to have sex. He’ll “hymen-grind her.”
Lil B
Prime Lil B was extremely polarizing. Some people insisted he was one of the worst rappers to ever do it. Others loved his direct zaniness and would point to records like “I’m God” to prove his lyrical capability. Regardless, we can agree that he’s hilarious. I’m still wrapping my head around “B*****s suck my d**k because I look like JK Rowling” on “Wonton Soup” to this day.
RXKNephew
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the multitude of songs RXKNephew releases every day. But every once in a while, you’ll get an absurdist masterpiece. Take “American TTerroristt”, where he tackles everything from Benjamin Franklin to Jesus.
“How the f**k they tellin’ me I need Jesus?/If I need Jesus, then where is Jesus?/So if I get shot, I’ma meet Jesus?/So I gotta die just to meet Jesus?/It’s a f****d up world with f****d up people,” Neph sighs.
Kanye West
Early in Kanye West’s career, he was reliably one of the funniest rappers in hip-hop. Even on serious songs like “Jesus Walks“, he’ll make Happy Gilmore references. Most famously, he compared two women of different complexions to Michael Jackson on “Slow Jamz”.
My Favorite Color
If you follow hip-hop and scroll on Instagram, you’ve almost certainly come across Pittsburgh’s My Favorite Color. He’ll dig deep into American history and ponder the existence of the Epstein files on a rap snippet one moment, and diss record labels another, all through his zany sense of humor.
Perhaps his funniest moment is his viral anti-bald propaganda, where he dissed a random person on Twitter for snarkily replying to him. “You better do some 35-year-old s**t before you get dementia,” he scoffs.
Danny Brown
Nowadays, Danny Brown seems mature and mellowed out, even with his off-kilter sense of humor. However, early on in his career, no one was more crude about sex than the Detroit MC. On “1 Train”, he raps, “B***h p***y smell like a penguin/Wouldn’t hit that s**t with my worst enemy’s penis.”
Photo by Arturo Holmes/FilmMagic
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