Whether you’ve a common affinity for hip hop or not, you undoubtedly appreciate a good laugh. There are certainly some aspects of hip hop I find depressing and absurd. There are definitely exceptions though, especially the intelligent, political, positive and creative variety. The negative and dreary variety of hip hop is what I find pleasantly ridiculed in Epic Rap Battles, but they obviously have an appreciation for the hip hop genre themselves.
If you have not yet been introduced to Epic Rap Battles of History, I have selected a few which I find most favorable. They are not all brilliant, but some are nearly genius.
Epic Rap Battles of History – Cleopatra vs Marylin Monroe: ↓
Epic Rap Battles of History – Michael Jackson vs Elvis ↓
Epic Rap Battles of History – Steve Jobs vs Bill Gates ↓
Because “I’m Chuck fucking Norris” and “I attack sharks when I smell them bleed.”
Be sure to check out other works by Nice Peter
————————————————————————————————————————-
On a more disturbing level, but equally creative and sometimes as hilarious, there is Die Antwoord, a South African mucho mondo bizarro rap group that gets a little closer to the id than Epic Rap Battles of History. Here are a few selections which seem to stand out:
I Fink U Freeky – Die Antwoord ↓
Enter the Ninja – Die Antwoord ↓
Evil Boy (Explicit Version) – Die Antwoord ↓
Rich Bitch – Die Antwoord ↓
————————————————————————————————————————-
If you survived Die Antwoord, then you are probably ready for a hot, soapy cognitive cleansing. There’s nothing more refreshing than Richard Cheese in this case — and he comes perhaps a little more than highly recommended by EIA. Turning just about any known genre into swing/lounge style music, you’re sure to either get a hardy laugh, or enjoy the music:
Don’t Cha – Richard Cheese [The Bjork part is a treasure] ↓
Gin and Juice (Snoop Dogg) – Richard Cheese ↓
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_2gGt39TdM&feature=fvwrel
Stand Up (Ludacris) – Richard Cheese ↓
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPgw3ykhnhU&feature=related
Of course, the brilliant work of Richard Cheese extends far beyond hip hop and should definitely be explored. Similar can be said of Nice Peter, who does some other very different and creative stuff.
———————————————————————————————————————–
As I’ve mentioned, I do have an appreciation for political — and especially — comical hip hop. In a rare mixture of informative, amusing and sometimes hilarious performances, Robert Foster’s Rap News comes as highly recommended as anything. Here are two examples – but I hope you’ll explore the many others too:
Rap News 13 – A News Hope ↓
Rap News 14 – Higgs Boson Unbound ↓
Youtube Home: www.youtube.com/user/thejuicemedia
Website: thejuicemedia.com/
———————————————————————————————————————–
Finally, or for now; Here’s an excellent blog exploring a lot of unusual music and offering eloquent reviews. Though I only observed one example of what is probably not hip hop, the blog is worth a look for sure: musicformaniacs.blogspot.com/
Not quite hip hop, here’s Mr T back in the 80s being every bit as tough as any modern gangsta, but in a fuzzy sort of way — like Depeche Mode or Current 93 on steroids:
———————————————————————————————————————–
Various new findings, updated here and there:
