Introduction
Many hip hop songs have been released over the years and some of them that actually qualify as classics. The following are the top 5 greatest hip hop songs of all times:
Juicy – Notorious B.I.G (Biggie)
This is one of the greatest hip hop songs that Biggie ever recorded and it’s off his very first album ‘Ready to die’ which was released in 1994. The song is autobiographical where the rapper Biggie raps about his humble beginnings to how he rose up in the rap game.
He also mentions the hip hop artists who inspired him including Mr. Magic and Marley marl. Biggie included female vocals in the chorus and together with the partying type of beats made this one of the best hip hop songs of all times.
Changes – Tupac
Tupac was one of the greatest rappers, known for his emotionally lyrical and poetic style of rapping. ‘Changes’ is named as one of the best hip hop songs of all times as it talks about politics, violence, poverty and homelessness, racism and drugs issues on the streets.
He wants people to change and focus more on education, health and religion but in the end is skeptical about the changes happening due to the governing power. The Skippy, bouncy beats and the soft piano in this single made it one of the great hip hop songs that fans love to sing along to.
It’s a hard knock life – Jay Z
In this song, Jay Z talks about how he overcame the hard life in the ghetto to become a successful rapper which also happens to be a common theme in most of his hip hop songs. This is termed as one of jay Z’s most famous hip hop songs as it helped him sell over 5 million copies of his album with the same name and break through to the main stream audience.
I can – Nas
At the request of his mother, rapper Nas made this inspirational song for children, which was a shift from his usual hip hop songs that talk about the bad things that happen in the hood. This single was off his album ‘God’s son’ which was released in 2002. In this song Nas has used samples of The Honey Drippers piece ‘Impeach The president’ and Beethoven’s classical piece “fur Elise.’ This song was so famous that some schools for their graduation and even Nas himself confessed that this was one of the most important hip hop songs he ever wrote and produced.
C.R.E.A.M – Wu tang clan
The title of the song is an acronym for ‘cash rules everything around me’ which Wu tang used to call their song. This song as the title suggests talks about money, cash and generally about the rap game. It is one of the best hip hop songs that topped the charts when it was released. The beats on this song is a unique combination of soft piano loops and edgy keyboard sounds that made it one of the group greatest hip hop songs.
