What are some of the most ambitious rap songs of all time?
 

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Sir Mix Alot - Baby Got Back

Can't sleep so I'll join in:

I can't sleep so I'll chime in.

Murs - Love. Why? Well, one track doesn't do this justice. The entire album of Yumiko: Curse of the Merch Girl is one story. Creating an entire album dedicated to one story is pretty ambitious if you ask me even though he got a lot to already go off of seeing as it's the soundtrack to a Comic Book.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7cPdqrN_dc

Akala - Comedy Tragedy History Why?

''Akala was on a British radio show called BBC1 Extra, and the host challenged him to create a freestyle incorporating the titles of 27 Shakespeare plays. Akala had about 10 minutes to write the rap, and the first two verses of this song is what he came up with!
When he recorded the track in the studio, he added the next two verses which are composed of famous quotations from Shakespeare plays.''

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUCFlzrkclg

Tonedeff - Crispy (192 BPM) Why? Idk man, rapping at 192 bpm... You tell me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_IjKj4nsBk

Ill Bill - My Uncle. Why? Trying to save someone from heavy addiction with a song as a last resort makes it to this list easily.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SldAlcj8I8Y

Mac Dre - Back N Da Hood Why? Haven't really looked into it but as far as I know the Back N Da Hood EP got several tracks recorded from jail and might be first(?) to do it in rap, and I think just that alone qualifies for this thread.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xstPKaX5wBs

repped.

When the Gun Draws by Pharoahe

Rewind by Nas

Stan by Eminem

any track where Pac predicts his death

I was considering adding both those songs as well actually. I think part of what makes When the Gun Draws by Pharaohe is the music vid, shit's pretty well made.

The whole yeezus album

That cannbis joint is hard

Elzhi- Demons

"B.I.B.L.E." was a Killah Priest song that was placed as a bonus track on Liquid Swords. It's a good track that does not fit sonically or lyrically with the rest of the album. Here are a few that come to mind off the top of my head:

"6 in the Morning" by Ice-T was the first openly violent gangster rap ever and clocks in at more than 7 minutes long despite telling a mostly continuous story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izuMg1GGnMc

"Celly" by Extended F@mm has all four members of the group telling a story via cell phone, except the reception keeps dropping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixYTx88Dp7Y

"One Mic" by Nas features a level of dynamism rare in rap, with clear cut crescendo and decrescendo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCOURZ-yx4E

"One for the Griot" by J-Live tells a story with three alternate endings. And the story is told with precision and humor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRhSTOFCqDU

"Jackin' for Beats" by Ice Cube gave us the first example of a rapper taking popular beats and rapping over them and switching up every so often.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTfkAicXmEo

"The C-Quel" by Canibus is probably the only track that overlaps two different rapping vocals — and it mostly pulls it off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEkSZraN7Fo

And I'll nominate two full albums, both produced by Prince Paul: De La Soul's De La Soul Is Dead and Prince Paul's A Prince Among Thieves.

Mos def n talib n common - respiration

Ha I forgot the one ^.. Also Truth by pharoahe monch, common and talib is phenomenal

Lol, also Nas I gave you power

dope thread

came in with some tracks in mind off the top of my head - seen them mentioned already - as well as some shits i aint heard

bis poet laureate infinity def needs a mention if we talking ambition though. execution might be somewhat lacking but still...

Big shots - eyedea

9mm - brotha ali

No regrets - aesop rock

I think i know too much - Aceyalone

Sad clown - slug

Keep this thread alive forever.

Sticky asap

Oh and of course Eminem - any man

joe budden - who killed it

Sorry. Im afraud the answer is no.

Freudian slip huh?

also there wasn't a question...but your condescending approach to appear as some form of authority (most probably compensating for your lack of) has been noted.

thanx for playing yourself, better luck next time

& im ghost

#1

Its about time you go fuck yourself. Especially since you quote a mistype.

Now, once again go fuck yourself

Pharoahs entire last album

Hated that shit tbc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXGaB6WDJ5k

best hip hop song of all time?

ambitiously created a way to stunt on everyone without rhyming half the time because of the whoa adlib. "finger near a nigga asshole like whoa", possibly the greatest line ever? buckwild the most underappreciated with his biggest banger with the cleanest dopest drums. hypnotic strings.

Posting some great examples. Nice.



"Umi Says" by Mos Def

Genre bending. Not many rappers have the guts to pull something like this off!



"1-800-Suicide" by Gravediggaz

Absolute fucking legendary track. Very risky (almost offensively) concept with fun results. You can rock to this even if you've lost someone you know to a suicide (which I have)



"Addicted" by Living Legends

A song about masturbation. Very well done. Cracks me up.



"I Phantom" by Mr. Lif

He might have more ambitious thoughts than this, but the sound itself is very different. Excellent, cutting edge, and unique.



"Na Na Na" by Jae Millz

Pretty slick track.

good shit, half a dozen in the OP i thought of before reading, then read. i'll peep the ones i don't know.

liberation, da art of storytellin' pt.2, spottieottiedopalicious - outkast... most that album actually

pharoahe monch - trilogy

pos - the brave and the snake

aceyalone - the guidelines

monolith - jedi mind tricks

profits of man - killah priest (heavy mental was a dope call)

cunninlynguists - the gates

funkdoobiest - rock on

mural - lupe fiasco

the boy who cried wolf - ian kamua

four women - reflection eternal (technically nina simone)

wordsmith - chino xl

wasteland; vol.1 - CYNE

eternal sunshine/the pledge - jay elec

--that's off the top. basically just atypical shit i fuck with conceptually as much as in execution. roughly.

Exactly. thanks

Fuck yeah. Gta 3

J. Cole - "Wet Dreamz"

Lupe Fiasco - "Gotta Eat"

That song Aesop Rock made about a dog drowning, I forget the name.

Ruby '81. Was gonna list that.

Eyedea - birth of a fish
Mr. Lif - what about us?
Nas ft. AZ - the essence
Nas if I ruled the world
Krs one - somebody

"Essaywhuman?!!!??!" by The Roots.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7__No9owGk

Speaker box/love below entire project

Surprised 3 stacks hasn't been mentioned yet tbc.

Every album by OutKast and Kanye West could be mentioned.

If we're including bad things, Common's Electric Circus album qualifies.

Love the different perspectives from characters in Apathy's tracks. School is one of them with a serious message, delivery and great use of sound effects of the like to paint a vivid image:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dM20oteVGM

Eyedea - Bottle dreams, a pretty sick story about a girl that gets abused by her father. I think it's ambitious to go for a theme like that and writing a story as strong as that one because YOU CAN NOT COME WEAK on topics like that, it'd just make it creepy and weird if it did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMs0P-e9CsQ

Cage - Agent Orange for going off a classic movie theme and pulling it off in excellent fashion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmFN1XWBh1c

M9, Cyrus Malachi, Chemo, Masikah - Paintbrush, added for using painting/art as a metaphor/theme for writing lyrics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOhRAN3KtLc

Sage Francis - Escape Artist for using magic as a metaphor for rap. From Rap Genius: ''An extended metaphor on how being an emcee is like being a magician. Sage pulled the ultimate vanishing act when he got out of the game.''

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-9uhUBKah8

ambitious is a trippy word though. I'm most impressed with unique MCing angles or lyrical acrobatics. shit like 10 Crack Commandments and Ebonics are dope and innovative, though I wouldn't call them "ambitious."

I always thought Organized Konfusion was way ahead of their time, which is ambitious

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33DM2i1Hv70

Stan, Kim, my darling- em

Mos- world world water

Lab Rats - devil's train

Aesop rock - the harbor is yours

Necro - I need drugs

Mac mall - cold sweat

Word.

Even tho this thread's about SONGS, Lupe's "The Cool" & "Tetsuo & Youth" were brilliantly ambitious. Shit just listen to T&Y in reverse order.

Also Kendrick's last project "To Pimp A Butterfly" was respectfully ambitious, for offering a conscious, commercial album during the 'Ratchet Era' of pop rap.

I fully endorse what @Objective said.

Plus pretty much everything on Atmos' When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold. Brilliant story telling on every track

Nas Hip Hop is dead

"Stan" is a very good pick. "Guilty Conscience" also was exceedingly ambitious, particularly considering both were singles.

even The Way I Am was pretty ambitious as a single, especially given the bling zeitgeist of radio rap at the time

"The Way I Am" was so directly within the comfort zone of Eminem fans that I disagree. There were four songs on The Marshall Mathers LP that were very similar. He was not stepping out of his comfort zone at all, even if he was stepping out of the mainstream sound.