Alongside big booty bitches and towering stacks of money, exorbitantly expensive automobiles are one of the most treasured motifs in hip-hop. Cars don't merely take you from one place to the next. No, these gas guzzlers also represent your personal style. Hell, Rick Ross even named a music group after his ride.
From the Impala to the 911, different rappers have repped different rides over the years. What follows is a loose history of cars in rap.
10. Kanye West - "Mercy"
The video may draw a little too much from the Gaga side of Kanye West's brain (the cerebral hemisphere that champions high-fashion head scarves, non-fuctional furniture, and artisanal cupcakes). And the cough syrup banger chorus definitely surfs the post-"Chopped & Screwed" Southern rap trend wave. But goddamn when that hook comes in talking Lamborghini Murciélago -- or the reggae guy starts toasting -- we've never pined so much after a car we couldn't afford, or didn't even really want in the first place.
9. Gucci Mane & Waka Flocka Flame - "Ferrari Boyz"
Gucci and Waka need to follow the lead of Method Man and Redman. It's time they pitch a Ferrari Boyz buddy movie traphouse party comedy about the mad zany adventures of two iced-out, geeked-up drug dealers, and the cars they buy with their illegally obtained fortunes.
8. Rick Ross - "Maybach Music"
Ricky Rozay is so dedicated to the Maybach luxury car brand that he's written, like, a dozen songs about it. He also named his record label after the German manufacturer, which makes us wonder if The Bawse is getting some kind of incentive ($$$) from the most gangsta automobile company in Deutschland.
7. Big Tymers - "#1 Stunna"
Ah, Cash Money Records 1.0, back when every other single out of Louisiana introduced a new catchphrase (the biggest and brightest example being, of course, "Bling Bling") and Drake was still on Degrassi.
6. Lil' Troy - "Wanna Be A Baller"
Can you really think of anything more balla than twenty inch rims on an Impala? Neither could we.
5. Chamillionaire - "Ridin'"
This song -- about driving a car under the influence with contraband in the cabin, and, occasionally, letting a hooker or two ride shotgun -- won a Grammy.
4. Jibbs - "King Kong"
2 Live Crew, and their booty bass progeny, wrote bawdy BBQ anthems that were intended to be the soundtrack to freakin', leakin', jerkin', twerkin' (and Lord knows what else) on the dance floor. Similarly, this radioactive banger is a song about volume intended to be played at full blast with the bass turned up to Shit Yo Pants.
3. OutKast - "Two Dope Boys in a Cadillac"
The image Andre 3000 and Big Boi hope to paint is grandiose in its thuggish-ruggishness: Two Gs. Endless packs of Swishers. Blaring bass. And the seats leanin' like they on that Lean.
2. Rich Boy - "Throw Some Ds"
This may be one of the top five rap songs of the 2000s. We also recommend this Lil' Wayne remix.
1. Sir Mix-A-Lot - "My Hooptie
Our number one pick for the best rap song about cars ever is the "Baby Got Back" of beat-up clunkers. The moral of this story is that just because your ride is a piece of shit, doesn't mean it doesn't deserved to get rapped about.
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