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Twenty-Five Influential Hip Hop One-Hit Wonders - This week (Jan. 22) we saw the fifth anniversary since the passing of Flavor Unit emcee Apache. Considered to be a one-hit wonder, he left a huge impression on the game with a single blow: the 1993 Bonnie & Clyde smash "Gangsta B**."But he's not the only MC who's managed to leave a lone, outsize mark on music. Read on.—Alex Gale(Photo: Tommy Boy Records)

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Vanilla Ice, 'Ice Ice Baby' - This 1990 song may have become a punchline of sorts, but it was the first hip hop song to top the Billboard charts, changing the game in terms of what the genre could and couldn't do commercially. (Photo: SBK Records)

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Craig Mack, 'Flava in Ya Ear' - The song that built Bad Boy. Diddy's premier artist until the Notorious B.I.G. made his mark, Craig Mack created a bona fide rap classic with this 1994 banger, but then failed to live up to the potential the song showed. The remix, featuring Biggie, LL Cool J, and others, is even more celebrated, and helped set off the Bad Boy-led trend of "remixing" hits with new verses from a lineup of all-stars.(Photo: Bad Boy Records)

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Luniz, 'I Got 5 on It' - The Luniz's only hit failed to establish a foundation for a long career for the Bay Area duo — although Yukmouth is still a local icon — but it went platinum, and created a new slang term people still use and abuse today. Diddy later jacked the song's funky beat for his 1999 hit with R. Kelly, "Satisfy You." (Photo: Noo Trybe)

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Young MC, 'Bust a Move' - Before showing up on milk cartons, New York-raised, L.A.-based Young MC left a major mark with this 1989 hit, which won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance with help from a funky sample and a quirky video that randomly featured Flea of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. (Photo: Island Records)

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Tag Team, 'Whoomp! (There It Is)' - This call-and-response hit peaked at No. 2 on the charts in 1993 and became a staple at sporting events — and suburban soccer moms' slang. (Photo: Life Records)

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95 South, 'Whoot, There It Is' - Of course, Tag Team's massive success was preceded a month earlier by this Miami bass hit with an almost identical chorus. This much freakier song didn't have the same ubiquitous impact as its copycat, but it still hit No. 11 on the pop charts. (Photo: RCA)

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J.J. Fad, 'Supersonic' - This catchy old-school throwback landed N.W.A. affiliates J.J. Fad a hit in 1987, making them the first female rap group to go platinum and earn a Grammy nomination. Fergie took obvious inspiration from this song for her 2006 hit "Fergalicious." (Photo: Uncle Louie Music Group)

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Can-I-Bus, 'Second Round K.O.' - Can-I-Bus only landed one hit, but it hit hard — just ask LL Cool J, the target of its vicious one-liners. The 1998 song didn't help Bus establish a stable career, but it's still considered one of the best diss tracks of all time. (Photo: Universal)

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T La Rock and Jazzy Jeff, 'It's Yours' - The first song released by Def Jam (though it was technically distributed by Partytime Records, it featured the Def Jam logo) and the first song produced by icon Rick Rubin, 1984's "It's Yours" was a hugely impactful rap landmark. The song's big vocabulary arguably paved the way for Rakim, and countless MCs have sampled it from Nas' "The World Is Yours" to Public Enemy's "Louder Than a Bomb." (Photo: Def Jam)

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Bone Crusher, 'Never Scared' - Bone Crusher seemed set for — pardon the pun — big things when he stomped across the Atlanta rap scene with this epic 2003 crunk hit, but he failed to land another hit after suffering from health problems two years later. He was last seen shedding major pounds on VH1's Celebrity Fit Club reality show. (Photo: Courtesy Arista Records)

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DJ Kool, 'Let Me Clear My Throat' - This unlikely 1996 call-and-response hit, a live recording of DC's DJ Kool at a Philly night spot, is still a go-to weapon for any DJ's arsenal, packing dance floors at clubs, family reunions and weddings today. (Photo: Warner Bros. Records)

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The Pack, 'Vans' - Bay Area foursome the Pack made noise nationwide with this catchy ode to their favorite footwear before disbanding shortly after, and leaving us with the bizarre solo career of Lil B. (Photo: Indie Pop)

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Khia, 'My Neck, My Back (Lick It)' - Ten years after her debut album, Thug Misses, Khia still manages to get her name out there with controversial tweets and leaked diss tracks, but in the end, she only has one hit to her name, this raunchy 2002 ode to going downtown. (Photo: Big Cat Records)

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Cali Swag District, 'Teach Me How to Dougie' - A lot of rap songs in the past few years are accompanied by a signature dance move, but none reached the heights of this 2010 hit, immortalized when First Lady Michelle Obama busted it out with Dr. Oz at a Washington, D.C., elementary school. Cali Swag District's follow-up efforts were derailed the following year, when group dancer M-Bone was shot and killed. (photo: John Ricard)

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Audio Two, 'Top Billin' - This Brooklyn duo only left one song of note behind, but it was a doozy: The vocals of "Top Billin'" have been sampled repeatedly, while the unforgettable, stuttering drum beat has become iconic, later recycled for Mary J. Blige's "Real Love" and many other songs.(Photo: Atlantic Records)

Photo By Photo: Atlantic Records

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Mims, 'This Is Why I'm Hot' - The deceptively simple debut single from uptown Manhattan rapper Mims was a surprise smash in 2007, hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and eventually selling platinum. It gave New York rap some life during a period when the South ruled.(Photo: Capital Records)

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DJ Webstar and Young B, 'Chicken Noodle Soup' - Fueled by a nonsensical chorus and a signature dance step, this 2006 song was a huge hit, peaking at No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100. The video featured a young, then-unknown Teyana Taylor demonstrating the quirky accompanying dance.(Photo: Scilla Hill)

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MC T Tucker and DJ Irv, 'Where Dey At' - This early '90s New Orleans classic, filled with vulgar chants and a "Triggaman" sample — is widely credited with sparking the Crescent City's local rap sub genre, bounce music, and also was a heavy influence on Memphis rap as well, as heard in Three-6 Mafia's early work.(Photo: United Visions)

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The Showboys, 'Drag Rap (Trigga Man)' - This 1986 12-inch from Queens duo the Showboys is the unlikely prototype for New Orleans bounce music, thanks to its call and response chants, intro and 808 patterns. It's been sampled by several area artists in later years, including Lil Wayne, Curren$y and David Banner.(Photo: Profile Records)

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Wreckx-N-Effect, 'Rump Shaker' - This 1992 smash made it all the way to No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 — losing the No. 1 spot to Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" — and was the first glimpse of a young Pharrell Williams's hit-making prowess (He penned Teddy Riley's verse.)(Photo: MCA Records)

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Crucial Conflict, 'Hay' - Chi-Town quartet Crucial Conflict found success with this 1996 song, but its true impact wasn't on the charts, it was in the double-time Midwestern rap styles that followed. (Also thanks to Twista and Bone Thugs N Harmony.)(Photo: Courtesy Universal Records)

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Shawn Brown, 'Rappin' Duke' - This 1983 novelty song featured Shawn Brown rapping as actor John Wayne, aka the Duke. The song made leeway on Billboard's dance and R&B/Hip Hop charts, but was immortalized forever when the Notorious B.I.G. shouted out the song and its refrain "da-ha-ha" (an imitation of John Wayne's signature laugh) on "Juicy."(Photo: JWP Records)

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Playaz Circle, 'Duffle Bag Boy,' Featuring Lil Wayne - This 2007 song was a key hip hop moment on two levels: It featured a memorable performance from Lil Wayne, who was still building his solo career, and also gave the world a sneak peek at 2 Chainz, then known as Tity Boi, one half of Playaz Circle. The ATL duo signed to Ludacris's Disturbing Tha Peace imprint.(Photo: Island Def Jam)

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Tim Dog, 'F**k Compton' - Bronx rapper Tim Dog is largely forgotten outside of underground East Coast circles, but his breakthrough hit, "F*ck Compton," played an outsize role in hip hop history, helping set the tone for the East Coast/West Coast hip hop civil war.(Photo: RuffHouse)