16 Recession-Friendly Rap Songs
The perfect soundtrack to America's economic woes.
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Hard Times: 16 Recession-Friendly Rap Songs - Hip hop isn't all gloss and floss. With incomes falling, unemployment rising and stocks crashing yet again, the following cuts are the perfect soundtrack to America's economic woes. Click on to read BET.com's 16 Recession-Friendly Rap Songs. —Alex Gale(Photo: Getty Images)
Photo By Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five: "The Message"\r\r - One of the best and most powerful hip-hop songs of all time, "The Message" is an unflinching vision of poverty, crime and desperation in New York during the Reagan era.\rQuotable:\rRats in the front room, roaches in the back\rJunkies in the alley with a baseball bat\rI tried to get away, but I couldn't get far\r'Cause the man with the tow-truck repossessed my car\r\r(Photo: Retna)
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Wu Tang Clan: "C.R.E.A.M." - This grimy classic takes a decidedly unglamorous look at Wu’s pre-success struggles in Staten Island’s Stapleton projects, where "cash ruled everything."Quotable:My life got no betterSame damn 'Lo sweaterTimes is rough and tough like leather(Photo: Tony Nelson/Retna)
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Young Jeezy: "Circulate" - In this standout cut from the aptly titled The Recession, Jeezy steps out of character and talks about bank accounts drying up over a soulful Billy Paul sample that pleads, "Let the dollar circulate."Quotable:Sitting here staring at this empty safeLike what the f--- im gonna do with all this empty space…I hate to have to be the one that said I told youMove over I can't wait until this recession’s over…Looking at my stash, like where the f--- the rest atLooking at my watch like it's a bad investment (Photo: Picturegroup)
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Ghostface Killah feat. Mary J. Blige: "All That I Got Is You" - We dare you not to shed a tear listening to this heartbreaking tale of growing up dirt-poor in a single-parent household with "two brothers with muscular dystrophy." Quotable:Roaches everywhereCousins and aunts was thereFour in the bedTwo at the foot, two at the headI didn't like to sleep with Jon-Jon he peed the bedSeven o'clock, pluckin roaches out the cereal boxSome shared the same spoon, watchin’ saturday cartoonSugar water was our thing, every meal was no thrillIn the summer, free lunch held us down like steelAnd there was days I had to go to Tech’s house with a noteStating, "Gloria, can I borrow some food? I'm dead broke”(Photo: Getty Images)
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Kanye West feat. GLC & Consequence: "Spaceship" - On this slow burner from Ye’s debut, College Dropout, the Chicago MC and his cohorts are working dead-end retail jobs and daydreaming of an escape.Quotable:If my manager insults me again I will be assaulting himAfter I f--- the manager upThen I'm gonna shorten the register upLet's go back, back to the GapLook at my check, wasn't no scratchSo if I stole, wasn't my faultYeah I stole, never got caught(Photo: Getty Images)
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Jadakiss feat. Barrington Levy: "Hard Times" - Jada and Levy tell hustlers and strivers everywhere to prepare for the drought on this cold-as-ice 2009 banger.Quotables:Definitely need a plan, it's almost 50 a gramEither that or you better get you a scamFor the gas prices and foreclosures all overWhen it's gonna stop, only the Lord knows this(Photo: Picture Group)
Photo By Stuart Ramson/PictureGroup
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Cam’ron: "I Hate My Job" - On this all-too-accurate 2009 comeback cut, Cam raps in the first person as both a struggling secretary and a desperate job-seeker.\r\rQuotable:\rI went in for an interview, for delivery\r"Locked up? Felonies?" \rNow the dude's quizzing me\rYou working on my future, why you need to know my history?\rAll he did was Google me, no big mystery\rHe ain't digging me, politely he was dissin' me\r"No we're not hiring, but thanks for the visit please"\r\r(Photo: Walik Goshorn/Retna LTD)
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Jay-Z feat. Beanie Sigel and Scarface: "This Can't Be Life"\r - Jay, Beans and Face yearn for an end to the hardships over a mournful Kanye beat.\r\rQuotables:\rEverybody doin 'em, I'm still scratchin on the block\rLike "Damn, I'ma be a failure"\rSurrounded by thugs, drugs and drug paraphenalia\r\r(Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
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Naughty by Nature: "Everything's Gonna Be Alright"\r - On this 1991 classic, Treach details his hard-luck upbringing on the tough-as-nails streets of East Orange, New Jersey.\r\rQuotable:\rI couldn't get a job, nappy hair was not allowed\rMy mother couldn't afford us all, she had to throw me out\rI walked the strip, which is a clip, who wanna hit?\rThey got 'em quick, I had to eat, this money's good as spent\rI threw in graves, I wasn't paid enough\rI kept 'em long 'cause I couldn't afford a haircut\r\r(Photo: Joe Kohen/Getty Images)
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Bone Thugs N Harmony: "1st of tha Month"\r - With more and more Americans relying on government checks to make ends meet, this 1994 hit sounds as timely as ever.\r\rQuotable:\rWake up and I see that my sister is already dressed\rShe said, "I'm gonna run and go get my stamps\rWatch and make sure no one snatches my check"\r\r(Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)
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Devin the Dude: "Doobie Ashtray" - On this funky DJ Premier-produced heater, Devin raps and croons about losing everything: your money, your house, your car—and even your weed stash.Quotables:You probably don't have a lot of moneyBut if you did would you find it funnyIf you lent, and you spent it, and you didn't investOr put it in the bank so we can gain some interestYou just went and copped the biggest car you could findAnd a couple more just like it So your friends could follow behindNever mind how much it costsYou copped the best weed to smokeAnd for her a fur coatYou got jet skis and boatsAnd next thing you're broke... (Photo: Rap A Lot Records)
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Plies: "Rich Folks"\r - With jobs scarce and stocks falling yet again, more and more people will be singing along with this aspirational 2010 song from Florida rapper Plies.\r\rQuotable:\rI'm sick of this s---, dawg\rI'm tired of being broke\rI wanna live like the rich folks\rI want the house with the big boat:\r\r(Photo: Ben Rose/PictureGroup)
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Tupac: "Changes"\r - On this moving classic released posthumously in 1996, a dejected Tupac struggles with poverty, racism and hopelessness.\r\rQuotable:\rI wake up in the morning and I ask myself, \r"Is life worth living? Should I blast myself?"\rI'm tired of bein' poor and even worse I'm Black \rMy stomach hurts, so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch\r\r(Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)
Photo By Ke.Mazur/WireImage
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Skee-Lo: "I Wish"\r - This lighthearted, self-effacing 1995 chart-topper finds Skee-Lo yearning for more ends and friends.\r\rQuotable:\r\rI wish I had a brand-new car\rSo far, I got this hatchback\rAnd everywhere I go, yo, I gets laughed at\rAnd when I'm in my car, I'm laid-back\rI got an 8-track\rAnd a spare tire in the backseat\rBut that's flat\r\r(Photo: Scotti Brothers)
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Notorious B.I.G.: "Everyday Struggles" - A direct contrast to most rappers’ overblown Pablo Escobar fantasies, this song from Biggie’s classic debut, Ready to Die, tells the tale of a desperate father who resorts to "living so devilish" to feed his daughter.Quotables:I know how it feel to wake up f---ed upPockets broke as hell, another rock to sellPeople look at you like you’s the userSelling drugs to all the losers, mad buddha abuserBut they don't know about your stress-filled dayBaby on the way, mad bills to pay (Photo: Getty Images)