Basically I need James Taylor to cover a Jay Z song.

September 8, 2008 12:18 PM

Best nerdy white band / artist covers of rap songs (the more offensive the better).

OK so a friend recently played The Gourds' cover of Gin & Juice for me and it was clear that its pretty much her favorite thing ever, and I'd like to make her a little birthday mix-CD. Here's what else I have so far:

Jonathan Coulton - Baby Got Back
Nina Gordon - Straight out of Compton
Dynamite Hack - Boyz in the Hood

This question had a few answers that helped, but I need more of this specific type if ya'll have them. Bonus points for any suggestions including links to where I can buy / DL the songs.

posted by allkindsoftime to media & arts (39 comments total)

Ben Folds + Bitches ain't Shit = Awesome
posted by smalls at 12:21 PM on September 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

Lots of stuff from Richard Cheese would fit the bill.
posted by nitsuj at 12:26 PM on September 8, 2008

I dunno if this counts for what you're looking for, but "A Lounge Tribute to Eminem" is pretty good.
posted by Eekacat at 12:31 PM on September 8, 2008

the rap cover show
posted by Martin E. at 12:32 PM on September 8, 2008

I enjoy listening to Jill Sobule's cover of Hot in Herre.

You might also be interested in Say Anything's cover of Got your money and Bowling for Soup's cover of London Bridge.
posted by demiurge at 12:35 PM on September 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

The Richard CHeese cover of Stand Up is exemplary.

Nina Gordon's cover of straight out of compton may be the worst thing ever recorded by anyone, ironic or not.
posted by Ponderance at 12:35 PM on September 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

Sobule also has an AWESOME cover of "Survivor" by Destiny's Child.

As a coda, throw in Tori Amos' creepy version of Eminem's "'97 Bonnie and Clyde."
posted by [NOT HERMITOSIS-IST] at 12:37 PM on September 8, 2008

Phish covered Sabotage. The link is to a youtube video of it, but Googling "phish sabotage mp3" works.
posted by Perplexity at 12:37 PM on September 8, 2008

Alanis Morisette - My Humps
posted by junkbox at 12:38 PM on September 8, 2008

Dynamite Hack - Boyz in the Hood
posted by Mach5 at 12:38 PM on September 8, 2008

god, i am so dumb
posted by Mach5 at 12:40 PM on September 8, 2008

Obadiah Parker singing Hey Ya.
posted by Addlepated at 12:46 PM on September 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

(I bought the Obadiah Parker cover on iTunes.)
posted by Addlepated at 12:47 PM on September 8, 2008

Cat Power covered The Real Slim Shady. Although I think it's actually just her doing karaoke, not really a cover.
posted by electroboy at 1:04 PM on September 8, 2008

Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine. Lots of popular music mapped to a lounge act. Instant classic.
posted by cmiller at 1:09 PM on September 8, 2008 [2 favorites]

I'm not sure they qualify as "nerdy", but the German band The Boss Hoss has an album called Internashville Urban Hymns that has several covers of songs already mentioned here -- Sabotage, Hey Ya, Hot in Herre.
posted by Janta at 1:17 PM on September 8, 2008

Not EXACTLY what you were looking for, but maybe if you could somehow get audio version of this video? I still like to rap the 'Help the Police' version every now and then because the "go swimming with Lorenzo" part makes me giggle like a ten-year-old.
posted by kkokkodalk at 1:34 PM on September 8, 2008 [4 favorites]

There is this ultra-cheezy version of "Gin & Juice" that sounds like a self-help relaxation tape that I found about 8 years ago. Unfortunately, I can't find the MP3, and I'm not sure I ever figured out who recorded it. Perhaps the power of MeFi can help.
posted by Good Brain at 1:50 PM on September 8, 2008

Luka Bloom did a cover of LL Cool J's I need love.
posted by swordfishtrombones at 1:54 PM on September 8, 2008

May not quite fit your criteria but Andrew Kerr's "Special K" is about being a nerdy white boy longing to be a rap star, and includes bits of Rapper's Delight and Bring the Noise.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 2:13 PM on September 8, 2008

Duran Duran's cover of White Lines is really just the best thing in the world.
posted by macadamiaranch at 2:16 PM on September 8, 2008

The Gourds cover of Gin n' Juice is pretty good (though it's often attributed to other bands).

Phish also covered Big Pimpin', but Jay-Z joined them onstage, so I don't know if it counts or not.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 2:25 PM on September 8, 2008

Sorry, 99 Problems and Big Pimpin'
posted by solipsophistocracy at 2:27 PM on September 8, 2008

Firehose covers PE's "Sophisticated Bitch" on the Live Totem Pole EP

linky linky
posted by slogger at 2:42 PM on September 8, 2008

Barenaked Ladies - Fight the Power
Also in the movie Coneheads I believe.
posted by lockedroomguy at 2:54 PM on September 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

Look up "Hayseed Dixie" in iTunes. They're a bluegrass AC/DC cover band, and though there doesn't appear to be any rap songs, they do have a similar style to the gourds and a wide range of rock songs.
posted by sambosambo at 3:29 PM on September 8, 2008

Travis Morrison's version of "What's Your Fantasy"!
posted by The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal at 3:44 PM on September 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

The Vines - Ms.Jackson
posted by upplepop at 3:47 PM on September 8, 2008

Regarding the Gourds' cover of Snoop Dogg's "Gin & Juice": Here's a little video of Snoop listening to it, bopping his head to it, singing along, and proclaiming various things like "I like that shit."
posted by Flunkie at 4:24 PM on September 8, 2008

Jamie Cullum covered Pharell's (or maybe the Neptunes', or NERD's) "Frontin'."

It's actually pretty good. So maybe not the nerdy offensive angle you're looking for. A Youtube search indicates that he's done some other rap covers, at least in live shows.
posted by DLWM at 4:33 PM on September 8, 2008

In a similar vein - Chance covering 'Milkshake'

If you can expand to just covers that are so, so wrong in general, April Winchell has a great collection of things to get you started
posted by pupdog at 11:28 PM on September 8, 2008

Tiga - Hot in Herre
posted by Ziggy Zaga at 1:17 AM on September 9, 2008

Jenny Owen Youngs covers Hot in Herre as well. In the chorus, she is duetting with some plush animal heads mounted n the wall of an igloo. You don't see enough of that.
posted by tim_in_oz at 2:11 AM on September 9, 2008

Follow-up to Martin E's link, in case you didn't look through the Coverville site, which you definitely should do for this project:
The Rap (And Hip Hop) Cover Show II.
posted by knile at 5:36 AM on September 9, 2008

Eels did a version of "Get Ur Freak On" that you can find on their recent Meet the Eels compilation. Apparently KT Tunstall did an acoustic version of it as well.
posted by anthom at 9:55 AM on September 9, 2008

The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal already kinda linked to it, but not directly, so I direct your attention to this blogpost which has a ton of such covers.
posted by Kattullus at 9:24 PM on September 9, 2008

Michael Hightower did a cover of Baby Got Back in Gilbert & Sullivan style
posted by chazlarson at 1:19 PM on September 10, 2008

I enjoyed the cover of Yeah by Usher making clever use of a loop box.
posted by achmorrison at 7:37 PM on September 10, 2008

Port O' Brien - Move, (Luda Cover)

Dan Black - Hypnotize (Biggie Cover)

Not completely James Taylorish, but awesome nonetheless. It would be way awesome if like, Jay-Z covered James Taylor instead on a hyped up guitar blazed track. "YEAH, uh! HOV! I REMEMBER RICHARD NIXON BACK IN SEVENTY-FOUR, Wha, wha, ...."
posted by cashman at 7:01 PM on September 11, 2008