Ironic R&B/hip-hop?

June 21, 2009 11:47 AM

I'm preparing a lesson on irony and I'd like to illustrate the concept with a song. Problem is, my students are more interested in R&B and hip-hop than in my boring old-person rock and roll. Can you name some (fairly current) R&B/hip-hop songs that use irony? I'm thinking, like, "Born in the USA"-style irony -- nothing too subtle.
posted by miriam to media & arts (17 comments total)

Ice Cube, Today Was a Good Day

Explicit lyrics. But he's describing what he calls a perfect day, against a violent backdrop.

Had to stop at a red light,
Looking in my mirror not a jacker in sight,
And everything is all right

...

Today I didn't even have to use my A.K.,
I got to say it was a good day.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:51 AM on June 21 [4 favorites]

I dont know if this will work for your purposes, but Busdriver's Unplanned Parenthood does this. It's even relatively intelligible, and I don't think he curses in it.
posted by cmoj at 12:03 PM on June 21

"Gold Digger" has a few ironies...
posted by Kirklander at 12:16 PM on June 21

Seconding "Today Was a Good Day."


Flight of the Conchords' Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros could actually illustrate this, if you're willing to venture into silly territory.
posted by oinopaponton at 12:21 PM on June 21

Here is the Ed Byrne sketch referred to. Quite a good lesson in it's own right.
posted by rongorongo at 12:37 PM on June 21

I think a lot of Busdriver songs work. Irony is part of his style. The only problem is that he's kinda indie hip-hop with a weird style, and the kids probably won't know or like his music on first listen.
posted by ishotjr at 12:38 PM on June 21

Tarumba, from your link:

7. "Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly/ He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids good-bye/ He waited his whole damn life to take that flight/And as the plane crashed down he thought, Well, isn't this nice?"

This quatrain is truly a feather in Alanis's cap, because it contains not one, but two legitimate instances of actual, honest to God irony. A) It is, indeed, ironic that someone who is afraid of flying would die in a plane crash during his first flight; it's an unexpected disruption in the normal course of events that gives us insight into human folly. And B) said someone is being, you guessed it, ironic when he says, "Well, isn't this nice?" since we must presume that he is being sarcastic.

Most of the incidents in the song could easily be ironic, if the events were told as stories properly sequenced and with the appropriate emphasis. I say most rather than all because I've never bothered to actually sit down and work out a little scenario for each of them. But it's probably all.

Anyway, don't use "Ironic" as an example in any case.
posted by Nonce at 1:23 PM on June 21

Is Born in the USA actually ironic, on its own? Or is it simply a sad commentary, that people took the wrong way? Where the taking it as a proud anthem is the irony, not the song itself? (That's useful as part of the lesson, of course, I'm just curious how you took the song.)
posted by gjc at 1:27 PM on June 21

Don't worry, I wasn't going to use "Ironic." I like the Ice Cube song but it would be nice to have something a bit more current. I like the Busdriver songs, too, but they're really explicit (at least those that had lyrics available), even for a college class. Could be awkward for everyone involved.

My students are smart and I trust them to like good music, so by all means mention some underground artists. I just would like to find something that doesn't reek of a 30-y.o. liberal-arts college graduate (i.e., me).
posted by miriam at 1:29 PM on June 21

My personal (and probably wayward) opinion: I think that the irony you find in hip-hop differs from, say, Springsteen in that you could say there's a certain dispassion in the stories told but without a wink-wink/you get what I'm sayin' attitude; they're open to interpretation. I feel like a lot of Mobb Deep's songs are like that -- narratives of violence and mercenary beliefs and maybe they're meant to be allegories, or maybe they're modern murder ballads, or maybe they're just bragging. For ex: "Shook Ones" parts 1 & 2, "Got It Twisted"...Some more background on them here.

There's a couple tracks off of Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury record that are supremely paranoid/ self-aware in tone..."Keys Open Doors" is a standout.

And Gang Starr's "Just to Get a Rep" and Talib Kweli's "Just to Get By," talk about how shitty life can be, but the message isn't masked. (These last two are less explicit, I guess.)

This might help too: An entire dissertation [PDF] on the topic of "ironic rap."
posted by cowboy_sally at 1:52 PM on June 21

I like Everlast's song about Choosing.

Since you mentioned "Born in the USA" you could contrast it with "Born is East LA" for laughs.

You could go Medieval with "My Fair Lady".

I tried Laurie Anderson's "Private Property" on my class and it was a really interesting discussion.

"Lola" wouldn't be bad.
posted by effluvia at 2:09 PM on June 21

If they're into hip-hop, then adult themes are easily fair game, ja?

I hope so, because I'm going to recommend Stephen Lynch's If I Could Be A Superhero.
posted by foooooogasm at 2:18 PM on June 21

Coup - breathing apparatus:

"my medical plan was to not get shot". (This is irony right?)
posted by hannahlambda at 2:54 PM on June 21

What's up FatLip does a pretty good job of self deprecating irony, especially with the video.
posted by furtive at 3:04 PM on June 21

Are you going to talk about ironic sampling of previous music? Or are you only interested in lyrics?
posted by billtron at 3:08 PM on June 21

Don't worry, I wasn't going to use "Ironic."

actually, I would heartily recommend you use "Ironic" by Alanis Morissette, but only to demonstrate that the only thing ironic about the song is the complete lack of irony in the song.

doncha think?
posted by namewithoutwords at 4:18 PM on June 21

ishotjr Yeah, that's why I was wondering if it'd work... plus it's really hard to pick out what he's saying in most of his songs.
posted by cmoj at 12:00 PM on June 23