What rap songs are about revenge fantasies?
December 22, 2009 3:28 PM Subscribe
Can you help me think of rap songs that are revenge fantasies? I'm thinking this would make a good mixtape.
One example of what I'm talking about is "Fuck tha Police" by NWA. In this song, NWA pretend to be literal judge and jury against LA police officers. So they take control of the justice structure in order to condemn police officers for abuse again young black men. In the end, the police officers are hauled off to prison. This is maybe the classic revenge fantasy in rap music.
I'm interested in all of the revenge fantasy songs about cops, but I'd also like to track down different themes. A few examples:
- Ghostface Killa, "Maxine." A bunch of young children kill their mother's abusive boyfriend/drug supplier.
- Pharaohe Monche, "Mayor." Pharaohe Monch kills Rudy Giuliani.
- E-40 and the Click, "Captain Save a Hoe." E-40 and the Click tie up and abuse Captain Save a Hoe. Though this may be more explicit in the video than the song.
- The Coup, "Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada Last Night." The narrator of the song is in a car with a pimp who killed his mother many years before. The narrator laments the various ways the pimp ruined his life, not just by killing his mother but also by teaching him various anti-woman and anti-social lessons. In the end of the song he kills the pimp.
Any ideas are much appreciated. I got this idea from a recent post requesting songs for a comprehensive rap music mixtape. That was lots of fun so I'm thinking this will be too.
One example of what I'm talking about is "Fuck tha Police" by NWA. In this song, NWA pretend to be literal judge and jury against LA police officers. So they take control of the justice structure in order to condemn police officers for abuse again young black men. In the end, the police officers are hauled off to prison. This is maybe the classic revenge fantasy in rap music.
I'm interested in all of the revenge fantasy songs about cops, but I'd also like to track down different themes. A few examples:
- Ghostface Killa, "Maxine." A bunch of young children kill their mother's abusive boyfriend/drug supplier.
- Pharaohe Monche, "Mayor." Pharaohe Monch kills Rudy Giuliani.
- E-40 and the Click, "Captain Save a Hoe." E-40 and the Click tie up and abuse Captain Save a Hoe. Though this may be more explicit in the video than the song.
- The Coup, "Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada Last Night." The narrator of the song is in a car with a pimp who killed his mother many years before. The narrator laments the various ways the pimp ruined his life, not just by killing his mother but also by teaching him various anti-woman and anti-social lessons. In the end of the song he kills the pimp.
Any ideas are much appreciated. I got this idea from a recent post requesting songs for a comprehensive rap music mixtape. That was lots of fun so I'm thinking this will be too.
Can't think of any specific tracks off the top of my head, but I'm sure some of Tupac's "Makaveli: The Don Killuminati" would fit your criteria.
posted by ThaBombShelterSmith at 3:46 PM on December 22, 2009
posted by ThaBombShelterSmith at 3:46 PM on December 22, 2009
Eve's "Love is Blind" is about killing her friend's abusive boyfriend.
posted by Nattie at 3:49 PM on December 22, 2009
posted by Nattie at 3:49 PM on December 22, 2009
Maybe mc 900 ft jesus' killer inside me (it's based on a book).
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 3:50 PM on December 22, 2009
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 3:50 PM on December 22, 2009
Common's Payback is a Grandmother is about taking revenge on someone who robbed his grandmother.
posted by alligatorman at 4:19 PM on December 22, 2009
posted by alligatorman at 4:19 PM on December 22, 2009
Walkin' in the Rain by Orange Juice Jones. "Like a squirrel without a nut"!
posted by greensalsa at 4:55 PM on December 22, 2009
posted by greensalsa at 4:55 PM on December 22, 2009
Public Enemy's classic (classic!) Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos is a prison break fantasy that probably meets your criteria.
posted by hiteleven at 8:30 PM on December 22, 2009
posted by hiteleven at 8:30 PM on December 22, 2009
Cypress Hill's Hand on the Pump also seems kind of revenge fantasy-ish. It's basically about a guy who goes around killing people who he feels have wronged him, though who is also clearly a psychopath.
posted by hiteleven at 8:37 PM on December 22, 2009
posted by hiteleven at 8:37 PM on December 22, 2009
I'm surprised Body Count's (Ice-T's) Cop Killer hasn't been mentioned yet.
posted by General Malaise at 8:38 PM on December 22, 2009
posted by General Malaise at 8:38 PM on December 22, 2009
Well, Cop Killer is rock rather than rap.
A lot of dis raps blur the line between revenge fantasies and threats, but if you want to include those, Dr. Dre's "Fuck Wit' Dre Day" dips into graphic fantasies about sodomizing Eazy-E, Tim Dog, and Luke from 2 Live Crew.
posted by ignignokt at 8:48 PM on December 22, 2009
A lot of dis raps blur the line between revenge fantasies and threats, but if you want to include those, Dr. Dre's "Fuck Wit' Dre Day" dips into graphic fantasies about sodomizing Eazy-E, Tim Dog, and Luke from 2 Live Crew.
posted by ignignokt at 8:48 PM on December 22, 2009
If you really want to get exotic you might want to check out Police by Paris-based Suprême NTM. The track is basically the French equivalent of "Fuck Tha Police", and even references the song title (and at one point translates it into French..."nique la police").
It's not as revenge-laden as NWA's classic, however. Anyway, here's a Wikipedia link to the relevant album. It's in French, so you might have to put it through Translate.
posted by hiteleven at 8:49 PM on December 22, 2009
It's not as revenge-laden as NWA's classic, however. Anyway, here's a Wikipedia link to the relevant album. It's in French, so you might have to put it through Translate.
posted by hiteleven at 8:49 PM on December 22, 2009
Oh, and of course there's Biz Markie's The Vapors. How could I have forgotten that one?
posted by hiteleven at 9:00 PM on December 22, 2009
posted by hiteleven at 9:00 PM on December 22, 2009
Ice Cube's "Now I Gotta Wet Cha" is his revenge fantasy (along with most of the Predator album) about hunting down the Rodney King jury.
posted by norm at 4:39 AM on December 23, 2009
posted by norm at 4:39 AM on December 23, 2009
DOOM's "Absolutely", off Born Like This, fits the bill.
posted by Kreiger at 5:32 AM on December 23, 2009
posted by Kreiger at 5:32 AM on December 23, 2009
Method Man starts of with some pretty heinous means of vengeance. Maybe just the intro would be good on your mix (though the whole song is unstoppably awesome, IMHO).
posted by solipsophistocracy at 6:36 AM on December 23, 2009
posted by solipsophistocracy at 6:36 AM on December 23, 2009
Whoops, sorry. I don't think the video I linked includes the "torture, motherfucker," part, but it shouldn't be hard to find, and you seem pretty down with Wu-Tang Clan.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 6:38 AM on December 23, 2009
posted by solipsophistocracy at 6:38 AM on December 23, 2009
Common's "Payback is a Grandmother" is a nice send-up of this theme.
posted by fatllama at 6:42 AM on December 23, 2009
posted by fatllama at 6:42 AM on December 23, 2009
"Let's Peel Their Caps Back" by Ice-T (Off the Freedom of Speech release).
posted by BigLankyBastard at 6:43 AM on December 23, 2009
posted by BigLankyBastard at 6:43 AM on December 23, 2009
Response by poster: These are all great suggestions. A few I didn't think of and a few I've never heard.
At ignignokt's comment: I've struggled a lot as to whether "Fuck Wit Dre Day" counts. Since the only revenge I remember seems to be of the anal and oral sex variety, I wonder if it counts as a revenge fantasy, a straight up diss, or an incoherent homoerotic AND homophobic sex jam.
Mini-poll: Does "Dre Day" count as a revenge fantasy?
posted by kensington314 at 8:27 AM on December 23, 2009
At ignignokt's comment: I've struggled a lot as to whether "Fuck Wit Dre Day" counts. Since the only revenge I remember seems to be of the anal and oral sex variety, I wonder if it counts as a revenge fantasy, a straight up diss, or an incoherent homoerotic AND homophobic sex jam.
Mini-poll: Does "Dre Day" count as a revenge fantasy?
posted by kensington314 at 8:27 AM on December 23, 2009
I'm bad with lyrics usually, but this one song came to mind: J Rawls - Great Live Caper. Some young MCs break into his apartment and steal his rhymes, he chases after them, then blows the book up up so that they can't use them, as he already knows them all anyway. That counts right?
posted by Large Marge at 10:46 AM on December 23, 2009
posted by Large Marge at 10:46 AM on December 23, 2009
Response by poster: That sounds perfect, Large Marge.
posted by kensington314 at 11:50 AM on December 23, 2009
posted by kensington314 at 11:50 AM on December 23, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by nadawi at 3:31 PM on December 22, 2009 [1 favorite]