"Novelty" rappers that are not US or Canadian

February 4, 2014 9:58 AM

I'm looking for (broadly defined) "novelty" rappers from around the world that are NOT from the US or Canada.

The UK has several, off the top of my head (links may be NSFW)--

Goldie Lookin Chain (you knows it bra)

Professor Elemental

Mr. B the Gentleman Rhymer

I'd love to hear more, in any language, provided that they are NOT from the US or Canada (no Frontalot, etc.), and that the artist is primarily a novelty act (e.g., not just a jokey rap from an otherwise non-jokey artist).

posted by Admiral Haddock to Media & Arts (17 answers total)

K'Naan is from Somalia. This video is a new thing that sounds a bit more conventional North America centered rap, but a lot of his stuff from ~2010 is more specifically about Somalia. He has a few tracks from his first few albums that include some Amharic. He also did a mixtape a few years ago that is a tribute to Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, and Bob Dylan, and is pretty atypical for anything really going on in hiphop now, though I don't know if that's what you mean by "novelty".

Afrikan Boy is from Nigeria and a bit more "novelty" than K'naan really is. His most out-of-left-field thing is probably "One Day I Went To Lidl".

I also feel like that Bangs bears mention here. He's Sudanese by way of Australia.
posted by Sara C. at 10:10 AM on February 4, 2014 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I should add that I have no idea where I would put Die Antwoort or Jack Parow--novelty or not, or art provocateurs or whatever.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 10:14 AM on February 4, 2014

MC Pitman?
posted by Thing at 10:24 AM on February 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

I like Spain's 2008 Eurovision Entry, Baila El Chiki-Chiki, it's pretty funny.

Sean Banan, with Copacabanana...is such a something else.

And Trackshittaz, with Woki Mit Dem Popo--Austria's Eurovision entry from 2012

Eurovision/Melodifestivalen is a goldmine for this kind of thing!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:30 AM on February 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

Morris Minor and the Majors, Stutter Rap is pretty bad. It got to no3 in the UK in 1988 (and 2 in Australia).
posted by biffa at 10:34 AM on February 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Biffa, that is indeed terrible. I should hasten to add, though, that terrible is absolutely fine for purposes of this question.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 10:44 AM on February 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

Brice de Nice? He's fictional though. But the hit was real.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 10:57 AM on February 4, 2014

The Rubberbandits are from Limerick.
posted by Tapioca at 11:08 AM on February 4, 2014

MC HotDog from Taiwan?
posted by gyc at 12:33 PM on February 4, 2014

India's first major home-grown rap act, Baba Sehgal, probably counts. According to William Dalrymple, "His whole act is tongue in cheek, and many of his songs send up India's general lack of street credibility." Modern Indian acts worth looking at include ishQ Bector, along with any number of Bollywood songs. Finally, tho US-based, some consider Das Racist to be a novelty act; I disagree, but whatever.
posted by thack3r at 12:42 PM on February 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

I would absolutely include Die Antwoort as novelty, but it's a tough call. Just to second the OP.
posted by mamabear at 2:44 PM on February 4, 2014

Oh! My link above is likely NSFW!
posted by mamabear at 3:02 PM on February 4, 2014

So Tiri was born in NY, but he raps in Greek (about feta cheese)... so maybe could make the cut?
posted by neroli at 3:15 PM on February 4, 2014

Rekishi (meaning History in Japanese) raps (and sings) only about Japanese history ("Kari kara inasaku e" "Kakure Kirishitango"), historical events ("Eejanaika") and figures ("HiMiKo" "Imoko now" "Love Benkei"), etc. ("Goodbye Chonmage" "Let's ninja" "Kira kira bushi"). In this live video, he and Bose from Scha Dara Parr are repeating "inaho" meaning "ears of rice." He's so goofy.
posted by misozaki at 4:39 PM on February 4, 2014

Vincent Lagaf. See "Bo Le Lavabo". It's about...a beautiful sink and an ugly bidet. In French.
posted by netsirk at 6:06 PM on February 4, 2014

I'm not sure if Dutch hip-hop group De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig would be considered a novelty act, but their first hit was a novelty song.
posted by neushoorn at 1:09 AM on February 5, 2014

I'm on mobile, so links are a pain, but do yourself a favor and check out Halcali on YouTube, specifically the songs Strawberry Delight and Baby Blue (I think that's the title).

It's two girls who, at the time of their discovery, were high school students in Tokyo. They've got this awesome laid back sort of flow, and they have, aside from fantastic songs about eating strawberry flavored chocolate, very, very creative videos. It's definitely not your standard stuff, but it's a lot of fun.
posted by Ghidorah at 1:42 AM on February 5, 2014