Ten percent off! We cashin' out! Insert other odd phrase here!
April 16, 2012 10:08 PM Subscribe
What are some songs with guys saying funny stuff in the background? There are examples here, because the question is a bit hard to ask otherwise.
I'm looking to compile a playlist of songs with guys saying funny, strange, or odd things in the background. Sometimes the things fit the song, sometimes they don't. I'm most interested in hip hop but any style is fine. I feel like this is kind of a common thing, but I'm having a hard time describing it. If it is common, what is this called?
Anyhow, here are some examples of songs that do this, with the artist and a choice background quote. Some of these songs are NSFW and have offensive language in them; my apologies.
Did it On Em (Nikki Minaj) - "We at the top! G5! Louis Vuitton! Gucci!"
Cashin' out (Ca$h Out) - "We cashin' out!"
Hottest in the Hood - Fat Pimp - "Uh, lemme think about it"
Ready Set Go (Killer Mike and T.I.) - "Remember me?"
Tattered Fedora Flow (Danny!) - "Ten percent off!" and "These pretzels are delicious" (this one is probably the best example of what I'm looking for)
Some Gucci Mane songs sort of qualify, because he likes to say "Gucci" at strange times throughout his songs, but that's not exactly what I'm looking for.
I'm looking to compile a playlist of songs with guys saying funny, strange, or odd things in the background. Sometimes the things fit the song, sometimes they don't. I'm most interested in hip hop but any style is fine. I feel like this is kind of a common thing, but I'm having a hard time describing it. If it is common, what is this called?
Anyhow, here are some examples of songs that do this, with the artist and a choice background quote. Some of these songs are NSFW and have offensive language in them; my apologies.
Did it On Em (Nikki Minaj) - "We at the top! G5! Louis Vuitton! Gucci!"
Cashin' out (Ca$h Out) - "We cashin' out!"
Hottest in the Hood - Fat Pimp - "Uh, lemme think about it"
Ready Set Go (Killer Mike and T.I.) - "Remember me?"
Tattered Fedora Flow (Danny!) - "Ten percent off!" and "These pretzels are delicious" (this one is probably the best example of what I'm looking for)
Some Gucci Mane songs sort of qualify, because he likes to say "Gucci" at strange times throughout his songs, but that's not exactly what I'm looking for.
"bro, there's a little sale, on vests, at uh, Walmart? Nine dollars? Eight something. Yeah. Nice little vest. Light!"
Underworld - Jumbo
posted by germdisco at 10:32 PM on April 16, 2012 [1 favorite]
Underworld - Jumbo
posted by germdisco at 10:32 PM on April 16, 2012 [1 favorite]
The Beatles are good for this sort of stuff.
For example, in the demo of 'Glass Onion', Lennon spouts off nonsense from 0:58-1:06, at 1:18, at 1:30, and from 1:35-1:48. Does that fit your criteria?
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 10:32 PM on April 16, 2012
For example, in the demo of 'Glass Onion', Lennon spouts off nonsense from 0:58-1:06, at 1:18, at 1:30, and from 1:35-1:48. Does that fit your criteria?
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 10:32 PM on April 16, 2012
Various bits throughout Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.
posted by cosmologinaut at 10:37 PM on April 16, 2012
posted by cosmologinaut at 10:37 PM on April 16, 2012
Lionel Say by Jim's Big Ego. "You can't grow! You don't have enough room!" "No-one sat down." etc, etc. It's a very surreal song.
posted by Scientist at 10:41 PM on April 16, 2012
posted by Scientist at 10:41 PM on April 16, 2012
Superfast Jellyfish, by Gorillaz. The music video is pretty crap but it definitely fits the bill. Fun song, too.
posted by Scientist at 10:44 PM on April 16, 2012
posted by Scientist at 10:44 PM on April 16, 2012
Warren Zevon's "Run Straight Down."
(4-Aminobiphenyl, hexachlorobenzene
Dimethyl sulfate, chloromethyl methylether
2, 3, 7, 8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-
para-dioxin, carbon disulfide)
(Dibromochloropane, chlorinated
benzenes, 2-Nitropropane, pentachlorophenol,
Benzotrichloride, strontium chromate
1, 2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane)
posted by Slinga at 10:44 PM on April 16, 2012
(4-Aminobiphenyl, hexachlorobenzene
Dimethyl sulfate, chloromethyl methylether
2, 3, 7, 8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-
para-dioxin, carbon disulfide)
(Dibromochloropane, chlorinated
benzenes, 2-Nitropropane, pentachlorophenol,
Benzotrichloride, strontium chromate
1, 2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane)
posted by Slinga at 10:44 PM on April 16, 2012
Best answer: One that always cracks me up is Bobby Valentino crooning "Breakfast in bed, I'll make you breakfast in bed" in Lil Wayne's Ms. Officer. Actually, most of his mix tapes feature at least one or two lines per song that fit your description--try Da Drought 3 and Sorry 4 Tha Wait in particular.
And of course there's the "Mazel Tov!" and "L'chaim!" in the Black Eyed Peas' I Gotta Feeling.
Lastly. This might not exactly fit your criteria, but I would be remiss in not mentioning The Avalanches in any thread talking about strange mid-song non-sequiturs. Might not be exactly what you're looking for, but Frontier Psychiatrist is gloriously strange and the entire album is a winner.
posted by stellaluna at 10:45 PM on April 16, 2012
And of course there's the "Mazel Tov!" and "L'chaim!" in the Black Eyed Peas' I Gotta Feeling.
Lastly. This might not exactly fit your criteria, but I would be remiss in not mentioning The Avalanches in any thread talking about strange mid-song non-sequiturs. Might not be exactly what you're looking for, but Frontier Psychiatrist is gloriously strange and the entire album is a winner.
posted by stellaluna at 10:45 PM on April 16, 2012
The Velvet Underground, "Temptation Inside Your Heart".
("You don't look like Martha and the Vandellas!" "Electricity comes from other planets.")
posted by xil at 10:47 PM on April 16, 2012 [1 favorite]
("You don't look like Martha and the Vandellas!" "Electricity comes from other planets.")
posted by xil at 10:47 PM on April 16, 2012 [1 favorite]
There's a bit at the end of Melissa Etheridge's "Meet Me in the Back" (on Never Enough) that seems to capture studio chatter into her mic:
"I didn't say it -- I didn't!"
"I meant it -- you know I meant it."
It seems like they're the same conversation, but there's a clear dropout in between and they could be from separate times. It's kind of perfect for the song's attitude, a sort of internally-contradictory stalker/come-on thing.
I'm pretty sure that Dylan has a few of these in some of the music from the Highway 61 Revisited/Blonde on Blonde era, which included a lot of studio improvisation with backing bands, but I can't easily check any of that music right now.
posted by dhartung at 11:09 PM on April 16, 2012
"I didn't say it -- I didn't!"
"I meant it -- you know I meant it."
It seems like they're the same conversation, but there's a clear dropout in between and they could be from separate times. It's kind of perfect for the song's attitude, a sort of internally-contradictory stalker/come-on thing.
I'm pretty sure that Dylan has a few of these in some of the music from the Highway 61 Revisited/Blonde on Blonde era, which included a lot of studio improvisation with backing bands, but I can't easily check any of that music right now.
posted by dhartung at 11:09 PM on April 16, 2012
Len, "Steal My Sunshine" has some sort of Toronto teen banter about butter tarts and somebody named Karen.
posted by infinitewindow at 11:15 PM on April 16, 2012
posted by infinitewindow at 11:15 PM on April 16, 2012
Various Pavement songs have funny stuff in the background.
posted by steinsaltz at 11:29 PM on April 16, 2012
posted by steinsaltz at 11:29 PM on April 16, 2012
During the second verse of Ludacris' Ho there's a guy tossing off a few lines ("She lives by me!") and at the end of the third, ~2:15, a presumed ho starts giving her thoughts.
posted by Su at 11:33 PM on April 16, 2012
posted by Su at 11:33 PM on April 16, 2012
Small Faces' Lazy Sunday, bit of Steve Marriott's dog barking too IIRC. They had Professor Stanley Unwin doing his weird spiel on Happiness Stan too, though not in the background.
posted by Abiezer at 11:36 PM on April 16, 2012
posted by Abiezer at 11:36 PM on April 16, 2012
Check out pretty much anything by Flight of the Conchords. They play many different styles of music, but they are all about this kind of thing. (Of course, they are deliberately trying to be funny with their lyrics.) Specifically, check out "Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros."
posted by Kevtaro at 11:41 PM on April 16, 2012
posted by Kevtaro at 11:41 PM on April 16, 2012
Best answer: Anything by Public Enemy
Pretty much. Flavor Flav is easily the most famous hype man of all time, and these are mostly examples of that, or the evolution of it. Nicki Minaj's hype man is ScaffBeezy, Gucci Mane's was Waka Flocka Flame, etc etc. No track recommendations, a bit out of my element, but it should help in searching for more examples.
posted by Lorin at 11:45 PM on April 16, 2012
Pretty much. Flavor Flav is easily the most famous hype man of all time, and these are mostly examples of that, or the evolution of it. Nicki Minaj's hype man is ScaffBeezy, Gucci Mane's was Waka Flocka Flame, etc etc. No track recommendations, a bit out of my element, but it should help in searching for more examples.
posted by Lorin at 11:45 PM on April 16, 2012
Gang of Four's Anthrax
posted by brujita at 11:57 PM on April 16, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by brujita at 11:57 PM on April 16, 2012 [2 favorites]
Not hip-hop, but full of ad-libs: I'm Gonna Buy Me a Dog by the Monkees
posted by Oriole Adams at 12:03 AM on April 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Oriole Adams at 12:03 AM on April 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
Foo Fighters' Everlong contains a bridge where Dave Grohl is reading from a love letter, a technical manual, and a story about a studio technician's father, all read at the same time. No one knows what is really being said, and Dave won't give it up. I think this fits the "odd" billing.
posted by XhaustedProphet at 12:08 AM on April 17, 2012
posted by XhaustedProphet at 12:08 AM on April 17, 2012
Best answer: Minaj's "Roman Holiday" on her new album has a lot of weird yelling in it. Might not exactly qualify since they're her characters, but I guess that falls in the "fits the song" category.
J.Lo's "Jenny from the Block" has that "THE BRONX!" thing in it.
posted by stoneandstar at 12:32 AM on April 17, 2012
J.Lo's "Jenny from the Block" has that "THE BRONX!" thing in it.
posted by stoneandstar at 12:32 AM on April 17, 2012
Oh, wait, apparently the yelling is only in the performance version! The official track doesn't have Roman yelling back at his mom.
posted by stoneandstar at 12:37 AM on April 17, 2012
posted by stoneandstar at 12:37 AM on April 17, 2012
OK, I know I'm just adding to the question here, but there is one song that I recall so vividly - I truly wish I could find it. It was playing on one of the Black Rock City radio stations as we drove out of Burning Man (1999) and consisted of a man with a Dr. Strangelove German accent presumably plucking petals from a flower, going "She lovess me, ja, ja!" No? Quite possibly was just a lovesick German man on the radio plucking petals from a flower. I'll never forget that, as I dozed off staring at the huge seething ball of energy we fondly refer to as the sun.
posted by Astragalus at 1:24 AM on April 17, 2012
posted by Astragalus at 1:24 AM on April 17, 2012
Que Onda Guero by Beck has people yelling out stuff like "Michael Bolton!" and "James Joyce!"
posted by Miss Otis' Egrets at 1:49 AM on April 17, 2012
posted by Miss Otis' Egrets at 1:49 AM on April 17, 2012
The Beastie Boys!
The crank phone calls in Cookie Puss.
The radio advert for the actual Paul's Boutique from their record, Paul's Boutique. Forget which song! Actually, every track on Paul's Boutique. The wikipedia's just informed me about how unusual and influential that record was. It's in my car's cd player right now, and has been for months!
The song Egg Man has exactly what you are looking for.
Shake Your Rump has a police officer ask "Is your name Michael Diamond?" (Mike D then raps, "Nah, mine's Clarence.")
Anyway, EVERYTHING by The Beastie Boys has what you need here.
I wanted to talk about the background (and sometimes foreground!) stylings with the addition of DJ of Mix Master Mike on Hello Nasty.
At the beginning of the track Three MC's and One DJ, there is a sample (or re-creation?) of Mix Master Mike's cold call to the Beasties.
"Hey yo Adam, what's up. This is Mix Master Mike, I'm calling from Sacramento, I, uh, I've been wanting to hook up with you, maybe on some tracks, I got some shit right here...if you would...my turntable's through a wah-wah peddle. Called a tweak scratch..."
I would count Mix Master Mike's Tweak Scratch + other turntable acrobatics as a "guy" saying funny, strange, or odd things in the background. But maybe that's just me?
Again. The Beastie Boys are what you are looking for.
posted by jbenben at 1:53 AM on April 17, 2012
The crank phone calls in Cookie Puss.
The radio advert for the actual Paul's Boutique from their record, Paul's Boutique. Forget which song! Actually, every track on Paul's Boutique. The wikipedia's just informed me about how unusual and influential that record was. It's in my car's cd player right now, and has been for months!
The song Egg Man has exactly what you are looking for.
Shake Your Rump has a police officer ask "Is your name Michael Diamond?" (Mike D then raps, "Nah, mine's Clarence.")
Anyway, EVERYTHING by The Beastie Boys has what you need here.
I wanted to talk about the background (and sometimes foreground!) stylings with the addition of DJ of Mix Master Mike on Hello Nasty.
At the beginning of the track Three MC's and One DJ, there is a sample (or re-creation?) of Mix Master Mike's cold call to the Beasties.
"Hey yo Adam, what's up. This is Mix Master Mike, I'm calling from Sacramento, I, uh, I've been wanting to hook up with you, maybe on some tracks, I got some shit right here...if you would...my turntable's through a wah-wah peddle. Called a tweak scratch..."
I would count Mix Master Mike's Tweak Scratch + other turntable acrobatics as a "guy" saying funny, strange, or odd things in the background. But maybe that's just me?
Again. The Beastie Boys are what you are looking for.
posted by jbenben at 1:53 AM on April 17, 2012
It sounds like not exactly the same thing you are looking for, but the second half of Flower Punk by Frank Zappa has a bizarre two different monologues on the two stereo tracks.
posted by Meatbomb at 4:04 AM on April 17, 2012
posted by Meatbomb at 4:04 AM on April 17, 2012
Jay-Z and Kanye'a "N***s in Paris" samples Will Ferrell from "Blades of Glory" which i find hilarious.
posted by nkknkk at 4:16 AM on April 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by nkknkk at 4:16 AM on April 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
Frank Zappa's "Valley Girl" qualifies. Although it's a woman's voice in the background.
posted by Brodiggitty at 5:15 AM on April 17, 2012
posted by Brodiggitty at 5:15 AM on April 17, 2012
Other Beck songs that might qualify: "Loser" ("Get crazy with the Cheez Wiz") and "Where It's At."
posted by mskyle at 6:12 AM on April 17, 2012
posted by mskyle at 6:12 AM on April 17, 2012
Tally Hall's "Good Day" has this -- relevant bit a little after 2:45. ("I stepped on gum! I stepped on gum! Ohh ho ho..." is louder in the video than it is on the album so it's not quite "background" anymore, but there's other stuff too.)
Barenaked Ladies also has "Enid", relevant bit starts at 3:22, and looks like the top comment on that video are the background lyrics. (Bonus! You can marvel at the absolute terrible-ness of early '90s fashion! Oh, it's awful.)
posted by lilac girl at 6:33 AM on April 17, 2012
Barenaked Ladies also has "Enid", relevant bit starts at 3:22, and looks like the top comment on that video are the background lyrics. (Bonus! You can marvel at the absolute terrible-ness of early '90s fashion! Oh, it's awful.)
posted by lilac girl at 6:33 AM on April 17, 2012
Not hip hop, but since someone's mentioned King Missile already, Sensitive Artist features increasingly out-of-control backing lyrics/shouting ("SENSITIVE!!!!!!!"), and then the rest of the song behind the singer kind of veers off into a shaky cover-version of "Guantanamera," so there's that.
posted by Sonny Jim at 6:42 AM on April 17, 2012
posted by Sonny Jim at 6:42 AM on April 17, 2012
Weezer's pre-"Sweater Song" banter ain't necessarily funny, but it is iconic bro chatter, (well ahead of its time): "Hey, do you know about the party after the show? Aw man, it's gonna be the best, I'm so stoked. Take it easy, bro!"
posted by obscurator at 6:55 AM on April 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by obscurator at 6:55 AM on April 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
The last minute or so of "The Magic Number" by De La Soul ("Anybody in the audience ever been hit by a car?")
posted by jbickers at 7:42 AM on April 17, 2012
posted by jbickers at 7:42 AM on April 17, 2012
Well, I always say - nothing livens up a robotic hymn of doom better than an amazing pair of juggs (2:10)
posted by cashman at 7:54 AM on April 17, 2012
posted by cashman at 7:54 AM on April 17, 2012
Dink - "Green Mind"
posted by John Cohen at 8:21 AM on April 17, 2012
posted by John Cohen at 8:21 AM on April 17, 2012
I have been asleep inside this planet of Magrathea for millions of years and know little of these "hip hop songs" of which you speak. However, here are some earlier examples of records with non-musical commentary:
Clap for the Wolfman (constant) -- The Guess Who
Happy Jack ("I sawr yer!") -- The Who
Flakes ("wanna buy some mandies, Bob?" ) -- Frank Zappa
WPLJ (lots, in Spanish) -- The Mothers of Invention
Third Stone from the Sun (lots (play at 2x speed)) -- Jimi Hendrix
My Friend -- Jimi Hendrix
Us and Them, etc. from Dark Side of the Moon -- Pink Floyd
Spill The Wine (lots, in Spanish)-- Eric Burdon declares War
Super Freak -- Rick James
For You Blue ("Elmore James got nothing on this cat") -- The Beatles
Farmer John (lots) -- The Premiers
Barbara Ann (lots) -- The Beach Boys
White Punks on Dope ("Aki no Tetoron wa Teijin desu") -- The Tubes
Happenings Ten Years Time Ago (who knew Beck was such a chatterbox) -- The Yardbirds
I Need You (mocking the Beatles) -- The Who
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is -- Chicago
. . . and really quite a lot of Zappa/Mothers material.
Don't neglect 1950s RnB records, either.
Gang of Four's Anthrax
This is a brilliant record from a lot of dimensions, but the deployment of background & foreground recitation is stellar. Recommended.
posted by Herodios at 9:10 AM on April 17, 2012
Clap for the Wolfman (constant) -- The Guess Who
Happy Jack ("I sawr yer!") -- The Who
Flakes ("wanna buy some mandies, Bob?" ) -- Frank Zappa
WPLJ (lots, in Spanish) -- The Mothers of Invention
Third Stone from the Sun (lots (play at 2x speed)) -- Jimi Hendrix
My Friend -- Jimi Hendrix
Us and Them, etc. from Dark Side of the Moon -- Pink Floyd
Spill The Wine (lots, in Spanish)-- Eric Burdon declares War
Super Freak -- Rick James
For You Blue ("Elmore James got nothing on this cat") -- The Beatles
Farmer John (lots) -- The Premiers
Barbara Ann (lots) -- The Beach Boys
White Punks on Dope ("Aki no Tetoron wa Teijin desu") -- The Tubes
Happenings Ten Years Time Ago (who knew Beck was such a chatterbox) -- The Yardbirds
I Need You (mocking the Beatles) -- The Who
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is -- Chicago
. . . and really quite a lot of Zappa/Mothers material.
Don't neglect 1950s RnB records, either.
Gang of Four's Anthrax
This is a brilliant record from a lot of dimensions, but the deployment of background & foreground recitation is stellar. Recommended.
posted by Herodios at 9:10 AM on April 17, 2012
Can I have some cake? Is the cake solid? Is there icing on the cake? Now aint that the best thing you ever heard? (3:15)
posted by cashman at 10:28 AM on April 17, 2012
posted by cashman at 10:28 AM on April 17, 2012
Response by poster: The phrase "hype man" was exactly what I'm looking for. I like when the yelling/comments are present throughout the song, so lots of these answers don't fit (like the Eatin' Lays song, which I really liked, but wasn't exactly what I was looking for).
I'll check out Public Enemy.
Glass Onion definitely fits my criteria; thanks for that. Great song. It's not hip hop so I don't think it will make it onto my playlist, though. Mixing musical genres on one list is not something I'm very good at. Perhaps that should be my next question: how to make a good mixtape. I found High Fidelity to be quite lacking in actual instructions about the process.
posted by sockermom at 10:57 AM on April 17, 2012
I'll check out Public Enemy.
Glass Onion definitely fits my criteria; thanks for that. Great song. It's not hip hop so I don't think it will make it onto my playlist, though. Mixing musical genres on one list is not something I'm very good at. Perhaps that should be my next question: how to make a good mixtape. I found High Fidelity to be quite lacking in actual instructions about the process.
posted by sockermom at 10:57 AM on April 17, 2012
Oh - I was going off the last example where you said that was what you were looking for. Sorry! I'll try to provide at least one good answer, and exit stage left.
posted by cashman at 11:19 AM on April 17, 2012
posted by cashman at 11:19 AM on April 17, 2012
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posted by not_on_display at 10:15 PM on April 16, 2012