Bad Hip-Hop Covers: 10 Terrible Renditions From Rednecks, Grannies & More — Watch
In an age when Youtube has actually become a platform to launch the careers for new artists, the number of people uploading videos to the site has spiked dramatically. Some artists have used the platform to successfully pursue their dream of becoming a musician. However, the number of those people who are actually good is relatively small. But this doesn't stop the masses from covering their favorite songs and desperately posting their mediocre renditions in hopes of gaining recognition.
The bad videos become viral and the result is usually a laugh fest. Many of these visuals are a result of grannies trying their hand at rapping and rednecks doing the same. They love Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and Kanye West, too. Yes, hip-hop isn't just for people in the Bronx where the genre originated. Don't believe us? Just take a look at 10 of the most ridiculously terrible hip-hop covers below.
1. Watch Notorious B.I.G.'s "Big Poppa" Covered on the Ukulele
Style is everything and certain messages usually work better with specific genres. That's probably why Notorious B.I.G.'s well-known pimp celebrating jam "Big Poppa" works really well with a smooth R&B beat and B.I.G.'s velvety vocals. Somehow a ukulele just doesn't lend itself to discussions of "blunt passing" and which "honey B.I.G. is going to creep with." However, technically, this guy isn't actually bad at playing the ukulele or singing, so he's got that going for him. Its just that a ukulele and Biggie are an even worse combination than the "cheese, egg and Welch's grape" jelly he raps about.
2. Watch Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice" Redneck Version
It's practically a scientific fact that there is nothing more hilarious than making fun of rednecks. Therefore, taking a song from the suavest of them all, Snoop Dogg, and superimposing it with a country twang and a slideshow of extremely ridiculous backwoods photos is a perfect cover idea. The song is actually sung by country band the Gourds, straight out of Austin, Texas. Sometimes combining two things like this from completely opposite ends of the spectrum is so weird it almost becomes good again.
3. Watch Dynamite Hack Cover Eazy E's "Boyz N The Hood"
This video features what could basically be described as the male counterparts to the characters in "Clueless." Eazy-E would either be turning in his grave or laughing along with these cheesecloth preppies with their acoustic guitars and fake Greco-Roman mansions. Watching a guy in an argyle sweater banging a tambourine while a soft male voice croons on about a 12-gauge is an experience in itself.
4. Watch Brett Domino Cover Outkast's "Hey Ya!"
First of all, this video makes use of the astonishing "instrument" called a skoog, which can be examined in detail here. Moving on from that bizarre instrument, the decision to re-make Outkast's hit "Hey Ya!" which is one of the most ear-worming tracks ever made could only have disastrous results. No one can pull off the role of MC like Andre 3000 does on this track, turning the repetitive chant of "Alright Alright" into something enjoyable to listen to, and working skits into the song with an ease that is downright uncanny. Watching these two British nerds botch the classic is pretty funny though.
5. Watch Bricka Bricka Cover "Hard in Da Paint"
Not only does this guy cover Wacka Flocka Flame's brick breaking hit "Hard in Da Paint," he even makes up his own words, and goes the extra mile to drink vodka off a brick. Clearly, he has followed the antics of Wacka and his Brick Squad with an inordinate amount of enthusiasm. Watch for the vodka-brick-drinking bit right at the beginning, that's the best part out of many notable segments. And of course the distinctly overdramatic Russian accent.
6. Watch Who Is BC Cover Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin'"
Covering a wordsmith like Jay-Z is certainly a challenge, but covering someone with that much swag is even more difficult. The saddest part about this cover is that it doesn't feel tongue-in-cheek at all; the band actually looks like they think their after-school jazz take on "Big Pimpin'" is coming off as cool. Sorry guys, you should've stuck with the Carribbean vibes of the original.
7. Watch Andrew Huang Cover Kanye's "Dark Fantasy"
As the first track off of what could be billed as Kanye West's most highly-anticipated album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, "Dark Fantasy" took 2010 by storm. Part of the reason it did too was because of the stunning visuals that accompanied it, both in the short film "Runaway" and also in the stunning video for this track. The K-Pop vocals on this cover might not be off-pitch, but his one-note video is a hilarious contrast to the dynamics in West's video for the track.
8. Watch SoMo & Cody Tarpley Cover Flo Rida's "Low"
Seriously, what is the deal with guys covering songs with absolutely no context for what the lyrics are about? In the middle of the cover this guy actually admits that he has never been to a strip club. Possibly a commendable fact. However, the true testament to Flo Rida's musical genius is that he can turn an experience that most women technically despise into a song that both genders want to listen to. A case could even be made that this song empowers women in a weird and twisted way. The cheesy keyboard ruined this cover, so the singer's complete lack of game becomes a moot point.
9. Watch Christina Calph Cover Lil' Kim's "No Matter What They Say"
Do we even need to say anything about this cover? It's like a really bad "American Idol" audition but there's no Simon Cowell to cut her off mid-song. It just keeps on going. It seems odd and almost offensive that she tries to copy Lil' Kim's accent instead of just singing in a normal voice. Plus her outfit could use a serious upgrade. The ladies kill it with hair and clothes in the original video, so Christina needs to step up her game on every level.
10. Watch a British Man & His Mum Cover Nicki Minaj's "Beeze in the Trap"
Saving the most disturbing for last, this video of a British young man and his mother sitting in front of a webcam covering Nicki Minaj easily takes the cake as the most terrible hip-hop cover on the internet. Hard to tell if it is weirder to watch this guy with his weirdly shaped eyebrows say "motherfucker" or, if it is watching his mother -- who's surely a grandmother to someone -- say it simultaneously while sitting right next to him. The British accent adds another touch of weirdness.
BONUS: Watch Grandpa Cover Lil Jon's "Get Low"
There's something terribly bad and awesomely hilarious about a grandpa reciting the lyrics to Lil Jon's "Get Low" featuring the East Side Boyz and Ying Yang Twins. Though we're not sure his age or nationality, it's apparent he's nowhere near his glory days of popping bottles in clubs at 25 and his accent only adds to the ridiculous factor. Just wait for "to the sweat drop down my balls" line. We promise laughter will ensue.
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