In honor of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, we’ve created a playlist to highlight some of the masterful word choices that exemplify music’s most language-loving genre.
Check out these next-level lyrics by hip-hop artists from multiple eras.
1. “How Ya Like Me Now” by Kool Moe Dee
🎤 Again, respect, I come correct
The rhymes I select are nothing short of perfect
Vernacular‘s pure and I can ensure
Life or death with my breath, my voice is a cure
💿 How Ya Like Me Now, 1987, Jive Records
✏️ Vernacular is a synonym of language. The word vernacular is often used to refer to a distinct form of a given language used by a certain group or that is specific to a particular place. Vernacular indicates that the language being used has unique qualities that set it apart from all of other forms of the language.
2. “Superstar” by Lauryn Hill
🎤 Now tell me your philosophy
On exactly what an artist should be
Should they be someone with prosperity
And no concept of reality?
💿 The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, 1998, Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records
✏️ Prosperity is a synonym of success. While success broadly refers to the accomplishment of one’s goals, prosperity is often used more specifically to refer to a flourishing or thriving condition, especially in relation to financial status and material gain. The word prosperity is usually used positively, but a person can have prosperity without necessarily feeling like they’ve achieved success—or happiness.
3. “Bridging the Gap (feat. Olu Dara)” by Nas
🎤 My Pop told me be your own boss
Keep integrity at every cost, and his home was Natchez, Mississippi
Did it like Miles and Dizzy, now we gettin’ busy
Bridging the gap, from the blues, to jazz, to rap
The history of music on this track
💿 Street’s Disciple, 2004, Columbia Records
✏️ Integrity is a synonym of honor. Honor suggests that you have a strong sense of what’s right and that you act accordingly. Having integrity is very similar. Describing someone as having integrity particularly suggests that they stick to their moral principles, even when the personal cost of doing so is very high.
4. “Hold On (feat. Sounds Of Blackness, Spinderella, Kirk Franklin)” by Salt-N-Pepa
🎤 I count my blessings
Studyin’ my words, steady tryin’ to learn my lesson
There’s madness in this world, check me out, I ain’t stressin’
Knowledge is the key, joy and peace, the essence
💿 Brand New, 1997, London Records
✏️ Essence is a synonym of core. Core refers to the most essential, necessary part of something, from which other characteristics are derived. Essence refers to the basic nature of something, or its most central, defining feature. Essence can be used in a lofty way that suggests a pervading, inescapable aspect or element.
5. “Outta Here” by KRS-One
🎤 Hip-hop pioneers we didn’t ask to be
But right then hip-hop changed drastically
People didn’t wanna hear the old rap sound
We started samplin’ beats by James Brown
💿 Return of the Boom Bap, 1993, Jive Records
✏️ Pioneer is a synonym of leader. A pioneer is a leader in a particular field—the first, or one of the first, to do something in a certain way. While a leader is typically the focal point of public attention, the word pioneer emphasizes the person’s cutting-edge work or ideas, regardless of whether they’re acknowledged at the time.
6. “Intergalactic” by the Beastie Boys
🎤 If you battle me, I will revile
People always saying my style is wild
You’ve got gall, you’ve got guile
To step to me, I’m a rapophile
💿 Hello Nasty, 1998, Capitol Records and Grand Royal Records
✏️ Guile is a synonym of cleverness. Cleverness emphasizes being intelligent, whereas guile emphasizes being cunning or crafty, and often deceitful and manipulative. While the word guile is often used negatively, guile can be seen as an admirable quality, especially when used in pursuit of a worthy goal.
7. “Fly (feat. Rihanna)” by Nicki Minaj
🎤 Cause I am not a word, I am not a line
I am not a girl that could ever be defined
I am not fly, I am levitation
I represent an entire generation
💿 Pink Friday, 2010, Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Universal Motown Records
✏️ Represent is a synonym of embody. Embody and represent both mean to serve as a symbol for something larger. Embody suggests a purposeful effort to reflect an ideal. Represent is often used in the context of a group or movement for which an exceptional person has become a prominent emblem.
8. “I Know You Got Soul” by Eric B & Rakim
🎤 Constant elevation causes expansion
I write my rhymes while I cool in my mansion
Then put it on tape and in the city I test it
Then on the radio the R is requested
💿 Paid in Full, 1987, 4th & B’way Records
✏️ Elevation is a synonym for advancement. Advancement refers to the process of moving forward, while elevation specifically refers to moving upward—and both terms are used literally and figuratively. When used metaphorically, elevation suggests that something, such as an art form, has been raised to a new level.
9. “The Fire (feat. John Legend)” by The Roots
🎤 One love, one game, one desire
One flame, one bonfire, let it burn higher
I never show signs of fatigue or turn tired
Cause I’m the definition of tragedy turned triumph
💿 How I Got Over, 2010, Def Jam Recordings
✏️ Triumph is a synonym of victory. Triumph refers to a particularly noteworthy or important victory. While victory could mean a single success, triumph implies a complete, overwhelming success or one that was finally achieved after much difficulty.
10. “Ladies First” by Queen Latifah and Monie Love
🎤 Ladies first, there’s no time to rehearse
I’m divine and my mind expands throughout the universe
A female rapper with the message to send
The Queen Latifah is a perfect specimen
💿 All Hail the Queen, 1989, Tommy Boy Records
✏️ Divine is a synonym of excellent. Excellent is used to describe someone or something as being outstanding, but divine goes even further, suggesting supernatural superiority. Divine is often used hyperbolically to express the utmost appreciation for someone or something, such as a person’s world-class talents.
11. “Can I Kick It?” by A Tribe Called Quest
🎤 A rhythm recipe that you’ll savor
Doesn’t matter if you’re minor or major
Yes, the Tribe of the game we’re the player
As you inhale like a breath of fresh air
💿 People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, 1990, Jive Records
✏️ Savor is a synonym of enjoy. Enjoy and savor both mean to take pleasure or delight in the experience of something. Savor particularly suggests mindfully delighting in sensory experiences, such as taste and smell, as they are occurring, so as to prolong them and commit such sensations to memory.
12. “Alphabets” by GZA
🎤 I brought butter for the popcorn, dip for the chips
And ego for your trip, some scripts for you to flip
Corrections for mishaps, errors, or mistakes
Fly raps for beats, and pop and lock for breaks
A legend in my own lifetime, from one rhyme
That was specially designed, from the hook to bottom line.
💿 Pro Tools, 2008, Babygrande Records
✏️ Fly is a synonym of stylish. Stylish is a conventional word to describe someone or something as attractively fashionable, especially in a timeless or elegant way. Fly is a very informal term, popularized by hip-hop culture, that suggests not just style and sophistication but also coolness and creativity.
Put your flow to the test and take the quiz
Are you the hip-hop lyrical GOAT ? Think you know which lyrics these words (and their synonyms) come from? See if you can ace our quiz on hip-hop songs with the perfect word choice.
