Top 20 Hip Hop Songs To Sing At Karaoke
From 2pac to 50 Cent, we give you the top 20 rap and hip hop anthems of all time to sing at karaoke...
Who hasn't dreamt of being a rapper at some point in their life? While popping bottles in the club with 50 might not be entirely feasible, rapping along to his music next time you're performing karaoke most certainly is! But where to start? Fortunately we're here to help – from Blackstreet to The Black Eyed Peas, these are the 20 greatest rap and hip hop songs of all time for karaoke:
P.S. You can find all of these hip hop classics in the 10,000+ strong catalogue of songs that are available to perform as part of our online karaoke subscription service. For a month's free trial, enter special voucher code HIPHOP on our homepage. And if you're really looking to go all out, the same code gets you £5 off our home karaoke kits.
P.P.S. Check out our mammoth round of of the top 100 karaoke songs of all time for even more inspiration!
1) The Sugar Hill Gang – Rapper's Delight
An absolute classic, and one that is quite forgiving on hip hop karaoke novices – the mellow flows of Wonder Mike, Big Bank Hank and Master Gee aren't too difficult to sing along to with the help of a karaoke screen, especially given that you've probably heard all the lyrics about a thousand times!
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: Rapper's Delight
2) Blackstreet – No Diggity
Be warned: this song is a lot harder than most people realise to sing at karaoke, as while everyone remembers the opening Dr. Dre verse and chorus clearly, they tend to forget how difficult the Queen Pen verse at the end is:
"Cartier wooded frames sported by my shortie
As for me, icy gleaming pinky diamond ring
Ain't you getting bored with these fake ass broads
I shows and proves, no doubt, I be taking you, so
Please excuse, if I come across rude
We be's the baddest clique up on the scene"
See what we mean! Still, if you can get your head/tongue around it, there are few better hip hop tracks in existence.
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: No Diggity
3) Eminem – Lose Yourself
The first hip hop song to win an Academy Award! An absolute masterpiece, Eminem wrote and recorded Lose Yourself during the breaks between shooting scenes for his film 8 Mile using a portable recording studio he brought on to the set (as you do!).
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: Lose Yourself
4) 2pac ft Dr. Dre – California Love
The first recording of California Love actually features three verses from Dr. Dre, but there's only one copy of this initial session in existence and it's owned by DJ Jam, Snoop Dogg's personal concert DJ. 2Pac also managed to write all of his own verse in under 15 minutes at Dr. Dre's house. How's that for a bit of hip hop pub trivia!
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: California Love
5) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Can't Hold Us
It's impossible to hear the opening chords of Can't Hold Us and fail to get pumped up! There's also great pleasure to be had in watching yourself and your friends fail miserably to match Macklemore's double time while singing along.
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: Can't Hold Us
6) Beastie Boys – Fight for your right
The Beastie Boys' Fight For Your Right is probably in the top 20 karaoke songs of all time, let alone the top 20 hip hop karaoke songs! This is another great choice for hip hop novices – the slower flow and orthodox enunciation of Ad-Rock, MCA and Mike D aren't too hard to deal with, and you're guaranteed to jump in to the chorus like a mad person!
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: Fight For Your Right
7) Coolio – Gangsta's Paradise
More hip hop pub trivia: Gangsta's Paradise samples the chorus and instrumentation of Stevie Wonder's 1976 song 'Pastime Paradise' and it is for this reason that Gangsta's Paradise doesn't feature any profanity as Wonder wouldn't allow it!
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: Gangsta's Paradise
8) Dr. Dre – Still D.R.E. ft. Snoop Dogg
The lead single from Dr. Dre's second album 2001, Still D.R.E. is a superb hip hop karaoke choice for anyone who feels like they need to remind the world they are an absolute boss!
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: Still D.R.E.
9) Black Eyed Peas – Where is the love
The song that brought The Black Eyed Peas in to the musical mainstream, Where Is The Love still holds up as an absolute banger 16 years after its release – bet that makes you feel old! – and is the perfect choice for larger group hip hop karaoke renditions as there are so many different verses by different rappers for your karaoke crew to get involved with.
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: Where Is The Love?
10) A Tribe Called Quest – Can I Kick It?
Can we kick it with some more hip hop pub trivia? Yes we can! The members of A Tribe Called Quest were only 19 years old when they recorded this chill hop classic, and despite being one of the most successful singles they've ever written, the group don't receive any royalties from it as the use of 'Walk on the Wild Side' as the song's lead sample actually means Lou Reed is entitled to them.
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: Can I Kick It?
11) 50 Cent – In Da Club
If you're going to perform a hip hop party anthem, it doesn't get much better than the stand out single from 50 Cent's debut album Get Rich Or Die Tryin'. Any song that gets described by the usually austere BBC as "a spectacular party anthem" must be doing something right!
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: In Da Club
12) Missy Elliot – Work It
Missy Elliot ruled the noughties with her aggressive and sexually charged take on hip hop, and you'd struggle to find a track that more perfectly embodies both aspects of her material than Work It!
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: Work It
13) OutKast – Hey Ya!
When a song is so successful it creates its own catchphrase – shake it like a polaroid picture! – you know it's hip hop gold. Hey Ya! is a fantastic karaoke option for anyone after an energetic and upbeat song to vibe with.
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: Hey Ya!
14) Rae Sremmurd – Black Beatles
Almost a billion views on YouTube doesn't lie! A low-fi hip hop track that played a large part in the mannequin challenge, Black Beatles is good fun to perform with friends, though be warned: you'll never manage it with quite the same lethargic grace as Rae Sremmurd!
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: Black Beatles
15) Jay Z ft. Alicia Keys – Empire State Of Mind
No hip hop karaoke playlist would be complete without a bit of Jay Z! The orchestral rap ballad that is Empire State Of Mind offers singers the best of both worlds, with Alicia Keys' towering chorus to belt out and Jay Z's insanely smart lyrics to rap along to.
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: Empire State Of Mind
16) Will Smith – Miami
For a fun, suave and wholesome take on hip hop, you simply can't beat a bit of Big Willie Style, and Miami definitely ranks at the top of The Fresh Prince's back catalogue, though Getting Jiggy With It is a close second!
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: Miami
17) Jurassic 5 – Concrete Schoolyard
"Now I'm a say this one time boy and that's my word
We rockin shots and not fire through the Hindenburg
The contribution is clear
You add water to bone
And get the Jurassic 5 on the microphone
Now if you like the tone
And how the harmony's done
And the sucka mc's die before they've begun..."
We could go on, but this is just a brilliant hip hop track that is ideally suited to karaoke!
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: Concrete Schoolyard
18) The Notorious B.I.G. – Juicy
The first ever single by the legendary Notorious B.I.G., Juicy is brilliant rags to riches chronicle that's a surefire crowd pleaser. And what a start to an album! "Yeah, this album is dedicated to all the teachers that told me I'd never amount to nothin...'".
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: Juicy
19) Run D.M.C. & Aerosmith – Walk This Way
Right, last bit of hip hop pub trivia, we promise: the inspiration for the original recording of Walk This Way by Aerosmith came from a band trip to see Mel Brooks' comedy Young Frankenstein, specifically the scene where Marty Feldman tells Gene Wilder to 'walk this way' while limping. Also, the remix by Run DMC actually ended up charting higher than the original!
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: Walk This Way
20) Drake – Hotline Bling
Love it or hate it, you simply can't escape Hotline Bling. The song that launched a thousand parodies – including that one featuring Donald Trump on SNL that everyone seems to have forgotten about! – is a must for any hip hop karaoke playlist, for the questionable dance moves if nothing else!
- Sing it on Lucky Voice here: Hotline Bling
All of these hip hop classics are available to perform as part of our online karaoke subscription service. For a month's free trial, enter special voucher code HIPHOP on our homepage.
Sing all these karaoke anthems from your laptop, smartphone or tablet using our online subscription service and Karaoke Kits. For a free month's trial, head to our homepage and enter code 1MONTH22
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