20 Good Rap Songs Ruined by Bad Hooks

It was all good until the chorus came on...

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Quality lyricism is crucial to hip-hop artistry, but a song's primary objective is to grab and keep the interest of listeners. The hook is quite often the songwriter's greatest weapon in sustaining that kind of' attention. If it resonates, you have a hit. If it doesn't, you're in trouble, and no amount of lyrical miracles can save a well-meaning song from an unbearable hook.

Last week we ran through twenty rap songs whose horrible raps were saved by great hooks. This time around we're listing potentially great songs that were ruined by awful hooks. It's a list of hip-hop greats who went out on a limb and failed, talented lyricists who can't translate that prowess into writing engaging songs, mad scientist types who tried one experiment too many, new artists chasing pop accessibility to ruin, and veterans mainstream artists failing at grasping the illusive cool.

These are 20 Good Rap Songs Ruined by Bad Hooks.

Written by Craig Jenkins (@CraigSJ)

RELATED: Great Hooks That Save Songs With Underwhelming Raps
RELATED: The 25 Greatest Rap Battles on YouTube

Outkast "Mamacita" (1997)

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Outkast is widely regarded as one of the best rap groups of all time, and their 1998 album Aquemini ranks among their finest work. However, Aquemini one shortcoming is the chorus of "Mamacita," which assails fierce verses from Andre 3000 and Big Boi and guests Masada and Witchdoctor with the totally obnoxious male-female call-and-response of "Mamacita! Papa Donna!" 

Nas "I Can" (2002)

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"I Can" is Nas' biggest solo success on the Billboard singles chart and also his weirdest: It's a motivational anthem for kids that runs a Beethoven melody over the classic "Impeach the President" break. It shouldn't work, and it kinda doesn't. The hook, which features Nas leading a group of children through a chant of, "I know I can be what I wanna be," is almost too corny to be believed and nearly sabotages the faint feel of Slick Rick he was going for.

DMX f/ Marilyn Manson "The Omen" (1998)

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Nicki Minaj "Stupid Hoe" (2012)

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"Stupid Hoe" was the finisher in Nicki Minaj's one-sided war of words with Lil' Kim. Kim came for Nicki on her poorly executed Black Friday mixtape, and Nicki uses this song's manic production to hurl a flurry of sharp jabs right back at her. "Stupid Hoe" would've been a flawless victory if it weren't for the maddeningly repetitive chorus, which indulges all of Minaj's most obnoxious vocal tics at the same time.

Lil Wayne "Phone Home" (2008)

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"Phone Home" off Lil' Wayne's Tha Carter III starts off strong with Wayne parlaying his "We are not the same, I am a martian" line from the "Party Like a Rockstar" remix into a menacing verse about devouring all competition. Things take a turn when producer Dre (of Cool and Dre) flubs the chorus with, "If you feel like you're the best, go 'head and do the Weezy wee," which makes zero sense and destroys all of the momentum Wayne built up going in. And the chant of "PHONE HOME" is plain old annoying.

Kanye West f/ Mos Def "Drunk and Hot Girls" (2007)

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Graduation is a classic but "Drunk and Hot Girls" is a bit of a liability. The track samples German prog rock band Can's 1972 deep cut "Sing Swan Song," flipping an already ridiculous line about "drunky hot bowls" into the even more ridiculous, "drunk and hot girls." The lethargic hook nearly drowns the entire song. Even Mos Def and Late Registration co-producer Jon Brion couldn't save this one.

Kurupt f/ Natina Reed "It's Over" (2001)

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Dogg Pound veteran Kurupt's 2001 single "It's Over" is a bit of triumphant trash talk and self-mythologizing. But when it gets to the hook from Natina Reed of the R&B girl group Blaque (and Kurupt's fiance at the time), it devolves into a children's song. The lullaby melody of Natina's chorus is a horrible mismatch for Kurupt's hustler come-up raps and a weird look for his image overall. Kurupt was no stranger to sleek pop records at the time, but this one was just shameless.

Dr. Dre "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" (1995)

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Jay-Z f/ Blackstreet "The City Is Mine" (1997)

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Waka Flocka Flame f/ B.o.B. "Fist Pump" (2012)

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When 2010's Flockaveli failed to impact the Billboard charts as much as it did the sonic landscape of Southern rap, Waka Flocka Flame went back to the drawing board, eventually striking back with the more aggressively commercial Triple F Life: Friends, Fans & Family. On "Fist Pump," Triple F Life's biggest curveball, Waka and guest B.o.B trade bars over busy 8-bit synth sounds and trap drums until the song unexpectedly kicks into double time at the chorus, and Waka yells "Fist pump!" like an extra in a Jersey Shore club scene. The results were intriguingly bad.

Busta Rhymes "Party Is Goin' On Over Here" (1998)

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"Party Is Goin' on Over Here" is a lyrical workout from Busta Rhymes' Extinction Level Event: The Final World Order. Busta cuts through DJ Scratch's production with the precision of a master. When it comes time for a chorus, he does a crowd participation routine, instructing the ladies to say "Oww!" and the fellas to say "Ho!" Problem is, it's Busta does all the voices on the record, and his terrible impression of a woman immediately snatches the listener right out of enjoying the song.

Fabolous "Tit 4 Tat" (2004)

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The Neptunes gave Fabolous one of his first big hits with "Young'n (Holla Back)," but when they teamed up again for "Tit 4 Tat" a few years later, things weren't the same. Pharrell bullied his way onto the song's chorus only to drop basic bars about tapping asses, and Fab followed it up by just singing along to the beat. It's a trick that briefly worked for Fab in his verse on Lil' Mo's "Superwoman," but it's shaky ground to build an entire song around.

Lupe Fiasco f/ Matthew Santos "Shining Down" (2009)

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Lupe Fiasco scored one of the biggest hits of his career with 2007's "Superstar," a pop-leaning collaboration with singer-songwriter Matthew Santos. The duo later reconvened for "Shining Down," which was intended to be the lead single from Lupe's then-untitled third album. But the spark was gone. Fiasco's raps were on-point, but Santos' warbling chorus was more taken with vocal gymnastics than listenability. By the time Lasers was released, "Shining Down" had been downgraded to the album's deluxe edition-a sutble way to admit the song wasn't the hit it was meant to be.

The LOX "If You Think I'm Jiggy" (1998)

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Busta Rhymes f/ Ron Browz "Arab Money" (2009)

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Busta Rhymes is a formidable technician on the mic, but when he collaborated with producer and occasional hook man Ron Browz for the lead single to 2009's Back on My B.S., the result was a public relations disaster. "Arab Money" sounds like a banger until Browz drops a hook that tries to pass off Auto-Tuned gibberish as Arabic. People all over the world immediately took offense, but Busta swears the song came from a place of respect. He even had Browz speak real Arabic on the song's remix, not that it helped matters any.

Nas f/ Dr. Dre "Nas Is Coming" (1996)

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When Nas tapped Dr. Dre to produce It Was Written's "Nas Is Coming" in 1996, it was a big deal. One of the era's greatest rappers teaming up with one of its greatest producers at a time when their respective coasts were at war seemed like a great look for the culture. Nas' smooth flow and Dre's laidback soundscapes seem like a perfect pairing, but the song hits a speed bump at the chorus, when a bunch of middling singers wander into the mix wailing about how "Nas is coming." It was meant to sound epic, but it just sounds forbearing.

Big K.R.I.T. "Yeah Dats Me" (2012)

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Big K.R.I.T.'s Live from the Underground wasn't the most successful major label debut, and a few of K.R.I.T.'s attempts to commercialize his soulful Southern style backfired. He fumbled the lay-up with the album's third single "Yeah Dat's Me," ruining a rowdy beat and turned up verses with a chorus where he repeatedly shouts "Yeah dat me!" until you have no other choice but to turn the damn thing off.

Eminem "Cum On Everybody" (1999)

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Late in the running of Eminem's breakthrough Slim Shady LP is "Cum on Everybody," the album's biggest flaw. For a while the song successfully nails a tongue-in-cheek parody of the jiggy rap that ruled the airwaves at the time. But then Em and guest singer Dina Rae get sleazy on the song's repetitive hook and beat the not-that-funny "Cum on everybody" joke into the ground. It took a few more tries, but Em eventually figured out what to do with Dina's overtly sexual vocal style and scored a hit with 2002's "Superman."

Lil Kim "Not Tonight" (1996)

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Deep in the back end of Lil' Kim's hilariously dirty debut album Hard Core is "Not Tonight," a story song about dudes who refuse to eat the box. Hard Core's sex-obsessed raps run dangerously close to unintentional humor and abject filth, and "Not Tonight" falls prey to both on the hook, which features a chorus of ratchets singing, "I don't want dick tonight! Eat my pussy right!" Ladies: This will not inspire dudes to visit your love below.

Snoop Doggy Dogg "Snoop's Upside Ya Head" (1996)

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"Snoop's Upside Ya Head" was the lead single off Snoop Dogg's misguided sophomore album Tha Doggfather. The song had the dubious distinction of dropping the day after Snoop's Death Row Records labelmate 2Pac died, and it doesn't rise to the occasion. "Snoop's Upside Ya Head" lifts its sample and chorus off the Gap Band's "Oops Upside Ya Head," but great funk doesn't always make great gangsta rap. Like most of Snoop's sophomore set, which sorely lacked the guidance of Dr. Dre, this one misses the mark. Also, "Snoop's upside ya head" is just an awful line.

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