20 Great Hooks That Save Songs With Underwhelming Raps

When the chorus is the runaway highlight of the track.

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Image via Complex Original
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When pursuing a career in hip-hop, it always helps to be great at rapping, but deficiency in the rhyming department isn't necessarily an impenetrable obstacle to getting ahead. Over the years, the success of certain rappers has shown that sometimes all you need is a good beat and a good hook to catch the ear of the masses.

This is a list of songs whose saving grace are their choruses, whether it comes from a guest rapper, R&B vocalist, or a clever turn of phrase from the artist themselves. While this phenomenon is most often perpetrated by artists who get lucky or have great industry connections, there are still examples of acclaimed acts who fell short, and were saved by an undeniable hook.

The carefree party rap of the '80s was absolved because they were still figuring things out, and songs without serviceable choruses are off the hook, too. But if the song was mostly difficult to love until being resurrected at the chorus, you'll find it here.

Written by Craig Jenkins (@CraigSJ)

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Pras f/ Mya & ODB "Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)" (1998)

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When the Fugees dissolved, and Pras, architect of years of boring placeholder verses, kicked off his solo campaign with a single based off an old Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers song, expectations were pretty low. It's a good thing he had Ol' Dirty Bastard and Mya on the alley oop because those "Kick your balls like Pele/Think I'm doin' ballet" bars were not cutting it.

Mase "Breathe, Stretch, Shake" (2004)

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Mase's career has been a confusing series of alternating stints as a rapper and a preacher. "Breathe, Stretch, Shake" was the biggest hit from Mase's 2005 comeback album Welcome Back, recorded after he left the pulpit to return to hip-hop. Like most records with Mase's name attached, "Breathe, Stretch, Shake" is more about spectacle, dance, and memorable hooks than anything else.

Flo Rida f/ T-Pain "Low" (2007)

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Flo Rida can be annoying, but he's very successful, and "Low" is the single that put him on the map. Its volley of empty party rap cliches and grating vocal tics are saved by a guest spot from T-Pain at the apex of his hook man capabilities.

Coolio "Fantastic Voyage" (1994)

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Don't let "Gangster's Paradise" fool you: Coolio was not that great of a rapper. 1994's "Fantastic Voyage" is a case study in the awfulness of his lyrics, and if it weren't for the funky instrumental and chorus lifted clean off the 1980 Lakeside song of the same name, Coolio's song would be a field of landmines like, "You can't have the hop if you don't have the hip."

Lil Mama "Lip Gloss" (2007)

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Nowadays, hip-hop heads know Lil Mama as the loonbat who crashed the stage during Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' 2009 MTV VMAs performance to mean mug in a B-boy stance. Before that she was a rapper whose "Lip Gloss" hit with a brief wave of teenage New York rappers in the mid-2000s. The beat and chorus jam, but then she takes the song title a little too literally and goes into detail about applying make-up in the verses. The more you listen, the sillier it gets.

Travie McCoy f/ Bruno Mars "Billionaire" (2010)

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Gym Class Heroes leader Travie McCoy's solo smash "Billionaire" is basically a Bruno Mars song with a bunch of rapping on it, but Travie fumbles Bruno's pass by running the tried-and-true "Here are all the nice things I would do if I was rich" concept into the ground. But not even Travie's promises to become the rap game Oprah could sink this hook.

Playaz Circle f/ Lil Wayne "Duffle Bag Boy" (2007)

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Before 2 Chainz, there was Tity Boi, Disturbing Tha Peace subordinate and one half of the rap duo Playaz Circle, best known for "Duffle Bag Boy." Playaz Circle tries here, but Tity Boi's cartoonish rap personality hadn't quite grown in yet, and Dolla Boy wasn't even on Tit's level at the time. "Duffle Bag Boy" owes most of its success to Lil Wayne's warbling, impassioned guest spot on the chorus.

Roscoe Dash f/ Soulja Boy "All the Way Turnt Up" (2010)

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"All the Way Turnt Up" was the lead single from emerging Atlanta hook man Roscoe Dash's beleaguered debut album Ready Set Go! Hook men can't always carry songs by themselves, though, and Dash proves it here by spending most of the verses fooling around until it's time to yell the chorus again. It would be a disaster if it wasn't so catchy.

Chingy f/ J-Weav "One Call Away" (2004)

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Before the advent of 2 Chainz, it looked like Chingy would be the breakout star of Ludacris' Disturbing tha Peace clique. "One Call Away" was the third in a string of wildly successful singles from Chingy's debut album, Jackpot. Chart dominance notwithstanding, Chingy was lame, and his delivery sounded like diet Boosie. Jason Weaver's smooth singing on the chorus is really the only reason to keep listening.

Iconz "Get Fucked Up" (2000)

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Iconz was a Miami-based hip-hop collective that counted Trick Daddy and Trina as labelmates and was best known for "Get Fucked Up," a club banger and minor Billboard Hot 100 hit. It's about as heavy as something called "Get Fucked Up" needs to be, which is to say not much. This song is all about getting listeners to obey the command in the title and chorus.

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DJ UNK "Walk It Out" (2006)

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Unk is a DJ and rapper from Atlanta whose claim to fame is 2006's "Walk It Out," which is essentially a set of instructions for how to do the song's accompanying dance. Unk's not doing any heavy lifting here, but the chorus is infectious, so much so that Outkast's Andre 3000 came out of seclusion to add a verse to the remix.

Swizz Beatz "It's Me Bitches" (2007)

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Swizz Beatz is a great producer and songwriter. He's less apt at rapping. So far, none of this has ever kept him away from the mic. 2007's "It's Me Bitches" was the first single from One Man Band Man, Swizz Beatz' first album as a solo artist (2002's G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories was a compilation), and lyrically, it is every bit as underwhelming as it could possibly be. And that's OK because whenever that "Freeze!" hits, pandemonium is sure to follow.

Ludacris f/ Pharrell "Money Maker" (2006)

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For 2006's Release Therapy, Ludacris linked up with the Neptunes for lead single "Money Maker" and turned out the worst in a line of quality Ludacris/Neptunes collaborations. Luda's sex raps are extra corny here ("Let me give you some swimming lessons on the penis"). Pharrell's hook is really the highlight of the song.

Timbaland & Magoo f/ Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott & Aaliyah "Up Jumps Da Boogie" (1997)

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Timbaland's spotty sideline career as a rap artist kicked off in 1997 with "Up Jumps Da Boogie." Tim turns in a capable performance, as does Missy, but Magoo, Tim's partner in rhyme at the time, torpedoes the song with faceplant bars like "I come cause I'm a nut" and "You tight like virgin pussy." It's borderline cringe-worthy, but Aaliyah periodically comes in and tidies things up with a soulful chorus.

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DJ Khaled f/ Akon, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, Lil Boosie, Trick Daddy, Ace Hood and Plies "Out Here Grindin'" (2007)

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DJ Khaled posse cuts are usually events, but "Out Here Grindin'" is one that felt like it wasn't. Plies' verse is forgettable, Lil Boosie wastes half of his appearance repeatedly spelling out "We the best," and Ace Hood shows up for reasons unknown. If it weren't for Akon's chest-beating, empowering hook, this one would be a total loss.

Yung Joc "It's Goin Down" (2006)

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Where money goes, Diddy follows, so when Southern rap started gaining traction in the early 2000s, he quickly started a Bad Boy South division to capitalize on the movement. Yung Joc was Bad Boy South's star, and "It's Goin' Down" is his calling card. Joc's no technician, and he treads water here, coasting on the same monotonous rhyme pattern all the way to the chorus, which, thankfully, is pretty awesome.

B.o.B f/ Hayley Williams "Airplanes" (2010)

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"Airplanes" began life in the contentious sessions for Lupe Fiasco's 2011 Lasers album, but when Fiasco turned in verses protesting United States foreign policy, Atlantic Records summarily yanked the track off his project and handed it over to B.o.B, who was more than happy to deliver the lightweight radio fare they were looking for. If you can get through Bob's mushy, hard luck verses, Paramore singer Hayley Williams' pop confection is on the other side.

Lil Scrappy f/ Young Buck "Money in the Bank" (2006)

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"Money in the Bank," Atlanta rapper Lil Scrappy's debut single for G-Unit South, was an update on Kool G Rap and DJ Polo's 1990 song of the same name. But where G Rap's song was a clinic in lyrical finesse, there's no such thing to be found on Scrap's version, which jacks Ludacris' "Southern Hospitality" flow and is most memorable for the pitched down chorus of "I got money in the bank/Shawty what you drank?"

Young Gunz "Can't Stop Won't Stop" (2003)

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Young Gunz were small fries in Beanie Sigel's State Property collective until "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" from The Chain Gang, Vol. 2 became the most successful single to come out of the group both collectively and individually. Chris and Neef didn't move any mountains with their lyrics, but their flip of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five's "Superrappin'" in the song's chorus stuck longer than any of the quirky sex raps ("Mami feelin' on my baguettes, so my whole neck glow") in the verses.

Lil B "Wonton Soup" (2010)

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Few modern rappers are more divisive than Lil B the Based God, who walks such a fine line between painful earnestness and abject tomfoolery that his true intentions as an artist are never clear. "Wonton Soup" is Lil B in pure jokester mode spitting a series of ad-libs, catchphrases and all around nonsense until the song's massive, absurd chorus hits. You want to hate it, but you can't.

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