If you've been listening to hip-hop for the past decade, then you've lived through one of the genre's strangest periods: The Ringtone Rap Era. It was a time loosely defined by a series of one-hit wonders, songs that seemingly popped up weekly with excellent beats, catchy hooks...and not much else. What made ringtones so frustratingly disposable was that they were seemingly created with the sole purpose of capitalizing on the then-emerging popularity of ringtones—it didn't matter if the songs were good in their entirety, since they only needed to bump for the 10-30 seconds that your phone rang. Although a number of artists were able to begin real careers as ringtone rappers, the genre was notorious for creating stars who made one Top 40 hit and then faded into oblivion.
Ringtone sales began rising in 2004, peaked in 2007 (when they brought in $881 million dollars), and have been declining ever since. Even if people recently realized that we were just fine when our phones rang like well, phones, and not jukeboxes, there's no denying there was something noteworthy about those four years. That why we put together A History of Ringtone Rap One-Hit Wonders, so you can reminisce about the hits...because we're pretty sure the artists themselves didn't leave much of an impression.
RELATED: Green Label - The Most Influential Bands to Record Only One Album
If you've been listening to hip-hop for the past decade, then you've lived through one of the genre's strangest periods: The Ringtone Rap Era. It was a time loosely defined by a series of one-hit wonders, songs that seemingly popped up weekly with excellent beats, catchy hooks...and not much else. What made ringtones so frustratingly disposable was that they were seemingly created with the sole purpose of capitalizing on the then-emerging popularity of ringtones—it didn't matter if the songs were good in their entirety, since they only needed to bump for the 10-30 seconds that your phone rang. Although a number of artists were able to begin real careers as ringtone rappers, the genre was notorious for creating stars who made one Top 40 hit and then faded into oblivion.
Ringtone sales began rising in 2004, peaked in 2007 (when they brought in $881 million dollars), and have been declining ever since. Even if people recently realized that we were just fine when our phones rang like well, phones, and not jukeboxes, there's no denying there was something noteworthy about those four years. That why we put together A History of Ringtone Rap One-Hit Wonders, so you can reminisce about the hits...because we're pretty sure the artists themselves didn't leave much of an impression.
RELATED: Green Label - The Most Influential Bands to Record Only One Album
J-Kwon "Tipsy" (Feburary 2004)
Ringtones sold:
Produced by:
Complex says:Hood Hop
Smitty "Diamonds On My Neck" (July 2005)
Ringtones sold:
Produced by:
Complex says:
D4L "Laffy Taffy" (October 2005)
Young Dro "Shoulder Lean" (June 2006)
Jibbs "Chain Hang Low" (June 2006)
DJ Webstar ft. Young B "Chicken Noodle Soup" (June 2006)
Rich Boy f/ Polow da Don "Throw Some D's" (August 2006)
Huey "Pop, Lock, & Drop It" (September 2006)
The Pack "Vans" (December 2006)
Produced by:
Ringtones sold:
Complex says:
Baby Boy Da Prince
Produced by:
Ringtones sold:
Complex says:
Foxx f/ Lil Webbie & Lil Boosie
Playaz Circle f/ Lil Wayne
Produced by:
Ringtones sold:
Complex says:Tha Carter III
Shop Boyz
Pop It Off Boys
Rocko
Self Made
2 Pistols f/ T-Pain "She Got It" (February 2008)
Produced by:
Ringtones sold:
Complex says:
V.I.C. f/ Soulja Boy
Produced by:
Ringtones sold:
Complex says:Beast
Hot Stylz f/ Yung Joc "Lookin' Boy" (May 2008)
Produced by:
Ringtones sold:One million
Complex says: claimedYo Momma Got A Mustachelocked upMac Lethal
BONUS: Suprise Not One-Hit Wonders
Complex says: As this entire post proves, the Ringtone Rap era produced a shitload of one-hit wonders. However, it also produced a number of artists who are perceived as one-hit wonders but really aren't. MIMS, DJ Unk, Yung Joc, Yung Berg, Lil Mama, Shawty Lo, Dem Franchise Boyz, and even Hurricane Chris all made songs besides their signature songs that landed in the Billboard Top 40 (Either the Billboard Hot 100 or the R&B/Hip-Hop charts). Shawty actually didn't, but he did have a legitimate movement in the streets so we'll give him a pass. Oh, and Soulja Boy? You know, the kid routinely blamed for single-handedly destroying hip-hop? He's racked up five Top 40 hits, a Grammy nod, and counting...
