The 25 Best Song Sequels

The best do-overs, reduxes and continuations in hip-hop and pop history.

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An artist could be continuing a storyline they'd already begun; like a film follow-up, building on an established set of characters. Or it could simply involve coming back to the same conceptual well, sticking to a theme they'd already explored, perfecting it. Sometimes, the sequel was just an aberration, an instrumental version of an existing song.

In recent history and hip-hop, there are some pretty noteworthy examples, although a few other genres slipped through as well. For the sake of brevity, though, a few had to get cut here. For example, some older R&B selections, like Stevie Wonder's incredible "Fingertips (Part 2)," which was essentially a live recording, or Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up Part 2," because Part 1 is so much more common. Likewise, Wu Tang's "7th Chamber (Part 2)" is really more of a remix than a sequel; that got of thing got cut, too. In the end, we found the pieces of music that are continuations, the ones that—just like The Empire Strikes Back, The Dark Knight, or The Godfather Pt. II—these are The 25 Best Song Sequels

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25. Nas f/ Capone, Cormega, Marley Marl, MC Shan, Millennium Thug, Mobb Deep, Nature, & Tragedy Khadafi "Da Bridge 2001" (2000)

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Better Than Original?: No

Yes, we do love to hear the story again and again about the housing project that's given us some of the best rappers ever. This record isn't just great because it's nice to see QB united (however briefly) with the truest of OGs, MC Shan, along for the ride but because well, Nas is on this song. Hearing him rap over "The Bridge"-the kind of beat that probably played in the park jams when Nas was too scared to grab the mic and kick his little raps-is so satisfying because it's essentially his birthright to rock over this instrumental. Nas is packing heat too, he comes off with some of his slickest bars taking a litany of shots at Jay-Z and the Roc-A-Fella crew, further fueling the Jay-Z/Nas fued that would come to full steam on "Ether."

24. Phoenix "Love Like a Sunset Part II" (2009)

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Better Than Original?: Yes

Since the band's 2000 debut record Untitled, French alt-rock act Phoenix has been working hard at creating that perfect nu-new wave power pop anthem, which is longer than most people have really known of them. It wasn't until 2009's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix came out that they really took off. Some of the sheen and perfectionism that ran through earlier records got cut. Their songwriting got tighter. And their more creative, left-field impulses got reigned in...except for one seven and a half minute, two-part segment of the record, "Love Like a Sunset."

The first part starts off with a zooming synth, the sound of something taking off, and five minutes later, after a purely instrumental cacophony of very deliberate bleeps, bloops, and feedback, an organic noise makes its way through, sounding for the very first time: An accoustic guitar, the sound of, oddly enough, triumph. By then, you're twelve seconds into the second part, with barely a minute and a half to go. At 40 seconds, lyrics finally emerge-just eight spare lines about horizons starting and ending, about where the point gets hammered home, as the two-act idea closes out: Love's like a sun on a horizon, intense and brilliant one minute, and then gone the next, taking a brilliant luminicsense with it. Both songs not only became one of the most revalatory moments for Phoenix as a band-that there's a time and a place for this kind of creative adventuring, that if done right, can win everyone over-but it also became one of the most memorable elements of (Phoenix lead singer Thomas Mars's wife) Sophia Coppola's massively-underrated 2010 film Somewhere. All that said: The second installment, if only because it can stand on its own as a pop song, edges out its predecessor, and deserves a rightful spot in great sequel-song history.

23. EPMD "Jane II" (1989)

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Better Than Original?: No

The "Jane" songs appeared on every EPMD album, and were stories about a troubled woman named Jane (with a "haircut like Anita Baker"). One gets the impression in listening to the song that there's some kind of inside joke going on; the first edition kicked off with Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith tag-teaming hot-potato lyrics back and forth putting Jane on blast for hooking up with Erick. The sequel finds Parrish narrating to Erick (who also kicks in words on Jane's behalf) about hooking up with a woman at the club who, it turns out, is Jane, not Cris (as she initially claims). The song ends with a promised continuation of the series-later editions would find the group framed for Jane's murder.

22. Redman "Sooperman Luva II" (1994)

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Better Than Original?: Yes

The first installment of Reggie Noble's "Sooperman Lover" series is a familiar story; the rapper lulled into a false sense of security by a fine female who turns out to be a man in drag was a staple of '80s and '90s hip-hop, from Schoolly D to Pharcyde. For the sequel (and to the song's great benefit), Redman took the story in unexpected directions. Whatever he was smoking at this point, we want some of that: Sooperman Luva runs into a woman he wants to get busy with, so he offers to take her to outer space, where he lives and has relations with "Jane, Judy Jetson and that robot bitch-AH!" Once he gets to space (and cops a dimebag from Jabba the Hut, in an appearance unlikely to have been approved by the George Lucas estate), he's promptly tied up and blindfolded. But just as he's being lulled into a sense of sexual security, his x-ray vision catches the temptress reaching for an icepick and....well, I'll leave the ending for you to discover.

21. A Tribe Called Quest "The Chase Part II" (1993)

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Better Than Original?: Yes

Steve Arrington's sumptuous bedroom disco "Beddie Biey" became the sample source for a considerably more exuberant single when flipped by Tribe for "The Chase Part II." There's some confusion as to the origins of the "part 2" in the title; an earlier version of the track (also, confusingly, called "The Chase Part II") made it on the b-side of "Award Tour," and was a feature for Consequence (the rapper who wouldn't appear on an official album until Beats, Rhymes and Life). By the time Midnight Mauraders dropped, though, "The Chase Part II" described the version with Tip and Phife, and is the version most know today. Consequence had his moment on the beat, but it belongs to the Tribe.

20. Mobb Deep "More Trife Life" (1996)

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Better Than Original?: Yes

The reason we take the sequel over the original (by a nose) is because the sequel leaves Havoc in a fucked up situation making it one of the darkest endings of any Mobb Deep song. The original has a similar storyline in the first verse, except that Prodigy approaches danger and then avoids it. The second verse had Havoc setting someone up and killing them. Guess Havoc couldn't take his own advice because in the sequel he creeps over to a girl's crib and gets set up himself. Having Havoc being taken hostage to face a gun to the dome is one thing, especially because a lot of the violence in Mobb Deep songs feel existential and dreadfully constant, not literal and current. But the real kicker is the song trails off as soon as Hav actually gets in touch with his crew, so you never really know if/how he makes it out.

19. Jay-Z "Who You Wit II" (1997)

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Better Than Original?: Toss-up

"Who You Wit" originally came out as a single from the soundtrack for Sprung; the second version was the one that appeared on In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. The beat is the same, but the final verse is switched up to a more specific instance of Jay's player-iffic ways, rather than the big-picture balling described in the original: "I tell you somethin' new, if you don't hop down off that / butter soft shit with your shoes, I'mma step on the gas."

18. Fabolous f/ P. Diddy and Jagged Edge "Trade it All Pt. 2" (2002)

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Better Than Original?: Yes

Fabolous' attempt at a soulful ode about trading all of his wealth and assets for a girl was what "Trade It All" so explicitly portrayed in its title. However, Fabo took it up a notch on on "Trade It All Pt. 2" with a load of Diddy ad-libs, a banging beat that's essentially a sped-up version of the original, and a guest verse from Diddy that includes lines like "Now who gonna' stop us/who gonna knock us/Top us, we can't find coppers to lock us." It's like part two of "Trade It All" made up for any weak spots of part one-making it that much better.

17. Nas "New York State of Mind Pt. 2" (1999)

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Better Than Original?: No

I Am... was met with mixed reviews upon its release, but audiences were divided because no one would be satisfied with the directions Nas was taking. He was the epitome of early 90s journalistic break-beat hip-hop, and by '99 the budgets were bigger and the audience broader. His album was moving in a few different directions, but "New York State of Mind Pt. 2" was to reassure all the heads that although Nas might have changed, he could still do what he did best. OK, so "Nas Is Like" may have accomplished this better, and there's no way that this track could touch the original. But the details and skill were still there, from the grungy, monochromatic production to the words written past the margins.

16. Justice "Phantom Pt. 2" (2007)

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Better Than Original?: Toss-up

Sure, it sounds like just a bunch of blaring synths on face-value. But there's a real continuity and difference between the two songs. In the second installment, there's a lighter touch of key notes towards the end, giving the song set some sense of finality—where all this blaring noise is going—that's completely absent from the first installment. That lightness (and the placement of it) is one of those weird touches that makes Justice as mystic and odd the French cock-rock-disco act are as it does provide good explination towards their powerful draw, and it's no better exhibited here.  

15. Busta Rhymes f/ P. Diddy & Pharrell "Pass the Courvoisier Pt. 2" (2002)

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Better Than Original?: Yes

Does anyone even remember the original version of this song? It was an album cut on Busta's Genesis produced by Nottz that sounded nothing like the sequel except for the fact it also featured Diddy. We're not sure who had the good sense to try the concept again but thankfully they did and it became a huge hit. Sadly, Busta didn't get to fully cash in on it since it doesn't appear on Genesis and instead is featured on the soundtrack for Love Don't Cost a Thing.

14. Plies f/ Ne-Yo "Bust it Baby Pt. 2" (2008)

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Better Than Original?: Yes

"Bust It Baby" was a solo Plies single that was easily surpassed by its sequel; ultimately, the album would push the original back to bonus track status. "Bust it Baby Part 2" featured Ne-Yo on the chorus and a prominent sample of Janet Jackson's "Come Back To Me." The rap ballad, a syrupy anthem of borderline-devotion, peaked at No. 7 on the Hot 100, becoming not just Plies biggest single, but the biggest single ever released by the Slip-N-Slide label, tied with Trick Daddy's "Let's Go." Your tolerance of Plies may vary, but thug R&B ballads have aged surprisingly well, and "Bust it Baby Part 2" is no exception. It also makes the original seem a little boring in comparison.

13. The-Dream "Nikki Pt. 2" (2010)

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Better Than Original?: Toss-up

The-Dream's epic anthem of heartbroken Schadenfreude, "Nikki" was all tense self-righteousness in a bleary cocktail with self-doubt and anxiety. The narrator, spurned by a cheating ex-girlfriend, brags so strongly about Nikki that one thinks he just might be protesting too much. "Nikki Part 2" is considerably more relaxed, a mixture of resignation and acceptance. When he's anguished, it feels more like a memory of anguish because Nikki keeps showing up, and seeing her cushions the blow.

12. Destiny's Child f/ Wyclef Jean "No No No Pt. 2" (1997)

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Better Than Original?: Yes

A struggle rapper needs to smarten up and stop rapping over classic rap beats and instead make an entire mixtape rapping over some of Destiny's Child's beats. Over the years, Destiny's Child rocked over some awesome beats like "Jumpin' Jumpin'" (which did get a So So Def remix) and "Lose My Breathe" which could have worked for the right rapper. One of the best examples of this is "No No No Part 2" which featured Wyclef and a beat that sampled The Love Unlimited Orchestra's "Strange Games and Things." The upbeat, attitude filled sequel was a vast improvement on the original which admittedly dope but just too slow paced.

11. Gary Glitter "Rock and Roll Pt. 2" (1972)

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Better Than Original?: Yes


You've heard this a million times, even if you didn't know it. The sequel was the only version to really get much attention in the United States, but it's since rocked more stadiums and jammed more jocks (sorry) than any song this side of EMF. In the UK, Gary Glitter had more than 20 major hits; in the U.S., he's mostly remembered every time your favorite sports team scores, or whenever you watch one of many, many films that have licensed the track. He's also remembered, on a less positive note, as that guy who was convicted of possessing child pornography and child abuse. *Sound of record scratching, "Rock and Roll" being taken off the turntable.*

10. DMX f/ Marilyn Manson "The Omen (Damien II)" (1998)

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9. Jay-Z f/ Dr. Dre, Rakim, & Truth Hurts "The Watcher 2" (2002)

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Better Than Original?: No

It's sort of bewildering to hear the original "The Watcher" today since it came out in 1999 and it had Dr. Dre rapping from the perspective of, "I'm an elder statesman watching these young kids" and now it's 14 years later and he's still in the game. The sequel finds Jay-Z taking kids to task not for their shortcomings in the rap game, but their lack of experience in the drug game. Dre kicks his verse off with rhymes similar to his bars on "Still DRE" (which, what do you know, Jay coincidentally wrote) but Rakim steals the show. Fresh off the success of "Addictive," a rejuvenated 18th Letter dropped a top-notch verse, giving hope to the upcoming Dr. Dre/Rakim collaboration album, titled Oh My God, which sadly never came to fruition.

8. Pink Floyd "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2" (1979)

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Better Than Original?: Yes

To say that Pink Floyd's prog-rock epic concept album The Wall did a lot for the band's legacy would be a massive understatement. As for the biggest song on the record-and maybe, of Pink Floyd's entire discography-there's no way to overstate the influence and greatness of both The Wall, an album thatwent platinum 23 times over only 20 years after its release, or "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2." How many levels is this song great on? Well, there's the obvious ones: That it's a great song. And that it's part of a great trilogy of songs, and handily the most important entry of that trilogy (and the narrative thread of that trilogy, a man who erects a wall around his life), or of the album it's on, which is generally regarded as one of the greatest rock albums of all time. And then there are the not-so-obvious ones. For example: This a song that really wasn't even supposed to be a single to begin with-no kids, no second verse, no bridge-until producer Bob Ezrin decided to throw a school choir of kids on the track, which is around the time Pink Floyd and Ezrin (the same man who helped Alice Cooper produce "School's Out") not only realized they had the greatest "fuck school" anthem on their hands in the history of rock, but that they had one of its greatest anthems, period. As for how it compares to the other installments? If you're not an avid Pink Floyd fan and can even remember the other installments off the top of your head, we'll allow you to debate this with someone who'd actually dignify that idea.

7. P. Diddy f/ Tammy Ruggieri, Ginuwine, Loon, & Mario Winans "I Need a Girl Pt. 2" (2002)

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Better Than Original?: Toss-up

From a baby-making soothing and sultry call for a lead lady to a ride-or-die anthem, Diddy had two chart-topping hits with "I Need A Girl" and "I Need A Girl (Part Two)" which was a rarity at the time. But where part one conveys Diddy's plea to find himself a wifey, part two takes a playful beat that really allows the kingpin of Bad Boy to voice exactly what he wants in a lady. With Mario Winans on the chorus, Diddy plays off an earlier lyric he used on "Victory" with "The sun don't shine forever/But as long as it's here, then we might as well shine together" that truly shows just how mature he's become. While there was a time that Diddy played up to his bad boy ways, Part Two is a desperate plea for the perfect woman. He's found that in Cassie, whose latest hit "The Boys" talks about her man getting high and fucking other girls-what goes around comes around, we suppose.

6. Jay-Z "Friend or Foe '98" (1997)

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Better Than Original?: No

Some people never learn until you shoot them in the abdomen. The original version of this song found Jigga rapping nonchalantly, shooing away a rival dealer without firing a single shot or even raising his voice. But this time around, Hov means business so his rapping is sort of the like a classic case of "talking bad guy syndrome." If we were Hov we would have skipped the explanation and just shot the dude.

5. Cam'ron f/ Juelz Santana "Losing Weight Pt. 2" (2002)

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Better Than Original?: No

The original "Losing Weight" is one of the best songs about selling drugs, period. The sequel, while maybe not so top-loaded with as many tips about the drug game, is still on par. However, instead of a grungy Prodigy adding a verse, the sequel features a young, hungry Juelz Santana doing his best to keep up with standard P set. It's a little moot, though, since Cam's verse turned out to be one of his meanest ever. It's not just mean in the complimentary sense (his descriptions are pitch-perfect: "350 on the stove and it's 90 outside"), but the story about the troubled young girl is one of his most fucked-up tales, ever. Cam raps about an addict with suicidal tendencies who was molested as a child, and he keeps her on a leash with a steady stream of coke and heroin. Eventually, she murders a rival for him. It's a sad story, one only exacerbated by how much Cam seems to enjoy his own despicable act. The only part worse: Cam tells his boy to use OnStar-yeah, OnStar, like, the OnStar button-while doing some highly, highly illegal activities. Which, come on: That's just asking for a case.

4. Outkast "Da Art of Storytellin' (Part 2)" (1998)

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Better Than Original?: Toss-up

Whether or not the apocolypse of "Da Art of Storytellin' (Part 2)" has anything to do with groupies Suzy Screw and her friend Sasha Thumper of "Da Art of Storytellin' (Part 1)" and the manner in which Fat Sax and 3 Stacks treat them-see: having one perform oral sex in a parking lot, and rewarding her with a Lil' Wil CD-is up for question. What isn't up for question is that this song is about some kind of apocolypse, and is the sonic inverse of what came before it. Where "(Part 1)" is a laid back, groove-driven story rap about a summer of sex with two memorable groupies who end up with less-than-desirable fates, "(Part 2)" is a ominous, gothic, grimey sprint through two verses, in which Andre and Big Boi rush through Atlanta to seek refuge from the end of the world, and record one last song as everything falls apart around them (that song, of course, being the one you're listening to). Not only did both tracks feature brilliant and range-demonstrating production on the part of Mr. DJ, and what's handily the duo's darkest track to this day, but also some of their most memorable lines about rap's perception of them and what they're supposed to be, as well as their underlying feminist (and environmentalist, kind of) politics. As Andre put it: "Omega ni**a/I.F.O.s are landing in Decatur/Hope I'm not over your head/but if so you will catch on later." Not only did everyone catch on to something about this as soon as Aquemini dropped-mostly, that it's indisputably brilliant, whether or not you can decipher their sometimes opaque ideas-but they've all stayed on since.

3. Eminem f/ Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, & Nate Dogg "Bitch Please II" (2000)

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Better Than Original?: Toss-up

Eminem has always been the most isolated of stars—his music didn't exist on the same plane as contemporary pop, but also, he didn't really exist on the same soundscape as contemporary rap either. Eminem albums didn't have him rapping over rap beats, he rapped over Eminem beats. That's why "Bitch Please Part II" is such a treat. Like "If I Get Locked Up Tonight" before it, "Bitch Please Part II"—a sequel to an Snoop/Xzibit/Nate Dogg joint—is one of the rare instances of an Eminem song where he's rapping over a rap beat with a contemporary rap sound. And like everything else on the Marshall Mathers LP, it's one long middle-finger waving verse, overloaded with multi-syllable rhymes and shots at Billboard Editor-In-Chief Timothy White, with a quick interpolation of Snoop's flow from the original song to go with it.

2. Usher "Confessions Pt. II" (2004)

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Better Than Original?: Yes

Before his diamond-selling Confessions LP dropped, the title track had a few people talking; Usher was already having relationship troubles with Chilli from TLC, and the song detailed an apologetic Usher (or a character he was playing, at any rate) apologizing about cheating on his girl. "Part II" got the gossip mags freaking out even more: it chronicles the accidental impregnation of "Usher'"s mistress (according to him, fictional, but based on events that occurred with people he knew). It also utilized more hook-driven production, based around a two-note guitar figure courtesy beatmakers Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox. The song leapt to number one on the charts, the third single from Confessions to do so.

1. Mobb Deep "Shook Ones Pt. II" (1995)

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Better Than Original?: Yes

The sequel so good, most people don't even know the OG. "Shook Ones," retitled "Shook Ones (Part 1)" after the sequel appeared, was the first 12" released when Mobb Deep left the 4th and Broadway label for Loud Records. The song's concept was too good to leave to one track; "Shook Ones (Part II)," the lead single from The Infamous, built on the original's ominous ambience, swiped the hook from the original but improved everything around it. "(Part II)" had a more deliberate pace, which made the song even more menacing; rather than tumbling through the hood mindstate, "Part II" reveled in gritty uncertainty, all underscored by that louder-than-ever tapping on the piano, and over-prounounced hook, leaving one of the most classic and recognizable hip-hop tracks in its wake.

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