Feeling Horny? The Best Uses of Horns in Hip-Hop

If Sriracha had an instrumental equivalent, it would be the horn (let's lump all horns in together for a second). Add some to a song and they can brighten up the mix, provide some flare, or subtly increase emotional depth. Add a lot to the recipe and you might only hear horns, but damn who doesn't love an epic brass section? Whether you're using a dab or a whole bottle, so to speak, horns bring excitement, color, and dynamic dimension.

We love hip-hop. We love horns. We love it when producers use horns. Today we're celebrating our favorite uses of horns in hip-hop, from tiny samples to bombastic brass sections (we're looking at you, Kanye). We hope you're feeling as horny as we are (and we hope you don't hold this headline and this sentence against us in the comments).

1.

2. Mobb Deep - "Drink Away The Pain"

Producer: Q-Tip

For its dark subject matter–drinking to numb depression–Mobb Deep's "Drink Away The Pain" is curiously light, a woozy approximation of the feeling of drunkenness moreso than a morose meditation. This sense of hazy motion teeters out of Q-Tip's production: Loose, echoey, and employing a sample of Bernie Maupin's saxophone from the Headhunters' "I Remember I Made You Cry," in turns comical and mournful. It's a creative counterpoint to the Mobb's personification of liquor as an enticing siren in a too-harsh world.

3. Ghostface Killah - "Apollo Kids"

Producer: Hassan

Sounding like a champion boxer's entry music, Ghostface Killah's Solomon Burke-sampling "Apollo Kids" is symphonic hip-hop at its finest, a crackling, bumping beat set beneath an array of strings, bells, and bellowing horns, victorious brass announcing the Wu Tang veteran's return as a solo rapper after a three year hiatus following debut album Ironman.

4. Blackalicious - "Make You Feel That Way"

Producer: Chief Xcel

With the help of trumpeter Anthony Coleman, Blackalicious producer Chief Xcel orchestrated one of the most memorable, beautiful tracks in the group's catalog, at once hopeful and melancholic. Mining the mournful, expressive tones of the trumpet, Coleman adds a gorgeous dimension to Gift of Gab's nostalgic, thankful rhymes; it's conscious, positive rap that never feels corny, due in large part to the key addition of a bit of brass.

5. Clipse - "The Funeral"

Producer: The Neptunes

Forceful and regal, "The Funeral" is a rare beast: A sample-based Neptunes beat. Still featuring the synthesizer sounds that would become the duo's signature during their rise to chart-dominance, "The Funeral" remains memorable for its instantly recognizable horn blasts (plucked from deep within Blood, Sweat, and Tears' version of "God Bless the Child") that give the morose concept song a sense of gravity and grim energy.

6. Lupe Fiasco - "Kick Push"

Producer: Soundtrakk

For the first single from his celebrated debut album, Food and Liquor, Lupe Fiasco used a suitably cinematic beat from producer Soundtrakk to showcase his storytelling, turning the seemingly small, personal narrative of a wandering skateboarder into something far grander with the help of an orchestral sample featuring a stately, lush horn section. A great example of how horns can add grandeur in unexpected places.

7. T.I. - "Hurt"

Producer: Danja

Horns usually sound like a party, but T.I., Alfamega, and Busta Rhymes make the brass sound threatening. It's still a celebration of sorts, but it's also aggressive, threatening, and a great song to listen to if you're planning on getting in a fight.

8. Diddy ft. The Notorious B.I.G. & Busta Rhymes - "Victory"

Producer: Sean "Puffy" Combs, Steven "Stevie J" Jordan (of The Hitmen)

In Bad Boy Records' heyday, Diddy (then Puff Daddy) consistently showcased a knack for taking recognizable samples and sprucing them up with a new sheen. For the bombastic final single from his 1997 debut album No Way Out, co-producers Diddy and Steven Jordan recast composer Bill Conti's epic "Going the Distance" (a rousing orchestral piece from the Rocky Soundtrack) as the backdrop for the fittingly titled "Victory." While he and his co-producers have drawn ire for leaving sample sources largely unchanged, Diddy and his team had the good sense to on "Victory" to leave "Going the Distance" and its cinematic horns intact, creating something as large as the personalities–the Notorious B.I.G., Busta Rhymes, and, of course, Diddy–it accompanied

9. Viktor Vaughn - "Saliva"

Producer: RJD2

If most of MF Doom's samples feel like they were recorded directly off of an old television, capturing pieces of a favorite cartoon, RJD2 takes the super villain's formula to big screen motion picture heights on "Saliva" from the rapper's Vaudeville Villain project (recorded under the alias Viktor Vaughn). With an exultant burst of brass kicking off the verse and reemerging every few bars, "Saliva" feels like high definition Doom, an excellently cinematic take on the legendary underground artist's formula.

10. Deltron 3030 - "Memory Loss"

Producer: Dan the Automator

One of the core themes of Del's seminal concept album Deltron 3030 is the futuristic Oakland rapper's superheroic superiority as a rapper. What better way to accent said superiority than with an absolutely regal horn section courtesy of mastermind producer Dan the Automator?

THE 30 BEST UNDERGROUND HIP-HOP ALBUMS

11. 50 Cent - "Gunz Come Out"

Producer: Dr. Dre, Mike Elizondo

Never before have horns sounded harder. Never before have horns sparked such a strong desire to get violent.

12. Cam'ron - "I Really Mean It"

Producer: Just Blaze

During his peak years, Just Blaze possessed a little-matched knack for building larger-than-life, sample-based anthems. With the help of a sample from Major Harris' "I Got Over Love" and a tasteful upward pitch-shifting that lends the source material new energy, Just gave Cam'ron a monumental backdrop for the slang and shit-talking that would elevate him to pop-rap fame and and cult legend status.

13. Kanye West - "Touch the Sky"

Producer: Just Blaze

For the fourth single from Kanye West's Late Registration, the rapper/producer handed the reigns over to fellow Roc-A-Fella mainstay Just Blaze who grabbed a joyous sample from Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up" to set the perfect backdrop for Kanye's inspirational verses and indelible chorus. Mayfield's vibrant horns give Kanye and at the time little-known guest Lupe Fiasco a springboard for energetic rhymes, a shining examples of horns at their invigorating best.

14. Action Bronson ft. RiFF RAFF - "Bird on a Wire"

Producer: Harry Fraud

Harry Fraud looped a horn riff for spectacular results on French Montana's "Shot Caller," but "Bird on a Wire" takes the cake. A sample of Dexter Wansel's "Rings of Saturn" makes this the kind of song that makes you stoned just hearing it, and even though Action Bronson and RiFF RAFF always bring charismatic deliveries, that beat determines the vibe of this song. You could get DMX and Mystikal over this shit and it's still be the soundtrack to your afternoon stoner nap.

THE 15 BEST HARRY FRAUD BEATS

15. Big L ft. Kool G Rap - "Fall Back"

Producer: Shomari

The sample of The Temptations' "I Truly, Truly Believe" takes on a whole new context with Big L's sharp delivery and Kool G Rap's tough chorus. It's one of the few highlights of Big L's limited catalog, and the worst thing about it is that it's too short.

16. Kendrick Lamar - "Rigamortis"

Producer: Willie B

Typically, melodic elements–whether live or sampled–play complementary roles to the rappers they accompany in hip-hop songs. On Kendrick Lamar's "Rigamortis," a snaking two-bar horn loop serves as a sort of challenge, a hot spur for the ensuing tour-de-force of technique. Like dueling soloists, Kendrick and the sample from jazz drummer Willie Jones III's "Thorn" engage in a sort of playful battle, making for one of the emcee's signature songs and one of the more inventive recent uses of horns in hip-hop.

17. King Geedorah - "The Fine Print"

Producer: MF Doom

In typica MF Doom fashion, the horns on "The Fine Print" (a highlight from Take Me To Your Leader, one of the enigmatic rapper/producer's best side projects, recorded under the alias King Geedorah) feel peeled out of a quirky cartoon, the theme music of a beloved villain.

18. Wu-Tang Clan - "Shame on a N*gga"

Producer: RZA

The horns RZA dug up from Syl Johnson's oft-sampled "Different Strokes" for "Shame on a N*gga" are the musical embodiment of the Wu-Tang Clan's bargain bin Kung Fu film aesthetic as well as a nod to his sonic inspirations: dusty, a little bit goofy, and funky as all hell. While the Wu-Tang sound would typically deep more into the menacing side as RZA honed the cinematic aspects, the horns in "Shame on A N*gga" suggest a playful menace fitting of a young, raw group of emcees testing out the limitations of their various influences.

19. Slick Rick - "The Ruler"

Producer: Mr. Lee

Never before has a trumpet taken on such a dynamic role in a rap song. It's playful, regal, and a party-starting alarm that fits the Slick Rick vibe perfectly. Let the trumpets blow.

20. Young Buck - "Get Buck"

Producer: Polow Da Don

When Polow da Don unleashes his demonic marching band horns on the first verse of Young Buck's aptly titled "Get Buck," all other components of the song–the hard-hitting drums, the choir, the various accents that fill out the production, even the rapper himself–seem to melt away, overwhelmed by the thunderous, low eight note figure. A perfect example of the weight horns can add to a track and the inventive ways in which producers can tweak seemingly familiar elements (like a nice marching band, for example).

21. Jay Z - "Encore"

Producer: Kanye West

Kanye, you did it again! Back in the day, when 'Ye was still reshaping how soul and hip-hop could interact, picking the right samples was key. For "Encore," he lifted the horns from the intro to John Holt's "I Will," and the result is one of Hov's most celebratory songs ever.

22. M.O.P. - "Ante Up"

Producer: DR Period

Rising and riotous, M.O.P. used horns to perfect effect on their timeless ode to robbery, "Ante Up." While the equivalent record now might feature deafening 808s and dense layers of synthesizers, producer DR Period uses a bright horn sample to give "Ante Up" the energy of New York in the era of legendary (and legendarily rowdy) club The Tunnel, a hotbed of east coast hip-hop still open during the recording of the album that housed "Ante Up," Warriorz, and only a few months past closing before M.O.P.'s chain snatching anthem hit airwaves.

23. Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth - "They Reminisce Over You"

Producer: Pete Rock

Evocative, mournful, and immediately recognizable, Pete Rock crafted one of hip-hop's greatest instrumentals with the help of a sample excavated from saxophonist Tom Scott's "Today." "They Reminisce Over You" endures as an example of ingenius sampling, the discovery of a gorgeous loop turned into a wordless hook that sticks with you, hummable and unforgettable, as fresh and enjoyable now as it has been throughout its storied 21 years of existence. While Rock's warm bassline and dusty drums complete the package, it is that indelible saxophone that lends "They Reminisce Over You" its magic.

24. Kanye West - "All Of the Lights"

Producer: Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker (co. prod)

After hitting public and personal nadirs in the wake of the Taylor Swift scandal, Kanye West looked inward and decided to craft his grandest statement yet, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. At the core of the album, Kanye and co-producer Jeff Bhasker enlisted an army of musicians and featured artists to mold MBDTF's most triumphant moment, "All of the Lights." Clearest among the dense orchestral arrangement is the bombastic horn section, comprising three trumpets, three French horns, and two trombones–a purposeful combination that simultaneously gives "All of the Lights" its weight and its sense of ascent.

THE BEST KANYE WEST SONGS FROM BEFORE THE COLLEGE DROPOUT

25. OutKast - "SpottieOttieDopaliscious"

Producer: OutKast

To call "SpottieOttieDopaliscious" a hip-hop song pure and simple is to limit it unnecessarily with genre classification. Loose, funky, and expansive, "SpottieOttieDopaliscious" puts OutKast's singular ambition on full display, from its title, to its structure (incorporating spoken word, sung verses, and an unforgettable four word hook: "Damn, damn, damn, James"), to its length. It is, however, the horn section that proves most unforgettable, expressive, triumphant, flamboyant, and uncertain—each break for horns ends without true resolution. A masterful touch in a masterpiece of a song.

OUTKAST SONGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW (BUT SHOULD)

latest_stories_pigeons-and-planes