One of the greatest feelings in hip-hop is to be in on the jokes. Many of our favorite MCs are funny in their own ways, delivering lines that are twisted, dark, satirical, horny, shocking, or just flat-out ridiculous. The absolute best of the best can crack jokes without sacrificing their abilities on the mic or making a mockery of the genre. And it’s not enough to just be funny—the masters create songs where the laughs are just as essential as the beat and the flow.
Comedy can sometimes also feel like the only way to deal with the world’s atrocities and injustices. In rap there’s so much humor sourced from topics that shouldn’t be funny: Violence, death, relationship turmoil, neighborhood ruin, police brutality, and government neglect can be punctured, if only for a moment, with a perfectly sharp bar.
Funny rappers come in many different forms. There are the goofballs, the instigators, the punchline wizards, the outright maniacs, the ones who may or may not be doing a bit, and more. Here are our favorites, in alphabetical order.
2 Chainz has the delivery of a stand-up comic—rarely in a rush, he lets punchlines breathe for a second so they really hit. The Atlanta vet is constantly dreaming up lyrics that feel like absurd twists on everyday rap flexes. Instead of bluntly saying he’s turned on, he raps, “My dick so hard it make the metal detector go off.” Some of his lines turn into cartoon strips the moment they leave his mouth: “My bathtub the size of swimming pools/Backstroke to my children room.” Really, his bars are best when they’re nonsensical, or when he’s just playing with words for the hell of it. If you’ve ever been in a room full of people happily rapping along with a couplet like, “Rest in peace to all the soldiers that died in the service/I dived in her cervix,” you know exactly what I mean. –Alphonse Pierre
Funniest song: “Where U Been?”
Biz Markie always understood how vulnerability could make for a good laugh. The most famous example is his trademark 1989 single “Just a Friend,” which takes Freddie Scott’s R&B hit “(You) Got What I Need” and turns it into a tale of dejected love for the ages. But Biz was always willing to go the extra mile to be his wacky self—with no reservations—in all of his music. His beatboxing and vocal scratches gives his vintage hip-hop jam “Make the Music With Your Mouth, Biz” a silly, approachable air that’s hard to resist. Whether he’s calling out producers for their “doo-doo” beats or rapping about the virtues of his favorite breakfast cereal, there’s always a reason to smile, chuckle, or belly laugh your way through a Biz Markie song. –Dylan Green