Storytelling has basically been a part of hip hop since its inception. Look at classic tracks
like “Murder was the Case” by Snoop Dogg or “I Got a Story to Tell” by Biggie for example. Hip
hop excels and thrives when there’s a story being told. Rappers use their lyrics and the production
to tell tales, sometimes they’re exaggerated a bit but other times they’re based purely in reality.
Not everything is all sunshine and rainbows in the inner city. Here’s 11 of the saddest tales in the
genre. Be warned these songs do cover some pretty morbid topics so be prepared to have some tissues
handy when you listen to them.The rules are pretty simple, one song per artist. Also this isn’t for
generally sad songs in hip hop but specifically ones that have some sense of a story being told
so songs like “Tha Crossroads” by Bone Thugs N Harmony for example wouldn’t apply for this list.
Number 11 Da Art of Storytellin Part 1. From Outkast’s third album, Aquemini,
the duo uses their respective verses on the song to tell a story about certain women in their life.
In the case of Big Boi it’s a woman nicknamed Suzy Screw cuz she screws a lot. A pretty open
lady to say the least who he wants to get a chance to experience if you catch my drift.
The song turns a bit darker though for Andre 3000’s verse as the woman he raps about is
a friend of Suzy’s nicknamed Sasha Thumper who he knew growing up. He asks her one day
what she wants to be when she grows up and she simply responds with “alive”, a harsh reality
for some that are stuck in an unhealthy cycle and unable to see a way through it.
Andre continues on through his career and comes back to town to see Sasha
but finds out that she has a boyfriend but hopes still that he’ll see her at one of his shows.
However that never happens as he finds out that she was found dead with a needle in her
arm and pregnant. A sad explanation of why she responded that way to Andre earlier in his verse.
Number 10 Intruder Alert. From Lupe Fiasco’s second album The Cool tells a story in each
verse about “intruders”. The first being about a woman who was raped when she was younger and
has a hard time trusting men now. The second being about a homeless man with a drug addiction
and the inner demons he faces due to it. The third being about a man trying to get his
daughter across the border to give her a better life and hoping the border patrol doesn’t catch
and deport her as she’s an immigrant or from their perspective an intruder as the song says.
Sarah Green on the bridge depicts a vivid picture of building up your mental fortitude
but still being unable to keep out their own personal conflict or intruder as the title states.
Number 9 Children’s Story. From Slick Rick’s classic debut album the Great Adventures of Slick
Rick, “Children’s Story” tells the cautionary tale of a youth growing up in the hood who is given the
idea of robbing from another boy and they rob together but then one of them continues along
the path of robbing and tries to rob a detective which turns the story even worse as things turn
into a shootout, stealing a car, and holding a pregnant woman at gunpoint. The story then
ends with him surrendering to the police and still being shot by them despite putting down his gun.
The lines “The cops shot the kid I still hear him scream” sends chills down the spines of listeners.
A harsh story of what a life of crime can do to you while also being a look at police brutality
and prejudice that we as black men face on a regular basis.
Number 8 Renee. From the Lost Boyz debut album Legal Drug Money “Renee” is a hood love story
with Mr. Cheeks telling us about the woman from the title. Beginning with how they met and started
talking and became closer and intimate. A real good relationship but however as it often happens,
a problem has to occur. You might think that it was some kind of argument perhaps but no,
shortly after stating that he’s never been in love before he gets a message he believes to be
from Renee but it’s instead her mother telling him that she’s been shot. He rushes to the hospital
but by the time he gets there she’s already gone. The video version of the song goes even
deeper into this as at the end he confronts the man who shot her and is going to shoot
him but ultimately decides to let him go, likely because it won’t bring her back.
Number 7 Runaway Love. From Ludacris’ sixth album Release Therapy, Ludacris tells the
story of 3 different young girls that deal with various problems in their life and decide to run
away from home. The first girl has never met her father and has a mother that’s a drug addict who
gets with a man who winds up assaulting her and her mother not believing her when she tells her.
The second girl has an abusive stepfather and she makes a friend who she can trust
but the friend winds up getting shot and killed during a drive-by gone wrong,
leading her to again having no one to confide in and wanting to escape. The third girl is on drugs
and having sex with a guy who’s years older than her and she winds up pregnant but he’s
not ready to be a father yet so he bails out on her The verses paint pictures of the pain that
young girls are prone to being exposed to without proper guidance from parents or other relatives.
Mary J Blige on the chorus brings the whole song together beautifully and deepens the
emotions felt when listening and imagining the tragic lives of these three young girls.
Number 6 Uncommon Valor: A Vietnam Story. From the fifth album of Jedi Mind Tricks,
Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell, Vinnie Paz speaks from the perspective of a reluctant
soldier in Vietnam who has essentially seen the horrors of war and wants nothing more to
do with it. R.A. The Rugged Man is featured on the song and spits one of the best verses
ever some would say, myself included. He speaks from the perspective of his father
who is a Vietnam Vet about how he felt during the war. The story sounds a lot more positive
at first as he handles the war relatively calmly compared to the man from Vinnie’s verse
but in a twist at the end he escapes the war but has some drastic after effects from it.
Agent orange, one of the chemicals used during the war on Vietnam caused his children to have
birth defects as R.A. states that his siblings had multiple health issues at birth and his brother
had died. Once again a tragic ending with the added effect of it being based on a true story.
Number 5 Brenda’s Got a Baby. From 2Pac’s debut album 2Pacalypse now,
a track that tells the story of a young lady in the hood who has a boyfriend who’s apparently
her cousin and gets pregnant and her family doesn’t seem to be very interested in her life.
To make matters worse she’s only 12 years old and the child’s father leaves her to have the
baby herself so she turns to prostitution in order to provide for her and her baby which ultimately
winds up in her being killed. Truly one of the original tragic tales in hip hop storytelling,
especially telling the story of a young girl.
Number 4 Last Good Sleep. From Company Flow’s debut album Funcrusher Plus, this track
is one that has El-P telling the story of his mother’s abuse at the hands of his step father,
setting up the picture with his father leaving her to be a single mother and her finding love
in a new man but things going downhill from there with him starting to beat her in a drunken rage.
Throughout the song he mentions multiple times how he’s trying to sleep to escape from having to see
and hear the violent beatings his mother endures as well as questioning himself if
standing by and doing nothing was the best thing to do as a child or if he could have helped her.
Backed by some eerie sounding production this track is one that once again another
very realistic look at how dealing with domestic abuse as a child is all too painful.
Number 3 I Seen a Man Die. From Scarface’s third album, The Diary Scarface tells the story of a man
who comes home from jail and wants to change his life around but he quickly devolves into killing
a man for the first time and seeing the pain that can come from ending another person’s life.
Scarface ends every verse with a variation of seeing a man cry once you’ve seen a man
die but in the third verse he specifies “I never seen a man cry
til I seen that man die” possibly inferring that the man who did the initial killing
cried after committing the murder and realizing what he’s done
but now is crying because it’s his own turn to die. Either way you look at it, this song is a
classic and somber look at the cycle of murder that many people in that lifestyle deal with.
Number 2 You Never Know. From Immortal Technique’s second album Revolutionary
Vol. 2 Technique tells a story about a woman he knew who he was quite good friends with.
She essentially rebuffs him when he tells her about how he feels about her and goes on with
his life like school and prison but when he gets out he keeps thinking about her so he goes to the
building she lived in and finds a letter there for him. The letter tells him about how she had
gotten HIV from a blood transfusion and that’s why she never had sex with him despite her wanting to.
A tragic ending to a beautiful relationship but what adds another layer of sadness to it
is the fact that Technique has stated in an interview that the song is based
off of various relationships that he’s had and was basically compiled into a story.
Now before we get into the last song on the list, remember to click that
like button on the video and subscribe to the channel if you haven’t so yet.
Number 1 One Life. From The Last Emperor’s third album Music, Magic, & Myth has the
Last Emperor rapping a verse about his friend dying then questioning what happens afterwards
and what religion is right in this regard making references to Catholicism, Buddhism,
and speaking of nirvana, paradise, and hell generally questioning this life that
we are given before ending his verse with a reference to the featured rapper on this track
Too Poetic. In Too Poetic’s verse he tells a story about being stuck on the floor in pain which has
been worsening and going to the ER and getting diagnosed with terminal cancer. He ends the song
with the chilling lines “Staying healthy comes first, look at me, things could be worse”. Sadly,
not long after this verse was recorded he succumbed to disease. He was initially given
a three month prognosis but survived for over two years. Truly another tragic tale in hip hop.
Now that was 11 of the most depressing stories in hip hop songs.
What songs would be on your list? What would you like to see next? Leave a comment in the
comment section below and always thanks for watching and stay tuned for the next video.