OH HELLO THERE.
hey guys, Shrek here, and today we’re gonna be looking at 10 rap songs that I think are
overhyped.
These aren’t necessarily songs that I dislike or hate, just songs that I personally think
are overrated.
So, let’s dive straight into this one, this is CDTV, I’ll be answering as many DM’s
as I can on my Instagram a few hours after this video goes live, and let’s take a look
at 10 of the most overhyped rap songs.
10 - Tyler the Creator “Yonkers”
This song did a lot for Tyler, helping propel him into the spotlight and I appreciate it
for that.
But I really, really don’t enjoy it.
The production on this song just sounds incredibly ugly, with this really grating loop continuing
throughout the whole song and these really scratchy synths coming in during the chorus.
But me feeling this way isn’t unreasonable because Tyler revealed in an interview 2 years
ago that he was actually trying to make a bad beat with this one, to imitate and mock
New York rappers.
He says he made the beat in 8 minutes and that it was a joke.
Knowing that doesn’t make the song any better for me, but it’s cool to know the purpose
behind it.
The verses aren’t bad either, but It’s just something I’ll never be able to like
with how off-putting the instrumental is.
9 - Travis Scott “Antidote”
Again, this is a song that was huge for Travis’s career and that’s a plus, but I’ve never
really been huge on this one.
The best part of the song for me is the short rapping verse that Travis has on here, but
it doesn’t show up until almost 3 and a half minutes into the track.
And my issue is that I don’t hugely enjoy everything leading up to that point in the
song.
Like on one hand it’s good because it makes that third verse really stand out, but on
the other hand I feel like every time I’m listening to it, I’m really just waiting
for that verse to come on.
I just find everything else before it to be pretty slow moving, and I feel like the song
would benefit hugely from being cut down by about a minute or so, a change as small as
that would make it flow together much better in my opinion.
8 - Wiz Khalifa “We Dem Boyz”
Autotuned Wiz Khalifa is the worst Wiz Khalifa in my opinion.
I think Trap Wiz is what he calls himself when he makes that type of music, which sounds
like it could be the name for a bottled lean drink that would be marketed to kids.
“Yeah me and the Soulja’s are just going out to drink some Trap Wiz and get turnt up”.
But that aside, I just don’t think he utilises the autotune in any creative or effective
way here, and it just comes off as very obnoxious if anything.
Like listen to how drowned out his voice is by the pitch correction, he’s clearly just
using it for the sake of using it, and it does not sound good.
Then you add on a pretty average flow with barely any switches, and it results in a pretty
bad song.
7 - Eminem “Mockingbird”
This one is interesting to me, because even when I was 10 years old and I first listened
to Curtain Call, this was one of my least favourite songs on there, but everyone else
seemed to really love it.
And that’s still the way I feel about it 10 years later.
I’m gonna be brutally honest here; even though I love the sincerity of the song, I
just find it really boring to listen to.
The song has a very conversational feeling to it, and I’m sure considering the subject
matter it’s supposed to sound that way, but Eminem remaining monotone throughout each
verse on this song makes it feel really lifeless to me.
And then when his vocals eventually do switch up for the hook, I feel like they sound a
bit too whiny and I don’t enjoy that part of the track either.
I love the content and the beat on this one, but everything else on here falls flat for
me.
6 - Rae Sremmurd “No Type”
To this day this is still one of Rae Sremmurd’s most popular songs, and I still can’t figure
out why.
One of the worst parts for me is the hook, I find Swae’s voice particularly annoying
on it which usually isn’t an issue for me, but he sounds kinda whiney on this hook and
it just kinda does my head in a lil bit.
Not to mention, he talks about having no type and immediately tells us what his type is
so the hook doesn’t even make sense.
As for the beat, it’s relatively minimalistic, which puts even more emphasis on Swae’s
voice, which isn’t great when I don’t like his voice on here.
The only enjoyable part for me was Slim Jxmmi’s verse but everything else was not for me.
5 - Logic “1-800-273-8255”
Now I’m not necessarily saying this song shouldn’t be as big as it is, because this
song had a noticeable positive effect in the real world, and that’s always a good thing.
Massive props to Logic for that.
But do I think this should be the song that most non hip hop listeners know Logic for?
Definitely not.
Whilst it is impactful and the very, no pun intended, black and white nature of the song
makes it relate to as wide of an audience as possible, it doesn’t change the fact
that it really puts across this oversimplified view of depression and suicidal thoughts.
This song is objectively surface level.
Again, I appreciate the effect it had and Logic clearly wasn’t making this just to
profit off depression or anything like that, but the song doesn’t really handle the topic
with the care that it could have.
Sonically I think this song is beautiful, the beat gives off a hopeful but sad vibe,
and everyone who provides vocals on here does a brilliant job, but I just feel like when
you compare this to the rest of Logic’s catalogue, it is pretty overhyped.
4 - Drake “Started From the Bottom”
You know how one of the main reasons for me not liking Mockingbird was Eminem’s monotone
Delivery?
Well yeah, I’m sure you can figure out why I don’t like this one either.
Drake is more monotone than usual on this track, and that just feels kinda out of place
on a song that has such celebratory lyrics.
It’s all about his success and grinding to get to where he’s at, I mean he must
have a very different definition of what the bottom is like than most people, but still,
that’s the lyrical themes.
Now does a low, just-woke-up style delivery really fit with that subject matter?
I don’t think so.
And it makes the whole thing feel much longer than it actually is, I remember this track
being like 4 and a half minutes long, but in reality it runs for under 3 minutes.
It really doesn’t feel like it.
Honestly I really enjoy the album this comes from, but this track is one of its lowest
points.
3 - 6IX9INE “GUMMO”
Apparently this beat was originally intended for 6IX9INE’s good old friend, Trippie Redd,
and it would have been a million times more suitable for him.
This kinda eerie, almost creepy beat does not compliment 6IX9INE’s shout rapping style
at all, i think it would sound much better if someone with a more subtle delivery used
the beat.
6IX9INE’s lyrics and flow are pretty much gonna be carbon copies of each other on almost
every track, so I rely on his production choice meshing well with his voice to enjoy his tracks,
and that is not what happens here.
Not to mention, this track has a really pointless remix featuring Offset where he basically
provides nothing new to the song, so that’s not very fun either.
This is easily one of my least favourite 6IX9INE songs.
2 - Future “Mask Off”
Most people I know love this song for the beat, and that’s the main thing that makes
them enjoy this.
It’s weird because I saw so many people talk about how good this beat was, and they
talked about it as if it was one of the first woodwind based instrumentals ever.
But as far as flute beats go, this one just sounds decent to me.
Its definitely catchy and memorable, so it does its job, but when I’m actually listening
to it, it doesn’t get me super hyped up or in my zone or anything.
As for Future, he literally does nothing interesting on here.
Its the same stuff he commonly raps about, and his delivery is pretty uninteresting.
So yeah, all my potential enjoyment was hinging on me loving the beat, which I don’t so
that’s where it fails for me personally.
1 - Kendrick Lamar “HUMBLE.”
This had to be number 1 for me, because while I don’t hate the song, I just don’t get
why it’s so huge.
Like this song has nearly 1 billion streams goddamn, it’s the most played song on here.
Out of the 14 tracks that appeared on Kendrick’s DAMN.
album, this one ranks in the bottom 3 for me.
I feel like most of my problems lie with the instrumental on this one.
It’s not that I think Kendrick can’t work with a best like this, cause Kendrick has
shown us he can rap over any type of production, but I just don’t like the beat itself that
much.
The thudding pianos that the beat revolves around just sound very blunt and unremarkable,
and considering there really isn’t many layers to the beat at all, not liking that
piano affects my enjoyment of the song hugely.
Also, this is rarely something I complain about with Kendrick songs, but something about
his voice just irks me on this song.
I feel like this is due to his delivery being more nasally on this track, and that sound
doesn’t mesh well with the dry piano melody.
It’s cool that even on his biggest songs Kendrick still has a theme and a message,
with him confirming that he’s telling himself to be Humble with the hook after the cockiness
of the verses, but the overall sound of this track is just really unappealing in my opinion.
Its great to see Kendrick having this much mainstream success, but I’d be lying if
I said I like this song
that much.
(Outro)