There’s no denying that hip-hop and rap appeal to most of the masses due to its oft-perceived realness and reputation for telling things like it is. Whether artists are talking about the hardships of life, women, money, fame or fortune—it’s safe to say that we’ve all been given some memorable bars since hip-hop’s inception over 50 years ago.
But what happens when an artist takes it too far? Like, all the way too far? Is that just keeping it real or is it downright disturbing? Take for instance the 1999 hit song “Young Girl” by Pharrell and Jay-Z, in which the two harp on falling in love with a young girl. While that seems innocent on the surface, the lyrics that followed in Jay’s verse in particular are now being looked at in a new light amid his recent allegations involving a minor (we’ll get into specifics of his words on the next page.)
So it’s in that vein that we thought we’d take a look at a handful of other artists who’s lyrics are so wild, aged poorly, and that are so outlandish—we’re not even sure how we let them slide all these years. Brace yourselves, you’ve been warned.