Chris Rock is one of comedy’s most well-known voices. From his work on Saturday Night Live to his many comedy specials, Rock has been carving his own lane of attention-grabbing humor for decades. But Rock has also dabbled in the realm of music. Before becoming a comedian, he was briefly signed as a rapper to Atlantic Records in the early days of his career.
Videos by American Songwriter
“I DJed before I ever told a joke and was actually not bad,” he said in an interview with Chapelle’s Show co-creator and co-writer Neal Brennan. Despite not pursuing a career in music, Rock has been a featured guest on several hip-hop songs over the years. Check out three songs you didn’t know featured Rock.
1. “You Ain’t Gotta Lie (Ta Kick It)” by Ice Cube
Chris Rock was one of Ice Cube’s many collaborators on his 2000 album, War & Peace Volume 2 (The Peace Disc). In addition to opening the song by reciting the title, Rock teams up with Ice Cube on the chorus, with Rock shouting such lines as, Yo Cube/I got the new Benz 9000 and It got the PlayStation in the windshield.
“Me and Chris go way back, we’re good friends,” Ice Cube told MTV in 2000, adding that he asked Rock to be on the track after they ran into each other at a New York Knicks game. “He’s always been a fan of mine, and I’ve always been a fan of his…Whenever we see each other it’s nothing but a cool vibe…So to get him on the track was just a [great] bond because he is the hottest comedian out there right now and funny as hell. I love his sense of reality and that his jokes are based upon reality. I love that about Chris.”
2. “Everybody Hates Chris” by Ludacris
Ludacris crafted his 2008 album, Theater of the Mind, like a movie, pulling together an impressive slate of guests he referred to as “co-stars.” One of those co-stars was Chris Rock, who appears on the track “Everybody Hates Chris,” which was named after Rock’s sitcom on The CW. Rock’s voice opens the song saying, 2010, that’s right, we in the future/Atlanta, Georgia millions of albums sold/Millions of moneys rolled/I see why everybody hates Chris/You light-skinned biatch.
[RELATED: Chris Rock Not Interested in Talking with Will Smith]
3. “E.L.E. 2 Intro” by Busta Rhymes
Chris Rock isn’t just a featured artist on the opening track of Busta Rhymes’ 2020 album, Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God, he’s also a credited writer. After a nearly two-minute monologue by an ominous, robotic voice that tells an apocalyptic tale, Rock helps kick the album off with a bang as he proclaims, There’s only five years left, ni***/There’s only two years left, ni***/There’s only one day left, ni***. He then shows off his rap skills by hyping up Busta Rhymes as he spits, It’s the end of the world/And these are the last days/This might be the last day/And lucky you, on your last day/You gon’ hear the Busta Rhymes album.
(Photo by Nigel Waldron/Redferns)
