Rap/Hip-Hop songs with piano

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

I was listening to "Family Business" by Kanye West and shortly thereafter, "Changes" by 2Pac. I realized that the piano in these songs, even though they're probably synthesized and very much looped, make for beautiful backdrops. The songs become very melancholic and frankly kind of beautiful. Does anyone have any suggestions for other rap/hip-hop songs with piano or at the very least have the same vibe as these two songs?

― Wookie Rookie, Sunday, 23 January 2005 19:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Just a Friend by Biz Markie. Plus the video with him in the powder wig.

― Adam Bruneau (oliver8bit), Sunday, 23 January 2005 20:32 (twenty-one years ago)

RZA to thread.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 23 January 2005 20:36 (twenty-one years ago)

public enemy, "black steel in the hour of chaos"

― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 23 January 2005 20:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Wu-Tang Clan - CREAM (fake xpost w/ ned)
Jeru the Damaja - Me or the Papes
Nas - The World is Yours
Common - Resurrection
Crooklyn Dodgers - Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers

like a million early 90s new york classics, really.

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Sunday, 23 January 2005 20:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Ghostface Killah's Childsplay

― Ronan (Ronan), Sunday, 23 January 2005 20:49 (twenty-one years ago)

i'm trying to think of the title of a great kool g. raps song, but i'm blanking.

― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 23 January 2005 20:52 (twenty-one years ago)

"Dowhutchalike" by Digital Underground

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 23 January 2005 20:54 (twenty-one years ago)

..the long version.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 23 January 2005 20:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I realized that the piano in these songs, even though they're probably synthesized and very much looped, make for beautiful backdrops

Is that the one that samples (or just replicates) Bruce Hornsby & the Range's "The Way it Is"?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 23 January 2005 20:57 (twenty-one years ago)

There's also "The Symphony" which was like the juice crew's superstar song that just samples the piano loop from Otis Redding's "hard to handle." All-time classic.

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Sunday, 23 January 2005 21:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Jay-Z - Dead Presidents

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Sunday, 23 January 2005 21:04 (twenty-one years ago)

"Rapper's Delight" is being banged out on the piano in the old folks home in CB4. (Or was it Fear of a Black Hat?)

― noodle vague (noodle vague), Sunday, 23 January 2005 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Would Mary J. Blige's "Real Love" count (is it really rap/hiphop?) Great piano hook, in any case.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 23 January 2005 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

slick rick - "children's story"

― j blount (papa la bas), Sunday, 23 January 2005 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Alex, yes, Changes is 2Pac's bastardization of the Bruce Hornsby song....but it sure is pretty.

― Wookie Rookie, Sunday, 23 January 2005 21:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Mobb Deep - "Shook Ones, Pt. 2" / "Survival of the Fittest"
GM Grimm - "Dancing"
2Pac - "I Ain't Mad at Cha"
Nas - "I Can"
Notorious B.I.G. - "One More Chance" (Single Version)

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Sunday, 23 January 2005 21:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Shook Ones doesn't really have piano does it? In my memory its just the guitar hook.

Survival of the fittest is a great one though.
the same piano sample from Notorious BIG's One More Chance (Single mix) is used on Big L's MVP.

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Sunday, 23 January 2005 21:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Lewis Parker '101 Pianos'

― Stevem On X (blueski), Sunday, 23 January 2005 21:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Shook Ones doesn't really have piano does it? In my memory its just the guitar hook.

Is that guitar? I'm pretty sure it's piano.

and that Biggie piano sample is also on Ashanti's "Foolish," but that's probably off from what you were looking for here.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Sunday, 23 January 2005 21:49 (twenty-one years ago)

The intro to Eric B. and Rakim's "Put Your Hands together". It's a clean raw piano intro as well.

Also, Biz Markie's "Alone Again". (although the piano came from the sample... THAT sample.. the sample that ended up terrorizing a vibrant sampling culture forever, for better or worse.)

― donut christ (donut), Sunday, 23 January 2005 21:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Is that a piano on "Atliens"? I think there's one there.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 23 January 2005 23:00 (twenty-one years ago)

The 2 Ahmad Jamal classics: Nas "The World Is yours" and Common "Resurrection"

Kool G Rap's "Road to the Riches = Billy Joel piano from "Stiletto"

Also G Rap's "Ill Street Blues" = piano from Joe Williams joint

― Jay Smooth (jsmooth995), Sunday, 23 January 2005 23:05 (twenty-one years ago)

motherfuckin MY BLOCK - scarface

― jake b. (cerybut), Sunday, 23 January 2005 23:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Raekwon - Ice Cream
Cypress hill - prelude to a come-up

― Seuss, Monday, 24 January 2005 00:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Blackstreet, "No Diggety"

― j.lu (j.lu), Monday, 24 January 2005 01:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Gang Starr - Work

― d-g, Monday, 24 January 2005 12:03 (twenty-one years ago)

"Would Mary J. Blige's "Real Love" count (is it really rap/hiphop?)"

nope, its R&B.

― ppp, Monday, 24 January 2005 12:16 (twenty-one years ago)

The little piano things in "Get Your Roll On" are great. And Mannie Fresh''s new song "Nothing Compares To Love" has some really cool little piano droplets in the chorus. Still Shook ONes Pt. 2 owns this thread. "Whats Ya Poison" from Murda Muzik has a bad ass piano loop.

How about Jeru The Damaja - "D Original" and "Brooklyn Took It"

― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Monday, 24 January 2005 13:25 (twenty-one years ago)

De La Soul 'Tread Water', 'Plug Tunin'
Buckshot Lefonque 'Breakfast At Denny's'
Gang Starr 'Jazz Thing' (the remix i don't know the name of but WANT BAD)

― Stevem On X (blueski), Monday, 24 January 2005 13:26 (twenty-one years ago)

2Pac - California Love

― Nick H (Nick H), Monday, 24 January 2005 14:25 (twenty-one years ago)

D Original's a great one

I don't have the CD w/ me right now but I still swear that "Shook Ones pt 2" is a guitar sample.

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Monday, 24 January 2005 15:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Dr Dre - Still Dre

(I think that's what it's called anyway)

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Monday, 24 January 2005 15:29 (twenty-one years ago)

If thats a guitar in Shook Ones Pt 2 thats the weirdest attack I've ever heard from a guitar.

― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Monday, 24 January 2005 16:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Well unless thats really a REAL guitar on Eve - "Let Me Blow Ya Mind"

― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Monday, 24 January 2005 16:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Run DMC's "Papa Crazy" has an awesome piano part, and I think quite a bit of their "Tougher Than Leather" album might feature piano. "Ragtime" perhaps?

― Patrick Allan (adr), Monday, 24 January 2005 17:53 (twenty-one years ago)

3 seriously heavy piano riffs:
Snoop Doggy Dogg "G's and Hustlers"
Schooly D "Another Poem"
Mark B and Blade "Ya Don't See The Signs" (LP version)

― neil tacus (tacit), Monday, 24 January 2005 19:16 (twenty-one years ago)

ODB - Shimmy Shimmy Yo

― Huk-L, Monday, 24 January 2005 19:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Boogie Down Productions - The Bridge Is Over

― Hans Veneman (veneman), Monday, 24 January 2005 19:53 (twenty-one years ago)

damn it feels good to be a gangsta

― dave q (listerine), Monday, 24 January 2005 19:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Cam'ron - "Hey Ma"

― Stagger Lee, Tuesday, 25 January 2005 02:22 (twenty-one years ago)

'Funk' by The Coup

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Tuesday, 25 January 2005 03:00 (twenty-one years ago)

To add the Nas list on this thread, how about his "NY State Of Mind"? It's got one piano note recurring.

― Nick H (Nick H), Saturday, 29 January 2005 11:42 (twenty-one years ago)

From top of head:

Nas: I Can
ODB: Shimmy Shimmy Ya
Sole: Teepee On A Highway Blues
Jay-Z: Hard Knock Life
2pac: Ain't Mad Atcha
De La Soul: View
Handsome Boy Modeling School: The Truth
Neneh Cherry: Sassy

― Jay-Kid (Jay-Kid), Saturday, 29 January 2005 12:12 (twenty-one years ago)

"Stay Positive" - The Streets

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Saturday, 29 January 2005 16:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Does Blackstreet's "No Diggity" count as hip-hop? If so, that.

― Nick H (Nick H), Saturday, 29 January 2005 16:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Nas - "Doo Rags" (beautifully melancholic)
Cam'ron - "Harlem Streets" (samples the Hill Street Blues theme!)

― JoB (JoB), Saturday, 29 January 2005 17:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Ghostface - "It's Over"

― Matt Chesnut, Saturday, 29 January 2005 18:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Does "Still DRE" sample "Sing" by Blur? It sure as hell sounds like it does.

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Saturday, 29 January 2005 18:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Kardinal Offishall - "UR Ghetto 2002"

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Saturday, 29 January 2005 23:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Basically anything by Mobb Deep.

― ben welsh (benwelsh), Sunday, 30 January 2005 05:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Infamous Mobb - "War"

This is definitely a classic Havoc piano beat.

― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Sunday, 30 January 2005 07:03 (twenty-one years ago)

And the pretty little piano breakdown in Three-6 Mafia's "I'm Losin It" is excellent.

Has someone already mentioned Outkast - Chonkyfire ??

― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Sunday, 30 January 2005 07:05 (twenty-one years ago)

DITC - "Champagne thoughts"
Which also uses the same piano sample as Beatnuts - "Slam pit" tho neither is exactly melancholy. But it's a great piano sample.

GZA - "Fame" and Ghostface - "Ghost showers" both have this weird '92 house piano thing going on (tho in the case of Ghost showers, obviously it's the hook from "Sunshowers")

My favourite melancholy keyboard sample in hip hop is, I think, a rhodes, however, and it's the one used on Souls of Mischief - "Cabfare" which is utterly fantastic. Actually, the original track that the sample comes from is somewhere on Chaki's "Back to mine" but I couldn't figure out from the track listing what it actually is...

― Jacob (Jacob), Sunday, 30 January 2005 09:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Gonzales - Take Me To Broadway

― kit brash (kit brash), Sunday, 30 January 2005 11:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Atmosphere, "Abusing of the Rib"

― subgenius (subgenius), Monday, 31 January 2005 04:50 (twenty-one years ago)

MC Eiht - "Streiht Up Menace"

great piano solo in that song as well as the loop

― Mike O. (Mike Ouderkirk), Monday, 31 January 2005 05:16 (twenty-one years ago)

two months pass...

check tragedy, khadafi, nas and noreaga - "calm down", on steadybootleggin.blogspot.com today

― jermaine (jnoble), Friday, 1 April 2005 20:13 (twenty-one years ago)

vik vaughn - "let me watch" best use of piano in a hip hop song EVER

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Friday, 1 April 2005 20:35 (twenty-one years ago)

what about that terrible nellie mckay "rap"?

― southern lights, Friday, 1 April 2005 20:43 (twenty-one years ago)

"Everything's Gonna Be Alright" - Naughty By Nature

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Friday, 1 April 2005 20:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Ben Folds - Bitches Ain't Shit

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Friday, 1 April 2005 20:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Word up to firstworldman on "Let Me Watch". And that little guitar in there is amazing too. Such a sad beat.

― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Saturday, 2 April 2005 06:12 (twenty-one years ago)

The piano in Jaylib's "The Red" is fucking insane. If you listen to it - the way it kind of drags behind the beat a little - it makes the song sound like its constantly slowing down. One of the coolest things I've ever heard in music.

― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Saturday, 2 April 2005 06:24 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

GhostFace Killah - All that i got is you. ft Mary J Blige - Def worth checkin out

― NickyJ, Friday, 28 April 2006 22:35 (twenty years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.