10 Great Rap Songs About Money – Pitchfork

According to the Notorious B.I.G.’s iconic “Things Done Changed” lyric, there were only two ways for a kid from the hood to get paid: “Either you’re slingin’ crack rock or you got a wicked jump shot.” The irony is that as B.I.G. was laying this somewhat fatalistic verse down, he was in the midst of popularizing a third path to the paper—becoming a rap star.

Biggie’s meditations on money are legendary and also part of a larger tradition in hip-hop. Since its inception, rap has always had money on its collective mind. The accumulation of wealth and aspirational living are central themes in rap because, of course, it’s the music of America’s marginalized communities. When it comes to money, those who don’t have it will dream about it. And those who do have it will brag about it—especially if they just got it. But what might sound like flaunting and taunting on the surface is also a celebration of a success against the odds.

Rapping about money isn’t itself new or novel but the ways in which rappers wax poetic about paper are. Here are ten songs from then and now that took talking about the power of the dollar to new heights.

Wu-Tang Clan – “C.R.E.A.M.”

The acronym “C.R.E.A.M.”—“cash rules everything around me”—was coined by Wu-Tang affiliate Raider Ruckus. And thanks to the stickiness of Method Man’s hook and the popularity of the track, “C.R.E.A.M.” became one of the most beloved slang terms for money popular culture has ever seen. Autobiographical verses from Raekwon the Chef and Inspectah Deck take us from their hardscrabble childhoods to ups and downs of a lucrative yet fraught drug game—including violence and getting locked up. It’s an unfiltered warning to shorties about the realities of the paper chase from the elder Shaolin statesmen who experienced how cash rules firsthand. Take heed.

Gang Starr – “All For Tha Ca$h”

The depths people will sink to for a quick buck are incredible, and on this Gang Starr gem, Guru lays out a perfect example of how get-rich-quick schemes can go south quickly. The story starts with a treacherous woman who is dating a baller—but she’s not in it for love, she’s in it for his money. What transpires is a tale of seduction, betrayal, and ultimately murder, all sparked by greed.

Kendrick Lamar – “Money Trees” [ft. Jay Rock]

“Money trees is the perfect place for shade.” That’s just how Kendrick Lamar feels on this standout track from good kid, m.A.A.d city. The man who was once a Compton kid on public assistance with “dreams of living life like rappers do” is now the rich rapper other kids dream about living like. But on the track, he remembers the days when getting paid involved breaking into houses for a quick come-up. He talks about how money or the lack of it cast its shadow over his young life. K Dot’s Black Hippy homie, Jay Rock, jumps in to reinforce the theme, rapping about life as a gangbanger in Watts’ Nickerson Gardens, eating government cheese and cooking crack to survive as he dreams himself of “getting shaded under a money tree.”

Gangsta Boo – “Where Dem Dollas At?” [ft. DJ Paul and Juicy J]

Broke boys beware: Three 6 Mafia’s first lady Gangsta Boo is strictly about her business. On her 1998 single “Where Dem Dollas At?,” she poses the question to potential suitors and chastises women who would let opportunistic men get over on them. In her world, there is no romance without finance because she is “not the fucking one to be looking sad and broke” with “no nigga to fuck with” and “no weed to smoke.” Come correct or don’t come at all.

Eric B. & Rakim – “Paid in Full”

On Eric B. & Rakim’s landmark 1987 single, “Paid in Full,” Rakim recounts his own evolution from a streetwise stick-up kid to a righteous rap artist. In a single coolly delivered verse over the bassline from Dennis Edwards’ “Don’t Look Any Further,” the God MC details his choice of rhymes over crimes. And while Rakim briefly entertains the idea of a 9-to-5 gig as an option, for him nothing matches the satisfaction of digging into his book of rhymes and recording a jam that would shake the streets of New York City— and that he did.

Boogie Down Productions – “Love’s Gonna Get’cha (Material Love)”

Money means everything to you when you don’t have it. But there are consequences to the blind pursuit of it. In this cautionary tale, KRS tells the story of a poor kid who is looking to provide for his family during the crack epidemic of the 1980s. Our protagonist gets put on by his ’round-the-way role model, the neighborhood drug dealer. Soon he’s able to afford the luxuries he never had and support his family. But as his stock rises in the streets, the same dealer he once called his “man” becomes his competition and then nemesis. When a violent war between the rival crews breaks out, it results in a tragedy that leads KRS’s character to question whether the fast money was really worth it.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony – “Foe Tha Love of $”

On their debut EP’s second single, Cleveland rap clique Bone Thugs-N-Harmony shows love to the hustlers, spitting double-time bars about the everyday “mission for money.” The Midwest had a group they could champion and rap fans from outside the region identified with the sentiment of the song, as it authentically describes the mindset of hustling in the hood for a living. Though the lingo and flow differed from the popular East and West Coast rap records at the time, its catchy hook resonated with rap fans to give it nationwide appeal. (A guest verse from Ruthless Records’ boss Eazy-E didn’t hurt either.)

Junior M.A.F.I.A. – “Get Money” [ft. Notorious B.I.G.]

“Damn, why she wanna stick me for my paper?” On Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s single “Get Money,” Biggie and Lil’ Kim engage in a battle of the sexes that’s as much about hurt feelings as it is about material items. Biggie contends that the woman he put his trust in was only getting in his bed for the bread, telling a tale of woe that explains why he’s jaded about love. For her verse, Kim counters by putting the conniving men in her life on blast, letting them know that she’s done with “the games and the lies” and that she would “rather count a million while you eat my pussy.” That empowered “money over men” mentality sounds familiar it’s because you can find traces of Lil’ Kim’s philosophy in the music of today’s women rappers like the queen Nicki herself and up-and-comers like Megan Thee Stallion.

Lil Wayne – “Money on My Mind”

The “self-made millionaire” Lil Wayne borrows the chorus from the aforementioned “Get Money” on this Carter II cut, making the case for “money over bitches” with a barrage of cash-centric bars. He boasts, “I got my hand on the game, yeah, I make a grip/Hundred grand in my fist, same on my wrist,” and adds on about how his love of money “developed at a young age.” Lil Weezy been focused on his finances because when it comes to money, he “can’t get enough, baby.”

Playboi Carti – “Broke Boi”

2015’s “Broke Boi” is the song that catapulted Playboi Carti from SoundCloud to stardom, and for many it was an introduction to his Atlanta-bred style where words were secondary to repetition and rhythm. Topically there’s nothing too complicated here, it’s really just a pre-AWGE Carti flexing. He talks about “running up the check” at upscale spots in Atlanta like Lenox Square, whipping foreign cars, and blazing humongous blunts. The “broke boys” in question are faux hustlers who get hustled themselves—the types of squares not allowed in his circle.