Comedy hip hop

"Weird Al" Yankovic has made parody tracks of popular hip hop songs since the 1990s. Another early example is with Southern California-based rapper Afroman, with his two well-known tracks "Crazy Rap" and "Because I Got High," both released in 2001, featuring comedic lyrics.

Throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, rappers including Eminem, Ludacris and Afroman gained popularity, as did rappers such as Hopsin.

The Lonely Island is an American comedy trio who released their first comedic rap song (Ka-Blamo!) in 2001. They rose to fame after joining Saturday Night Live in 2005 where they made many satirical songs that they described as "fake rap". One of their first videos to air "Lazy Sunday" became an internet sensation and was the first video to go viral on YouTube, garnering over 5 million views (before NBC took it down). The Lonely Island's brand is to make songs that sound macho but actually parody masculinity. They have collaborated with numerous mainstream artists including Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, and more. Their YouTube channel has exceeded 1 billion views, they are Grammy-nominated, their albums have charted on the Billboard Hot 100, and they've won an Emmy award for their song "Dick in a Box". Some of their most popular songs are "I'm on a Boat", "I Just Had Sex", "Jizz in My Pants", etc. Since leaving SNL, they have continued to make satirical albums and are currently still active.

In 2008, Odd Future members Tyler, the Creator and Jasper Dolphin released the sole EP under their short-lived comedy group name "I Smell Panties."[9] The duo utilized elements of gangsta rap and Southern hip hop in a comedic way when performing as I Smell Panties. Tyler then released a track in 2011 called "Come Through Looking Clean", a joke song performed under a character named "Young Nigga." [10] It's a parody of the "Bling Era" of mainstream hip hop that was popular during the 2000s and draws heavy inspiration from the music of Lil B. The Young Nigga character would later be re-used on various skits in the 2012 Adult Swim program Loiter Squad, which was created by and starred members of Odd Future. In February 2016, Tyler revealed that his 2011 breakout viral single "Yonkers" was made as a joke song attempting to parody the style of New York rappers (hence the title being named after the city of the same name).[11]

Michigan-based Internet celebrity and rapper Rucka Rucka Ali became famous in the late 2000s/early 2010s for creating pop song parodies (including parodies of popular hip hop songs) containing lyrics for shock value. He often includespolitically incorrect and juvenile references to ethnic stereotypes, topical subject matter, and dark humor. His music also tends to make use of comedic portrayals of celebrities and his several alter egos espouses stereotypical qualities of specific ethnic groups. Some critics have labeled Ali as a racist as a reaction to his songs, although his humor seems to be heavily influenced by mainstream comedy television shows, such as South Park, Family Guy, and Chappelle's Show, and has jokingly defended his brand of humor by claiming that he's affirming the stereotypes he's constantly referencing in his songs as factual.[12] His videos and YouTube channels are frequently removed (since he started creating music videos he has had 17 YouTube channels deleted for terms of service violations),[13] but are reuploaded by his fans.

Comedy hip hop song "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis break into charts across the globe in 2012.

In the mid-2010s, Ryan Harryman, a San Jose State University student and member of the school's water polo club team,[14] became a viral sensation on the Internet under the stage name "3PAC."[15] He was known for his self-produced music videos, bombastic and aggressive comedic rap songs, and diss tracks targeting mainstream rappers like Eminem and 2 Chainz,[16] as well as YouTube gaming channel PewDiePie.[17] 3PAC made a guest appearance on The New CALassic, a comedy hip hop mixtape performed by Internet music critic Anthony Fantano (under his "Cal Chuchesta" alter ego) that was released in August 2015.[18][19] Harryman died at the age of 24 in October 2015 after suffering severe brain damage during a water polo practice.[14]

In 2017, YouTube personality Filthy Frank released a music project titled Pink Season, the second album performed under the name "Pink Guy", with some songs poking fun at hip hop music as a whole, among other things. The track "Hand On My Gat" for example, features a character named PolitikZ that acts as a caricature for hardcore underground rappers;[20] that character's previous appearance was on the Filthy Frank video "BAD INTERNET RAPPERS" (uploaded in November 2014),[21] where he performed a song called "Real Hip Hop" that directly parodied the stereotypical anti-mainstream and politically charged attitudes of underground rappers.[22][23] The Pink Season album reached number one on the iTunes charts and peaked at 70 on the Billboard 200.[24]

In April 2018, Internet personality and music critic Anthony Fantano began releasing more satirical hip hop tracks under his Cal Chuchesta alter ego, releasing the tracks "Coin Star"[25] and "Don't Talk To Me."[26]

In the late 2010s, new artists in the genre such as Lil Dicky and Ugly God were also gaining popularity, helping the genre to maintain a substantial loyal following.