Words: Mimi aka #TheWrestlingChic
There’s no better combination than hip-hop and pro wrestling: they go together like peanut butter and jelly. From Run DMC’s “Wrestlemania Rap” at Wrestlemania V to Lil Uzi Vert’s Nakamura-inspired single and Wrestlemania 39 performance with his smash hit single “I Just Wanna Rock,” the two cultures have always influenced one another. We’ve seen a number of examples of this, including Salt-N-Pepa rocking the crowd at WrestleMania XI with “Whatta Man,” John Cena spitting bars as the Dr. of Thugganomics, and The New Day and The Usos trading rhymes on SmackDown with Wale as the judge of their battle. These are just a few moments where the worlds have intertwined. Among the other remixes are Wyclef Jean performing “It Doesn’t Matter” with The Rock or Snoop Dogg hitting The Miz with the People’s Elbow, while R-Truth always raps his way to the ring. Priority Records released WWE’s Aggression, an all-rap soundtrack album for WWE in 2000 where hip-hop and music groups covered WWE Superstar entrance themes. It featured artists such as Ice-T, Meeno, and Method Man. The album went gold, selling over 500,000 copies, charting at number eight on the US Billboard 200. Oh Shoot!
Want to relive your favorite moments or discover some new ones? For your earphone pleasure, check out Sucio Boyz Podcast‘s co-host and Grammy-nominated songwriter Marty McFlyerThanYou and BRP’s Hip-Hop & Pro Wrestling: The Ultimate Showdowns playlist. You’ll want to throw an elbow and a microphone to these hip-hop/pro wrestling bangers.
“As I was reading the article,” Marty explains, “I started to get more curious about what songs could closely encapsulate the wrestlers and their hip-hop counterparts in the article. The juxtaposition of professional wrestling and hip-hop is fascinating in itself, but could make for an interesting playlist. This led to a couple days of revisiting classic albums and matches to see what I could come up with. Narrowing it down was the hardest part, but considering the careers of these wrestlers and the classics by the artist listed; I imagine the playlist expanding.” said the podcast co-host and songwriter.
“So many more amazing wrestlers and artists that have yet to be matched up; I see this only being the tip of the iceberg, and I look forward to more amazing articles. I’m grateful for this opportunity and to say I had fun would be an understatement.”
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Mimi aka #TheWrestlingChic co-hosts #TurnbuckleTalk every Tuesday at 6:35pm ET and also contributes to the Black Rasslin’ Podcast.