5 Rap Songs That Sparked Controversy

In hip-hop, if an artist is mainstream enough, and a song is provocative enough, a perfect storm of controversy could emerge, resulting in fiery discourse online, in the media, and sometimes even in the American justice system. Oftentimes, though, songs of this nature aren’t even made for the sake of upsetting listeners but are instead motivated by multiple factors such as social injustices, beef with other rappers, bizarre experiences with fame, or simply the essence of the artist being polarizing.

Instances like these have happened numerous times in the 50 years of hip-hop’s existence, and we decided to compile five of the most memorable songs that sparked widespread controversy. Here is our list.

“The Story of Adidon,” Pusha T (2018)

As a follow-up diss to Drake’s “Duppy Freestyle,” which was an initial reply to “Infrared” off Pusha T’s DAYTONA album (2018), “The Story of Adidon” saw Pusha go nuclear on the Toronto superstar. Addressing Drake’s family life, such as his broken home as a youth or his absence as a father for his newly-revealed son Adonis, Pusha levied shots that were hard to even conjure a response for, evident in the fact that Drake never issued a subsequent diss in song form.

“Fuck Tha Police,” N.W.A. (1988)

Depicted splendidly in N.W.A.’s 2015 biopic film Straight Outta Compton, one of their first singles as a group “Fuck Tha Police” proved to be a tangible threat to law enforcement. Inciting mayhem at shows and inspiring hip-hop audiences to gain a distrust of authority, N.W.A.’s 1986 track surely served its purpose of addressing the Black community’s plight regarding police brutality in the U.S.A.

“Stan,” Eminem (2000)

Early in his career, Eminem was known for crafting songs that presented an alternate reality where he was prone to violence and mayhem. However, some fans took this literally and began to send him letters in the mail with disturbing ideas and messages. In response to this, Eminem decided to release “Stan,” a song that tells of a fan of his who goes berserk after Em does not write him back, and decides to commit a murder-suicide.

While the song is not based on a true story, and its contents shocked the mainstream rap community, Em used “Stan” as a device to teach his fanbase what the effects could be of taking the purposeful exaggerations in his music too literally.

“We Want Some P***y,” 2 Live Crew (1986)

All throughout their career as a group, 2 Live Crew made a habit of stirring up controversy. This habit began with their 1986 debut album The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are, and particularly with its second song “We Want Some Pussy.” Involving sexually-driven, amusingly explicit diction, the song highlighted an LP full of boundary-pushing lyrics, meant for raucous club atmospheres.

The year after the album’s release, a store clerk in Florida was hit with felony charges for selling the vinyl to a minor, though he would later be acquitted.

“Anaconda,” Nicki Minaj (2014)

With its raunchy, jungle-theme music video, Nicki Minaj’s single “Anaconda” took over the world for a handful of weeks in 2014. Sampling Sir-Mix-a-Lot’s classic hit “Baby Got Back,” also an anthem for booty-shaking, the song saw Minaj flaunt her body and expose it in bold fashion in the visuals.

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