Long before nerdcore MCs established a niche by name-checking gear as geeky as the Commodore 64, hip hop artists were stocking their rhymes with more gadgets than a Best Buy. We submit: Back in 1988, Ice Cube bragged about his "little bit of gold and a pager" in N.W.A.'s "Fuck Tha Police." In 1991, De La Soul screened booty calls via answering machine in "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)." In 1998, Tupac claimed that his foes were jealous of his mobile phone in "Changes." And there's plenty more where that came from. Test your street cred by selecting the right device to complete the lyrics below.
Drop the right product into the rhyme.
1 // "The 'S' in ??? really stands for sex / Beeper's goin off like Don Trump gets checks"
"Skypager," A Tribe Called Quest (1991)
2 // "Tearin' up my coupe lookin' for the chronic / Goddamn, nobody got a ??? "
"Who Got the Camera," Ice Cube (1992)
3 // "Only way to roll, Jigga and two ladies / I'm too cold, ??? two-way page me, c'mon"
"I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)," Jay-Z (2000)
4 // "Last month I spent two weeks on a vacation / I had a dream that I was inside of my ??? "
"Rap 2k1," Masta Ace (2001)
5 // "Daddy need Pirellis to look mean on 22s / Stash box, ??? , laptop, fax machine, phone / Bulletproof this bitch and I'm gone"
"High All the Time," 50 Cent (2003)
6 // "Out the country but the ??? still connect"
"Encore," Jay-Z (2003)
7 // "Meth Man's left hand ??? / Def Jam's employee of the month, now let's dance"
"Let's Do It," Method Man featuring Redman (2004)
8 // "Put away change for Ibiza / And check your credit on your new ??? "
Untitled, M.I.A. (2005)
9 // "Befo' Steve Jobs made the ??? / Was getting head, jobs, we call that intimate"
"The Prelude," Jay-Z (2006)
10 // "When his majesty speaks, speech defy gravity / ??? nigga but I don't have any cavities"
"Hold Up," P. Diddy (2006)
11 // "I'm cool, I'm cool, Westside representative / All me, no ghost no 16-bit like ??? "
"Go Go Gadget Flow," Lupe Fiasco (2007)
12 // "Pulled out the ??? is on deck / So much ice hanging off my neck"
"Sidekick," Soulja Boy (2007)
Roll Over the ??? to reveal the answers.
| Track 1 // SkyPage (L)'" onmouseout="this.innerHTML = 'Track 1 // ???'">Track 1 // ??? |
Track 2 // Panasonic (H)'" onmouseout="this.innerHTML = 'Track 2 // ???'">Track 2 // ??? |
Track 3 // Motorola (F)'" onmouseout="this.innerHTML = 'Track 3 // ???'">Track 3 // ??? |
Track 4 // PlayStation (I)'" onmouseout="this.innerHTML = 'Track 4 // ???'">Track 4 // ??? |
Track 5 // Xbox (K)'" onmouseout="this.innerHTML = 'Track 5 // ???'">Track 5 // ??? |
Track 6 // Blue Berry (G)'" onmouseout="this.innerHTML = 'Track 6 // ???'">Track 6 // ??? |
| Track 7 // Gameboy Advance (B)'" onmouseout="this.innerHTML = 'Track 7 // ???'">Track 7 // ??? |
Track 8 // Nokia (E)'" onmouseout="this.innerHTML = 'Track 8 // ???'">Track 8 // ??? |
Track 9 // iPod (C)'" onmouseout="this.innerHTML = 'Track 9 // ???'">Track 9 // ??? |
Track 10 // Bluetooth (A)'" onmouseout="this.innerHTML = 'Track 10 // ???'">Track 10 // ??? |
Track 11 // Sega Genesis (D)'" onmouseout="this.innerHTML = 'Track 11 // ???'">Track 11 // ??? |
Track 12 // Sidekick 3 (J)'" onmouseout="this.innerHTML = 'Track 12 // ???'">Track 12 // ??? |
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