Hip Hop Loves Muhammad Ali
Take a look back at some prominent Ali shout-outs on wax.
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Hip Hop Loves Muhammad Ali - Happy birthday, Muhammad Ali! The greatest of all time turned 70 today, January 17. With his brash self-confidence, outspoken political stands and hilarious trash-talking couplets — an early progenitor to rap — the champ has long been a hero to the hip hop community. Here, we take a look back at some prominent Ali shout-outs on wax. Rumble, young man, rumble. (Photo: Central Press/Getty Images)
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Will Smith, "Getting Jiggy With It" - Before he played Ali in a biopic years later, Will Smith used the champ — who famously said that he was "the greatest" — to big himself up on his 1998 hit "Getting Jiggy With It":No love for the haters Mad 'cause I got floor seats at the Lakers See me on the 50-yard line with the Raiders Met Ali he told me I'm the greatest (Photo: REUTERS/Max Nash/POOL /Landov)
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Gang Starr feat. Nice N Smooth, "Dwyck" - Ali's swag is so strong that sometimes rappers say his name just cause it sounds good — even it doesn't make sense. Take Greg Nice on the Gang Starr classic "Dwyck":Oooh-la-la, ah oui oui I say Muhammad Ali You say Cassius Clay I say butter, you say Parkay(Photo: Courtesy Columbia/SME Records)
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EPMD, "You're a Customer" - Sometimes rappers even lift Ali's words wholesale. On EMPD's 1988 banger "You're a Customer," Erick Sermon jacks one of Ali's most well-known boasts:Because I float like a butterfly, sting like a bee You know, I'm the E of EPMD (Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images)
Photo By Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images for Vh1
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Juelz Santana, "Rumble Young Man Rumble" - Juelz stepped into the ring with this rambunctious 2005 heater named after Muhammad Ali's well-known rallying cry. (Photo: Courtesy Def Jam Records)
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Master P, "Whole Hood" - Mr. Bout It Bout It used Ali as an inspirational example in his 2005 song "Whole Hood":Be all you can be, be the greatestLike Muhammad Ali, make 'em love you when they haters (Photo: David Livingston/Getty Images)
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Drake, "Underground Kings" - "I'm the greatest — I said that before I knew I was," Ali once explained, and Drake got the message on "Underground Kings," lifting the champ word-for-word:I swear, it's been two years since somebody asked me who I wasI'm the greatest man, I said that before I knew I was (Photo: Jeff Daly/PictureGroup)
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Sugar Hill Gang, "Rapper's Delite" - Hip hop's obsession with Ali is nothing new — back in 1979, on Sugar Hill Gang's genre-defining "Rapper's Delight," Big Bank Hank boasted:Ya see I'm six-foot-one and I'm tons of funAnd I dress to a TYa see I got more clothes than Muhammad Ali And I dress so viciously (Photo: George De Sota/Getty Images)
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50 Cent, "Many Men" - Fif borrowed a little of Ali's swagger to go for the title on "Many Men":When I rhyme, something special happens every timeI'm the greatest, something like Ali in his prime(Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images)
Photo By Al Bello/Getty Images
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Lupe Fiasco, "Till I Get There" - Lupe, pound-for-pound one of the best rappers out there, spits an extended riff on Ali and one of his most famous couplets on last year's "Till I Get There":The truth stings like Muhammad AliI tell 'em tell 'em don't homicide meI just a little old hope with his back against the ropesFighting for his fans and fighting for his folksBut the boos from the crowd they become so loudIf I could block em out then, I could knock em out thenDance around the ring, but until then I'll sing(Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
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