Hip Hop Loves Muhammad Ali

Take a look back at some prominent Ali shout-outs on wax.

World Heavyweight Champion - Never short on confidence, Clay had earned the nickname, "The Louisville Lip.” In 1964, the 22-year-old backed up his big talk and defeated Sonny Liston after six grueling rounds, becoming the world heavyweight champion. Upon his iconic win, the champion repeatedly yelled "I'm the greatest!" and "I shook up the world!"(Photo: Central Press/Getty Images)

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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)

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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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)

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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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

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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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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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)

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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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)

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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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)

Brotherly Love\r - Rapper 50 Cent stands in the ring as a line of support for friend Floyd Mayweather Jr. before Mayweather's victory over Victor Ortiz in their WBC welterweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (Photo: Al Bello/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

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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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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Hell Rell, "Family Ties" - Ali controversially refused to fight in the Vietnam war, which Dipset member Hell Rell referenced slickly on "Family Ties," a cut with Cam'Ron and 40 Cal from 2004's Diplomatic Immunity Vol. 2:And yo own mans don't acknowledge your G'Cause you ain't wanna go to war like Muhammad Ali  (Photo: Courtesy Interscope/ Myspace.com)

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Hell Rell, "Family Ties" - Ali controversially refused to fight in the Vietnam war, which Dipset member Hell Rell referenced slickly on "Family Ties," a cut with Cam'Ron and 40 Cal from 2004's Diplomatic Immunity Vol. 2:And yo own mans don't acknowledge your G'Cause you ain't wanna go to war like Muhammad Ali  (Photo: Courtesy Interscope/ Myspace.com)

Kanye West "Gorgeous" - One of this generation’s most controversial and outspoken figures, Kanye West also referenced Ali’s beef with the military. “Remind me when they tried to have Ali enlisted/If I ever wasn’t the greatest nigga I must’ve missed it.”(Photo by Mark Mainz/Getty Images)

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Kanye West "Gorgeous" - One of this generation’s most controversial and outspoken figures, Kanye West also referenced Ali’s beef with the military. “Remind me when they tried to have Ali enlisted/If I ever wasn’t the greatest nigga I must’ve missed it.”(Photo by Mark Mainz/Getty Images)

T.I., "No Matter What" - Tip's outspoken confidence has always recalled Ali in his prime, so it makes sense that he shouts out the champ on "No Matter What":I was born without a dimeOut the gutta I climbedSpoke my mindAnd didn't stutter one timeAli say even the greatest gotta suffer some time(Photo: Vince Bucci/PictureGroup)

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T.I., "No Matter What" - Tip's outspoken confidence has always recalled Ali in his prime, so it makes sense that he shouts out the champ on "No Matter What":I was born without a dimeOut the gutta I climbedSpoke my mindAnd didn't stutter one timeAli say even the greatest gotta suffer some time(Photo: Vince Bucci/PictureGroup)