Nowadays the lines are becoming blurred as to who is a rapper and who is a singer. Not only are genres being bent in different directions, so that it's not uncommon to find an EDM influence (or folk, if it's Yelawolf) in a rap song and vice versa, but vocals are being bent in every which way as well. Rappers are experimenting with flows and voices, like Kendrick Lamar, and they're also pushing the boundaries when it comes to being a singer. You do not need to be classically trained in order to hit the high notes any more, chances are you just need a touch of auto-tune, and even some artists manage without that. With the landscape of what rap sounds like changing, we're taking a look at the artists who are at the helm. There are many rappers who've tried out singing, even Kanye West did a full album with this style, but which rappers have truly called it their own? Click through the galleries up top to find out the 10 hottest rappers (right now) that are giving us those sing-song raps.
Post Malone
Post Malone is doing a whole lot with not a whole lot out. The artist popped up seemingly out of nowhere with his biggest song yet, “White Iverson,” and quickly gained co-signs from just about everyone you’d want a co-sign from (well, not Drake just yet, but we imagine that’ll be coming). While a lot of artists have adopted a Southern slur and style, Post is actually Texas born-and-raised so it’s not so surprising that he’s got this chopped & screwed feel to most of his songs. He’s definitely not the first rapper to sing his verses, however he does it so incredibly well (and it’s all without the assistance of auto-tune, which is perhaps why he doesn’t catch as much hate for it as say, Rich Homie Quan and/or Young Thug). There are only four songs on his Soundcloud, however those four are really all you need to get familiar with Post (but: please drop more). Given his laid-back drawl and melancholy production mainly handled by FKi, if you didn’t listen to the words you’d probably think Post was super emo. However even with this sombre attitude, “White Iverson” is surprisingly braggadocio. The leak that followed it, titled “Tears,” follows in the same formula— down-trodden-yet-uplifting. Post brags about wiping his tears with dollar bills. “Too Young,” the most recent leak to have sent the internet in a tizzy, actually lives up to its sad sound; but even while he’s rapping about not wanting to die, he’s still big upping all the cash he pulls in. There’s this standing contrast between his sound and his lyrics which makes him all that more exciting.
Fetty Wap
Fetty Wap’s Drake co-sign was locked in the other day, and so it’s safe he’ll blow up in a matter of minutes/hours/days. It’s still probable Fetty Wap would have blown up of his own accord, with “Trap Queen” already platinum. He ear-wormed his way into the rap game with his sing-song lyrics about his trap queen, prompting ladies everywhere to attempt to gain trap queen status (and probably prompting men to find their own). Unlike Post Malone, Fetty Wap’s Soundcloud is littered, even overloaded, with songs, both from himself, his Remy Boyz crew, and other random features he’s done. Fetty previously said in interview he wasn’t always singing, however it’s hard to say if he’d have gotten to where he is today by being just another rappin’ rapper. His wobbly vocals are easily stuck in your head, especially the tag he seems to append to most of his songs, “1738,” and that “Yeaaahhhhh” ad-lib. You could probably even hear Fetty’s voice in your head when you read that. Fetty is another singing-rapper who doesn’t really need auto-tune to get by, and while he may not be a ‘singer’s singer,’ in the current rapscape, all we need is a unique voice and some great melody which is what Fetty provides.
All this sing-rapping as a trend could possibly be traced back to Future, at least in its auto-tune form. Obviously Drake had a hand in things too, but Future helped make it -the thing- for Atlanta artists. Unlike Fetty Wap, who says at first he was just rapping regularly, Future seems to have been doing the auto-tune singing since the beginning. With eleven mixtapes under his belt, you can see the progression starting first with 1000 up until his present day release 56 Nights— if one thing hasn’t changed, it’s Future’s scratchy auto-tuned vocals. “Tony Montana” was obviously the hit that maneuvered Future into our lives, and similar to Fetty Wap, it was soon blessed with that Drake remix co-sign. With the abundance of sing-song-rappers, we also get an abundance of hook-masters. Future is definitely one of those dudes, and he’s perhaps in the top-tier of them. Just thinking of the words “Tony Montana” and I start breaking out into song (in my head). While Future does adopt some sort of melody most of the time, he still uses his raspy vocals without it too much success as well, like in “Move That Dope” and “Same Damn Time.” He’s among the era of rappers who sing but absolutely cannot sing, but yet when they sing, it sounds so damn good. He could very well be the godfather of it. And while new faces and artists have come into play, Future is still one of the hottest to do it.
Rich Homie Quan/Young Thug
We’re going to go ahead and group Rich Homie Quan and Young Thug together for this one, although they’re not so buddy-buddy anymore, they are basically the same person (jokes). Both of these ATLiens came up right under the tutelage of ear-worm king Future, and have since adopted the style and ran with it. Both artists have those throaty vocals (to a lesser extent than Future, though), and use auto-tune to assist their off-kilter melodies. Rich Homie has been doing the auto-tune singing since he first started going in on every song (literally, his mixtape, I Go In On Every Song). However he didn’t get rap phenom status and the accolades that come with it until his “Type of Way” single started circulating in a major way. And hey, what do you know, Drake gave him a co-sign too. Thugger’s similarities with RHQ undoubtedly made it easy for them to team up together, however before that happened, Thug found success on the internet with his own single “Stoner,” quickly followed (or preceded?) by “Danny Glover.” Thug took Future’s style to the next level, making auto-tuned raps seemingly out of mumbled words. Despite not being able to understand most of the lyrics, the harmony was there, ensuring it would haunt you for the better part of your day. Part of the success with any of these rappers on this list is obviously due to the production—the right trap-driven-yet-jingly beat can do wonders for a singing-rapper’s big break. Even more so if the raps are incomprehensible, you at least need something to nod your head too, and Thugga found the perfect formula for that.
Drake
We had to give Drake a look in here. The rapper might not do the Atlanta-style of auto-tuned sing-rapping, but he’s definitely figured out the fine line between singing, rapping, and doing both at the same damn time. This dates back to his mixtapes days with his first really big record, “Best I Ever Had,” and the one that followed, “Successful.” It was 2009, before the style became the go-to for internet/Soundcloud rappers everywhere. Drake has since worked on his singing vocals quite a bit and released the full-out-singing “Just Hold On We’re Going Home” to the shock of his #bars-loving fans. Nonetheless he was ahead of the curve to find a way of doubling as an r’n’b hook killer and a rap star. Who needs a legitimate r’n’b singer anymore when you can create a little harmony all on your own? Since becoming the worldwide famous rapper that he is, he’s co-signed almost every singing-rapper on their way up, as we’ve documented in this list. Perhaps he feels an obligation as the father of most of them (unlike Future, who doesn’t seem to co-sign any of them).
Kevin Gates
Kevin Gates is another Southern rapper doing it big with warped vocals. He has a tendency to make his vocals go up and down, so you’re never too sure what the next line will bring, it could be a very deep groan or something more high-pitched. Similar to the other sing-song-rappers on this list, Gates has a developed a loyal cult-like following, and on that note, it also seems to be a love/hate thing (it definitely seems that these sort of artists invoke very strong sentiments from their listeners). Although he was on the mixtape circuit for a while, it wasn’t until he really started taking it seriously that his name also started buzzing. The Luca Brasi Story was the project which really gave his name weight, and showed off that wobbly flow he does so well. Unlike the mumble-rappers who are hard to actually understand, Gates lyrics are a big part of his style and who he is. He often weaves in personal anecdotes, and tales of street life in his music. He’ll also inject a lot of emotion into his voice and lyrics, giving his singing-rap vocals that much more impact, as you can hear his pain behind it (unlike someone like Post Malone, who might sound emotional but is actually rapping about how fly he is).
Chance The Rapper can get pretty experimental with his flow and style, so he’s not always going to be singing his raps, but you’ll definitely catch him doing that every now and then. Unlike other artists on this list, such as Kevin Gates and RHQ, Chance didn’t spend a lengthy amount of time dropping mixtapes before getting his break. It came much easier to him (at least on the surface level), after dropping his first project 10 Days, he dropped Acid Rap, and quickly after catapulted to rap fame. Acid Rap embodies Chance’s style, you’ll find a variation of flows and a mix of singing, rapping, and the fusion of both together. Actually, the “Good Ass Intro” off that mixtape embodies all this in one song. Chance uses his squeaky voice to play around with harmonies and in so doing finesses his way into your mind (which is the thing about these singing-rappers). Singing-rappers know no geographic borders, you don’t need to be from Atlanta or from Toronto to make it work, Chance is from Chi-town. He even has his crew in on the movement. Towkio of Save Money dropped off his .wav theory mixtape the other week, and it was filled with singing, albeit over much more dance-y beats.
ILoveMakonnen
Yep, yet another off-pitch singer/rapper that Drake gave his almighty remix co-sign too. He actually did more than that, as you very well know, he signed iLoveMakonnen to his OVO imprint. For most, this artist was pretty unknown prior to his “Tuesday” song getting remixed by Drake. He was definitely bubbling below the surface, and most likely in his native Atlanta, but all that quickly changed after inking with OVO. He’s since become an in-demand artist for hooks and verses alike. He re-released the project on which “Tuesday” was initially featured, ILoveMakonnen, as a commercial release. ILoveMakonnen is filled with “Tuesday”-like records, meaning the hooks play a big part on the strength of these cuts, from “Sarah” to his second hit, “I Don’t Sell Molly No More.” It’s actually pretty difficult to really categorize Makonnen— should he just be labeled a singer or a singing-rapper, or a rapper? We’re choosing to group him with these fellow singing-rappers because while he maintains melodies, he has a certain way of singing that’s more like a rapper’s flow (and, obviously, he’s not a classically-trained singer by any degree of the imagination). Makonnen often switches his vocals from a falsetto-like pitch to something on a lower register, and he does all this waviness without the use of auto-tune.
Tory Lanez
Tory Lanez is more so a legitimate singer and a legitimate rapper, but he plays around with both things so much, and he’s definitely increasing in buzz, so it only seemed right to put him on here. We’ve seen Tory evolve as an artist right before our eyes, and he’s managed to successfully foray into r’n’b territory while still maintaining his rap credibility. We won’t say his style is like Drake, but he’s like Drake in that he’s got fans who only want to hear the hardest of bars from him and he’s got fans who truly love when he decides to sing. Unlike some of the artists on this list, Tory doesn’t just sing his raps, he raps his raps, he sings as necessary, and then he'll dabble in more drawn-out sung raps. Whatever he chooses to do, he does it without assistance of any voice-altering tool. Tory will often start off a song on an r’n’b tip and end it on a rappity-rap tip, or vice versa, giving fans the best of both worlds—that could really be the appeal of singing-rappers in the first place, they cater to two needs at once.
K Camp
K Camp is yet another Atlanta artist to grace this list, and he too got big off a melodic hook thanks to "Cut Her Off." K Camp makes less ear-wormy music than the likes of Young Thug and Future, he's a bit more traditional when it comes to production in that regard. However, his mixtapes are filled with sung hooks, while the rest of the time he spends spitting. He's also got that very audible Southern twang that sets him apart from the pack. It's sort of like if T.I. started singing his hooks. It's true that Camp's buzz has died down a bit since "Cut Her Off" freestyles flooded the net (and "Lil Bit" too), however he's definitely a cultivator of the sung-rap style and he manages to do it in a markedly different way than most artists on this list. We've seen a few artists loose some 'street cred' when they adopt this style, however Camp maintains a certain street element while still giving us the harmonies our ears fiend for.