Country Rap

A fusion of Hip Hop and Country Music.

This fusion has been traced back to before Hip Hop was even invented, as a lot of blues and country artists displayed vocal styles which were similar to rapping. One journalist traced the origins of Country Rap to Woody Guthrie.

Hip Hop and Country music have been fused in different variations since the 1980s - one of the more notable early efforts is The Beastie Boys sampling from the Deliverance soundtrack on their 1989 album Paul's Boutique. Some modern Country artists have incorporated Hip Hop influences into their music, and collaborated with popular rappers, and there are also artists devoted primarily or solely to Country Rap fusions.

Despite what some wits may say, "crap" is not the official name for this genre.


 * The Bellamy Brothers' 1987 single "Country Rap," which coincidentally shares its name with this trope. The song just missed the top 30 of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, and was just one way brothers Howard and David experimented with other styles and genres in their music; for instance, "Get into Reggae Cowboy" -- which used (guess what, reggae) as its main beat -- became a top 20 country hit in 1982.
 * Boondox
 * Bubba Sparxxx
 * Colt Ford
 * Cowboy Troy
 * Nappy Roots
 * Everlast dabbles in this genre sometimes. A recent album included a cover of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues", which incorporated Hip Hop samples and scratching, including the beat from Cypress Hill's "Insane in the Brain".
 * Kid Rock mixed this with other fusions.
 * Country singer Neal McCoy recorded a hip-hop version of the The Beverly Hillbillies theme song for The Movie.
 * Stitch Mouth
 * Snoop Dogg recorded a Country Rap called "My Medicine". It featured guest vocals by Willie Nelson and production by Everlast.
 * Played for Laughs on the Bellamy Brothers song "Country Rap", which fuses stereotypical country lyrics with common late-80s perceptions of rap.
 * Toby Keith's singles "Getcha Some" and "I Wanna Talk About Me" are examples, keeping country instrumentation but using quick, spoken lyrics.
 * Jason Aldean's "Dirt Road Anthem" is a cover of a song co-written by Colt Ford. Yes, it keeps the rap part intact. And Jason took it to the extreme by remixing it with Ludacris.
 * While not a direct example, Montgomery Gentry's "If You Ever Stop Loving Me" has a turntable scratch in it.
 * Some people argue that Charlie Daniels' "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" was the first rap song. Think about it.