Nintendo was founded as a multinational corporation in Japan 122 year go. Today the company is one of the most powerful in the gaming industry–well recognized both in and out of gaming circles. And the hip hop industry–with its proclivity to name-drop brands — has been dicing Nintendo into its lyrics and beats for years (check out this track off Wiz Khalifa's Kush & Orange Juice that samples Super Nintendo video game Chrono Trigger). But not every rapper is as successful as Wiz, and some of the resulting nerd-homages are the weirdest of these prolific rappers' careers.
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5. “Diamond in the Back” — Ludacris
The song and Nintendo reference are pretty forgettable — “No more blowin' Nintendo cartridges” — but we can't say the same about Luda's 'do.
4. “Get Money” — Notorious B.I.G. ft. Lil' Kim
We love '90s nostalgia, and no rapper better reps the decade than B.I.G. Remember back when Biggie showed bitches what's what? (“You wanna sip Moe' on my living room floor play Nintendo with Ceas and Nino/pick up my phone say 'Poppa not home'/sex all night mad head in the morn”) Back when music videos used one defective strobe light to depict a party and paparazzi? And most importantly, back when Lil' Kim looked a little more … human?
3.“Love the Way You Lie” — Eminem ft. Rihanna
While this chart-topping single that indulges both Rihanna and Eminem's unhealthy relationship habits still makes us uneasy, the oft less-than-stellar lyrics remain on repeat on radio airwaves — “You don't get another chance, life is no Nintendo game/ But you lied again, now you get to watch her leave out the window/ Guess that's why they call it window pane.”
2. Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto — Snoop Dogg
Thanks to devious minds behind The Smoking Gun, we're well acquainted with Snoop's love of Sony Playstation. The affection extends to other gaming platfoms on “Claus” — “I want a Super Nintendo … yeah, Sega Genesis, yeah, Street Fighter 2, all these games…” Word, Snoop. And though it's hard to imagine Doggy Dogg celebrating any other holiday but 4/20, the rapper's rhymes are poignant — “Tell me, tell me, where do the homies and bums got to sleep? {Nowhere}/Where do hungry and the needy-greedy's got to eat? {But who cares?}/Life is so crucial and cold, [it's worse] for the children”. But, of course, it ain't a Snoop song if there isn't a party in the middle — “'Cause those who ain't able get it now can finally get it/'Cause the ghetto Santa Claus has sprinkled the hood and now we ballin.'”
1. “Digital Girl” — Jaime Foxx Feat Kanye West, Drake and The Dream
This isn't just the weirdest song with “Nintendo” in the lyrics (Drake: “We can work it out no Nintendo”) — it's the weirdest song ever. Digital lovin' — despite match.com's best efforts — still isn't considered a hip thing that hordes of youngsters participate in. Still, you'd hope with so much talent in one song that the resulting track would at least be tolerable. No such luck — the video, with garish, overwrought snapshots of glittering babes posing and caressing themselves — can't distract from the terrible lyrics, which must seriously be some of the worst ones ever written. Drake spits “I told her even Photoshop couldn't change me” and Jaime Foxx croons “Even though I hate this distance/It keeps me persistent/ One day I'll have your ass in the kitchen” — we doubt that, Jaime.
