If you’re like me, you appreciate a side of humor with your hip-hop. Clever, witty and downright funny punch lines, metaphors and word play can make certain verses or songs stick in your head forever. But this list isn’t all about lyrics. I’m also taking into account music videos, acting roles and interviews.

And like the title says, this list excludes comedians. So you won’t see Lonely Island or Jon LaJoie here. This is what I came up with:







5. Ludacris

Look, I know Luda lost a lot of love from hip-hop heads when he jumped on tracks with Justin Bieber, but a few years before that, Cris was dropping some crazy videos. You might have seen Luda wake up in holey socks and look out the window to see two chickens banging in the Saturday video, or he might have been dancing in a club that had a baby drop in it, such was the case in the Stand Up video. Size always mattered in Luda’s videos too. In the aforementioned Stand Up, a drink causes a chick’s booty to balloon, and ladies share an oversized chicken leg while a DJ spins huge records. In Roll Out, Ludacris’ head was oversized, its movements exaggerated. Luda could simply blow out his afro to epic proportions, and you know you’d get a little chuckle, like in Southern Hospitality (after he gets smashed by a bus, causing him to float through the ATL upside down). And who could forget the Popeye arms in the Get Back video?







4. Ol’ Dirty Bastard

When ODB (RIP) was in the game, everything was a little more unpredictable. While most rappers were concerned with looking hard or handsome, Dirt was donning a 70s suit and disco dancing, or maybe just rapping in a pair of white boxers. Just hearing ODB sing/growl “Ooh baby I like it raaawwww,” in Shimmy Shimmy Ya was usually enough to make even the roughest dude crack a smile. His delivery made everything he says funny. And what about the aliases — 28 in all! Big Baby Jesus, Dirt McGirt, Barney Kool Breeze, Peanut the Kidnapper, Joe Bananas and of course, Roll Fizzlebeef. Ridiculous, right? But what really set my boy Dirty aside, in my eyes, was real life. Forget about the lyrics and music videos, the interviews were when the world got to see just how naturally hilarious Dirt was. What’s he gonna do to give back to the community? “Nothin.” Classic. Check out the video above for the best non-music related ODB moments.







3. Busta Rhymes

Did anyone have more fun with music videos that Bus-a-Bus? I’ve obviously never been on a shoot for one of Busta’s videos, but I get the feeling that he went straight to the props and wardrobe department every time and raided the hangers and shelves. That had to be the case for Gimme Some More, the video above. He also had a hint of that unpredictable ODB quality, like in the A Tribe Called Quest song Scenario when he “Uh-Uh’ed” all over the track and roared like a dungeon dragon in a pink shirt; or the time he growled “Yaw yaw yaaaawwww” for the intro on Woo-Hah. Plus, who can resist Busta’s big, wide, goofy grin and spastic, animated movements? Just for fun, here’s link to my favorite Busta Rhymes song, Break Ya Neck. That song is the shit (and Busta doesn’t skip an opportunity to play dress up in the video).







2. Eminem

It’s probably not possible to mention funny rappers without dropping Eminem’s name. Remember TRL on MTV? When Slim was on, at times as a host, you weren’t sure what shenangians he’d pull. Maybe he’d make fun of VJ Ray Munn’s goofy laugh. How about another TRL moment, when Em called Mark Wahlberg Marky Mark, making for an uncomfortable few minutes? Slim always made sure to bring the jokes in the bars in his singles, whether it was My Names Is, The Real Slim Shady or Without Me. Admittedly, it didn’t always work, like when he made Ass Like That and insisted on using the corny Triumph voice, or when he pronounced “Pajama time” at the beginning of Just Lose It. But all funny people are hit or miss at times, so he gets a pass for a few rough spots. In the tradition of Busta, Slim was never shy about donning outlandish outfits in his videos. He has dressed up as an uptight suburban yuppie, a mad science teacher, George Muresan’s dummy, Britney Spears, a mental ward patient, Rap Boy (Robin), his own mother, Moby, Osama bin Laden, Super Man, Michael Jackson, and Bret Michaels (and many other characters). In all of the costumes, Shady acted a fool, making the targets of his rhymes look stupid. Em skewered pop culture. The Soup and late night TV shows have always had fun at the expense of celebrities, but only Slim could pull it off perfectly in a rap song.









1. Redman

With Erick Sermon it was “No Cristal, roll up with King Cobra” (a truly shitty tasting malt liquor). In the Limp Bizkit Rollin’ remix he said with pride that he would “stink up the bathroom like Craig’s pa was in it” (Friday reference!). With Meth and Snoop on We Some Dogs, the Doc kept getting his nuts stuck to the porch “like the dog in Joe Dirt.” Redman is truly one of the most underappreciated rappers lyrically, and in my eyes, the funniest. Check him out above in “I’ll Bee Dat,” acting like a jackass, keeping it fun and light. If there were fat chicks to dance with in a video, you could bet Red would be dancing with them. He had funny lyrics and funny videos, and was funny with the media for sure, but there’s one thing that really takes Red to the top of my list — How High.

I’m going to try to be PC with this, but a phrase that follows may give some the wrong impression. But here goes. Believe it or not, there was a time when “black” comedies (movies starring predominantly African Americans, not ones that are twisted and hopeless) were not all about Tyler Perry cross-dressing. There was a time when comedies with a central cast of African Americans didn’t revolve around Kevin Hart squealing. Friday, Don’t be a Menace, Booty Call — these were all hilarious R-RATED films starring black people. And I feel like the last great one was How High, starring Red and Meth. Today it seems like the movies with a central cast of African Americans have to be rom-coms or include Tyler Perry with fake tits. Fuck that. I’d much rather watch Redman formulate a logical conclusion about how to achieve “high” test scores, or roast the dean of Harvard.

Just for kicks, I would give the following an honorable mention: Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliot and Method Man.

So there it is — my list of the five funniest rappers (who aren’t comedians). What do you think? Who did I miss?