Word to Your Mother: The 16 Best Hip-Hop Odes to Moms

Hip-hop might be built on braggadocio and bluster — to say nothing of its troubling history of misogyny — but when it comes down to it, most rappers are nothing but a bunch of momma’s boys.

Somehow, amid all the tough talk of guns and partying and dealing drugs, the overly sentimental mom-inspired song has become a staple of the genre, a rite of passage that everyone from DMX to Drake has undergone.

In honour of Mother’s Day, we’ve culled 16 of the very best for you to bump while you’re cooking your mom brunch on Sunday morning.

2Pac, “Dear Mama”

Year Released: 1995
Best Line: “And even as a crack fiend, Mama / You always was a black queen, Mama”

There’s really no better way to kick off this list. Pac’s touching tribute to his mother remains the gold standard of hip-hop mom songs. And it feels especially poignant right now, given Afeni Shakur’s sudden death last week at the age of 69.

Goodie Mob, “Guess Who”

Year Released: 1995
Best Line: “Guess who tuck me in before I started drivin’ this Benz / Again and again, told me not to and when I did / Guess who beat the dog shit outta me, kid / My momma didn’t play, shit, I had to pick the switches”

Word on the street is that CeeLo has started rapping again. (Here’s some footage of him in the studio with Big Boi and Killer Mike.) I hope that’s true. Make your momma proud, my dude.

Ghostface Killah feat. Mary J. Blige, “All That I Got Is You”

Year Released: 1996
Best Line: “Things was deep, my whole youth was sharper than cleats / Two brothers with muscular dystrophy, it killed me / But I remember this, moms would lick her finger tips / To wipe the coal out my eye before school wit her spit”

Considering the lucid tales of drugs and crime he’s now known for, it’s kind of funny that Tony Starks chose to launch his solo career with this saccharine Mary J. Blige-assisted slow jam. But a jam it most certainly is.

Snoop Dogg, “I Love My Momma”

Year Released: 1999
Best Line: “I’ll never forget the things that we went through / Bangin oldies in the living room, sippin’ brew / Schlitz Malt Liquor was the thing back then / My momma was my homey, my daddy, and my best friend”

Given that the first 1:28 of this three-minute song features Snoop literally repeating the phrase “I love my momma” over and over and over again, I think it’s pretty clear how the Doggfather feels.

DMX feat. Faith Evans, “I Miss You”

Year Released: 2001
Best Line: “I thank you for the best times of my life / I thank you for when you first met her, accepted and lovin’ my wife / I thank you for those Sunday dinners, they were vital / I thank you for my life, I thank you for the Bible”

Sharp staffers probably love DMX almost as much as he loves his grandmother.

Beanie Sigel feat. Scarface, “Mom Praying”

Year Released: 2001
Best Line: “Look at ma, still whippin’ / Still keep a strap, won’t hesitate to give the kids whippings / Trying to make it to heaven, still livin'”

Is there anything better than Beanie and Scarface spittin’ that fire over a soaring Just Blaze head knocker? No. No, there is not.

Eminem, “Cleanin’ Out My Closet”

Year Released: 2002
Best Line: “Now I would never diss my own momma just to get recognition / Take a second to listen ‘fore you think this record is dissin’ / But put yourself in my position; just try to envision / Witnessin’ your momma poppin’ prescription pills in the kitchen”

Okay, sure, this song is actually about how Em hates his mom with a fiery passion. And sure, he did wind up making a far sweeter track about their eventual reconciliation that I could’ve included instead. But man, that joint is wack.

LL Cool J, “Big Mama (Unconditional Love)”

Year Released: 2002
Best Line: “When you told me “Knock ‘Em Out,” I brought you home a Grammy / I learned to be tough from Big Mama and Aunt Cammy”

Yes, LL’s mama really did once advise him to knock you out.

Jay-Z, “December 4th”

Year Released: 2003
Best Line: “Although through the years I gave her her fair share / I gave her her first real scare / I made it from birth and I got here / She knows my purpose wasn’t purpose / I ain’t perfect, I care”

To be perfectly honest, I’d have preferred to include “Blueprint (Momma Loves Me),” but it wasn’t on Spotify. Thanks for nothing, Tidal.

Nas, “Dance”

Year Released: 2003
Best Line: “I spark one up and start blazing / Thinking of how amazing she was, an angel gave me love / I’m thankful to ever know a woman so real”

At the end of this God’s Son cut, Nas’s dad plays a beautiful cornet solo to honour his late wife.

Kanye West, “Hey Mama”

Year Released: 2005
Best Line: “Forrest Gump mama said, life is like a box of chocolates / My mama told me go to school, get your doctorate / Somethin’ to fall back on, you could profit with / But still supported me when I did the opposite”

Once, in high school, I rapped a verse from this song for my mom on Mother’s Day. I’m still not sure if she really appreciated it.

Drake, “Look What You’ve Done”

Year Released: 2011
Best Line: “You love me, and I love you / And your heart hurts, mine does too / And it’s just words and they cut deep but it’s our world, it’s just us two”

Am I the only one who thinks it’s a little weird that Drake refers to his mom as “girl”?

J.Cole, “Apparently”

Year Released: 2014
Best Line: “I’m so sorry that I left you there to deal with that alone / I was up in New York City chasing panties, getting dome / Had no clue what you was going through, how could you be so strong?”

J. Cole’s mom is likely in for one hell of a Mother’s Day present: Billboard just revealed her son was the highest-earning rapper of 2015.

Kendrick Lamar, “Momma”

Year Released: 2015
Best Line: “The mind of a literate writer, but I did it in fact / You admitted it once I submitted it wrapped in plastic / Remember scribblin’ scratchin’ dilligent sentences backwards / Visiting freestyle cyphers for your reaction / Now I can live in a stadium, pack it the fastest”

The “Momma” this song refers to is the continent of Africa, not Kendrick’s actual mother. But K.Dot’s got bars on this ish, so I’m going to let it slide.

Drake, “You and the 6”

Year Released: 2015
Best Line: “Hard labour let me pay the price / You and the 6 raised me right / That shit saved my life”

#HotTake: this song alone is better than everything on VIEWS combined.

Kanye West feat. Paul McCartney, “Only One”

Year Released: 2015
Best Line: “I think the storm ran out of rain, the clouds are movin’ / I know you’re happy, cause I can see it / So tell the voice inside ya’ head to believe it”

While premiering The Life of Pablo at MSG in February, ‘Ye announced a video game based on this track “in which players will guide his late mother, Donda (angel wings and all), into heaven.” So, yeah, we’ll just stick with the song.