Top 10 One Hit Wonders of Rap and Hiphop

Coming up with a list of the top 10 rap songs that ended up as one hit wonders was pretty easy. There have been a number of huge hits over the past 3 decades that looked to be a launching pad for the recording artists involved, but somehow those same artists couldn't recapture that lightning in a bottle that made their first releases such runaway successes. Strangely there are almost as many two hit wonders as there are one hit wonders in rap and hiphop music. Songs like U Can't Touch This by MC Hammer, It Takes Two by MC Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock, and Wild Thing by Tone Loc all got consideration on this list, but ultimately those artists all had second, if less spectacular, hits like Pray, Joy and Pain and Funky Cold Medina respectively so they didn't quite make the cut. Still, many of their fellow rappers stepped in to fill the void. Here is my list of the top 10 one hit wonders of rap and hiphop counted down in reverse order:

10 - Skee-Lo - I Wish - Though I Wish might not have quite the same recognition level as some of the other songs on the list it did reach #13 on the Billboard hot 100 charts way back in 1995, and thus manages to eke onto this list. However, Skee-Lo, after a nine year absence from music is back in the game and will be releasing an album titled It's Kool next month. Can he shed his one hit wonder label? Only time will tell.

9 - Wreckx-n-Effect - Rump Shaker - In 1992 Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You from the soundtrack of the smash movie The Bodyguard spent an amazing 14 weeks at number one on the Billboard hot 100 charts. Want to know what was number two? That's right, Rump Shaker by this little known new jack swing hiphop group was knocking on the door. Okay, granted not for all 14 weeks, but it did get there, and would have been #1 if not for Whitney Houston's massively popular love song. This song still gets plenty of play in the clubs, and is definitely one of the great one hit wonders in any genre.

8 - Warren G and Nate Dogg - Regulate - "Regulators, mount up!" a quote from the smash hit western movie Young Guns intro'd this 1994 hit that is considered one of the best rap songs of the 90s. Warren G and Nate Dogg, like Wreckx-n-Effect before them managed to get Regulate all the way to number 2 on the Billboard hot 100 charts. The song also appeared on the soundtrack to the basketball movie Above the Rim and sits in the #98 position on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hiphop.

7 - Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch - Good Vibrations - Though known more as an actor in films such as Boogie Nights, The Departed, The Italian Job and The Perfect Storm at one time Mark Wahlberg, brother to Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids on the Block fame, was the front man for the hiphop group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Good Vibrations, not a remake of the Beach Boys' smash hit of the same name, was the only song of note released by the group, but it made an impact, reaching number one on the U.S. Billboard charts in 1991. The accompanying music video which featured a chiseled Wahlberg boxing shirtless could have something to do with the success of the song as thousands of smitten teenage girls ran out to buy the album.

6 - Young MC - Bust a Move - The late 80s and early 90s were a breeding ground for one hit wonder rap performers it appears, and Young MC's 1989 song Bust a Move is just another example of a smash hiphop hit that soared on the charts only to see its performer swiftly regulated to the dustbin of rap music. Still, this one song was enough to land Young MC the #47 spot on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hiphop. Fancy yourself a rapper and like a challenge? Try to sing along to Young MC's Fastest Rhymefrom the sameStone Cold Rhymin'album.

5 - Kriss Kross - Jump - Two kids with nappy hair and a habit for wearing their clothes backwards take the number 5 spot on this list of the top 10 one hit wonders of rap and hiphop. Kriss Kross's signature hitJump from their 1992 albumTotally Krossed Outwas an absolutely massive dance hit in the clubs and on radio and nabbed themselves the #1 spot on the Billboard charts for an impressive 8 consecutive weeks.

4 - House of Pain - Jump Around - Though front man Everlast has had a bit of success as a solo artist the rap group House of Pain really only had one hit of any note during their time together in the early 90s, but what a hit it was.Jump Aroundis one of those rare hiphop songs that has really withstood the test of time, and despite the fact that it is now 17 years old it still gets regular play in clubs and on radio. One of the best moshing songs of all time you might want to avoid playing this when you've got a house full of drunk friends. Trust me, your walls and your furniture will thank you.

3 - Sir Mix-a-Lot - Baby's Got Back - Speaking of club songs that have withstood the test of time, few songs have gotten such consistent play over the past couple of decades as this one hit wonder classic. This song is arguably even more popular today than it was at the time of its release and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who can't sing along with at least some of the song.

2 - Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight - Sadly, one of the greatest pioneer groups in the rap and hiphop genre of music is also one of rap's biggest one hit wonders. It's been 30 years since Sugarhill Gang turned the music world on its ear with Rapper's Delightand the commercial success of the song helped paved the way for the thousands of hiphop artists who've enjoyed great success ever since. Strangely, although almost everyone can hum along with the beat to this classic hiphop song very few can actually name the song itself.

1 - Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby - Once I eliminated MC Hammer as a potential candidate there could really only be one choice for the number one spot on the list of the top 10 one hit wonders of rap and hiphop. Robert Van Winkle, AKA Vanilla Ice would find a high spot on a list of one hit wonders in any genre, and his claim to fame is the 1990 smash hit Ice Ice Babyfrom the albumTo The Extreme. With the bassline from Queen and David Bowie'sUnder Pressuresampled throughout, and Van Winkle's stellar rhyming ability the recipe made for enormous, if fleeting, billboard success, hit number one in the United States as well as the UK. However, like everyone else on the list Vanilla Ice could not duplicate his success and now labors in relative obscurity.