Get Back To Singing: 8 R&B Singers Who Should Stop Trying to Rap
The Singer: Ryan Leslie
His Rap Resume: Earlier this year, R Les dropped "Joan of Arc," one of the first offerings from his third album, Les Is More, and it surprisingly featured him rapping his verses and singing the chorus.
Why He Should Stop Trying To Rap Immediately: We'll give props where they're due: The singer/producer didn't sound awful on "Joan of Arc." In fact, if we didn't know he was a singer, he wouldn't be any worse than half the rappers out there who have deals. But since we do know him as a singer, we can't let this slide. More singing and less rapping on your new album, Ryan!
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The Singer: Omarion
His Rap Resume: Earlier this year, O put out a mixtape with DJ Drama (sigh, yes, DJ Drama) called The Awakening that included the song, "Luke Skywalker (Bullshittin')," which featured the former B2K singer rapping alongside Method Man.
Why He Should Stop Trying To Rap Immediately: SMH. Shame on Mef for agreeing to jump on a song alongside O. The lead dude from B2K trying to carve out a new lane for himself? Stop bullsh...well, you know the rest.
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The Singer: Ne-Yo
His Rap Resume: Back in 2008, Ne-Yo became the 9462th artist to jump on Lil Wayne's "A Milli" beat when he penned a "freestyle" that took a few shots at another fellow R&B singer who loves to rap—Chris Brown.
Why He Should Stop Trying To Rap Immediately: Fortunately, Ne-Yo hasn't felt the need to jump on another rap record since dropping his "A Milli" freestyle. And we really hope he keeps it that way because this was not the right career move for him. Stick to singing, son!
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The Singer: Justin Bieber
His Rap Resume: The Biebs unleashed his alter ego "Shawty Mane" onto the world last year when he dropped a freestyle of him spitting on Cam'Ron and Vado's "Speakin' Tungs."
Why He Should Stop Trying To Rap Immediately: Um, do we really need to explain this one? The freestyle Bieber dropped was cute and all, but we hope he never (ever!) decides to do it again. Stick to making tweens girl swoon, JB.
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The Singer: Jamie Foxx
His Rap Resume: For some reason, J Foxx showed up at a Common show in Philly a couple of years ago and decided to try and impress the crowd by dropping a few bars alongside the Chi-Town legend.
Why He Should Stop Trying To Rap Immediately: Some might argue that Foxx should skip the music scene altogether and stick to doing what he does best—acting. But with singing, at least he's got a good enough voice and enough industry connections to make his songs sound fine-tuned. This? Well, this is most definitely not fine-tuned and we wish Common would have tried to talk some damn sense into Jamie before he decided to spit here.
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The Singer: R. Kelly
His Rap Resume: In 2008, R. Kelly released a song called "I'm A Beast" that featured two things most Kells fans weren't accustomed to—Autotune (SMH) and rapping. The song also included several shots that were reportedly aimed at Ne-Yo.
Why He Should Stop Trying To Rap Immediately: R&B beefs like the one that went down recently between Lloyd and Miguel are silly. But we'd take those any day over R&B beefs that spill over onto records like this one did. Kells has always incorporated a little bit of hip-hop into his music, but on this particular track, he went waaaaaaay over the line.
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The Singer: Bobby V
His Rap Resume: As we mentioned in the intro to this piece, Bobby V recently appeared on Tim Westwood's 1xtra show (what were you thinking extending an invite, Tim!?) and dropped a few bars over Kelly Rowland's "Motivation" and DJ Khaled's "I'm On One."
Why He Should Stop Trying To Rap Immediately: No shots, but Bobby V hasn't really even established himself enough as a singer to be going off and trying to rap, has he? Plus, he just looks silly busting rhymes in a purple V-neck in this clip. SMH. No shame in your game, eh, man?
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The Singer: Jeremih
His Rap Resume: Shortly after Chris Brown dropped "Look At Me Now" earlier this year, Jeremih decided to jump on the track to try and duplicate Breezy's success. But his quick-paced, Bone Thugs-esque effort came across as dull and surprisingly lifeless over one of the most energized beats of the year.
Why He Should Stop Trying To Rap Immediately: While we certainly wouldn't look to Chris Brown as the go-to guy when it comes to "sangas turnt rappas" (we heard you on that god-awful "Snapbacks Back," Chris!), at least he rapped in a way that was still entertaining over this beat. Jeremih sounds like he's trying a little too hard here. As we've told everyone on this list, there's no harm in staying true to your soft side and singing rather than rapping, guys. That is the lane you should be going after.
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