Dawn of The Planet of The Apes easily dominated the box office over the weekend, not dealing with too much competition in the Top 10. The film grossed $72.6 million and got us thinking in the process: Rappers have referenced the film franchise frequently in recent years. We gathered nine tracks that name-drop the series (excluding tracks actually titled "Planet of The Apes"...sorry Raekwon and Da Lench Mob), and ranked them according to how clever/in theme the reference was.
NOTE: This list is NOT in order of best song, merely best use of a Planet of The Apes shout-out.
09) "OJ" by 50 Cent (feat. Kidd Kidd)
50 Cent protege Kidd Kidd is merely trying to reflect his loyalty by referencing himself as a "G-Unit gorilla." There's already been an uncomfortable amount of discussion online about what apes represent what race in the Planet of The Apes franchise, but rappers have actively adopted the gorilla as a symbol of dominance, as is the case here. The reference comes out of nowhere however and otherwise hurts an otherwise stellar verse from 50's guest.
08) "The Stick Up" by Action Bronson
Bronson doesn't necessarily run with the apes-as-thugs theme, but he uses the franchise as a comparison to being in a bad place. The verse's victim, whom the emcee is working to extract money from, is in "some Planet of The Apes s--t" because he's a long, long way from home and at Bronson's mercy. Kind of a tough interpretation to come to from one line however.
07) "F--k This Christmas" by Odd Future
Earl Sweatshirt and the rest of Odd Future take to lambasting how much Christmas sucks in their parody carol. Sweatshirt comments on how much he hates his home and the lack of family adoration that occurs there during the holiday time, so the young emcee references the aforementioned Planet as the "place he loves" in lieu of Christmas at home. Somewhat a humorous escape from a reality, if at random.
06) "Talk of New York" by Nas
Nas is the first rapper on this list to mention apes outside of his Planet of The Apes reference although it's still all over the place. He references the franchise and then refers to "Gorillas in the tristate of New York" (see above gorillas explanation). Then there are references to women packing guns and apparently nice chests intertwined, depending on how you interpret "baps."
05) "Monster" by Madchild
"I'm wearing Bathing Ape but I'm on Planet of The Apes." This isn't exactly a clever cross-reference to primates, but at least Madchild got the theme rolling by referring to himself as "a gorilla, a little King Kong" at the opening of the song. This is one white emcee who's clearly not making a racial reference when he says "gorilla." This is only the first reference to Bathing Ape, a Japanese clothing label, that will happen on this list.
04) "That's All I Have" by Lil Wayne (feat. Tyga)
Tyga is another rapper to make a Planet reference while visiting the verses of his boss (Lil Wayne). Tyga actually manages to make a somewhat intelligent statement when he raps "Gorillas in the mist, pro-black, pump they fists" as a shout out to afrocentric thought. Then he follows it up with "I'm from the Planet of The Apes," perhaps derailing his prior thoughtfulness. At least he connected the two statements with an ape theme.
03) "Half Man" by One-2
This entire track is more-or-less a run of "half man, half (fill in the blank)" statements, which doesn't always work but it does work with Planet of The Apes. We interpret the line to mean that half of rapper One-2 is a calculating, intelligent dude, while the other half is an animal rattling away at its cage, looking to escape and cause havoc. But that's just how we read it.
02) "Ain't Cha" by Clipse
Pusha T brings us back to the Bathing Ape references, referring to his closet as the "Planet of the Bape" ("Bape" is a common nickname for the brand). That of course lines him up perfectly for a Planet reference and he delivers, referring to all the posers trying to imitate his flow and style as "monkey-see monkey-do" and compares it to his own situation: "like I'm living in an episode of Planet of The Apes."
01) "Die Young" by Timeflies
Timeflies only references the sci-fi classic once, but when he does he's working it into an entire theme of post-apocalyptic references. Other films that get lip service during the appropriately titled "Die Young": Independence Day, War of The Worlds, Dr. Strangeglove, I Am Legend, The Day After Tomorrow and Mars Attacks! References to the Mayan calendar are also weaved in, along with some Harry Potter name-drops that don't quite fit in theme with the rest the song.
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