Hip-hop’s relationship with anime [DISCUSSION]

Today, hip-hop and anime have a deep connection. Many anime series feature hip-hop music extensively, and countless contemporary rappers have bars referencing anime and manga (Denzel Curry, Logic, XXXTentacion, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Peep, and many more). After an explosion in anime references around the 2010s, anime’s presence in hip-hop is undeniable today. While the history of this cultural exchange surely runs deeper than the timeline offered here, I have compiled a brief history of the intersection between rap and manga/anime.

Though ’90s rap may be broadly characterized by the mafioso themes of gangsta rap, hip-hop’s relationship with anime seems to begin around this time.

In February of 1996, The Boondocks comic strip began publication on Hitlist.com, with a visual style heavily influenced by creator Aaron McGruber’s love of manga. The series was later serialized in the hip-hop magazine The Source.

Later that year, Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan released a video for his single Daytona 500 comprised of clips from the 1967-1968 anime Speed Racer.

In 1998, manga artist Takashi Okazaki created the manga Afro Samurai, inspired by his love of hip-hop and soul music. Much further down the road, RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan would record the soundtrack for Afro Samurai‘s anime adaptation in 2007.

It wasn’t until the early 2000s that anime references began appearing in rap lyrics. In 2001, RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan released Must Be Bobby off the LP Digital Bullet, where he raps “Sit in the sun six hours then I charge up like Goku / Dragonball Z; imagine you’re raggin me”. This may be one of rap’s earliest direct anime references.

Anime references remained pretty rare throughout the early aughts. In 2005, Lupe Fiasco featured on Kanye’s Touch the Sky and spit the line “Lupe steal like Lupin the 3rd”, referencing the manga series Lupin III. Lupe later reiterated his love of manga on his 2007 LP The Cool, with the line “I like Goyard bags and green Now & Laters / Monocle magazine and Japanese manga” from the track Gold Watch.

Also in 2007, Kanye West released Stronger. The video for the song, directed by Hype Williams, drew imagery from the 1988 anime film Akira. Kanye later tweeted expressing his love for Akira.

In 2008, B.O.B. referenced Dragon Ball Z in his song Autotune with the line “When I’m on the mic I’m blazing / Man who am I? Just like a Super Saiyan”. In 2010, Soulja Boy released a song titled Goku, predictably filled with DBZ references.

In the early 2010s, anime references in hip-hop exploded, particularly regarding Dragon Ball Z. On Machine Gun Kelly’s 2011 song Wild Boy, Wacka Flocka Flame raps “Suck my dragon balls, bitch, call me Goku”. Jay Rock’s 2011 song Hood Gone Love It features the line “Comin’ down in an old school, so cool / Whip like a fire ball, call it Goku”.

From there on, the bars are innumerable and I won’t waste time digging through every Domo Genesis or Frank song where he says Goku. Thanks for reading, and if anyone has anything to add, especially regarding any 1990s rap anime references I missed, I’d love to see them and update the write-up.