The 20 Best Rap Album Rides (2023)

Artist: Jay-Z
Album: Vol. 2...Hard Knock Life
Year: 1998

A Rolls-Royce is pretty cool. A drop-top Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit is nothing short of awesome. Jay Z has got the sun on his face, the wind in his minimal hair, and about 14 dead cows cradling his multi-million-dollar butt.

Artist: 2 Live Crew
Album: The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are
Year: 1986

While the black SUV full of rappers has become quite the stereotype, 2 Live Crew got it right with a real man's SUV. The Jeep Cherokee can climb a mountain and kick a boulder's ass, not just chauffeur munchkins in designer onesies.

Artist: Pete Rock & CL Smooth
Album: Mecca and the Soul Brother
Year: 1992

Mercedes makes some some sweet rides, and the 300 SEL with its 5.0 V8 is no exception. Pete Rock and CL Smooth showed their good taste by putting t on the cover of "Mecca and the Soul Brother." They also showed sense of humor by replacing the logo with what appears to be a stylized crash test dummy logo.

Artist: Public Enemy
Album: You're Gonna Get Yours
Year: 1987

The Olds 98 was the top end, most pimped-out sedan from America's oldest car company. The ninth gen pictured on the front of Public Enemy's "You're Gonna Get Yours" featured the height of late '70s luxury with some pimpin' velour seats, cut-pile carpets, and B-pillar opera lamps. The ninth gen also gets some historical awesomeness points for being the last rear-wheel drive Olds 98.

Artist: Birdman
Album: 5 * Stunna
Year: 2007

If a rapper wants to flaunt his money, he takes pictures with his Rolls-Royce Phantom. If he's Birdman, he buys a Maybach Excelero that he can't afford. He'll be back in an old Lincoln in no time.

Artist: Mac Dre
Album: Young Black Brotha
Year: 1993

Although these Benzes with their chunky bumpers are surely dope, they are for some reason in the middle of a field. A race track or a boulevard would have made sense, but these are low to the ground off-road Benzes...right?

Artist: Kool Moe Dee
Album: How Ya Like Me Now
Year: 1987

The Jeep Wrangler is the dirty American version of the Porsche 911. It has a million variants and a billion customizations (as seen above), but has never lost its original purpose or shape. A Wrangler from 1962 looks a lot like a factory-new Wrangler in 2011. Kool Moe Dee knows a classic when he sees it.

Artist: Rick Ross
Album: Trilla
Year: 2008

Even having a music group named after it couldn't save Maybach from dying.

Artist: EPMD
Album: Unfinished Business
Year: 1989

EPMD picked two very different cars for the cover of their album "Unfinished Business": a Mercedes-Benz E-class and a Chevy IROC-Z. One guy wants to get there fast, and the other just wants to get there without lumbar pain.

Artist: Tone-Lōc
Album: Lōc-ed After Dark
Year: 1989

The Datsun/Nissan Z series is a pretty sweet set of affordable sportscars. Tone-Lōc's 240Z also has that classic look to it. From this angle, it almost reminds you of a Citroen DS.

Artist: The Game
Album: Hate It or Love It
Year: 2007

The Caddy DeVille is the archetypal American pimp-mobile. It's big, it's long, and it's ostentatious without being elitist. It's no wonder that The Game picked one for the front of "Hate It or Love It."

Artist: Game
Album: Brake Lights
Year: 2010

Old-school rap rides used to be big luxurious American sedans with big powerful American V8s. These days, those sorts of cars don't really exist anymore, so rappers have to turn to frightfully expensive British alternatives. They can, of course, afford them, lots of them, judging by how many grace their album art.

Artist: Dru Down
Album: Can You Feel Me
Year: 1996

Back in the day, Buick and tire smoke were good friends. This Skylark, for instance, had quite an intimate relationship with tire smoke. Try doing that in a 2009 Lucerne.

Artist: Snoop Dogg
Album: Ego Trippin'
Year: 2008

For whatever reason, Americans stopped liking wagons. We all started driving SUVs, which then lost all of their off-road abilities and effectively became wagons that get worse fuel economy and roll over more often. Brilliant. Snoop, on the other hand, knows that this Ford Torino Wagon is still the shit. 'Nuff said.

Artist: Outkast
Album: Player's Ball
Year: 1993

The Lincoln Continental used to be one of the coolest cars out there. If only Lincoln would release a new pimped out luxury sedan/convertible Ford's lineup would be complete. Well, that and a U.S.-spec Falcon.

Artist: The Game
Album: Let's Ride
Year: 2006

Before the Impala became the car one thinks of when the words "bland family sedan" are uttered, it was a gorgeous, stylish, and powerful ride. Having an Impala used to be a sign of good taste and impeccable style. Having a classic Impala is still a sign of good taste and impeccable style.

Artist: Grand Puba
Album: 2000
Year: 1995

The Lamborghini Countach is nothing short of legendary. It did everything it was meant to do perfectly, and did absolutely nothing else. When the designer was asked why the test driver had to put his whole body out of the side of the car in order to back it up, he said, "eets not meant to go backwards."

Artist: Sir Mix A Lot
Album: My Hooptie
Year: 1990

Way back before you were expected to rap about how bad things are in 'da hood while driving a gold-plated Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG, Sir Mix A Lot was pictured with his very own '69 Buick Electra 255 Four-Door Hardtop. He loved this car because, although it may have been a little dinged up, it got him around and was "indestructible." Talk about keepin' it real.

Artist: Snoop Dogg
Album: Murder Was The Case
Year: 1994

If any car could claim to be the official poster child of rap, it's the Cadillac Eldorado. It's all-American and has gorgeous lines. And you can take it slow in your 'hood with the top down.