Pop Stars You Never Knew Could Rap
Earlier this month, Beyonce released a remix of her track Flawless - featuring a guest spot from hip hop star Nicki Minaj.The track, which featured the two divas performing together on record for the first time, grabbed headlines for flaunting Queen Bey’s impressive rap skills and for the singer’s controversial lyrics - which addressed the very public fallout of her sister Solange and husband Jay Z. However, Beyonce isn’t the first pop star to surprise fans with her ability to rap - here are some other unexpected stars that shine when they’re given a beat.
Katy Perry
While her position as one of the world’s premiere pop stars is certain, Katy Perry has proven to be quite the Dark Horse when it comes to her other skills - especially her rapping.
In 2012, the star covered Jay-Z and Kanye West’s club smash ’N****s in Paris’ for a live performance on BBC Radio One.
Warning the audience beforehand that her performance ‘was about to be really embarrassing,’ Perry and her live band set off on a lyrically cleaner version of the song, much to the delight of the audience.
More: I Kissed Miley Cyrus. And I Didn’t Like It. Katy Perry Reveals Why She Pulled Away [Video]
Amy Heidemann of Karmin
The rise of American pop duo Karmin was somewhat meteoric.
The pair, a real-life couple made up of multi-instrumentalist Nick Noonan and rapping singer Amy Heidemann, took the internet by storm in 2011 after uploading their cover of Chris Brown’s ‘Look At Me Now’ - with Heidemann covering vocal duties of Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne and Brown pretty much single-handedly.
Since then, the duo have signed to a major record label, scored a double-platinum hit single and Heidemann’s rap skills have earned her a brief role in animated adventure Rio 2 as a rapping sloth! The singer even found herself on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine’s Women Who Rock issue in 2012.
Justin Bieber
These days it’s almost hard to believe that the Canadian tabloid prince was once thought of as a wholesome a picture of innocence.
Back in 2011, the then 17-year-old Bieber was better known for his clean-cut image and puppy love-style pop songs than any of his hip hop credentials - which made the pop star’s rap skills so surprising the first time fans heard them.
Over the top of an instrumental version of Jay-Z and Kanye West’s ‘Otis,’ a fresh-faced Bieber began to freestyle live on a Los Angeles radio station for almost two straight minutes covering subjects ranging from growing up to encounters with fans.
More: Justin Bieber’s Ten Worst Moments
Ed Sheeran
While many came to know the British singer/songwriter for his heartfelt ballads like ‘Lego House’ and international smash hit single ‘The A Team,’ Ed Sheeran actually cut his teeth in the industry by collaborating with grime and hip hop artists and uploading his performances on YouTube.
In 2011 he released the No. 5 Collaborations Project - an EP featuring performances from Devlin, Wiley and other grime artists - and has been known to drop into rap classics such as Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ when performing his hip hop infused single ‘You Need Me, I Don’t Need You’ live.
Next page: Taylor Swift becomes ’T-Swizzle’ and more…
The Saturdays
Who knew that the popular English and Irish girl group could hold their own when it came to rap?
Frankie, Mollie, Rochelle, Una and Vanessa surprised fans and critics alike with their tongue-in-cheek 2013 single ‘Gentleman’ which showcased the girls’ ability to deliver a fast-paced, hip-hop melody over an urban pop groove - with results almost reminiscent of early Destiny’s Child.
With lyrics claiming that ‘a gentleman is so 1995,’ the track comically name-checked a list of the girls’ potential love interests that included George Clooney, Drake, Ryan Gosling and… err.. US chat show host Larry King.
Miley Cyrus
Years before she was twerking and Instagramming topless photos of herself on the road, Cyrus proved she had a knack for surprising her fans with her online antics.
Back in 2009, the former child-star announced plans to delete her Twitter account by releasing a bizarre YouTube video which featured Cyrus rapping about her decision.
With lyrics insisting she was giving up the social networking site in order to start ‘living for people,’ the song claimed Cyrus wanted ‘to keep her private life private’ in a bid to stay out of the tabloids and avoid gossip columns.
It seemed to work too.
More: Is Miley Cyrus The Queen Of Covers? Ten Of Our Favourites
Next page: more pop stars who you never knew could wrap
Taylor Swift
Identifying herself as T-Swizzle, the country superstar surprised just about everyone when her duet with rapper and producer T-Pain opened the CMT Music Awards in 2009.
The pair appeared in the hilarious promo video for ‘Thug Story’ (a hip hop parody of Swift’s international breakthrough track ‘Love Story’) which saw the singer send up her clean-cut image and show off her surprising rap skills.
Featuring lines such as “I’m so gangster you can find me baking cookies at night / You out clubbing? But I just made caramel delight,’ the 90 second track showed the budding starlet certainly had a sense of humour.
More: Taylor Swift Reunites With Harry Styles At ‘Haircut Party’
Blondie
It’s hard to imagine any of today’s pop stars breaking out of their comfort zones and dabbling with rap or hip hop, were it not for Debbie Harry and Blondie’s groundbreaking 1980 single ‘Rapture.’
The New York band, who had found success on both sides of the Atlantic following the punk and new wave explosion of the late seventies, were one of the first rock or pop acts to experiment with the new genre.
Mixing funk, rap and disco, fans were surprised to hear the 'Sunday Girl' singer name-check hip hop pioneers Grandmaster Flash and Fab Five Freddie in the chart-topping smash.
Three decades later fans may still be unsure what Harry’s free flowing lyrics about ‘a man from Mars eating cars’ were all about, but the song is still an undisputed dance floor classic.