Pagers, VCRs, and other defunct devices that rappers referenced on wax
Rap music, with its penchant for reflecting contemporary culture and lifestyle, has often included references to cutting-edge technology. However, as technology evolves rapidly, many of these once-current references have become charmingly outdated, offering a nostalgic glimpse into the past.
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Turn of the century-era tracks saw numerous mentions of pagers and beepers in rap lyrics. These devices, once symbols of connectivity and status, was featured prominently in songs by artists like Sir Mix-A-Lot and Ice Cube. Defunct cell phone models have also made frequent appearances in rap songs of that period. Songs mentioning Motorola, Nokia, or BlackBerry phones now evoke a specific technological moment that has long since passed.
Other outdated tech references in rap include mentions of VCRs, Walkman players, and floppy disks. These artifacts of earlier digital and analog eras were often used as shorthand for wealth, tech-savviness, or cultural relevance. Today, they offer listeners a nostalgic connection to the recent past and demonstrate how quickly our relationship with technology changes.
Below lies 19 outdated references to the aforementioned types of dated technology. As rap continues to evolve, it's likely that references to streaming services, social media platforms, cryptocurrency, and countless other examples will someday join the ranks of these mentions as lyrical time stamps for future generations.
1. Q-Tip: “Do you know the importance of a SkyPager?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYc50S23pQY
Do you know the importance of a SkyPager? That was the question posed by Q-Tip on the above A Tribe Called Quest classic, which – from a surface level – was a history lesson on the importance of the Motorola device at that time. Looking deeper, it was a hot take on consumerism and the increasing reliance on material things in the modern age. Regardless, the advent of the cell phone soon made the SkyPager and other beepers largely obsolete.
2. The Notorious B.I.G.: “Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, when I was dead broke, man, I couldn't picture this...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JZom_gVfuw
Simply put, “Juicy” told listeners the story of B.I.G.’s road to riches, with vivid lines about past struggles and then-current successes. Part of the latter brought forth the ability to enjoy video game consoles that have now been replaced by much more powerful alternatives. Later on in the same verse where the above lyric stems from, Biggie boasts about having a wildly expensive phone bill – a pretty rare issue for the average Joe given present-day national (and international) roaming agreements.
3. Gym Class Heroes: “You made it clear you wasn't just another Myspace mistress, and I didn't take it personal, when you ignored my request to be your friend, I spilled my guts and hit ‘send’...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TnlSVKuy34
While Myspace still exists, it’s certainly not the software sensation that it once was. Back in the day, young adults used their profile pages on the social media platform to network with likeminded creatives and fuel romantic relationships – which is what Travis McCoy rapped about on this Gym Class Heroes classic. Extra points for the clever Tom Anderson reference in the song’s first verse.
4. Ludacris: “PlayStation 2 up in the ride, is that Lorenzo-kitted?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t21DFnu00Dc
“Rollout (My Business)” was a boastful anthem about Luda’s many spoils (and the attention it receives whenever he’s in the public realm). The song is filled with question-based lyrics about the Atlanta-based star’s jewelry, cars, and overall lifestyle. Of course, a line about a PlayStation 2 immediately dates an otherwise timeless offering.
5. JAY-Z: “I'm too cold, Motorola, two-way page me...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG8o_9RliwU
At some point, the typical pager evolved into a device that could both receive and send messages, and Motorola was behind one of its most popular examples. The two-way pager was immortalized on JAY-Z's “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me),” complete with a cameo in Hov’s flashy, celebratory visual. Too bad such a cool and useful device couldn’t service the rise of mobile phones.
6. LL Cool J: “Walkin' down the street, to the hardcore beat, while my JVC vibrates the concrete... get fresh batteries if it won't rewind...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-7VCUAGaYw
The boombox was a staple amongst Hip Hop crowds, and the device was prominent on street corners in inner cities and urban communities across the country. LL Cool J was also a huge fan of the device, as it served him well when looking for his music fix. Unfortunately, the act of playing loud music – and, by proxy, the boombox – became less accepted in public over time. Add in the fact that speakers became smaller, more powerful, and much easier to manage (also, they connect to your phone and its endless library), the days of the boombox and its popularity were effectively numbered.
7. Kendrick Lamar: “She... just gave me her Nextel, dropped the number, we chirped the whole summer...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLtI-cMzjtA
Another huge cell phone fad of its time. Before the company was acquired by (and folded into) Sprint and T-Mobile, Nextel was a mobile carrier known for its walkie-talkie-style devices. Instead of making regular calls, users would often “chirp” the intended receiver, and such a form of communication was definitely popular amongst young adults at that time. For Lamar, it was his mode of choice with a love interest that proved dangerous.
8. Lupe Fiasco: “Reps Northside, so he rocks them braids, 1,100 friends on his Myspace page, ‘Stack That Cheese’ got 700 plays, producer made him take it down, said he had to pay...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3YV1hzALHs
While Travis McCoy used Myspace to win a woman’s heart, the character in Lupe Fiasco’s “Hip Hop Saved My Life” – a rapper inspired by Slim Thug – utilized the platform to bolster his fledgling music career. Back then, scoring hundreds of plays as a virtual unknown was akin to hitting it big in the music industry, long before the evolution of the internet made it effortless to find success without the aid of a major label.
9. B.G.: “All of our vehicles, we dress 'em up with television, Dreamcast, DVDs...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyaTAr8W0U0
Before a different version appeared in a high-profile music video, Lil’ Wayne’s Lights Out single “Shine” featured verses from Mannie Fresh and his Hot Boys collective. On B.G.’s verse, he speaks on the classic tradition of turning your luxury vehicle into a home on wheels – complete with all of the out-of-date media fixings for his passengers to enjoy.
10. DJ Paul: “She's a two-way freak, a two-way freak, she goin' through your beeper when she knowin' you asleep...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxmWMeskag4
For the soundtrack to the hood classic Choices, Three 6 Mafia decided to dedicate an entire song to the famed Motorola pager. Specifically, how the now-outdated device was regularly used in toxic relationships, from insecurities to infidelities. Chances are, unless you’re in the medical or emergency field, you probably haven’t seen these in the wild in quite some time (and even then, two-way pagers are apparently even rarer).
11. Rakim: “It's obvious why the copiers, they copy this, soon as my data processes Y2K, they floppy disk...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=596rdEwCbpE
On this standout from The Master, Rakim shows his age pretty early on by referencing the computer phenomenon known as Y2K – an issue with calendar data formatting that many thought would bring the Earth to its knees at the turn of the century (thankfully, no tech apocalypse occurred). Immediately following, the legendary emcee then flipped a bar about floppy disks, a form of storage that’s pretty much gone the way of the dinosaur in favor of thumb drives and cloud networks.
12. Ice Cube: “Drunk as h**l, but no throwin' up, halfway home and my pager still blowin' up...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4UqMyldS7Q
Another obligatory beeper reference courtesy of the iconic Ice Cube, who spoke on his apparent popularity on the moment-in-time cut “It Was a Good Day.” Even with several clear nods to past events or occurrences (“Went to Short Dog's house, they was watchin' ‘Yo! MTV Raps’”), this gold-certified Predator standout – and its Isley Brothers sample – is nothing short of timeless.
13. Kanye West: “D**n, your lips very soft, as I turn my BlackBerry off...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jZuz3NEr18
For those not in the know: BlackBerrys were a type of phone (or other communication device) that went from being a choice option in the corporate world to a wildly popular Hip Hop fad. Like the Nextel chirp, BlackBerry’s Messenger option (or BBM) felt as exclusive to owners as being behind a velvet rope. While his love interest was an iPhone user, Kanye West made it clear what kind of phone he was rocking with at the time of this Yeezus cut.
14. Redman: “My dress code is all black when I'm making the moves, similar to the new PlayStation 2...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b_zT6mdN3c
Another old video game console reference for the Sony crowd. In true Redman fashion, the New Jersey veteran uses the line to speak on his personal fashion sense. Presumably (as assuming he’s into video games), the Def Squad legend has since upgraded his PlayStation a few times over since Malpractice classic dropped.
15. Prodigy: “Build a jungle gym behind the crib, so they can enjoy youth, CBRs and VCRs, ATVs and big screen TVs...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAPEjqGbxdE
There’s plenty to unpack in the above bar from one of Hip Hop’s finest gone too soon. On the Mobb Deep classic, Prodigy dreamt of a better life for himself and his family, which included CBRs – a series of Honda motorcycles first introduced when the late rapper was only a child. He also mentioned the now-defunct VCR before rapping about “big screen TVs” – a product that wasn’t common in non-rich households at the time of the song’s release.
16. will.i.am: “Wi-Fi, podcast, blastin' out an SMS, text me, and I'll text you back, check me on the iChat, I'm all about that HTTP, you're a PC, I'm a Mac, I want it, MySpace and yo' space, Facebook is a new place...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCrrgBwKPhs
To give the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am some credit, there are obvious mentions that will likely be used for the foreseeable future – including the goliath Facebook, Apple’s flagship hardware, and podcasts. With that said, the iChat is now discontinued (Apple devices now support the iMessage tool) and Myspace seems to exist in name more than actual use nowadays. As technology evolves, we’ll probably get a chuckle from the entire stanza in due time.
17. Sir Mix-a-Lot: “Beep diddy beep, will I call you maybe Sky Pager looks like a Phaser That's the attire of a Northwest player...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPZ3cO2zOdQ
For his sophomore LP, Seminar, Sir Mix-a-Lot paid tribute to the pager with “Beepers,” which made the device as much about vibes and fashion sense as it was about practicality. He even shared an actual number that listeners could call for additional promotion – an idea that was sure to be considered pretty innovative at the time.
18. Missy Elliott: “Beep me, 9-1-1, or call me on my cell phone, I'll call you back...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWHicFCKxVE
While not as reliant on just a pager (think Sir Mix-a-Lot's “Beepers” or Ice Cube’s “It Was A Good Day”), Missy Elliott’s Supa Dupa Fly standout made it clear that significant others needed to send an alert before making a call. This could very well be because of the outlandish roaming charges at the time.
19. Gucci Mane: “I was selling bales before I sold a ringtone, the whole ‘hood know my number like Mike Jones...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3jY8-VzSEA
While ringtones are still used by many a cell phone user looking to personalize their incoming calls, the sale of ringtones is no longer a common thing – most users either set their phones to silent or, as many devices allow, you can simply choose a song from your phone’s collections of songs. Either way, Gucci Mane made it clear that he was making money long before ringtones became a thing.
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