Hip hop skit

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A hip hop skit is a form of sketch comedy that appears on a hip hop album, and is usually written and performed by the artists themselves. Skits can appear on albums as individual tracks, or at the beginning or end of a song. The best skits are usually part of concept albums and contribute to the album's concept. Its roots can be traced back to the blackface performers of minstrel shows or vaudeville (Emmett Miller's The Minstrel Man from Georgia has some excellent examples).

The first hip-hop skit appeared as the first track on De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising (1989), produced by hip hop producer Prince Paul, and featured De La Soul as contestants on a game show; the same year saw Ice-T record the skit "Black n Decker" on The Iceberg.

The hip hop skit has since established itself as a hip-hop tradition and have been performed by artists such as The Notorious BIG, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Eminem, Dr. Dre, The Wu-Tang Clan, Black Eyed Peas, 2Pac, Slick Rick, Warren G, Nas, Outkast, Goodie Mob, Master P, Ludacris, R. Kelly, Xzibit, A Tribe Called Quest, Pharcyde, The Coup, Gang Starr, Public Enemy, 50 Cent, Dilated Peoples, Digable Planets, Ice Cube, Geto Boys, M.I.A. and Eazy-E, among others.

Some skits by certain artists have the same theme throughout. For example, Emimem regularly has conversations with his manager "Paul Rosenberg".

Some common themes are: racism, telephone conversations or voicemail messages, performing sexual acts or the sexuality of the artists, performing criminal acts, being harassed, harassing others, living in the ghetto, intoxication, ridicule of other artists and ridicule of the performing artists. Another popular motif features young children, frequently the "seed", or offspring, of the artist, inappropriately using adult language and/or introducing the next track on the album. It is becoming more popular for skits to feature cameo appearances of other hip hop artists and comedians.