Tryin’ to Catch Me Ridin’ Shared
The automotive industry business model is going through its greatest disruption in 100 years, as private vehicle ownership gives way to mobility as a service. Private vehicle sales are waning, millennials aren’t getting their driver’s licenses, and cars are no longer seen as status symbols.
But nothing proves this trend better than rappers, who are swapping out the Cadillacs, Maybachs, and Bentleys from their lyrics in exchange for Uber and Lyft.
“Keep in mind when brothas start flexing the verbal skillz, it always reflects what’s going on politically, socially, and economically.”
— Musician Davey D
As noted by Davey D, rap lyrics have a way of reflecting societal trends, and rappers’ growing fascination with ride-sharing is no exception. Cars have always been an important part of hip-hop: from selling mixtapes out of the trunk, to rollin down the street, smokin indo, sippin on gin and juice, and even providing one of the earliest driverless vehicles with ghost-riding.
But lately the lexicon has been shifting, and many rappers are moving from the driver’s seat back to the passenger’s seat.
This trend has been noted in an analysis from Mashable pulled from Genius lyric searches. The graph below shows the frequency of “Uber”, “Cadillac”, and “Escalade” in rap lyrics by year of song release. While “Cadillac” and “Escalade” mentions are in decline, “Uber” mentions are on the rise.
We know rappers are talking more and more about ride-sharing, but we wanted to see exactly what they are saying. Following Lyft’s IPO on March 29th, Uber supposedly filing any day now, and Didi likely to do the same, public interest in the rideshare industry has never been higher, and everyone is looking to understand how shared mobility is going to affect the economy and the way we get around today.
As Snoop Dogg said, “Well, hip hop is what makes the world go round.” So let’s see what rap is telling us about the future of mobility.
For your reading pleasure, tune into our specially-curated Autofleet Spotify Playlist , and let the smooth rhymes of rideshare-focused rap songs take you through the post.
So turn up the bass, and let’s get on with the show:
- Rideshare is replacing vehicle ownership across diverse use cases
For rappers, cars have always been used for much more than transportation, serving a wide range of needs and situations. Today rideshare solutions are replacing the private vehicle in even the most unique cases.
A frequent case is the use of ride-hailing in times of “conflict resolution”, either as a measure of defense, gathering intelligence, or attacking rivals. One of the earliest examples of this is Fabolous, who, in his song “Lituation”, preferred to keep his weapons stocked in an Uber rather than in his personal vehicle.
Rick Ross used Uber for the same purpose in his song “Headache”. (We’ll revisit Mr. Ross in a later section and explain why this is particularly poignant).
Even in the United Kingdom, J Hus chose Addison Lee (a London-based premium for-hire vehicle service) for this purpose, cruising the streets looking for his enemies in “Bouff Daddy”:
“I know one thing for certain
You better keep your eyes peeled, I’m lurkin’
’Cause I tour the city in an Addison Lee”
Rideshare is also replacing the private vehicle in the most…ahem…”intimate” situations:
“On that GT, pop for me, oooh-ee
And she come and let me ride like Uber”
— Rich Gang, Rich Homie Quan, ft. Young Thug, Birdman, “Flava”
2. Rideshare is the new standard of luxury
Luxury cars have always been featured prominently in rap lyrics, but lately we’re seeing rideshare being discussed in the same context.
MadeinTYO, in his song “Uber Everywhere”, describes readily available Ubers as the ultimate luxury, equating that to pre-rolled joints waiting for him in the VIP section of a club. This comparison is especially interesting because it highlights that the convenience of Uber is what makes it a luxury, not the quality of the vehicle or exclusivity of the service.
MadeinTYO also inspired what is, to the best of our knowledge, the first rap beef about ride-sharing. Following the release of “Uber Everywhere”, Trey Songz released a remix of the song, “LYFT” in which he throws serious shade at Uber’s availability in favor of Lyft:
“Uber never coming here, throwing hoes in the Lyft”
For the moment it seems that this debate has stayed peaceful, but tensions remain high.
Chance the Rapper also described the luxury of ride-sharing in his verse on SZA’s “Child’s Play”, discussing frivolous use of Uber as a symbol of luxury:
“Scuba in my shower, take an Uber to my neighbors”
Chance is saying he lives so large that he even orders an Uber to his neighbor’s house, which is totally unnecessary.
3. Rideshare provides more accessible and flexible mobility options
A rapper’s schedule is fully booked, and the key to balancing so many commitments is to not waste time chauffeuring your friends and significant others around, or sitting in traffic yourself. Drake, in his song “Energy”, says “Bout to call your ass a Uber, I got somewhere to be”. Rideshare is available and accessible at all times, allowing Drake to move quickly from one task to the next, while still offering transportation to his associates.
Chance the Rapper offered both Uber and Lyft to an admirer who was wasting his time in “All Night”:
“I don’t trust no one faking like a fan, asking for a pic
You should use your phone, call a Uber
You a goofy if you think I don’t know you need a Lyft”
Rappers are also taking advantage of the convenience of ride-sharing to order rides for their friends and family. Much like startups HopSkipDrive and Zum, who allow parents to order rides for their children, rappers are booking Ubers and Lyfts for their close relations:
“I f*** her good and make that Uber call 6 in the morning”
— Wiz Khalifa, “Decisions”
Wiz saves time by ordering a ride for his loved ones. Rideshare has opened up flexible and on-demand transportation to make life simpler and more convenient. Migos, who as we will see below are normally big car-lovers, also used Uber for this service in “Bad and Boujee”. Also see Lil Wayne’s freestyle “U Guessed it” for further reference.
A similar but flipped situation can be observed in Childish Gambino’s “The Worst Guys” where Childish discusses ordering himself an Uber to escape a woman’s house following an embarrassing romantic interaction.
4. Availability and reliability of rideshare services are core issues for customers
When people are ordering an Uber or a Lyft, they want to get one, get it fast, and without surge on the price. Rappers are no different.
One of the most detailed descriptions of this challenge is from Lil Dicky in “Pillow Talking”:
“How are there no Ubers anywhere?
Just download Lyft (eh), they are bigger in presence out here
I don’t wanna add shit to my phone
Okay, the choices are clear, ho
Ubers are not around here, ho
Taxis will come, but they real slow (…)
I just downloaded Lyft, but it’s being so glitchy”
Lil Dicky touches on the variable service levels between the two companies (and vs. traditional taxis), and the resulting struggle for consumers of having to block up their phones with multiple apps, and having to switch between apps till they get a ride. And sometimes those apps are glitchy.
Our friends across the pond Not3s also pointed out this challenge in their song “Addison Lee”:
“Yeah I could’ve got an Uber
It might’ve been there sooner
It might’ve been way cheaper
But the price ain’t too much (…)
But no worries when my Addison Lee and when we rolling out”
Not3s builds on Lil Dicky by noting that rideshare companies are not only differentiated by service level but also by price. Uber might provide faster and cheaper service, but the quality of Addison Lee is worth the added cost.
5. Rideshare is creating a safer and more responsible future on the road
The rideshare industry is often in a controversial position regarding how it impacts urban congestion, pollution, and driver wages. So it’s very encouraging to see that rap lyrics are predicting at least one benefit of increased use of rideshare: road safety.
In “Uber Driver”, Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y discuss using Uber primarily when they are too drunk to drive themselves. 29 people die in the United States every day in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver, so this social responsibility is refreshing.
Travis Scott also took action to keep the roads safe in “Can’t Say”: “I’m too wavy, think I need a Lyft”, as did Big Boi in “Chocolate”.
6. Even the biggest car-lovers are moving to shared mobility
Back in 2015, MC Big Data provided an incredible analysis on the frequency of car mentions in rap lyrics. That analysis showed that all rappers love cars, but some rappers really, really love cars:
The table above shows rappers who mentioned cars in more than half of their songs, sorted by the number of songs overall and the percentage of all songs with car mentions.
Gucci Mane, the Game, and Rick Ross lead the list with the most songs with car mentions. But we have already seen two of those three transition over to ride-sharing. We already saw above how Rick Ross has started using Uber for diverse transportation needs. Even Gucci Mane, despite his 302 car songs, has been spotted offering Uber discounts as part of album promotions. Migos, 5th on the list above, also converted to rideshare in “Bad and Boujee”.
There are still some holdouts. The Game (who mentioned just Lamborghinis in 53 different songs) has yet to show rideshare love. He did partner on a song with rideshare fan Lil Dicky, giving some hope that change is on the way, but if anybody out there can get the Game into a Lyft — please help.
Conclusion
So is the future of mobility here? Looking at rap, it certainly seems like it. But unfortunately the other musical genres are less enthusiastic about giving up their cars. In case you were wondering, country musicians are still singing about their trucks, and it doesn’t look like they’ll be stopping any time soon.
Did we miss any songs? Let us know! Drop us a comment below or email us at hey@autofleet.io, and keep rolling with our Autofleet Rideshare Playlist.
And many thanks to the previous research that inspired us on this post: MC Big Data, XXL, Hyphy Hip Hop, and GoCompare.
