Rappers Rapping When They Were Kids in Throwback Videos

Long before they were music moguls, multimillionaires and Billboard-charting artists, your favorite rappers were rhyming in their bedrooms and patiently waiting for their come up. YouTube has become a gold mine for some of this prepubescent content.

Since childhood, throwback videos prove Mac Miller was a hip-hop fan from the start. Early on, he chose to rap The Sugarhill Gang’s classic 1980 track “Rapper’s Delight.” The feel-good moment caught on tape showcases the budding rapper’s love for hip-hop. With his age came his talent. Aside from this moment, there are other throwback videos from the Pittsburgh native’s childhood that are preserved via video, rrom rhyming on the school bus to freestyling in hallways. These clips are cherished following his death in 2018.

Drake‘s early days as Wheelchair Jimmy on Degrassi in the early 2000s was a preview of the Toronto rapper’s acting talents onscreen, but long before that, he was grooving to classic hip-hop and rhyming along. Over the years, a clip of a young Drizzy has made its round on the internet, featuring him singing along with what appears to be an older family member and then rapping to Fugees’ 1996 banger “Ready or Not.” When it comes time for him to rap, Drake’s energy is on high as he bops his head and dances to the track. This throwback video has been repurposed into memes and the “HYFR (Hell Ya Fucking Right)” music video for everyone to get a glimpse of the OVO leader’s hip-hop roots.

For Mulatto, her rap career began on Jermaine Dupri’s reality competition show The Rap Game, where she was crowned the winner of season 1 in 2016. Early on, she proved she had lyrical skills and flexed on popular beats of the time. In 2013, Mulatto released a music video featuring her rapping over Migos’ “Versace” beat.” I’m the princess of the South Side but every side know ’bout me,” she raps. She later grew into the self-proclaimed “Queen of the South” with a pen sharper than her fashion sense.

Besides these three rappers, video footage of rappers spitting rhymes as kids are all over the internet. Check out these throwback videos of rappers rapping when they were kids.