Last year, Waka Flocka Flame seemed to be more focused on bar-for-bar lyricism than bellowing on top of gargantuan trap beats, releasing the ironically-titled I Can't Rap Vol. 1 last summer as a culmination of a freestyle series. Since his infectious debut single, "O Let's Do It," dropped in 2009, Flock had been pigeonholed as a simplistic gangster who favored long sequences of "BOW!"s over intelligent 16s (leading to parodies as inflammatory as "Shawt Bus Shawty"), so it seemed like he set out to prove something with that "real rap" tape. At least partially achieving his goal of being recognized for his lyrical abilities, Flocka's next move was to drop The Turn Up Godz Tour tape yesterday.
If the title isn't enough of a hint, the fact that Big Homie Flock yells "Let's start a motherfucking mosh pit in this bitch!" within the first minute of the intro track should alert you that he's back to his old ways on the new project. In the spirit of Waka returning to his wild roots, we're looking back at his top 10 turn up anthems. These are his tracks that are guaranteed to pump some adrenaline into any party, even if some were released close to six years ago. As soon as you hear Lex Luger's producer tag and those unforgettable ad-libs, it's lit.
Now, most of these come from Flockaveli, as front-to-back, it's one of the most energetic tapes of the last decade, but we've also included some highlights from the DuFlocka Rant tapes, Triple F Life, the Gucci Mane collab Ferrari Boyz and more. Again, we're focusing on turn up tracks rather than Waka's most violent songs -- the gun-inspired ad-libs are unavoidable, but we've opted to leave out tracks like "TTG" and "Karma" that are more explicitly about taking down enemies than rolling up the loud and getting fucked up.
10. Can't Do Golds (Prod. By Southside)
Taken from 2013's DuFlocka Rant 2 tape, "Can't Do Golds" has Waka flexing ("Randy Savage!!!") his newfound riches over a beat that sounds like it could be Luger's work, but isn't. Instead, it's Southside of 808 Mafia, who's more than capable of crafting bangers at the drop of a hat.
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Waka Flocka Flame's Top 10 Turn Up Anthems
9. Young Niggaz feat. Gucci Mane (Prod. By Southside)
"Ray Charles vision screamin' 'Where's the competition?'"-- A sure highlight from GuWop and Big Homie Flock's 2011 joint album Ferrari Boyz, "Young Niggaz" is again produced by Southside.
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8. I Don't Really Care feat. Trey Songz (Prod. by Skyy Stylez & Troy Taylor)
Three tracks from Flocka's sophomore album, Triple F Life, appear on this list, and somewhat coincidentally, they appear consecutively on the project's tracklist. Sandwiched between two other bangers, the Trey Songz-assisted "I Don't Really Care" saw Waka handling one of his first big R&B collaborations very well, making sure Trigga's hook was on par with his own intensity. The song's two producers are relatively unknown, but they shine here as well.
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Waka Flocka Flame's Top 10 Turn Up Anthems
7. Oh Let's Do It (Prod. by L-Don Beatz)
This is where it all began for Flocka-- the debut single. Breaking the top ten on the rap songs chart, it (and its star-powered remix) is how he began buzzing before Flockaveli dropped. "Drug dealing music, I influence, I influence," he raps on the track, predicting how much of a blueprint his sound would become for other trap artists.
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Waka Flocka Flame's Top 10 Turn Up Anthems
6. Rooster In My Rari (Prod. By DJ Spinz)
One of DJ Spinz's earliest bangers, this Triple F Life cut is one of Waka's most underrated jams. The very literal video is also one of his best, featuring a great performance by a dude in a chicken costume. Hudson Mohawke and Lunice would only elevate this one with their dope TNGHT remix.
A bonafide pop hit among Waka's collection of street bangers, "No Hands" packs a memorable chorus and an almost absurd amount of references to moscato into a few glorious minutes. Roscoe Dash's hook on this might be the finest moment of his career thus far, and Wale even gets into the throwing-money-at-strippers headspace on this one.
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Waka Flocka Flame's Top 10 Turn Up Anthems
4. Grove St. Party feat. Kebo Gotti (Prod. by Lex Luger)
We've gone through the list with no Lex Luger beats thus far, but from here on out, it's all him on the boards. "Grove St. Party" is less aggressive than most Flockaveli cuts, but is guaranteed to turn the party out. Its video features a star turn from an animated version of Flocka's Fonzi chain, adding another entertaining element to the mix, as does this hilarious video of a toddler's reaction to the song.
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Waka Flocka Flame's Top 10 Turn Up Anthems
3. Bustin' At 'Em (Prod. by Lex Luger)
Containing an 45 second-long outro that has some of Flocka's best and most ridiculous ad-libs ("WAKA WAKA FLOCKA WAKA FLOCKA YEUH FLOOOOOOCKA"), "Bustin' At 'Em" is second only to "Hard In The Paint" in its heaviness. Luger comes through with an instrumental that sounds like a digitized version of a hair metal hit, and Waka imitates an entire arsenal of guns with his mouth. A historic moment for trap music.
2. Round Of Applause feat. Drake (Prod. by Lex Luger)
Flocka's Drake co-sign came after he had already established himself as a star, but even still, it didn't hurt. Luger gives the duo a lavish beat for their stripper-obsessed lyrics, making this the least angry and most poppy track outside of "No Hands" on this list.
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Waka Flocka Flame's Top 10 Turn Up Anthems
1. Hard In Da Paint (Prod. by Lex Luger)
Along with Chief Keef's early videos, "Hard In Da Paint" is one of the finest, rawest whole-squad-mobbing-out videos of the 2010s. Taking a basketball metaphor and expanding it into a mission statement for his music and life, Flocka promises to "leave you stankin'" and informs us that he hangs with "hit squad killers"-- he came a long way from this to cough drop commercials. To this day, Lex Luger's wall of low-end brass that kicks off the song is enough to incite a riot by itself-- this is the stuff of mosh pit history.
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