#Bars: 51 Rhymes Proving Hip Hop's Love For Halle Berry

Halle Berry turned 51 this fall, yet the iconic actress is still as lovely as she was when she first hit the scene in the early 90s.

After appearing on A Different World in 1991, the Cleveland, Ohio native snagged unforgettable roles in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever, Eddie Murphy’s Boomerang and the heart-wrenching Losing Isaiah, starting a run that would make her one of the most visible Black actresses of the 1990’s.

With all that juice, Ms. Berry went on to change history when she became the first woman of color to win the Academy Award for best actress in 2001

According to IMDB, Halle’s 2017 films Kidnap, Kings, and The Kingsman: The Golden Circle will mark make 51 film and television appearances since 1989, but her credit list on genius.com‘s lyric database is far more impressive.

The bars don’t lie. And when aligned with her IMDB timeline, they’re proof that constant name-drops from MCs have helped Halle’s movement in a major way.

So far, her name has been mentioned at least 965 times on the record — from male rhymers like Ghostface Killah and The Notorious B.I.G., who shamelessly lusted over her beauty, to lady emcees Cardi B, Jean Grae, Lil Kim, Nicki Minaj and Foxy Brown, all of whom have name-checked Ms. Berry to describe their own desirability.

To honor Ms. Berry’s 51st year of brilliance, GG combined 51 bars she’s been mentioned in over the course of her career.

Hit the jump to start in 1992, when Halle first piqued Hip Hop’s interest.

1992

The year before The Chronic dropped, Halle played Samuel L. Jackson’s addict girlfriend in Jungle Fever.

Even then, MCs minds were sparked by her potential. And it was even easier to notice the young actress’ beauty in Boomerang later that year.

By the film’s end, Halle stole the show and leading man Eddie Murphy from a star-studded cast of alpha-women that included Robin Givens, Grace Jones and Eartha Kitt.

The first recorded mention of Halle on a Hip Hop album is on a skit from Dr. Dre’s legendary solo debut, The Chronic.

The “$20 Sack Pyramid” interlude was a play on the old school game show The $10,000 Pyramid, that featured prolific rhymer The D.O.C. participating in an explicit version of the classic game.

#1.

Artist: Dr. Dre and The D.O.C.

Song: “$20 Sack Pyramid” (Skit)

Album: The Chronic

Lyrics:

“Uhh, En Vogue, uh, uh, Halle, Halle, Halle Berry

Shit. Bitches? Uh, bad bitches?”

1993

In 1993, Halle carried the positive charges of Jungle Fever and Boomerang into higher levels of Hollywood. Staring alongside Patrick Swayze (Fatherhood) and a young Omar Epps (The Program), she shined.

Around the same time, a lyrical prodigy named Nasir Jones had a deafening buzz across New York City as the rap world anxiously anticipated his debut album, Illmatic.

A year before Illmatic dropped, Nas and his Braveheart crew visited Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito‘s infamous college radio show and dropped a freestyle that included a bar honoring Halle’s ill figure.

The mention, by Braveheart member 6″9, didn’t play on MTV or radio airwaves, but it was a clear sign that Halle’s rep was growing. It also proved that the hood recognized and acknowledged her star potential long before most of Hollywood did.

#2.

Nas, Jungle, Nature and 6”9

“Freestyle”

Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito’s show on WKCR, later Released on Illmatic XX (2015).

Lyrics:

“Hey, Yo, Six-Nine a true to life nigga

Yo, my style is iller, iller than Halle Berry’s figure.”

1994

In 1994, Halle scored a supporting role in a big-budget remake of The Flinstones. The same year, Biggie Small’s debut album Ready To Die dropped, instantly making the late Brooklyn MC one of the largest names in rap.

B.I.G. didn’t mention Ms. Berry on his classic debut, but he shouted out her iconic short-cut one of his legendary demo cuts, “Macs & Dons,” which circulated the streets before the album was released.

Around the same time, Yonkers spitter Keith Murray also noticed Halle’s rising profile. The Def Squad member mentioned her on his aptly-titled debut The Most Beautifullest Thing In The World album, which, as far as we know, wasn’t inspired by Halle’s looks.

#3.

The Notorious B.I.G.

“Macs & Dons”

Lyrics:

“What kind a girls do you like?”

Well, that’s various

I like long hair or them Halle-Berry-cuts

Real big butts, yeah, thick with lipstick

Cause when it come to girls I’m optimistic”

#4.

Keith Murray

“Straight Loonie”

The Most Beautifullest Thing In This World

Lyrics:

“I rise my eyes burnt like cherry

Get wise to my style more fly than Halle Berry”

1995

In 1995, Halle starred in a made-for-TV movie as the biblical Queen of Sheba in Solomon and Sheba.

She also starred alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. in Losing Isaiah, where she plays an addict who abandons her young son then returns for him after a White woman has adopted him.

Meanwhile, the Hip Hop community was still paying close attention to Ms. Berry’s blossoming career; East coast lyricists Mic Geronimo, Treach of Naughty By Nature and the late great Big L all mentioned Halle’s name with varying degrees of charm.

#5.

“The Natural”

Mic Geronimo

Lyrics:

“Cristal and Dom-P, getting sexed in the ‘telly

From bitches, who’s in the running (how they look?) up with Halle Berry”

#6.

Big L

“8 Is Enuff”

Lyrics:

“I’m hotter than Cali, wicked like Harry

And fuck Sally, I rather marry Halle”

#7.

Treach of Naughty By Nature

“Respect Due”

Poverty’s Paradise

Lyrics:

“And ’bout as brown as Bobby wit’ a trolley

To bury Halle, it’s chocolate, so pardon Dolly as a hobby”

1996

While Halle starred in action flick Executive with Steven Seagal, rappers like OutKast, Ghostface Killah and Fat Joe were all singing her praises during one of Hip Hop’s true golden years.

With classic albums like ATLiens, Ironman and Reasonable Doubt dropping weekly, 1996 was a big year for rap music’s on the mainstream stage.

And it was also a stellar year for Halle, who added solid credits to her IMDB profile with the family friendly science flick Race the Sun, and The Rich Man’s Wife, a thriller in which she plots to kill her husband over a bad prenup.

#8.

Outkast

“Elevators (Me & You)”

ATLiens

Lyrics:

“Passes getting thrown like Hail Mary’s

And they looking like Halle Berry’s

So so fine”

#9.

Ghostface Killah

“Camay”

Ironman

Lyrics:

“Your hairdo way more class than Halle Berry

Caught visions of me and you riding on the ferry.”

#10.

Fat Joe

“(Stay Away From The) Nasty Hoes”

Sadat X’s America Is Dying Slowly

Lyrics:

“Seductive red dress, lookin’ Halle Barry-ious

What’s your name Miss? “Sixty-Nine” Nice alias”

1997

In 1997, Halle teamed with Robert Townsend to create the cult classic B*A*P*S*, where she and Natalie Desselle play country girls who fly to Los Angeles to chase video vixen dreams.

By then, it wasn’t unusual for ballers like Master P and Ma$e to set Ms. Berry as a peak image of beauty throughout pop culture. But her mainstream popularity also inspired plenty of debates about color dynamics in American media.

It’s difficult for any rational person to argue that Halle’s universal popularity isn’t made possible by her light skin, loose curl pattern and presence in this time and place.

But it’s just as difficult to deny her beauty objectively, so all color critiques are better aimed at the world that created and continues to adore her.

#11.

Master P

“Plan B”

Ghetto D

Lyrics:

“Causing major pain on this dope game

You be Halle Berry, I’ll be the ghetto Damon Wayan’s”

#12.

Ma$e

“Love U So”

Lyrics:

“When you very large, never spend cheddar, you charge

Get my daily menage, Halle Berry massage”

1998

Busta Rhymes‘ right-hand man Spliff Star kept Halle’s name ringing in ’98 on the Flipmode Squad’s compilation album, The Imperial.

In Hollywood, Halle continued to build her resume with roles in Warren Beaty’s Bulworth and as one of Larenz Tate’s wives in the Frankie Lymon biopic Why Do Fools Fall in Love.

For good measure, she even made a guest appearance on the primetime NBC series Fraiser.

#13.

Spliff Star

“Money Talks”

The Imperial

Flipmode Squad

Lyrics:

“Our squad legendary, I’ma bump it till you hear me

Spliff doing love scenes on big screens with Halle Berry”

1999

HBO’s Introducing Dorothy Dandridge wasn’t a blockbuster hit, but it seriously upped Halle’s rep as an elite actress around Hollywood; It even won her a Golden Globe.

The film was also a personally rewarding experience for Berry, who had long idolized Dandridge, the first woman of color to be nominated for an Academy Award for best actress for her 1954 film Carmen Jones.

While Halle was working to increase her prestige, Biz Markie and Chris Rock dissed her for Sharon Stone, Pamela Lee and Meryl Streep on the satirical track “Snow Flake.”

By now, Halle is known on a one-name basis in pop culture alongside supermodel Tyra Banks and actress Vanessa Williams as a standard of beauty.

#14.

Biz Markie and Chris Rock

“Snow Flake”

Bigger And Blacker

Lyrics:

“Halle and Tyra just put me to sleep

Give me Sharon Stone, Pamela Lee and Meryl Streep”

#15.

Nas on Mobb Deep’s “It’s Mine”

Lyrics:

“Silk shirts on my chest show what a flirt

Halle Berry blew a kiss at the Barbara Streisand concert”

#16.

Silkk the Shocker

“All Because Of You”

Made Man

Lyrics:

“If I wasn’t Silkk the Shocker would like really try to sweat me

I always had girls but not like Halle and Vanessa”

2000

Halle became a global power in X-Men, when she played white-haired heroine Storm. But as the millennium turned, Halle was still getting the most attention from the Hip Hop world—including a second shoutout from Ghostface in only four years.

On the skit “Who Would You Fuck?,” Ghost and his Wu-Tang associates discuss which famous beauties they would choose if they could. Of course, the epic showdown between Halle and the eternally gorgeous Nia Long was saved for last.

That same year, Halle was also in a highly-publicized car accident, suffering a forehead gash that required 22 stitches, according to LA Times.

She was given three years probation and community service after it was ruled that she fled the scene of the crash, leaving the other driver with a broken wrist and other injuries to be rescued by other drivers.

#17.

Wordsworth

Q-Tip’s “Making It Blend”

Lyricist Lounge 2 by Rawkus Records

Lyrics:

“Yo, I like a woman wit a bangin’ body, the face and frame of Halle

Attitude – angry, snotty, speaks slang and cocky”

#18.

Ghostface Killah

Supreme Clientele

“Who Would You Fuck (Interlude)”

Lyrics:

“Nia Long or Halle Berry?”

2001

All the rappers who spent the 90’s admiring Halle’s figure had their prayers answered in 2001 when she made big news by appearing nude twice: First in crime thriller Swordfish, then in Monster’s Ball, which won an Oscar but also caught a lot of side-eyes from the folks that initially pushed her to stardom.

The most talked-about scene in Monster’s Ball was a sex scene between Halle and Billy Bob Thornton, and the racial politics the scene evoked made it hard for some to enjoy the historic victory.

Still, that didn’t stop Fredro Starr from including Halle on his track “Perfect Bitch,” or Chino XL from joking about her 2000 car crash. And we can’t forget the fact that Sean Diddy Combs played her estranged lover in Monster’s Ball, making her scene with Billy Bob all the more painful for Hip Hop heads around the world.

#19.

Chino XL self-titled track

I Told You So

Lyrics:

“Still floss on the daily, out of the ordinary,

Surviving drunk driving with Halle Berry”

#20.

Fredro Starr

“Perfect Bitch”

Firestarr

Lyrics:

“Lips like Aaliyah, haircut like Nia

Wit a twist of Halle, body like Jennifer”

2002

Halle became the first Black love interest in a James Bond film, starring as Jinx Johnson in Die Another Day. In Hip Hop, Ras Kass shouted her out on Xzibit’s Man vs. Machine album and Missy Elliott put her name on the Billboard charts with her #2 hit “Work It.” “Let’s get drunk, that’s gonna bring us closer,” spits Missy before asking, “Don’t I look like a Halle Berry poster?”

#21.

Ras Kass

“Harder”

Xzibit’s Man vs. Machine

Lyrics:

“Show me a bitch and I’m a slay her like Sarah Michelle Gell-ie

Rap star, trash tellies blow up my sprint celly

Dare me, I tongue Halle Berry’s belly”

#22.

Missy Elliott

“Work It”

Under Construction

Lyrics:

“Let’s get drunk, that’s gonna bring us closer

Don’t I look like a Halle Berry poster?”

2003

Halle continued to glow on the silver screen in X-Men 2, where she reprised her role as Storm, and she also showed out in Gothika, where she plays a psychiatrist who suddenly loses control of her own mind.

In the rap world, JAY-Z makes light of Halle’s 2000 driving incident and Foxy Brown honors her historic Oscar win on Luther Vandoss’ last album, Dance With My Father.

#23.

Foxy Brown

“If It Ain’t One Thing”

Luther Vandross’ Dance With My Father

Lyrics:

“And, I give you good love, I cook you dinner (uhh)

And like Halle and Denzel, your wife is a winner”

#24.

Jay-Z

“Threats”

The Black Album

Lyrics:

“I’m young, black and rich so they wanna strip me naked, but

You’ll never had me like Christina Aguiler-y

But catch me down the Westside, drivin like Halle Berry”

2004

2004 wasn’t a great year for Halle’s acting resume, as her superhero film Catwoman bombed with viewers and critics. But 2004 was a record year for her in Hip Hop, earning more mentions than we have room to list.

Everyone from Nas to Kanye West to Lil Wayne used Halle in their rhymes as a standard of beauty, but Jadakiss was still holding a grudge for her infamous scene in Monsters Ball. “Why Halle have to let a white man pop her to get a Oscar?,” asked Kiss on his hit single “Why?”

#25.

Nas

“Getting Married”

Street’s Disciple

Lyrics:

“Headed to the chapel, my niggas laughin, and it’s baffling

Cuz just a year ago, it’s weird though, I knew I’d get married

To who I knew not,

Thought of snatchin Halle up from the dreadlock”

#26.

Kanye West

“Workout Plan”

College Dropout

Lyrics:

“What’s scary to me is Henny makes girls look like Halle Berry to me”

#27.

Lil Wayne

“Hoes”

Tha Carter II

Lyrics:

“And I don’t like short-haired girls, no not really

If I do, she gotta look like the old Halle Berry”

#28.

Young Buck

Straight Outta Ca$heville

Lyrics:

“The reason niggas like Eric Benét probably can’t stand me

Cause I know money will make Halle Berry come out them panties, bitch!”

#29.

Jadakiss

“Why”

Kiss Of Death

Lyrics:

“Why Halle have to let a white man pop her to get a Oscar?

Why Denzel have to be crooked before he took it?”

2005

With her Hollywood legacy firmly in tact, Halle took a risk on a passion project based on Zora Heale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Berry and Michael Ealey shined in the Jim Crow-era narrative, which was produced by Oprah and aired on ABC. And she also found time to lend her voice to the star-studded kids movie, Robots.

On the record, 50 Cent daydreamed about the prospect of knocking Halle up, spitting”Shit, I’d give that child support up with no problems.” Meanwhile, Common used her name as a synonym for soft and scary on “Chi-City,” and Webbie showed that true savages weren’t tripping over Halle’s Monster’s Ball sex scene.

Oh, and young ‘Ye made the first of many references to Ms. Berry’s beauty on his Freshman Adjustment mixtape.

#30.

50 Cent

“What If”

Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ Soundtrack

Lyrics:

“Man what if Halle Berry was my next baby moms?

Shit I’d give that child support up with no problems”

#31. Common

“Chi-City”

Be

Lyrics:

“I’m harder than the times, you hardly scary

Holdin’ gats inside, you cats is Halle Berry.”

#32.

Webbie

“Like That”

Savage Life

Lyrics:

“Ever seen that movie Monster Ball?

Bend over like Halle Berry on that part when ole boy knocked her off”

#33.

2006

In 2006, Halle continued kicking ass in Hollywood, playing Storm in X-men III. She also appeared in Ghostface Killah’s abstract “Underwater” dream and got another shout out from Hov on Kingdom Come, where he somewhat foreshadowed the revelations we later learned on Lemonade and 4:44.

#34.

Ghostface Killah

“Underwater”

Fishscale

Lyrics:

“I seen a ray of lights that resemble live fireworks/Some mermaids with Halle Berry haircuts”

#35.

Jay-Z

“Trouble”

Kingdom Come

Lyrics:

“But if my chick leave me she gon’ leave me for something

She gon’ leave me cause Halle, she ain’t gon’ leave me for nothing.”

2007

Halle spent 2007 playing cat-and-mouse with Bruce Willis in the thriller Perfect Stranger and channelling intense emotions in Things We Lost In The Fire, alongside Benicio Del Toro.

The low-profile gigs didn’t hurt her rep in Hip Hop, though, as serial name-dropper The Game bragged about bedding Halle look-alikes on “Wouldn’t Get Far” and Method Man admitted that he preferred to eat Ms. Berry over eating real fruit berries. Why not both?

#36.

The Game

“Wouldn’t Get Far”

The Doctor’s Advocate

Lyrics:

“I done had my share of bitches with long hair

Short do like Kelis or Halle in Boomerang, yeah.”

#37.

Method Man

“Camp Fire”

8 Diagrams

Lyrics:

“RZA you know how we go on them 20’s, that’s how we roll

And I don’t eat berries but eat a Berry like Halle though.”

2008

In 2008, Halle began a two-year break from the big screen, appearing in no films or television shows. Still, that didn’t stop Busta Rhymes from shouting her out on Lil Wayne’s Carter III with a line that nobody really wants to visualize. That might be why there wasn’t a music video.

#38.

Busta Rhymes

“La La”

Tha Carter III

Lyrics:

“They movin’ on a nigga as I’m walkin’ the valley, ready?

And zoomin’ with the cameras like I’m dickin’ down Halle Berry.”

2009

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and Halle’s sabbatical from Hollywood clearly made Hip Hop miss her more than ever. Louisiana-native Hurricane Chris dedicated an entire song to Halle, using her name alone as the ultimate compliment for a woman he is pursuing.

#39.

Hurricane Chris

“Halle Berry (She’s Fine)”

Lyrics:

“I’m a beat it out the frame – Hurricane that’s who I be

You must be Halle Berry, I don’t need to see your I.D.”

2010

Halle’s return to acting came in a movie that she also produced, the psychological drama, Frankie & Alice, which stars the actress as a biracial woman who’s mental health issues complicate her racial identity. Halle’s real mother, a White woman, used to work in a psychiatric ward in Ohio, and her Black father was reportedly a patient there.

In the rap world, Halle’s biracial kinfolk J. Cole asked his love interest to be his co-star like Halle, and Kanye West dreamed of one-day raising a Hollywood queen, telling his future partner, “We’ll raise us a Beyonce, maybe she’ll be a Halle.”

#40.

J.Cole

“Higher”

Friday Night Lights

Lyrics:

“Cause yo ass got me fiending for ya so far

My life is like a movie, would you be my co-star

Like Halle Berry? Your old nigga act like a bitch, like Tyler Perry

You caught him down in Memphis cheating like Calipari.”

#41.

Kanye West

“Don’t Look Down”

G.O.O.D. Friday

Lyrics:

“We pulled up at the valet, we’ll teach our daughter ballet

We’ll raise us a Beyonce, maybe she’ll be a Halle.”

2011

In 2011, Halle made brief appearances on The Simpsons and in the ensemble movie New Year’s Eve, but she mostly kept a low public profile. Still, Ms. Berry didn’t have to do much to earn this a shout out at the BET Awards, keeping her annual streak of being mentioned in at least one rap verses alive and well.

In the BET cypher, Nitty Scott dubbed herself “the real life rap Halle Berry,” before upping the the ante and calling herself Hip Hop’s Coretta (Scott King).

#42.

Nitty Scott

“2011 BET Cypher No. 5”

Lyrics:

“Word-vomit on the mic, don’t touch it after me B

Cos that would be unsanitary

Oh Snap, it’s the real life rap Halle Berry

I think I’m better now, I think I’m Coretta.”

2012

Halle returned to Hollywood’s radar in Cloud Atlas with Tom Hanks and also shot the low-profile indie film Dark Tide in Mexico.

But her name never left rap’s radar as Kendrick Lamar and Waka Flocka Flame included her on two of the biggest tracks of the year.

#43.

Kendrick Lamar

“Money Trees”

good kid, m.A.A.d city:

Lyrics:

“It go Halle Berry or hallelujah

Pick your poison, tell me what you doin’.”

#44.

Waka Flocka Flame

“Round Of Applause”

Lyrics:

“That girl look like Halle Berry when I’m on them beans

When I hit the scene girls yelling and they scream.”

2013

Halle got mixed reviews for her crime thriller The Call, where she plays a heroic 911-operator. And she also found time to appear in Elizabeth Banks’ Movie 43 ensemble cast. But her biggest credit of the year came thanks to Drake, who announced his intentions to impregnate her on the Migos’ smash “Versace.”

Royce Da 5’9 later mocked Drake’s dreams with a slick bar in his BET cypher that said, “I’m trying to do is give Halle Berry a baby today/Then I’m outtie tomorrow, after that maybe Drake can adopt it.”

Juicy J also confirmed that Halle was still “super bad” and JAY-Z continued to highlight Halle and his wife Beyoncé as the highest possible standard of beauty in his eyes.

#45.

Juicy J

“Sh!t”

Lyrics:

“Your money funny like Jim Carrey

I got bitches that’s super bad like Halle

And we still keeping that white like Barry.”

#46.

Drake

“Versace”

Young Rich Niggas

Lyrics:

“I’m all on the low, take a famous girl out

Where there’s no paparazzi

I’m tryna give Halle Berry a baby and no one can stop me.”

#47.

Royce Da 5’9

“Slaughterhouse BET Cypher”

Lyrics:

“From doing me I stayed in the pocket

Now all I’m trying to do is give Halle Berry a baby today

Then I’m outtie tomorrow, after that maybe Drake can adopt it.”

#48.

Jay-Z

“Beach Is Better”

Magna Carta: Holy Grail

Lyrics:

“Girl why you never ready?

For as long as you took you better look like Halle Berry

Or Beyoncé, shit then we getting married.”

2014

In 2014, Halle returned as Storm in X-Men: Days Of Future Past and joined the cast of the CBS sci-fi thriller Extant. Migos member Offset used Halle and producer Tyler Perry to complete a bar on “Ain’t Mine,” but for the first time in a long time, it was a slow year in Hip Hop for Halle.

#49.

Migos (Offset)

“Ain’t Mine”

Rich Nigga Timeline

Lyrics:

“Look how she standin’, she Halle Berry

I laugh at the bitch like I’m Tyler Perry.”

2015

Ms. Berry held down her network television role in Extant and saw her Hip Hop stock boosted to a new level by a shoutout on Future’s monster-hit “March Madness.” The Dirty Sprite emcee admitted that he had a thing for mature women and claimed that he could make a cougar feel like she was Halle Berry if she let him.

#50.

Future

“March Madness”

56 Nights

Lyrics:

“Fuck a cougar like she Halle Berry

Future Hendrix, Dirty Sprite, legendary.”

2016

Halle’s only acting credit of 2016 was in Kevin Hart’s What Now stand-up special, where she played herself and Kevin’s love interest in the ridiculous introductory skit.

Sadly, her Hip Hop credits also came up kind of short, as Tyga tried to crown his then-girlfriend Kylie Jenner as a young Halle on his track “Happy Birthday.”

The bar raised eyebrows from those who were still waiting for him to admit he was in a relationship with the Keeping Up With The Kardashians co-star.

#51.

Tyga

“Happy Birthday”

Lyrics:

“Young Halle Berry’s in my theater room reclining

Fuck what they talkin’ ’bout, you know you can’t deny it.”

2017

In August, Halle returned to the big screen in Kidnap, where she plays a mother in search of her abducted son.

And over 25 years into the game, Halle shows no signs of slowing down as an artist or icon.

In 2017, Future gave her “caramel complexion” a shoutout on his number-one album HNDRXX.

Meanwhile, Halle remains adamant about playing revolutionary Angela Davis in a biopic one day, meaning this definitely isn’t the last we’ve seen or heard of her.

And for good measure, a bonus bar to wish Ms. Berry many more years of universal juice.

#52 (BONUS TRACK)

Future

“Sorry”

HNDRXX

Lyrics:

“It can get scary when you legendary

Caramel complexion, that’s a Halle Berry.”

#Bars: 51 Rhymes Declaring Hip Hop’s Love For Halle Berry  was originally published on globalgrind.com