The BEST List Of Rappers Who Like Anime, Know About It (Or Grew Up Watching It)

There might NOT be an enormous list of rappers who like anime. Maybe that’s because some rappers are afraid to “come out” the closet since anime carries a negative stigma.

But whatever the reason, there are STILL a lot of “confirmed” rappers who either:

Love anime.
Actively watch anime.
Or “grew up” watching anime.

So in this post we’re gonna focus on these types of rappers. Whether they’re from the USA or the UK.

The Hip Hop industry has a long history with anime within the songs, lyrics and inspired music videos. So it’s only right to talk about it.

Let’s get started.

The Only List Of “Rappers Who Like Anime” You Need To See:

1. Giggs

Giggs is a UK rapper from Peckham in South London.

One of the first songs that helped him “blow up” was talking the hardest.

It samples the instrumental from Stat Quo’s “Here We Go” beat.

Tons of times Giggs has referenced anime in his music, especially shows like Dragon Ball Z.

In fact – not only has he mentioned it in interviews and lyrics like the freestyle: “make his head light up like a Super Saiyan”, but Giggs has even cosplayed Piccolo from DBZ!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GIGGS (@officialgiggs) on Jan 24, 2019 at 6:37am PST

And then there’s the picture with Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z!

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F*ck all dat old picture shit,Mans our ere wid rasklart Vegeta💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥😄😄😄😄😄😄😄
A post shared by GIGGS (@officialgiggs) on Jul 17, 2019 at 1:18pm PDT

I think that’s proof enough that man like Giggs is a legitimate anime fan.

2. Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg doesn’t always talk about anime. But when he does its clear he’s a little “deep” into whatever anime he’s referencing.

A couple of examples that show Snoop’s love for anime is in his tweet with Neptune from Hyperdimension Neptunia.

https://t.co/csJa3Gyl5K pic.twitter.com/zOpWD0SOem
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) March 23, 2017

And also one of his Instagram posts where he animated himself as “Naruto” smoking weed. Naming it Snoopruto.

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A post shared by snoopdogg (@snoopdogg) on Nov 10, 2014 at 12:26pm PST

And as a seasoned anime fan, you can tell Snoop’s keeping it real and his interest is genuine.

It’s not for show or anything you tend to see from certain celebrities.

3. Hopsin

In one of Hopsin’s songs he mentions Ash Ketchum from Pokemon. Though this by itself doesn’t guarantee he’s a fan of anime.

The lyric is:

“You just a sperm cell that climbed up out of your dads rectum, muh’f*cker I got balls like I’m Ash Ketchum”.”

I do have the sneaking suspicion that Hopsin likes anime on a low-key. Even if he’s not the biggest fan.

A casual fan, maybe?

4. Sahbabii

Sahbabii is a rapper from Atlanta you might not know of. But that’s irrelevant here.

Sahbabii made an obvious song that proves his love for anime. And that song is “Anime World”.

As you can imagine based off the title, this song is focused on anime and relates back to it. I think that’s enough of a reason to believe and see how much influence anime has on Sahbabii as a rapper.

No different to your average anime fan in the community.

5. Robb Bank$

In his song: Refined, Robb Bank$ spits the lyric:

“With f*ckin’ sand covering our bodies, I feel like muhf*cking Gaara.”

That line says a lot about anime’s influence on Robb Bank$, even if it’s specifically from “Naruto”.

Robb Bank$ was even asked about his thoughts on DBZ over Naruto. He said:

“anime they watched.
It was great, Goku, blah blah blah, but it’s an old-ass anime, man. That shit is old as f*ck. Plus, Naruto has a better story than Dragon Ball Z. Naruto is really one of the best animes I’ve ever read in my life.”

Naruto seems to be his main influence.

6. Childish Gambino

In Childish Gambino’s song: “My Shine”, he references DBZ with the lyrics:

“Honesty, I’m rappin’ ’bout everything I go through/Everything I’m sayin’, I’m super sayin’ like Goku.”

In general he’s a fan of anime, even if not as much as some other rappers on this list.

7. Lil Uzi Vert

😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😔🥀®…..2 😩😩😩😩😩😡😫⚰️ pic.twitter.com/PyvytoqAmC
— Uzi London 🌎☄️💕® (@LILUZIVERT) March 13, 2017

Lil Uzi Vert tweeted the news about One Piece last year, with crying emoji’s plastered all over the tweet.

This implies he knows a LOT about One Piece as an anime series.

And then there’s the references to Naruto in the song “New Patek”.

“Throwing gang signs up, Naruto’. ‘Put metal in my nose like Pain.”

He’s clearly one of the biggest rapper anime fans on this list.

8. VI Seconds

Vi Seconds is another rapper like Sahbabii who’s made songs dedicated to anime itself.

In Vi Seconds case, he has the song “The best anime rap ever” on his YouTube channel. With lyrics taken from Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist, and other series and characters.

9. XXXTENTACION

XXXTentacion, the rapper who was assassinated in June 2018 had LOVE for the anime industry. And was one of the biggest anime fans in the hip hop community.

It makes sense since he’s of the younger generation.

He has a song named Inuyasha which we all know is the name of an anime with the same name.

In fact – he even had a MAL profile with 279 anime shows completed to his name.

Anime shows like:

Sailor Moon.
Pokemon.
Air.
Aldnoah Zero.
Kono Subarashii.
Monster.
Love Live.
One Punch Man.

And a bunch of other anime can be found on his MAL page.

XXXTentacion’s FAVORITE anime shows were:

Elfen Lied.
Steins Gate.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
Parasyte.
Zetsuen No Tempest.

And his FAVIORITE Manga were:

Elfen Lied.
Tokyo Ghoul.
Akame Ga Kill.
Tasogare Otome x Amnesia.
Gokukoku no Brynhildr.

And finally – XXXTentacion’s favorite anime characters:

Esdeath (Akame Ga Kill).
Tatsumaki (One Punch Man).
Yoruichi Shihoin (Bleach).
Hakaze Kusaribe (Zetsuen No Tempest).
Kurisu Makise (Steins Gate).

XXXTentacion was clearly a dedicated anime fan outside of his music.

The last anime he reported on was in 2016, according to his MAL profile.

10. Lupe Fiasco

Lupe Fiasco is serious about his interest in anime. So serious he went on to question Childish Gambino’s legit interests in anime.

As childish as it may be, Lupe Fiasco’s interests in anime are solidified. And he’s referenced Naruto (and other lines) many times.

11. Curren$y

This rapper sampled an anime voice clip for his song “Full Metal”. Any anime fan with a brain knows this is an obvious reference to “Fullmetal Alchemist”.

It could even be a reference to Full Metal Panic, but the influence has already been established. Since Alphonse’s English VA is heard in the voice clip.

The lyrics are:

“Brother hasn’t been dead for long. Look there’s still some color in his face…His soul is probably still at the gate. I just have to pull it back, the same way he did.”

12. Danny Brown

In the song “Shooting Moves” Danny Brown the rapper mentions Goku and Dragon Ball Z in a couple of lines. Showcasing his interest in the series.

Not surprising since DBZ is big in the black community, and the anime community in general.

Danny Brown is also a fan of Bleach, too.

13. Denzel Curry

In Denzel Curry’s song: “Dark Tournament”, he drops all sorts of anime references that only an anime fan would know about. Legitimizing his interests in anime.

And there are the lyrics:

“Killer, killer, killer, hitlist or that Death Note/Autographed by Justin Bieber, the future like HR Giger/Left hollow like Ichigo, Grim Reapers, and Soul Eaters.”

Denzel Curry also prefers DBZ over Naruto.

14. Richie Branson

Richie Branson uses hashtags like “Otaku Tuesdays” and even made an anime dedicated Hip Hop album to show his love for anime.

In fact – he even made a song called “Bring Back Toonami” on YouTube.

15. Frank Ocean

Frank Ocean, the famous singer/rapper is known for dropping anime references throughout his music.

He’s a little more subtle than most artists. But anyone with enough wit and understanding of anime can see it’s clear Frank Ocean likes anime.

This lyric stands out:

“his great grey matter/ Sensei replied, what is your woman/Is she just a container for the child/ That soft pink matter/ Cotton candy Majin Buu.”

16. Pharrell Williams

Pharrell’s 2014 music video for his song “It Girl” was produced by Japanese designer – Takashi Murakami.

The music video is animated and highlights anime harems, anime dating games and much more throughout the video.

The same thing happened in his song “Jellyfish Eyes” where Hatsune Miku appears in the video.

17. Ro Ransom

Ro Ransom has a clear interest in Soul Eater and Yugioh. As these are the references he’s made in 2 of his songs.

“Leap Of Faith” makes references to Soul Eater:

“Two girls with me like I’m Death the Kid.”

And one set of lyrics from Jayex Let The Beat Build goes like:

“She got blue eyes, does that make her a white dragon?”

18. AJ Tracey

UK Rapper AJ Tracey has been heard referencing anime like Yugioh in his songs.

And then there’s songs like “Spirit Bomb”, an obvious reference to Dragon Ball Z. And references to DBZ and Pokemon are dropped within the lyrics.

19. Kanye West

Kanye West is well-known for being interested in anime like Akira, an absolute classic and pioneer in the anime industry.

According to him, Spirited Away is no where near as good as Akira, as referenced in his tweet to a “top 10 anime” video on YouTube.

20. Xavier Wulf

With Xavier Wulf’s anime mixtape “Project X”, inspired by Initial D. Not to mention his lyric:

“Don’t think just cause Xavier Wulf is watching anime he won’t come cripple you.”

We can see he has an interest in anime that’s genuine. Even if he’s not the most hardcore compared to rappers like XXXTentacion.

21. Soulja Boy

Soulja Boy fact of the day: I’m a fan of Anime ^_^
— Soulja Boy (Drako) (@souljaboy) April 16, 2009

Soulja Boy’s another rapper who has an obvious interest in anime.

He’s made a song called “Goku”, speaking to his love for Dragon Ball Z.

And he even made an anime themed mixtape based on Death Note.

He even takes a further in another song where he makes this reference:

“Anime swag, when I pull up in that old school.”

22. Open Mike Eagle

Open Mike Eagle the rapper released a music video: “Dang Is Invincible”. This is an animated music video with strong anime influence.

In fact – there’s a resemblance to an anime called “Dead Leaves” by anime studio: Production I.G. Which was released back in 2014.

Can you name more rappers interested in anime?

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