Hip hop skit

A hip hop skit is a form of sketch comedy that appears on a hip hop album or mixtape, and is usually written and performed by the artists themselves. Skits can appear on albums or mixtapes as individual tracks, or at the beginning or end of a song. Some skits are part of concept albums and contribute to an album's concept. Skits also occasionally appear on albums of other genres.

The hip-hop skit was more or less pioneered by De La Soul and their producer Prince Paul who incorporated many skits on their 1989 debut album 3 Feet High and Rising.

The Hip Hop Skit although dominant throughout the 90s and the early 2000s began to be phased out in the later half of the 2000s and the early 2010s. Reasons for this include the popularity of MP3 as well as the invention of the iPod Shuffle, which could only play tracks in a random order.

Writing for The AV Club, Evan Rytlewski opined that skits may have originally been in vogue because an expanded tracklisting would look more appealing to would be buyers, although he noted that their first inclusion on a De La Soul record was most likely just them being "eccentric".

Rain (Anthony Callea song)

"Rain" is the second song released by Australian Idol series two runner-up Anthony Callea, and features on his self-titled debut album Anthony Callea (2005). It was released as a double A-side set features the song plus his recording of Simon & Garfunkel's song "Bridge over Troubled Water", which he performed on Australian Idol.

The CD single for the song was released as a three-track standard version with the B-side "Don't Tell Me". It was also available for a short time as a limited edition collector's 2CD tri-gatefold set with a second B-side, "Wanna Be the One".

Track listing

Charts

"Rain" / "Bridge Over Troubled Water" debuted at #1 in Australia and remained at #1 for two weeks.

Ola Svensson version

In early 2006, Swedish singer Ola Svensson covered the song and released it as his debut single. Following his participation in Idol 2005, the single debuted at #1 on the Swedish singles chart and remained there for three consecutive weeks.

Rain (2006 film)

Rain is a 2006 film directed by Craig DiBona. The screenplay was written by Andrew Neiderman, based on the novel by V. C. Andrews. It premiered at the Palm Beach International Film Festival, although it did not receive further domestic distribution.

Plot

A talented young pianist named Rain (Brooklyn Sudano) is attacked by a vicious street gang which kills her sister. The gang sets out to find Rain while she hides in the care of a woman who is her natural grandmother. Rain was put up for adoption because the father of the baby was black and the mother was from a rich white family. Her adoptive mother (Khandi Alexander) sends her back because she is in danger for having witnessed her adoptive sister's murder.

Cast

Availability

The film is available to watch on such sites as Netflix to both rent and to watch on their online streaming option.

Rain (SWV song)

"Rain" is a 1998 single released by the group SWV. The musical backing track is based on Jaco Pastorius's "Portrait of Tracy." First heard in 1997 on the group's third album Release Some Tension, the song was released as a single the next year. It peaked at number 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number 7 on the US Hot R&B Singles chart. Singer Tyrese appeared in the song's music video. He would later sing the hook on "Pullin' Me Back", a song by rapper Chingy, which sampled "Rain." Smooth Jazz musician Norman Brown covered the song on his 1999 album, Celebration. Toronto based producer duo Team Majestic Music, also sampled "Rain" for their song "Let It Fall."

Track listing

US Promo

US CD

UK CD