For many decades, rappers have incorporated gambling and casino themes into their lyrics, song titles and even their music videos. There are countless examples of rappers infusing their work with links to the casino world, with a broad set of reasons.
Kendrick Lamar’s#### song “Vegas” featured lyrics including references to playing blackjack, craps, slots and poker. He uses the lyrics as a metaphor to describe his feelings for someone, talking about gambling with his emotions and describing the muse of his song as “Vegas”.
Another popular rap song featuring casino references is Ice Cube’s “It Was a Good Day” which discusses how lucky he feels that day playing craps and how he “picked up the cash flow”.
These are just a few examples but many rap songs make some kind of reference to gambling or betting. They use the connotations of the glamorous casino lifestyle to convey images of grandeur, amongst other links. These are some of the reasons rappers love to use casino themes in their work:
Conveying Success
Casinos represent success and luxury living, especially in high-roller rooms or VIP casino rooms. Music videos often show the most stylish parts of casinos, like sleek interiors and private suites where players are served expensive champagne.
Casino themes are often used to convey the lavish lifestyles of rappers, many of whom started off in more deprived living situations. They take a gamble that pays off in the music industry, providing them with the life-changing finances that only the biggest jackpot winners can achieve.
The “Hustling” Theme
Rappers often refer to their success journey and work efforts as “hustling”. In the gambling world, hustling usually represents tricking an opponent into thinking they are not very skilled to get them to place higher stakes. Then they suddenly show their true skills and clear up.
This is likely to be a link to how people from poorer backgrounds are written off by society, who expect not much to come of them. When they go against expectations and become successful, it could be regarded as a “hustle”.
Emphasizing High Risk/High Reward
Casino games are all about taking risks and the bigger the risk, the greater the reward. Rappers who go on to enjoy success in the music industry bet on themselves to be successful, they know that the rewards will make the risk worthwhile.
The odds are against them but they are still prepared to take the chance at making their dreams become a reality. Just like hitting a big jackpot in slots games, the odds are very unlikely for experiencing success.
Fast Money
Another common theme between rappers and casinos is the speed at which you can go from nothing to great success. You may have heard stories about people who have walked into casinos with a small amount of money in their pocket and they have walked out with millions of dollars.
Although rapper success is never literally overnight, the speed between getting discovered to them earning large sums of money can be very fast. Fast money is often considered to be a way of making money without putting in a great deal of effort and for some rappers, they might have just got lucky and their career took off before they had to spend years honing their talent.
Once a successful rapper becomes mainstream, there is a better chance that their next hits are going to garner equal amounts of success as their first, which again could be considered to be “fast money”.
Rappers Who Enjoy Playing at Casinos
The links between rappers and casinos are not limited to the song lyrics and music videos, many rappers are also regulars at casinos. Lil Baby confessed that he had lost a serious amount of money (alleged to be around $9m) at casinos and requested to be banned to prevent him from losing any more money.
Artists such as 50 Cent, Travis Scott and Jay-Z are also known to enjoy high-stakes betting at casinos. Rich rappers with unlimited funds have the means to place big stakes and when you can afford most material things in life, it is harder to get a buzz from the activities that used to provide entertainment. High stakes gambling is one activity that can help people with unlimited funds to get a dopamine boost.
Rappers and casinos are intertwined in many ways and gambling metaphors help to create great lyrics and songs that resonate with the listening audience. Comparing the journey of becoming rich and famous to landing a big win at the casino is a dream that many can relate to.