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Snoop Dogg

Comedian Nore Davis took to Twitter to ask a very simple question: When did Snoop Dogg become all of our uncles?

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I read it and paused. I thought long and hard and it finally came to me― it had to be around the time he started growing dreads and wearing auntie scarfs. I don’t know if my friend Nore was looking for answers, but he replied by saying, “ALL of our aunties have a lot of explaining to do.”

That’s absolutely correct, because we all share a lot of the same uncles. One of them even gave me a job as a writer. So I decided it would be a pretty interesting thing to figure out some of hip-hop’s greatest uncles we all share. Since this is GlobalGrind, let’s start with the obvious.

Uncle Rush – Russell Simmons helped some of the biggest names in hip-hop get their start. Jay Z, DMX, and many others got a big break on Def Jam. Aside from that, his legacy of philanthropy and compassion makes him our universal uncle.

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Luther Campbell – Most of us know him as Uncle Luke, 2 Live Crew’s front man around 1996. No one is really sure why, but probably because like your favorite uncle, Luke can tell you everything you need to know about getting the ladies: “If it smell like crab, it is crab.”

Luther Campbell, Luke, 2 Live Crew,

LL Cool J – LL put out his first album in 1985 and has a great career all the way until now. After you’re around for 30 years, you’re bound to become everyone’s uncle, including Q-Tip’s, who on “Electric Relaxation” rapped, “Or we could do like Uncle L and swing an ep in my jeep.”

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Charlie Wilson – Uncle Charlie will lend you his Bentley to drive around for a little while if you need to. If your dad won’t give you twenty bucks, you can go to Charlie and he’ll give you $200. He wants to be the guy you call when you need something. He is your real life uncle. He told us himself.

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Bun B – Whenever there’s an issue in the south, you should call Uncle B. The Astros even had Uncle Bun throw out the first pitch for one of their games. How can you not love a guy who spits some of the hardest raps, then puts out some children’s books?

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Honorable Mentions: There are a lot of other uncles, although none of them have reign over hip-hop like the ones we mentioned above. Still, we felt the need to mention some other uncles, like Uncle Murda, Uncle Cam, and Uncle Kells. Or R. Kelly, as some of you know him. You know, the uncle who is always staring at girls’ butts and trying to flirt with his niece’s friends.

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PHOTO CREDIT: Getty, Splash

All In The Family: Hip-Hop’s Greatest “Uncles”  was originally published on globalgrind.com