Jay-Z may have been the biggest celebrity booster (certainly TTAC wasn’t) of the Maybach line, but the brand’s demise is going to leave Hov high and dry for new wheels. So will Hov go back to the Lexus GS that he started out with? Probably not. It’s up to the Best and Brightest to determine what will take Maybach’s place in the whip game. Perhaps something British?
Among the next candidates variously mentioned were Bentley and Rolls-Royce. But as Gucci Mane rapped this year “I coulda bought a Phantom and rolled four deeper/but I’d rather pull up solo in the yellow two-seater.”
Even though two-seat Italian exotics are growing in popularity among the hip-hop set, they lack the ability to carry a crew of your boys; or an equal number of shapely video girls. A regression to the S-Class or the 7-Series won’t do either, with such cars being the minimum required to be taken seriously as a “baller”. The Chrysler 300 had a stint as a low-cost alternative to a six-figure European sedan, but ultimately lost out to more expensive hardware. No amount of panache can withstand the stigma of a sub-$100k sticker price.
I’d like tohumbly suggest the Jaguar XJ as a possible alternative; the Maserati Quattroporte seems to have found favor among a number of rappers, and I personally think the big Brit barge is exponentially better than the Maser. Alex Dykes already evaluated the XJL Supersport, but as TTAC readers know, what we enthusiasts like doesn’t always mesh with what the rest of the world thinks. Back in August, I had an XJL Supersport for a week, and the Jag won praise from my friends Hyghly and Lamar, who have shot two of Drake’s most recent videos and done the artwork for The Weeknd’s trilogy of albums. The mahogany/mirrored rear-seat tables (for picnics, natch) and purple-velvet lined rear armrest with integrated cigar holder were big hits with the two, but neither have their drivers license yet. Over to you, Best and Brightest.
Sienna Shaggin’ Wagon?
Nice reference. A lot of real rappers would kill to have Toyota bankroll a video (and probably would agree to this much product placement).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql-N3F1FhW4
Rachel Drummond makes a rather good video vixen.
I thought it was The Mighty One-Ninety sport sedan :)
Or the ’07 Corolla.
Panamera? Or whatever it’s called.
What one must remember is that the “game” is played with flash over substance. The car must be able to accommodate at LEAST 22″ wheels, be physically large. It needs to scream “I make more money than you.” Taking that into consideration I would say Rolls Royce Phantom, but honestly, the Phantom is getting a little stale and played out. So the next best thing would be a Bentley Mulsanne.
Also, A Fiskar Karma due to its unusual style and powertrain… at least until the novelty wears off.
Or at least until some rapper gets stranded when the batteries run down.
If I were Fisker, I wouldn’t let one of them rapperz near my Karma. Imagine what would happen–Karma runs out of juice in, oh, I don’t know, lets say Hoboken. Now rapper has beef with Fisker. Someone gets shot. Then the bad Karma raps start coming out and the Karma is no longer Kool.
The Karma has a GM turbo four for range extension, similar type of system to a Volt . As for raging rappers seeking revenge for dead batteries, your imagination surely gets the better of you. A gallon of gas will get that baby rolling again.
The whip that keeps the haters hatin’
The ride that keeps the suckers waitin’
The hog that got them bitches masturbatin’
While I’m in the studio creatin’
Husbands whose wives have started datin’
Keep their eyes out for my Phaeton
So… I’ve been mispronouncing Phaeton.
I don’t know, Jack. I think Ott nailed it (first response).
How about the Maserati Kubang?
Model name fits sideways gun-shooting sound effect.
Perhaps we need a comparison test among large sedans as to which is best for popping trunk on them hoes. A lane swangin’ test? Which holds a flossy spare tire best? Looks most at home in front of a rent-a-tire location? Which one is the most comfortable to ghost ride the whip? Which one has the highest ease of repossession? Which one accepts candy paint best?
The post above is the best comment in this thread. Can’t think of anything to add. Except maybe which one’s trunk can fit a pair of 15″ subs and still have room for a basketball?
Uh…A Mayback replacement? A 1978 Chevy Malibu coupe with 22″ rental wheels, of course. Duh.
The question assumes that any rapper actually drives a Maybach. Aside from Mr. Z, I guess.
I suppose that one particular Maybach will be replaced by something subtle and classy (otherwise he would’ve gone for a Phantom in the first place). My meager money’s on a Range Rover.
Aston Martin Rapide and a turtle top van.
Ram Van.
I’m sure Bentley has something shiny enough for successful nightclub owners, footballers and rappers.
The VW based ones are all over the place here and it seems like every single one of them has ghetto rims.
Ditto. Sadly for Bentley, their coupe seems to be a favorite subject for getting pimped out.
Of course, they didn’t do themselves any favors building a hot pink one encrusted with diamonds for the skankorrific Paris Hilton.
A little subtle race bating for mlk day? Sure I’ll play. Chrysler 300 for the wannabees.
Last time I checked there were plenty of rappers, and the guys in the photograph are friends of mine…
I was going to make a snarky comment about the evolution of the dress for gangbangers from baggy “loaded” jeans to highwaters, but I’ll refrain. :)
Anyone interested in this topic should view Lil B’s video “Tiny Pants Bitch” for a critique of hip-hop fashion using Derrida-style deconstruction from the point of view of a racialized urban youth.
kANYE KANYE NYE NYE NYE …
I’M SELLING OUT RECORDS LIKE TONY MOTOLLA
WHILE B*TCHES BE STARING AT MY COROLLA
‘OLA
SO FINE YOU THINK THIS MOTHERF**KA STOLE’HA
PEARL WHITE LE WOOD TRIM & HEATED SEATS
DRUM BRAKES REAR YOU KNOW WE’VE GOT THE BEATS
SIPPIN GAS LIKE BACCARDI COCA COLAZZZZZ
‘OLA
KANYE’S CAR IS A COROLLA
Weizguy here is Harvey Pekar’s second cousin.
I’m going to have to send this rap to my best friend, Greg, so he’ll quit feeling badly about his Corolla.
Google Ads on this page for me is a Rolls-Royce Ghost Extended Wheelbase offered by Motor Cars Beverly Hills. That’s my recommendation, as Google thought it was good for me.
A8L. German Cool.
Aston Martin Rapide or Audi Q7.
…
Nice pome, Oren(thal)… I’m down with that.
The Mulsanne, the Ghost, or the Bugatti Galibier when it comes out. Possibly the Rapide or the upcoming Bentley SUV.
In lyrics corporate jets are the new luxury cars, and will continue to be, with Gulfstream being the brand of choice.
In real life leasing something sub-six-figures at a ridiculous rate is the real buying.
I don’t know about rappers, I’ll certainly choose Hongqi CA770 Cabriolet.
Thought he and the wife already replaced it with a Mercedes van costing $1million. Needed the room for the baby.
My neighbor has a Jaguar XJ Supersport, wonder if he realizes how much street cred that gives him (he’s a retired car dealer–had a VW franchise and I’m not sure what else).
My money’s on the Kubang. What other reason is there for it to exist?
A Mosler Raptor.
You really should have known.
I think Sir Mix-A-Lot covered this a while ago:
Me and Kid Sensation at home away from home
In the black benz limo with tha cellular phone
Im callin up my posse its time to get rippin
Im freakin each sunroof to keep you suckas trippin
Everybody’s lookin if ya jealous turn around
The AMG kip keeps us closa to the ground
We’re gettin good grip from the 50 series tires
The Alpine’s bumpin but I need the volume higher
Mix-a-lot has a really impressive car collection. Guy knows what he is talking about. “Cars and Coffee raise up off me!” ha ha.
I had no idea that there was any popular music with cars in it. I thought that went out with “Little Deuce Coupe” and “Hey Little Cobra” and “Little GTO.”
Of course, I’m not sure how much influence Mix-A-lot is having, what with fewer and fewer kids getting drivers licenses.
Yeah, I wouldn’t put Mixalot on any list of rappers currently influencing popular culture.
Honestly, there aren’t many songs with songs as the subject matter, such as Little GTO and the songs you mentioned. But they do get referenced in a verse here or there. It does happen though, here’s a song strictly about a car, and this guy is actually currently popular:
(He gets bonus points for fishing too.)
Mix-A-Lot’s best
It’s a Boston Whaler
on a trailer
pulled by a
ma-ser-at-eee
Koo-bay-lor
I think the new continental is pretty dope.
When is the new phantom? 2014? Perhaps it won’t be so stodgy as the OLD one.
I don’t think/know if you’ll see much of the Mulsanne.
New S-Class maybe? Probably. Probably not the XJ, 7-Series.
What else is there?
Jay-Z may have been the biggest celebrity booster (certainly TTAC wasn’t) of the Maybach line
Diddy called one of his labels Maybach Music.
There’s going to be a bentley suv…
Not really answering the question yet, but first I gotta get the Maybach out of my system.
I know Birdman has a few Maybachs, not sure who else does. Most impressively, he bought the Exelero concept for like 8 million. Yowza. I know he has at least one Veyron, as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coddUeAed_I&feature=related
Birdman, Lil Wayne and Jay-Z all have the Veyron. Jay-Z has a GS and they all suck.
This sounds more like Cribs than a paean to an automobile. I’ll take Mix-A-Lot over Birdman any day.
Hey, who’s the white guy???!
Yeah, I just wanted to post this to show he actually owns these cars rather than renting them to appear in his videos. The Exelero is much more impressive but that video didn’t appear, just the link. Such a ridiculous car.
I miss the G-klasse…
And good point on the Chrysler 300. It just kills me about Lincoln, and no real STS… don’t expect to see the ATS…
…
Whip dearth
What’s a mad poet to do?
Flying spur?
THAT SAID, I’d still choose a 760.
OR A GHOST.
“Tell me, how could you go against the Lord’s will? Count my blessings everytime those Yokohamas squeal, or that engine purrs, that firm feline feel.”
Rock and roll used to talk about cars, and it still does, a bit. But hiphop references the auto more than any other genre these days. While a good portion of those references are status-checking look what I have types, there are plenty just talking up cars and performance in a way that’s enjoyable. At least to me. Clipse does a good job of this (quoted above.)
While Maybach may be the elite hip hop mogul ride of choice, the current hiphop car of choice is a donk (using that term loosely, so don’t get your panties bunched.) The highriding raised body type donks are over. Today’s donks are older sixties and seventies models, squatting down on those big wheels, and I for one think they can look really good. These are not your neighbor’s Brougham done up like a Froot Loops box. For reference:
http://donksnob.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lauderdale+candy+donk+forgiatos+Squat+3.jpg
And if you have any interest in seeing Donks done right, check out Donksnob.com. The guy knows what he is talking about.
And to answer the original question, as someone else already mentioned, I think the Porsche Panamera may be the new Maybach.
Thanks! The Donksnob is definitely an interesting piece of car culture.
TTAC already covered the magic of an original Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman. They don’t cost six figures, but they’re RARE, making owning one unique, especially if the malaise engine is swapped for a rebuilt’60s screamer, and the interior appointments restored/updated. Another rapper can’t just go out and buy a new one. If a rapper really wants to stand out, he’ll have his homies on the lookout for a restoration project, the last of the true American status cars.
My man Joe Tralongo just bought a sky blue one… waiting on a full photo set. It’s possibly more “baller” than the black one!
This is one reason why Cadillac needs a true flagship. The XTS isn’t a bad looking car but I think it’s designed to keep STS and other traditional Cadillac buyers in the fold. When Cadillac ruled the automotive world, their cars were owned by stars. Elvis may have shot his Pantera but he loved him some Cadillac.
As for Birdman’s Exelero and other Maybachs, I wonder if he has ever met Tammy Allen.
The new S-class will be released next year – so that’s a long wait.
There’s always the Veyron (which almost no one can afford), the new Rolls Royce Ghost, the XJ, the A8 and the BMW 7.
I reject the premise that the Maybach is the rapper’s car of choice. It isn’t. It’s just the limo they get if the Phantoms are all booked up.
Maybachs and Rollers….
Rap sure has changed a lot since the late 1980’s when Chuck D bragged about his Ninety Eight Oldsmobile.
Well, there was the Eminem Chrysler ad…just sayin’…
We got $15k for an ’05 300 2.7! with 22s just a few short months ago. It was on the lot for a whole 4 days…
I can’t believe nobody has suggested the Panther, yet.
Paddy wagon.
BAT found the answer: http://bringatrailer.com/2012/01/17/what-the-czech-dubbed-1972-tatra-t603/
I’ve only seen one Maybach in the flesh. It’s parked in front of a semi-completed McMansion on an unpaved driveway. All work on the house seems to have stopped quite some time ago as the house, although not completed, seems to be deteriorating.
Assuming I am the only young black man here, I feel as though I can speak with certain authority that the Maybach has only been the choice of the “Mogul Rapper” set (the aforementioned Rick Ross and Jay-Z.) In fact most rappers whose actual vehicles I have ever seen (most of the time the shit they drive in videos are borrowed from what can at best be called a high end rim shop) tend to have some sort of large barge-like luxury SUV, matched with any choice of Italian sports machinery. And of course the set of southern rappers who love their old school rides ranging from Impalas to Continentals, sitting on the largest set of chrome they can find.
Mercedes SL”Gay”. Thank you Top Gear.
Mustang 5.0 like Vanilla Ice:
“Now that the party is jumping
With the bass kicked in, the Vegas are pumpin’
Quick to the point, to the point no faking
I’m cooking MC’s like a pound of bacon
Burning them if they’re not quick and nimble
I go crazy when I hear a cymbal
And a hi hat with a souped up tempo
I’m on a roll and it’s time to go solo
Rollin in my 5.0
With my ragtop down so my hair can blow
The girlies on standby
Waving just to say hi
Did you stop?
No, I just drove by
Since they’re so concerned with owning something more expensive than everyone else, I suggest something even more expensive and roomy than a mere Maybach.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqkKYfO8WU8
If the street is too small for it, then it’s not worth going to anyways.