Birthday rap song with the guest of honour on the mic

Party playlists are full of birthday tracks written for everybody. This one is written for a single person. The verses say their name, nod to the age they keep rounding down, tease them about a habit or two and then celebrate them properly. The performers are not strangers either: it is you and the person celebrating, side by side under the lights, mouths moving with every word.

There is nothing to write, sing or film. Two everyday photos and a sentence about them are enough. The lyrics, the beat and the two voices are generated fresh, so the song exists only for this birthday, and it arrives as a video you can play at the party, drop into the family chat or send at midnight on the day.

It also works from a distance. A sibling abroad, a grandparent in another town or a friend you only see on video calls can still be on stage with you, because the two photos can be taken years and miles apart.

Our own pick of well-known tracks for the party playlist, from songs with "birthday" in the title to hip-hop hits that fill a dance floor at any celebration. We list the title, the artist and the year; listen on your usual streaming service.

1. "In da Club" by 50 Cent (2003). The one every DJ reaches for when the cake comes out; its chorus is a birthday shout.
2. "Birthday Song" by 2 Chainz featuring Kanye West (2012). A birthday title with a heavy beat; play the clean edit if the grandparents are in.
3. "It's My Birthday" by will.i.am featuring Cody Wise (2014). Bright, pop-leaning and impossible to mistake for anything but a birthday song.
4. "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang (1979). The early hip-hop hit older guests will know every beat of.
5. "Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (1991). Laid-back and warm, made for a garden party or a summer birthday.
6. "Hey Ya!" by OutKast (2003). A duo classic that gets every age group onto the dance floor.
7. "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO (2011). Pure party energy for the moment the music gets turned up.
8. "Turn Down for What" by DJ Snake & Lil Jon (2013). Short on words, long on bass; best saved for late in the night.

These are for playing, not for the video: the studio never uses existing songs or imitates an artist's voice. Your birthday rap is an original that sits next to them on the night.

• It is personal. It names them, knows their age and tells their stories; nothing about it is a fill-in-the-blank template.
• They are the star. The faces on stage are theirs and yours, which is why people play it again and show it to everyone in the room.
• It suits a late start. Making one takes about as long as choosing and writing a card, so it still works when you remembered the date this morning.
• It lasts. A card ends up in a drawer; a video stays in the group chat and comes back every year.

The download is a vertical 720p MP4, the shape phones expect. Drop it into a chat, post it to a story with them tagged, or play it from a laptop at the party for maximum embarrassment. If you would rather the whole group joined in, a gift link passes credits you bought to several friends, so each of them can make their own birthday rap for the same person.

Want a sharper edge? The funny birthday video page leans fully into the roast. Stuck for an angle? Our funny rap lyrics guide is full of original lines to adapt, and the list of rap songs about friends is good inspiration for a best-friend birthday.

For a song about something other than a birthday, the AI rap generator takes any topic, the AI music video generator explains how the song and the picture are made together, and the AI rapper page is for anyone who simply wants to see themselves on the mic. The orange booth is borrowed from the Hotel Lobby AI trend, and our walkthrough for a first AI rap video shows every screen.