Rap songs about friends: 15 tracks on loyalty, loss and fake friends

All 15 songs at a glance

The table is sorted by theme, oldest first inside each group, not by rank. We describe every song in our own words and quote no lyrics, so go and play the originals.

Songs about loyal friends

Toasts to the people who were there before anything worked out, and who are still there now.

• "I Ain't Mad at Cha", 2Pac feat. Danny Boy (1996). A gentle goodbye to friends whose lives took other paths, with no bitterness about it.
• "Crew Love", Drake feat. The Weeknd (2011). A late-night toast to the small circle that was around before success.
• "Started from the Bottom", Drake (2013). The anthem for a whole team climbing together from nothing.
• "No New Friends", DJ Khaled feat. Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne (2013). A shout-out to the old crew and a closed door to newcomers.
• "Friends", J. Cole feat. kiLL edward (2018). Looks out for friends coping in unhealthy ways and asks them to talk instead.
• "Best Friend", Saweetie feat. Doja Cat (2021). A loud, cheerful hype-woman song about backing your best friend no matter what.

Songs about losing a friend

Tributes to friends who died, written so the people left behind could sing them together.

• "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)", Pete Rock & CL Smooth (1992). Written for their friend Trouble T Roy; the horn loop alone is a memorial.
• "Tha Crossroads", Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (1996). A harmonised farewell to people the group lost, including their mentor Eazy-E.
• "Life Goes On", 2Pac (1996). Remembers friends who died young while promising to keep living for them.
• "I'll Be Missing You", Puff Daddy & Faith Evans feat. 112 (1997). A tribute to The Notorious B.I.G., built on a famous Police melody.
• "See You Again", Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth (2015). Written for the film Furious 7 as a goodbye to actor Paul Walker; a global hit.

Songs about fake friends

Warnings about the people who appear when things go well and vanish when they do not.

• "Friends", Whodini (1984). An early, wary look at who stays loyal once money and fame show up.
• "Real Friends", Kanye West feat. Ty Dolla $ign (2016). An honest admission that fame made him a worse friend, and others too.
• "Fake Love", Drake (2016). A smooth, catchy complaint about people who only act close.
• "No Friends in the Industry", Drake (2021). Separates real friends from business contacts who only smile in public.

The three kinds of friendship song

Crew anthems are loud and proud, made to be played with the very people they describe. Drake owns this lane, but 2Pac's gentler "I Ain't Mad at Cha" shows the quiet version: loyalty that survives friends drifting apart.

Tributes turn grief into something a room can sing along to. That is why "See You Again" and "I'll Be Missing You" still come up at memorials and graduations decades after the friends they honour were lost.

Warnings are the oldest kind on our list. Whodini asked who your real friends are back in 1984, and Kanye West and Drake have kept asking ever since. These are the songs to send when a friendship needs a hard conversation.

Make one about your own friend

Every song above celebrates somebody's circle. Yours deserves a track too, with the two of you on stage. On Rap Duo Video, add one photo of you and one of your friend, pick a stage and describe the friendship in a sentence. The studio writes an original song and animates both faces rapping it in a short vertical video.

Topic ideas that work well:

• How you met, told like a legend.
• The trip, the concert or the disaster you still bring up.
• An inside joke only the two of you get.
• A thank-you for the time they showed up when it counted.

Is it their birthday? A birthday rap song or a funny birthday video beats a card. Fancy some friendly competition? Settle it with the AI rap battle generator or a playful diss track. Need a name for the pair first? The rap duo name generator has ideas, and the AI rap generator handles any other topic.