First appearing in the early 70s in New York, hip hop was known as the sound of the street in the Bronx. Today, it is considered the biggest genre in music, comprising almost 31% of the music industry and being valued at $15.7 billion in 2016.
Estimates are that the genre has increased by nearly $4.08 billion annually, making it worth a serious amount of dough. One industry that hasn’t escaped the influence of this music is gambling, and we’re not just talking about hip-hop songs about gambling. The popular music and associated lifestyle have also been incorporated into many great slot games.
Curious what the very best slots with hip-hop themes are? Then read on!
- Loaded
Featured in the catalogue of many top sites to play on, Loaded is a five-reel slot by popular game developer Microgaming. The game takes you back to the origins of hip hop while giving you 25 pay lines that you can win on.
Aside from scattered wilds that substitute for any of the music-themed icons, the game also has a gamble option. This lets you double or quadruple your winnings from a spin by picking a card. However, if you select the wrong card, you will lose any winnings you had to begin with.
The game also features a bonus round that gets triggered by getting three or more bonus symbols. You can then select between three free spin options—each with unique multipliers that are applied. The game features a decent RTP of 96.29%.
- Wild Beats
Developed and distributed by Playtech, Wild Beats is a game that features neon lights and a fantastic soundtrack. This fun slot has five reels and offers 25 pay lines. While the game features basic wilds that substitute symbols like all other slots, there are unique wilds that make this game enjoyable.
The game hosts a wild feature titled Dance It Out. To trigger this bonus, you’ll need to get a hooded dancer wild and sunglasses sporting dancer wild on reels two and four. If you do this, the wild dancers will move to reels one and five, and all low-earning symbols on the remaining reels will be upgraded into wilds, leading to impressive wins.
Unlike other slots, however, the game doesn’t feature any free spin bonus, meaning you’ll need to pay for every spin you play. But you won’t have to worry much about that because the game offers an RTP (or return to player) of 96.01%.
- Pimped
Released in 2015, Pimped is a thoroughly hip hop-inspired slot by Play ‘N Go, one of the biggest names in online gambling development. The game hosts great graphics that reflect the hip-hop lifestyle and a soundtrack that will have you dancing along as you play.
The game has five reels and only ten pay lines. However, it features stacked wilds and an excellent bonus feature triggered by getting three gold dollar symbols on the screen. Doing this will grant you five free spins that each come with a win guarantee per spin. Sadly, the jackpot isn’t guaranteed.
If five free spins seem too few, the game will grant an additional two free spins each time the golden dollar appears while playing your free spins. This continues up to a maximum of 20 free spins. The game also features an acceptable RTP of 96.51%.
- Hip Hop Opotamus
Also developed by Microgaming, Hip Hop Opotamus (try saying that five times) was released in 2008. It features a hip-hop hippo wearing an assortment of bling and lets you win big. A three-reel game with just one pay line, it is similar to traditional slots from way back.
There are no wilds or other special symbols except for the bling hippo itself. Getting three hippos will trigger the bonus, letting you select one square from a 7×7 grid. Behind your selection, you can win prizes, multipliers, holds, or nudges.
Nudges allow you to nudge a reel forward in hopes of getting a winning combination to appear. The hold option lets you freeze one reel while respinning, which gives you the chance to win even more. The RTP of the game is a respectable 96.5%.
- Hip Hop Panda
In competition to the slot above, Hip Hop Panda is developed by PGSoft. The game has just three reels but also offers three pay lines. Alongside this are wilds that substitute for any symbol except the scatter, which triggers the bonus.
The bonus grants you free spins with scattered multipliers that improve your wins. In the free spin bonus, you may also see the bomb symbol. This will blow up any symbol that isn’t wild and replace it with new ones. This is great to win even more significant amounts on a single spin.
While primarily geared for play on mobile devices, the game can be enjoyed on PC, although many online casinos do not host it. It also has an RTP of 95.75%, which is slightly less than the other hip-hop-themed games on this list.
- Top Dawg$
Published by Relax Gaming, Top Dawg$ features an animal theme closely tied to hip hop. It has five reels and features 15 pay lines to win on. There are also wilds that substitute other symbols, and a great feature called a mystery symbol.
Getting this mystery symbol on the fifth reel will freeze this reel and trigger a respin. Further mystery symbols appearing will also freeze their respective reels. This freeze function lets you win almost as much as the bonus, which is triggered by three scattered symbols.
During free spins, any wilds that appear will be locked on the screen until the end of the bonus. This extended wild appearance means you could get an almost entirely wild screen if luck is on your side. This will bring truth to the 96.1% RTP and could lead to some truly impressive wins.
© 2022, Seth "Digital Crates" Barmash. All rights reserved.
