Just Rankin’ Sh!t

9 Anthems That Slap Harder Than ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ Ranked

It takes more than gleaming and ramparts to make a song a classic

LEVEL Editors
LEVEL
Published in
3 min readJul 2, 2020

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Photo: Johnny Nunez/Getty Images

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9. “O Canada”

As far as national anthems you’ll hear in an NBA arena — hopefully in 2021 — we’re gonna go with the one that’s been amended to be gender-neutral and, uh, wasn’t written by an avowed slavery apologist.

8. “POV City Anthem,” Cadillac Tah

Years before dudes started snappin’ to “Laffy Taffy” and hopping around mom dukes’ living room to Soulja Boy, this all-but-forgotten Murder Inc. pioneer jumped on a damn polyphonic, two-way pager loop and birthed literal ringtone rap. Salute!

7. “Party Rock Anthem,” LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock

While this may have been the most annoying earworm of 2011, the frenetic breakdown is still unfuckwithable. (Plus, nowhere in “The Star-Spangled Banner” did Francis Scott Key mention moving booty weight.)

6. “Uptown Anthem,” Naughty By Nature

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