Hip Hop Riffs Part 3

These hip hop riff posts fast becoming my favourite posts to do. With this one I’ve gone way down hill from the first two posts in terms of credibility. But at least there’s a long-overdue Nas riff in there.

Macklemore and Lewis – Thrift Shop

Riff

This one requires a bit of jiggering for the uke. The first note should be an octave below where it is here. So if you’re using low-G you can play it on the G-string, 1st fret.

The chords to go along with it are G#m – B – C# – D# – F#

Things get a lot more uke-friendly if you move the song down a fret (or capo the first fret). That lets you use the open g to buy you some time:

And makes the chords more familiar: Gm – Bb – C – D – F

MC Hammer – U Can’t Touch This

Riff

Nas – The Message

Riff

Unlike the other riffs in the post, this one is absolutely perfect for ukuleling. It’s based around fingerpicking a Gm chord. I use thumb on C, index on E and middle on A.