Wouldn’t you like to know the future? Well, if you ever heard any of these songs then you already did! Over the years, musicians have used music to help cope with the harsh realities of their lives, and many of them even gave listeners a glimpse into the future without even knowing it. From Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé to Sean “Diddy” Combs and TLC, these 15 R&B and rap songs strangely predicted the future— and in some cases, even their own demise. Take a look and be prepared to be spooked!
California rapper Snoop Dogg almost predicted his own demise with the 1993 song, “Murder Was the Case.” Just as the name suggest, Snoop rapped about beating a murder case, but this was just a couple years before he would actually be facing prison time for the exact same crime. As we all know, Snoop ended up beating the case before reinventing himself as one of America’s favorite Hip-Hop uncles. Thirty years after the song’s release, the 53-year-old rapper revealed he feels he manifested his potential demise. On “The Breakfast Club,” Snoop said “My life and my freedom was on the line.” He continued, “It just made me feel like my pen created this.”
Way before online dating was a thing, Zapp, the ‘80s funk band, was singing about it on the radio. Their 1985 hit “Computer Love” detailed falling in love digitally, and in 2025, the song rings true. “Need a special girl / To share in my computer world / I no longer need a strategy / Thanks to modern technology,” Zapp sang on the song. Now, with apps like Hinge, eharmony and even social media DMs, folks are finding their computer love faster than anyone could imagine.
In 2007, California rapper The Game released a song called “Hard Times” where he rapped about President Barack Obama one day capturing Osama bin Laden, the former leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization who claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks. The Game rapped “I’m feeling like a Black democrat / Barack Obama, the only n**** that can catch Osama” way before Obama even set foot in the White House. Four years later, in Obama’s first term, bin Laden was killed by U.S. troops.
Way back in 1967, rockstar Jimi Hendrix was warning folks about climate change. His song “Up From The Skies” was written about an alien that returns to earth to see just how drastically our world has changed. And it’s safe to say he’s disappointed with his findings. “The smell of a world that has burned / Well, maybe, maybe it’s just a change of climate.” In 2025, his words hold a different weight as growing concerns about climate change continue to loom over the entire globe.
A$AP Rocky is the perfect example of manifesting exactly what you want for your future. In 2013, he dropped “Fashion Killa” where he rapped about styling and profiling with his special lady. But specifically, he name dropped the Bajan billionaire saying, “Her attitude Rihanna / She get it from her mama,” which means so much more now as he and RiRi have a beautiful family with two children and another on the way. The song continued saying, “But she save it so our babies will be flyer than their parents.” It looks like Rocky got his wish!
If ever there was a time for Sean “Diddy” Combs to regret his past lyrics, it’s right now as he’s facing serious prison time for alleged human trafficking and racketeering. In 2001, Diddy featured on “Let’s Get It,” a song all about money and power. But now, Combs’ second verse takes a different light as he’s in the middle of a federal trial. On the song, he rapped, “Ayo, call me Diddy, I run this city / Send the cops, the D.A. and Feds to come get me / Cats wanna leave me for dead you coming with me.”
Beyoncé broke the internet in 2011 with her women’s empowerment anthem, “Run the World.” The song came out one year before the queen gave birth to her first-born daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, but she was already talking about the strength of a mother in the 2011 song. “We smart enough to make these millions / Strong enough to bear the children / Then get back to business,” she sang. After Blue Ivy was born, Beyoncé went on a musical run that seemingly hasn’t stopped. From the surprise release of her self-titled album to “Lemonade,” the singer kept raising the bar for herself after. Then, she did it all again after her twins, Rumi and Sir, were born in 2017.
Just one year before he was tragically gunned down, rapper Tupac recorded the song “If I Die 2nite,” which, as it suggests, details what he wants to happen when he dies. The track was for his 1995 project titled “Me Against The World,” the second to last album he would ever release. In the song, the rapper says, “I hope they bury me and send me to my rest / Headlines reading ‘Murdered to death / My last breath.” And months later, Tupac would meet an eerily similar fate.
Honestly, we could go on and on about rappers who unknowingly predicted the tragedy of 9/11, and Rapper Busta Rhymes is on the list! On his song, “Against All Odds,” he rapped, “None of you n****s really wanna war / The type to fly a plane into your building in the name of Allah” in 1998, just four years before the twin towers went down. And to make matter worse, the cover of his album “Extinction Level Event: The Final World Front” depicts New York City being blitzed by bombs. After the 9/11 attacks, many folks drew comparisons between Busta’s album and the infamous event.
In 2017, Miguel had all the smoke for President Donald Trump. On his record “Now,” the singer called out the then-45th president for his continuous plans to build a border wall and more. “CEO of the free world now / Should we teach our children hatred? / Chase the inner cities, shoot them down /It’s like we’re still running races,” he sang. As we all know now, Trump was welcomed for a second term in 2024. Now, he has plans to finish exactly what he started... exactly what Miguel warned and predicted.
The Hip-Hop mogul has never shied away from speaking his mind and using his music to manifest what he wants, but the 2013 track “Picasso Baby” took things to a new level when he manifested his own billionaire status. “Oh what a feeling / f**k it I want a billion,” he rapped. And just six years later, Jay would get his wish after he was officially named a billionaire in 2019.
Nicki Minaj’s song “We Miss You” was released soon after her cousin, Nicholas Telemaque, was shot and killed in 2011, but the record was actually recorded before the tragedy took place. “Why’d you have to leave in July? / Why would they take you from me? / Why the doctors could not stop the bleeding? / I could’ve told you all about my intuition /I could’ve even brought the extra ammunition,” she rapped.
One of TLC’s biggest hits, “Waterfalls,” is nothing but straight warnings and predictions for folks that can’t get their act right. Beginning with the implications of gang life for young Black men, T-Boz sang about a mother having to mourn her son after he’s killed while selling drugs. “All the praying just ain’t helping at all / ‘Cause he can’t seem to keep his self out of trouble / So, he goes out, and he makes his money the best way he know how /Another body laying cold in the gutter / Listen to me.” In 2025, with the rise of trap music and ganger culture, this is unfortunately a reality for many Black mothers and sons in cities like Chicago, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
Kanye’s 2005 hit “Gold Digger” was meant to warn Black men about women only after them for their money, but two decades later, it seems Mr. West fell victim to a similar fate. We’re not saying his billionaire ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, is a gold digger... but just take a look at some incriminating lyrics from the song: “She got one of your kids, got you for 18 years / His baby mamma car and crib is bigger than his... My psychic told me she’ll have a a** like Serena, Trina, Jennifer Lopez, four kids / And I gotta take all they bad asses to ShowBiz?” It seems these lyrics paint a picture of West’s relationship with Kardashian. At this very moment, the two are in the midst of a custody brawl.
Marvin Gaye was on to something... Because what’s really going on in the world?! The 1971 song details a Vietnam veteran returning to the U.S. in pure confusion and frustration about the state of the Black community and politics. And 50 years later, many of the same issues still plague the country— especially Black folks. “Picket lines and picket signs / Don’t punish me with brutality... What’s going on,” he sang. After the 1992 L.A. riots, the BLM protests after Michael Brown’s murder and the 2020 protests after George Floyd was killed, it seems Gaye’s question still haven’t been answered.
On the 1994 track “Suicidal Thoughts,” Biggie Smalls get serious about thoughts of taking his own life. “I swear to God I feel like death is f*****g calling me / But nah, you wouldn’t understand / N***a, talk to me please, man,” he rapped. In 1997, just three years after the song’s release, Biggie was shot and killed in California. Although he ultimately met a different fate than what the song suggests, the lyrics bear eerie similarities to his ultimate demise.
