Off-Topic

I don't usually listen to rap. I listen to it occasionally, but it's usually just single songs that I like, rather than whole artists. Actually, most of my exposure to the genre comes from Girl Talk. Then, around last E3, I fell down the Giant Bomb-induced rabbit hole that was Kanye West's "Power". It truly is the Guile's Theme of rap (or hip-hop, I've never been able to distinguish the two). Anyway, after a few months soundtracked partially by a arrogant rapper singing over Crimson King, I decided that... maybe I should find more of this. Rap, I mean.

Unfortunately, I don't have a whole lot of money to spend on songs I may or may not like. What other songs/albums are worth listening to?

Edit: I apologize if I sound like somebody who knows next to nothing about modern music. If you feel that way, I guarantee you, your judgement is pretty accurate.

Alternate title for this thread: OhgodwhatamIgettingmyselfinto

Early Jay-Z albums, anything NWA, Dr. Dre's Chronic and basically nothing current. Rappers like Lil Wayne or Drake don't do what hip hop and rap was based on, imo.

@FinalDasa: I half-figured that immediately after I posted this. "You know, I hate most of the rap I heard on the radio. Maaaaaybe I should listen to older stuff."

I'm sort of the same in the way I only like a song or two from different artists, but I like most stuff by Lupe Fiasco. It definitely isn't as pop-y as something like "Power" though. and here is my favourite song of his.

I don't like anything that's been posted here so I'll give a bunch of things that I like

For your meaningful lyrically-inspired hip-hop you should try people on the Rhymesayers label. My personal favorite is Brother Ali, who is a albino-white-muslim-obese-blind rapper. He is also possibly the most poetic lyricist in existence.

Also on the rhymesayers label is Atmosphere, which many underground hip-hop fans cite as a favorite. I personally don't like them nearly as much as Brother Ali, but it's a matter of preference I suppose

If you prefer your rhymes to be darker/edgier, the most prominent hip-hop group in the spotlight now is Odd Future, which is headed by Tyler, the Creator. Tyler is a concept rapper and his albums are framed in the context of a conversation with his therapist. I personally love Odd Future and have seen them twice in concert already

Up next in relevance we have Childish Gambino. I don't really like him that much, but I feel like a lot of the Whiskey Media users would due to his involvement in Community and his tendency to spit out a lot of obscure references.

Also, if you like Power, I highly recommend Kanye's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy", as well as all of his other albums other than "808's and Heartbreaks"

I like Eminem nowadays, because he basically flipped on his whole edgy persona and became a role model, also he refuses to not scream in every song he's in. But I will cite Marshall Mathers LP as one of the greatest hip-hop CDs of all time. Keep in mind, it gets very dark so be prepared for that.

Also someone that I'm quite sure no one else will recommend because he's not very relevant. Eyedea is possibly the greatest battle MC to ever live, unfortunately he died earlier last year due to a drug overdose. His last album, By the Throat, is a rap-rock album. Don't let that discourage you, rap-rock can work, it's not all Linkin Park, and post-mordem the lyrics take on a whole new series of meanings. Really I recommend this entire album, as a heart-achingly brutal look at heroin addiction and as a milestone for somebody who sought out to move hip-hop into a completely new direction, and died before he could fully realize his vision

And, finally, a lot of people like to hate on Drake because he was put into the mainstream rap game mainly because of his rich connections and start on tv, but he is legitimately a talented artist as somebody who mixes RnB influence into his raps, and is actually deeply personal on a lot of his songs, to the point where he becomes unlikeable on many of them. Give him a chance and you may be surprised.

That's just my two cents. I really don't like Lupe Fiasco, never really did. I think that he is a bad example of "rap music with a message". A lot of the artists I have posted here do rap with a message much better than Lupe, I find his raps very superficial and lacking of any legitimate emotion on his part. If you like any of the artists I listed tell me and I can recommend you more from that.

I think you'll find it's this(NSFW.) And this. Obviously I don't know anything about rap...

@Christina: God damn you. I will never be able to un-watch those.

@gelatinabomination said:

I don't usually listen to rap. I listen to it occasionally, but it's usually just single songs that I like, rather than whole artists. Actually, most of my exposure to the genre comes from Girl Talk. Then, around last E3, I fell down the Giant Bomb-induced rabbit hole that was Kanye West's "Power". It truly is the Guile's Theme of rap (or hip-hop, I've never been able to distinguish the two). Anyway, after a few months soundtracked partially by a arrogant rapper singing over Crimson King, I decided that... maybe I should find more of this. Rap, I mean.

Unfortunately, I don't have a whole lot of money to spend on songs I may or may not like. What other songs/albums are worth listening to?

Edit: I apologize if I sound like somebody who knows next to nothing about modern music. If you feel that way, I guarantee you, your judgement is pretty accurate.

Surely the next step is My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West, the song it comes from. Then work backwards through his albums from there. Then OutKast, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Wu Tang Clan, Biggie, Tupac, NaS, Public Enemy and MF DOOM. That should keep you sorted.

I just disagree with this consensus that old hip-hop is the best hip-hop. I think the game changed and improved. Like NWA and Public Enemy are not too great by modern listening standards. Sure what plays on the radio is garbage, but good innovative hip-hop is out there. Of course Kanye West is the apex of this.

I don't like rap but Kanye's album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (the one with Power) is really good.

@Cheesebob said:

@gelatinabomination said:

I don't usually listen to rap. I listen to it occasionally, but it's usually just single songs that I like, rather than whole artists. Actually, most of my exposure to the genre comes from Girl Talk. Then, around last E3, I fell down the Giant Bomb-induced rabbit hole that was Kanye West's "Power". It truly is the Guile's Theme of rap (or hip-hop, I've never been able to distinguish the two). Anyway, after a few months soundtracked partially by a arrogant rapper singing over Crimson King, I decided that... maybe I should find more of this. Rap, I mean.

Unfortunately, I don't have a whole lot of money to spend on songs I may or may not like. What other songs/albums are worth listening to?

Edit: I apologize if I sound like somebody who knows next to nothing about modern music. If you feel that way, I guarantee you, your judgement is pretty accurate.

Surely the next step is My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West, the song it comes from. Then work backwards through his albums from there. Then OutKast, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Wu Tang Clan, Biggie, Tupac, NaS, Public Enemy and MF DOOM. That should keep you sorted.

I respect the inclusion of MF DOOM. He is also Rhymesayers. Outkast is awesome as well. Big Boi's solo album "Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty" may be my favorite hip-hop record of the last decade.

@Sidescroller said:

I just disagree with this consensus that old hip-hop is the best hip-hop. I think the game changed and improved. Like NWA and Public Enemy are not too great by modern listening standards. Sure what plays on the radio is garbage, but good innovative hip-hop is out there. Of course Kanye West is the apex of this.

Yeah, I think this false dichotomy of "old hip-hop is good and everything else sucks" is complete BS. I think people tend to compartmentalize the artists they grew up with and essentially make them untouchable. That's not really an ideal way to approach music, especially a genre like Hip-Hop that is so versatile now. Emcees have evolved substantially and some of what worked in the "Golden-Era" wouldn't cut it. I had the pleasure of growing up in the information age where I'm not confined to what's on the radio or the local scene. It gives me a much more objective view than an old hip hop head or a hip "pop" fan would have. Oh and you get mad props for mentioning Mikey (the GOAT IMO), Slug and Ali.

I'm going to have to disagree with that last statement though. I don't think Kanye is the apex of creativity. His beats are amazing but his lyrics leave a lot to be desired. He's not hungry anymore and I think people are blinded by his old work that they can't see him for what he is now. A post - Blueprint Jay-Z knock off. And as far as OFWGKTA goes, I don't think they're as edgy as people portray them to be. Macabre/horrorcore was done with "swag" years before these guys probably started thinking of rapping. Kool Keith, Necro, Gravediggaz, etc. Don't get me wrong, I dig Tyler, but I don't think he's (especially his whack crew, Earl excluded) anything special as far as rapping goes. Though he is funny.

I think you've got the wrong impression of Lupe. Drake and Kanye more amply fit the description you gave of Lu. Only recently has Lupe been consumed in this sea of superficial materialism so prevalent in mainstream rap. Prior to that he had a great message. It was simple. Power to the people. Take a close listen to his first two albums and mixtapes. You'll find an artist that's hungry with heart.

@gelatinabomination: What did you like about the song? The instrumental, the style or the lyrics? What other genres do you like? That would help substantially in curving my suggestions.

You may not like these but they are just some songs I've been listening to a lot lately. They might peak interest. Yeah I've been on a hip-hop/punk/grunge kick. Haha.

Rap is an odd thing for me to like, but I will admit that I've always found Tupac kind of fascinating. His better songs are somewhat more open and sensitive (Dear Mama, Changes), but he could also be pretty negative and nasty when he desired.

In the end I'm not sure I've ever had a hip-hop or rap album that really hit me hard. A lot of them seem to be just a situation of throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks, with variable results. I did really like Outkast's Stankonia, though. Beyond that I mostly just pick single songs that I like and not really bother with the rest. I mean, Kanye's Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy got a perfect 10 from Pitchfork, but I still only like a couple tracks on it. I guess I'm not really the target market, though.

@Rorie:

Well considering that you seem to enjoy socially-conscious rappers, might I suggest some Talib Kweli, The Roots, or Common?

All of the Lights perhaps? That whole album is pretty great.

Schoolboy Q's newest album Habits & Contradictions is pretty good. This song is so great, enjoy!

If I remember correctly, once you have the power, then you get the women. Check with Tony Montana to be sure.

@gelatinabomination said:

...Maaaaaybe I should listen to older stuff.

Yes, you should. Kanye disgusts me. I can't listen to music by anyone who is as pompous and proud of it as he is. Fortunately, a lot of old school rap had nothing (or at least very little) to do with the egos that Hip-hop is practically built on today. To get to the roots, start right here...

(and yep, that's fuckin' Vincent Gallo AND Debi Mazar. If it's good enough for them, you better believe this is the good shit!)