Recommend me some hip-hop

[L. Declis]

So, it's been a while since I was 14 and I like Eminem. And every time I listen to a rap song, it seems to discuss "bitches" and "money". However, I was recently told by some of my friends that there is better hip hop in a "golden age hip hop" and I should listen to that.

So, I turn to the ever-knowledgeable Escapist forum; can you recommend me some rap songs (2 or 3) that are good?

 

[gargantual]

So, it's been a while since I was 14 and I like Eminem. And every time I listen to a rap song, it seems to discuss "bitches" and "money". However, I was recently told by some of my friends that there is better hip hop in a "golden age hip hop" and I should listen to that.

So, I turn to the ever-knowledgeable Escapist forum; can you recommend me some rap songs (2 or 3) that are good?

Actually there were a lot of songs that mentioned chicks, money, and swagger but it wasn't so tasteless and uninspired as today.

This is what I've got off the top of my head..

Crooklyn Dodgers (Special Ed, Masta Ace & Buckshot) - Crooklyn (1995)


2Pac - Holler if Ya Hear me (1992)


Diamond D - Sally got a One Track mind (1992-93)


A Tribe Called Quest - Find a Way (1998)


Pharcyde - Drop (1995)


I'll keep this updated....

 

[L. Declis]

Thanks! I'll give them a listen when I write later.

 

[Nemusus]

Kendrick Lamar is a fairly nice modern artist, I like Swimming Pools and A.D.H.D in particular. There's also Notorious B.I.G's Juicy (Great entry point for the rest of his work), NWA's Straight out of Compton, 2pac's I ain't mad at cha, Changes, Ghetto Gospel, and 2 of amerikaz most wanted. Those are all pretty nice entry points, from there a good way to go is to see what related videos Youtube throws up to find songs you like. Early Snoop Dogg, Nas, early Jay-Z and early Dr. Dre are all good artists to listen to in my opinion.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

So, it's been a while since I was 14 and I like Eminem. And every time I listen to a rap song, it seems to discuss "bitches" and "money". However, I was recently told by some of my friends that there is better hip hop in a "golden age hip hop" and I should listen to that.

So, I turn to the ever-knowledgeable Escapist forum; can you recommend me some rap songs (2 or 3) that are good?

I'm going to put some names, and notable albums. Together, some will be golden age, some will be independant rappers spanning from the 90s to the 2010s. I'll post vids for notable songs

MF DOOM- MM...Food, Operation Doomsday

Hoe Cakes from MM... Food

Madvillain(Collab of MF DOOM and producer Madlib)- Madbillainy

Chance the Rapper -#10 Day, Acid Rap (free digital mixtapes)

Everybody's Something from Acid Rap
EL-P -Fantastic Damage, I'll Sleep When You're Dead, Cancer 4 Cure

Run the Jewels (collab of EL-P and Killer Mike, also a free digital album)- Run The Jewels Probably 2013's best rap album

Run The Jewels

Aesop Rock- None Shall Pass, Skelethon

Will C.- Evil in the Mirror

Non Phixion- The Future Is Now

Ill BILL (of Non Phixion and La Coka Nostra)- What's Wrong With Bill?, The Hour Of Reprisal, The Grimy Awards

Sean Price- Monkey Barz, Jesus Price Superstar, Mic Tyson

Onion Head from Monkey Barz
The Roots- Honestly I recommend their entire discography.

What They Do from Illedeph Halflife (a satirical look at the average rap video)

De La Soul- 3 Feet and Rising, De La Soul is Dead

Nas - Illmatic (hailed as the best Hip Hop album of all time by just about every rapper),

Stillmatic, Hip Hop is Dead, Life is Good

Raekwon (of the legendary Wu Tand Clan) Only Built for Cuban Linx, Only Build for Cuban Linx Part 2, Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang

Mos Def- Black on Both Sides

Mathematics

Jay Electronica, -What the F*ck is A Jay Electronica? Songs: Exhibit A, Exhibit C

Exhibit A


Jay-Z -Reasonable Doubt (hailed as his best album and the only other to be compared to Illmatic)

Big Pun -Capital Punishment

Canibus - Rip The Jacker

Earl Sweatshirt - Doris

Gang Starr - Entire Discography

Cage- Movies for the Blind

Tech N9ne- Absolute Power, Killer, K.O.D., All 6's and 7's, Something Else


Let me know if you need more. Not enough people on the Escapist appreciate hip hop so it makes me happy to help someone find some.

 

[Shadowstar38]

Im not really into the golden age expect for Wu-Tang. But if you want some better hip hop...

Immortal Technique makes some pretty intelligent songs. The first one, Rich man's World, is about money. Though he flips it in really cool way.

Spoiler: Immortal Technique

I like this next one more for the rhyme structure and the dark tone. When someone says someone can really "spit", this is what they mean.

Spoiler: Madchild

This one deals with being a victim of rape so...yeah. Trigger warning and all.

Spoiler: Skeletons

And a rap and Heavy metal collaboration just because.

Spoiler: Sicknature

And a System of a down feature now that I think about it.

Spoiler: Tech N9ne

 

[Total LOLige]

Ohh boy the Escapist doesn't really like hip hop. I remember that there was like a 10 page hip hop thread, 7 of those pages were people saying how shit hip hop is.

OT: It's unfair to dismiss rap that is about money and bitches because after all there are alot of rock(and other genres probably) songs about bitches, money, drugs etc.

I don't listen to much hip hop but I recommend the Beastie Boys, Cypress Hill(DJ Muggs knows his way around a beat) and MF DOOM. I don't know if they are classed as "golden age" though.

Spoiler: Beastie Boys #1

Spoiler: Beastie Boys #2

Spoiler: MF DOOM #1(with scooby doo samples)

Spoiler: MF DOOM #2(As Viktor Vaughn)

Spoiler: Cypress Hill #1

Spoiler: Cypress Hill #2

Spoiler: Cypress Hill #3

 

[Master_of_Oldskool]

I recommend lots and lots of nerdcore. MC Frontalot, Zealous 1, Beefy, YTCracker, and Schaffer the Darklord are all good for more "traditional" nerdcore, i.e. just fairly silly raps about nerdy subjects. If you want something a bit more substantive that deals more with the experience of being bullied and other aspects of life as a "nerd," there's Former Fat Boys, Adam Warrock, and (to a lesser extent) MC Lars.

Spoiler: Exhibit A

Spoiler: Exhibit B

And if you prefer something more in the way of straight hip-hop, trendy though it may be, I've gotta say that Macklemore does good stuff for mainstream hip-hop.

Spoiler: Oh look! Something to make us all cry!

Okay, so that's not so much "Hip-hop" in the pure sense as "pop with rapped vocals," but c'mon. It's a good song.

 

[SpooniDeftones]

Cannibal Ox, as heard in THUG 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBJghl_wmto

 

[Bocaj2000]

Cage is an interesting rapper:

But if you're looking for general hip-hop, there are tons of alternative genres:

Big Beat got me into hip hop as a gateway. Here is the song the eased me into the genre:

Trip Hop is also a very good intro genre:

But once you get down to it, avant-guard hip hop is where the most ... um... interesting stuff happens:

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Cannibal Ox, as heard in THUG 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBJghl_wmto

Cannibal Ox was great until Vast Aire became a giant douche. I can't recommend the music of a guy who tried to profit off of someone's death. I'll explain the history of Vast Aire effectively ruining Cannibal Ox's legacy if you want but it may sour listening to them for you. I know it did for me.

 

[FPLOON]

Well... Time to pull out my list... again:

Spoiler: Minamina Goodsong

(This one's actually called Lord of the Rings... I'm not kidding...)

Spoiler: Collective Efforts

Spoiler: Psyche Origami

Spoiler: Shing02

Spoiler: KRS One

Spoiler: Flying Lotus

Spoiler: J Dilla

Spoiler: Nujabes

...and mostly everyone else have stated what I was going to say, anyway... in some way, shape, or form...

 

[lacktheknack]

<youtube=i3Jv9fNPjgk>

"212" may be lyrically gross, but I'll be darned if it isn't one of the best hip hop tracks ever made.

 

[Vault101]

Ohh boy the Escapist doesn't really like hip hop. I remember that there was like a 10 page hip hop thread, 7 of those pages were people saying how shit hip hop is.

OT: It's unfair to dismiss rap that is about money and bitches because after all there are alot of rock(and other genres probably) songs about bitches, money, drugs etc.
]

METAL IS SO DEEP!!!

Ok I don't mean to rag on metal heads...they do have a repuation for musical elitism though and let's be honest... The growling is silly to outsiders..there I said it

The real irony is rap is just more upfront about sex and mysogany...there are plenty of dumb sexist/ sex crazed songs across "conventional wisdoms good genres" except rap comes along and puts it out there in brutal nakedness it's all of a sudden RAP IS IMMORAL oh right... Tell me again how Lucy in the sky with diamonds is about LSD? Or shall we decipher the the hidden meanings of kisses "love gun" (pssst I think it might be a metaphor for his-

So, it's been a while since I was 14 and I like Eminem. And every time I listen to a rap song, it seems to discuss "bitches" and "money". However, I was recently told by some of my friends that there is better hip hop in a "golden age hip hop" and I should listen to that.

while I understand the aversion to that kind of thing I think part of liking/aceepting the genre is to......enjoy the song despite such things..I supose money and hoes is slightly different to guns and violence (gangsta rap is nothing new) but yeah..don't get me wrong I like posative rap and am not thrilled the direction it took in the past towards gangsta

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

<youtube=FeJUUTFXaj8>

People have recommended MF DOOM already so it's hardly an original thought, but this is pretty good. Also Raid by Madvillain, but no good YT vids of that.

 

[rednose1]

Gotta go with my default answer here, Outkast. Always good, and been around for awhile now. (though now only Big Boi is releasing music)


As far as any that haven't been said yet, J. Cole has a lot of stuff that I am starting to like (though I guess that is more the hip hop generic nowadays)


and while it's not rap, MC Chris is just awesome.

 

[TheEmoGhost]

Plan B is one of my favourite rappers, if not my favourite. He tends to do 'story' albums and tends to mix some soul singing in a couple tracks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS_3KdWKUIc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQjh9H-ymK4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFjUmk0dG_c

Also, Childish Gambino (Donald Glover) is quite good, and Bliss N Eso as well as Seth Sentry are good talents from Australia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv-If1xZx80

 

[Mr.Cynic88]

<youtube=hRVOOwFNp5U>

Lot's of good tracks suggested here. I'll toss this one into the mix. It's an attack against the rap culture that OP seems to dislike.

 

[Wasted]

<youtube=hRVOOwFNp5U>

Lot's of good tracks suggested here. I'll toss this one into the mix. It's an attack against the rap culture that OP seems to dislike.

I was about to post Hopsin. He definitely has a style very similar to Eminem and is incredibly intelligent in his wordplay and flow.

Other artists you should check out that avoid the overplayed Money, Women, Power topics that plagues mainstream hip-hop:
Lupe Fiasco
J Cole
Kendrik Lamar
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Chiddy Bang
Kid Cudi

 

[Mr.Cynic88]

Other artists you should check out that avoid the overplayed Money, Women, Power topics that plagues mainstream hip-hop:
Lupe Fiasco
J Cole
Kendrik Lamar
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Chiddy Bang
Kid Cudi

Hell yeah! I spent two hours listening to Kid Cudi driving on the highway yesterday.

In terms of Lupe Fiasco, I'm a particular fan of American Terrorist and Little Weapon. Cool topics that I like to hear rapped about.

Macklemore has almost hit that unfortunate "overplayed" category I think, but I think his non-radio hits are even better. I forget the titles, but him rapping about turning down a record deal, Drank, and drug addiction are all pretty engaging songs.