My problem with rap and hip hop is that it's not as sound intense as other genres. I listen to rap and I feel like i'm overcome with this newage feel of overdriving bass and lack of intelligent coherency in the music. All you hear these days is a focus on money, drugs, violence, and I'm not into that. I like a lot of Kanye West's stuff cause it tries to address different problems in society, and can sometimes humorize certain aspects of life. To me the "music" itself in rap feels simplistic and lacking. When I listen to music I want to FILL my ears with sound. The highs, the mids, the lows, I want it all to just flow through me, and with rap and hip hop it seems there is far too much emphasis on that driving bass, and maybe a little electronic beat here and there. Granted, when I listen to something I like it's poetic, and I realize it takes talent to get up and do what rappers and hip hop artists do everyday, and maybe I've been listening to the wrong stuff. Does anybody know of anything that would fit my style? You know, where I hear about things other than "living in the hood" or "Getting what's yours" or something to that effect. I'd LOVE to hear something that is sound intensive, with a good beat, good MEANINGFUL and POETIC lyrics, and won't leave me disgusted at the end of the song. HELP! Enlighten me! The Genius
Alright man. I'll put you on the Grand Master plan to listening to good rap. Start out with.... Madvillain - Madvillainy Trust me. If you don't like it I'll find you something else. If you do I'll give you another suggestion in that area.
He's really good! Wow! I'm seriously impressed. "Strange Ways" has a profound message I must say "Raid" is really good too
You listen to popular rap, you need some: Big L Do or Die Nas Rakim The Firm Atmosphere Common Mos Def
I'd say stop getting into the emcee's so much and start checking out different producers. Another reason you might like kanye is because he uses samples of other more "Full" songs. Try looking up J-Dilla (RIP) MF DOOM DJ Premier that's just a few with similar styles, like ol boy said somewhere before me if you don't like let me know i can find something that more suits your style
Alright alright. That whole album by the way is just on point. It's the ultimate album to smoke too. I love the short track take on hip-hop. Very few choruses. I got into it before I even smoked. Alright. Next pick. Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus
Specifically "Bad Touch Example" if you want a standout track by the way. The whole album is fucking classic though. I just really love Big Jus on that shit.
Theres plenty of good rap songs... Dont be blinded by the "Top 40" that the radio plays you ALL DAY LONG. Boy do I hate the fucking radio. I thought it would be good in Orlando but noooooo, fucking tourists ruining everything!! In Miami theres soo many stations, even underground ones that say fuck, shit, bla bla bla lol... Anyways: 2Pac - By far the greatest rapper that has lived...(Lil wayne is fucking crazy comparing himself to pac. Yeah he can rap but what the fuck has he done for the world?) Goodie Mob Geto Boys Outkast S.P.M. Playa Fly Bun B Soulja Slim R.I.P. Juvenile Lil boosie(although he does rap alot about money, cars, and bitches lool) Trick Daddy The Fugees Twista Jeezy ALOT of the songs by most of these artists songs actually have meaning behind them and are good for listening to when your smoking... Although a little bit of money, cars, and bitches never hurt anyone
I take it you want some hip hop with intelligent thought provoking lyricism. I'll name you a few albums you will enjoy since you was feeling Madvillian Juggaknots - Clear Blue Skies Company Flow - Funcrushers Plus Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein Cunninlynguists - A Piece Of Strange Jeru The Damaja - The Sun Rises in The East & Wrath Of The Math Killah Priest - Heavy Mental Ras Kass - Soul On Ice Hieroglyphics - 3rd Eye Vision Del The Funky Homosapien - Deltron 3030 all of these albums are 5 star top quality no filler bullshit these should get you started let me know how you feel after you have digested these albums I'll name more.
Listened to Big L...didn't find anything I liked Do or Die...Has a Great beat, his vocalization is really rhythmic, but the lyrics aren't what I'm into...other than "Do you" and "Emotions" I didn't find much that I liked Nas- "I can" seems have a strong message, will look into the artist. The soft jazz feel to the song is really nice easy listening Rakim- "It's Nothing" is interesting musically, but I still don't like the lyrics. It's sound is BIG and filling. "Love4Sale" Has a lovely sound to it. The beat the is a little simple, but the chorus is catchy and shows talent of whoever that female artist is. Will Look further The Firm- There style from song to song is very similar, with comparable beats but the flow is nice and easy and each verse flows nicely, but the beats are too simple. I like the rhythm used by the male and female rapper in the group as they show lots of talent in being able to carry a complicated rhythm. Good listen, but the biggest problem is the kinda annoying background music. It's overly repetitive Atmosphere- VERY IMPRESSED!! It has a hard driving beat that isn't synthetic and easy to follow. His lyrics, while somewhat random, are fun to listen to and many time brought a cmile or a chuckle during the listen. Good artist. I like that old school feel! Common- So far has impressed me the most actually. Very poetic, talking about REAL things and is refreshing to listen to. The common jazz feel in his music gives a hint to the origins of black american music. Jazz, blues. LOVE IT! Mos Def- Shows real talent. His use of instrument sounds other than just a drumbeat fills the speakers. The bass feel is isn't overpowering and he sings!! He has a nice voice too! Very nice listen. Will very much look further into the artist. Mos Def intruiges me J-Dilla- Love the feel. He changes styles frequently from song to song. The incorporation with the beat and his lyrics are fabulous. I can dig it... Company Flow- "Help Wanted" is Seriously trippy. Like OMG seriously trippy. I like it. He sound kinda angry, but the artist has talent. The trippy background feel on a lot of his songs will be nice to listen to stoned! "The Bad Touch Example" was a great listen. Thanks for the tip! That's all I've listened too. I'm impressed, and loving the artistic side of the rap industry. PLEASE keep em comin'
Edan - Beauty and the Beat He flips psych like no one else. And it might be one of those albums that takes a couple of spins to really enjoy. Same with the other two I posted. I really suggest listening to the full albums. The way they fit together is brilliant. Also on the topic of Nas. Check "NY State of Mind." And anything off of Illmatic. Illmatic is no doubt top 5 of the 90's in my book (and countless others). If not #1.
Try some of the ones I mentioned, I almost guarantee youll like em Heres a few to get you started Geto Boys - The world is a ghetto Geto Boys - My mind is playing tricks on me Goodie Mobb - Dirty South Goodie Mobb - Soul Food Goodie Mobb - Thought process Outkast - Miss Jackson Outkast - Da art of story telling(pt 1 & 2) UGK Ft. Outkast - Intl Players Anthem S.P.M. - Mary go Round(Smoker song) S.P.M. - Hustle Town S.P.M. - Filthy Rich S.P.M. - Wiggy Wiggy S.P.M. - Riddla on the roof S.P.M. - Smoke 2 joints(another smoker song) S.P.M. - Mary Jane(yet another) Playa Fly - Cloud 9 Play Fly - Nobody needs nobody Play Fly - Feel me
a piece of strange is definitely a good pick. i'm not a huge hip-hop head, but you can't go wrong with atmosphere. i know they're fairly popular, but if you're looking for some more good instrumentation and intelligent lyrics, check out the roots. pretty easy to get into to and tons of (different) material. illadelph halflife for the win.
I was pretty disillusioned with Rap and Hip Hop my entire life, due to the fact that up until about five years ago, all I heard was the 'Top 40's Shit' that was mentioned above and gathered that the guys they played were all filthy rich and made music videos and songs strictly to brag about that point. It wasn't until, oh... 2007 I'd say that I started listening to more Underground guys that never made it into the mainstream and, ironically, found that they were aeons ahead of anyone that's purported as 'the best of the best'. I have to make a small confession, though. I like DMX and Tech N9ne.
Juggaknots- Nice....diggin' the beats, and I like the sound. The lyrics are insightful and well thought out. He flows really well. Nice listen. Cannibal Ox- Very Nice listen! Iron Galaxy was seriously trippy. Like omg trippy to the max! I dig it a lot. Cunninlynguists- One of the best so far. Had a feel that reminded me of the gorillaz. The sound was strong and was very BIG! It filled the speakers, filled the ears, filled the room with lots of different sounds other than the vocals and a drum beat. LOVED IT!!! Jeru the Demaja- Good strong poetic stuff, very inspiration of its audience but his audience seems to be very small. Don't get me wrong, I liked the music all right, but I just couldn't get into it for some reason Killah Priest- He was good but not really my style. He sounded too repetitive and I got bored too easily. Ras Kass- Soul on Ice- Strong...really strong lyrics. The poetic nature of his lyrics had me bobbin my head for like EVER! I didn't like the lack of background music cause I love for that ambience of high's mids and low sounds, but it was a great listen, he seemed VERY intelligent and I loved how he included history and facts to verify his point in "Nature of the Threat".Very Intelligent listen! I listened to it many MANY times feeling the message. WOuld be cool to sit back, smoke a bowl, and put this on in ambience and think. Hieroglyphics- Like Ras Kass I'm blown away with the STRENGTH in the lyrics. The message in ALL the songs is incredible. That's all i can say about it. The researched intellect just had me going "wow." Seriously good stuff. "At the Helm" is my Fav...really Del The Funky Homosapien- OMG This man amazes me with his rhymes. It's seriously sick, raggin' on mass media rap and hip hop. It shows me that Rap isn't dead, just masked by the media. LOOOVEEE it!
Well, that's your problem in my opinion....most good hip hop isn't sound intensive at all, but rather lyric-driven. A nice drum loop(which is what I personally love about hip hop, so if you don't like drums maybe hip hop isn't for you), a simple piano melody, just enough instrumentation to let the emcee shine... Generally, a good hip hop track will make you wanna dance or just chill, listen to the lyrics, and comprehend the song...you usually won't find a booty-shaker combined with a head-scratcher(if you know what I mean) I'm not surprised that you like Kanye, he seems to be attempting to merge the two(great beats with good lyrics). Lacks a little lyrically sometimes but he's a genius producer. Other than that though, most hip hop is either party type music or boom-bap lyrical shit. If you fill your ears with a bunch of fancy guitar riffs or piano chords or whatever, how could you hear the lyrics also? You don't want a song to be too overwhelming.
Check out any of these albums: *Louis Logic - Sin-a-Matic *Non Prophets - Hope *Nujabes - Metaphorical Music *Blackstar - Blackstar *Foreign Exchange - Connected *Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders *Reflection Eternal - Train of Thought *Common Market - Tobacco Road *Zion I - Deep Water Slang 2.0 Okay now rep me, joking, haha, but not really, do it. And props to whoever suggested Jugganots, this thread is full of generic answers but it takes a real head to acknowledge that album. **EDIT**: IMO that's arguably their worst album(Def. bottom two of their catalogue) and there's plenty of filler on it.