Hip-Hop Pt. 2

[yungLOVESyou]

This started as a responce to Blood's Hip-Hop thread, more specifically to Magi Koz. It ended up being such a long responce that I turned it into a thread.

Hip Hop gets alot of shit from alot of people and critics. The genre as a whole gets flak and flames that surround the commercial aspect of the industry. That's as ignorant as me listening to a commerical rock band (let's say ...Crazytown?) , not liking them, and deeming the entire rock genre "crap," when in actuallity there are incredible rock bands that I adore, respect and listen to all the time. I took the liberity of listing some albums and artists that really make the Rap game shine. These are mostly underground artists that the public hasn't heard of, I would list more commercial stuff (good commerical stuff) but chances are you've heard it. There is alot of skill in rap, it's not just talking over a beat. There is structures and patterns and bars, layered tracks, chorus's, math, and often times good lyrics. If you think a rap artist (a true rap artist) is any less a musician than lets say a rock or a "country" artists, then i say you're mistaken.
Anyways:

Originally posted by MaGi kOz
Here are my favorite hip hop artists that aren't shitty:

Dilated Peoples
Pharoah Monche (maybe)
Wu-Tang **
Hieroglyphics **
Jurassic 5 **
Beatnuts
Mos Def
Benefit << not that well known
HAH!

Hiero is for sure incredible, I went to their show with Little Brother a few weeks back here in T.O. - And you're 110% RIGHT on Monch, that guy has skill coming out the... (I would say it, but I fear Troll's responce). 'My Life' has one of the better chorus' ever. Wu-Tang is incredible, I suggest you grab all the solo stuff too, like Gza's Legend of the Liquid Sword, and Raekwon's Immobility. J5 aren't THAT great, but I can appreciate them, Power In Number is a good CD. Beatnuts are incredible, have you heard their underground shit? (The Originators) If you like Mos Def, subscribe to Kweli, Reflection Eternal is an underground classic. Never heard of Benefit, will check him out now though. Here are some cd's/artists you should check:

Masta Ace's Disposable Arts (used to be Wu-Tang affiliated, Eminem's Mentor)

Afu-Ra's Body of the Life Force (used to ghost write for Jeru the Damaja before he started rhyming)

CunningLinguists' Southernunderground (southside's finest underground, DJ Billy Bob endorsed)

Mobb Deep's Free Agents (you know who they are, this is a concept album if you ever heard one)

Scarface's The Fix (from Ghetto Boyz, this album is considered an all time classic)

Akrobatik's Balance (good beats, good concepts, he got famous when Sage Francis walked in and punked him at his own concert)

Jean Grae's Attack of the Attacking Things and The Bootleg of The Bootleg (This girl is incredible, fuck lil` kim, you wanna hear flow? Listen to Grae)

Gangstarr's The Ownerz (no need to say much about this, Rite Where You Stand actually gives Jada credibility, that's a hard thing to do.)

Rakim's The Master (anyone who knows hip hop knows this)

Eminem's Infinite (his 313 debut album, compared to Tupac's debut album... well, lets just say I wouldn't list Tupac's debut album)

Hiero's 3rd Eye Vision (which I'm sure you have)

Aesop Rock's Bazooka Tooth (Underground with a twist, look for good guitar beats that titter on the edge of being rock)

Jeru The Damaja's Divine Design (Good Album, Afu-Ra's mentor)

Necro's Brutality (This fuck is sick, but he's good, and he's white, so that's a plus)

Immortal Technique's Revolutionary Vol. 1 + 2 (This guy's flow isn't great, makes up for it in voice and lyrics - listen to Dance with the Devil)

DL Incognito's A Sample And A Drum Machine (This guy represents Planet 9, out of Montreal/Winnepeg, INCREDIBLE LYRICS)

Grouch's Crusader For Justice (Another Montreal artists, you can sample him and Incognito on a track called Rugged Raw Material)

Boot Camp Clik's The Chosen Few (These guys are crazy good)

Athletic Mic League's Sweats And Kicks (These guys all go to college together, they have some good stuff, most notably a track called Hip Hop Quotables)

Cormega's The True Meaning (If you don't like Nas, listen to Cormega, as he says "Nas stole my style, not the other way around... and i'm still to see a penny from QB's Finest)

Blackalicious' Blazing Arrow (An artistic album, but a good album)

Sage Francis' Personal Journals (Good lyrics, great freestyler - won the Rap Olympics)

Arsonists' Date Of Birth (I believe they are of Swedish decent, not 100% on that, but they're good)

Also grab anything by K-Os, Binary Star, Chino XL, Jane Doe, John Doe, Luis Logic, Tame One, Infinite, Masta Killa, Remedy, Jedi Mind Tricks, Skillz, Little Brother, Califa, Looptroop, Timbaktu and Saukrates.

Hip Hop is a viable genre, I wish people where more open-minded about it.

[Dabram]

good post

[ÆNIMA]

hmm

Ctrl+F "melody"
"The text you entered was not found."


mu·sic ( P ) Pronunciation Key (myzk)
n.

1. The art of arranging sounds in time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre.


You didn't actually refer to hip hop as a musical genre, but you referred to the people creating the hip hop as musicians. But since there is rarely any melody in hip hop, I don't know where you get off on making that claim.

I will grant you that they understand rhythm very well though, and that it does take a certain talent and skill...but to call it music, I don't think so.

[yungLOVESyou]

what are you talking about? Do me the favour of not making arguments for arguments sake. Of course hip-hop has melody, just because i didn't refer to it or neglected to be thorough about my post doesn't mean anything and shouldn't be used against me. Hip Hop is continuous, evocative, unified and has composition, have you ever heard a Dre beat? Or a Premier? Open your mind my friend, it pays to not be a tool, even though you like them so.

LOVE,
ME.

P.S: Hip Hop is music, and it is a musical genre, that isn't even an argument. If you're trying to make it one, then you need to enroll in Music 101, because dictionary.com isn't helping. No melody... where do you get off.....<sigh>

You didn't actually refer to hip hop as a musical genre, but you referred to the people creating the hip hop as musicians. But since there is rarely any melody in hip hop, I don't know where you get off on making that claim.

You're a pretty arrogant fella, I'm glad you think you know what you're talking about, self-confidence is always good, but I sure do hope you have some sort of creditentials (feel free to make some up) to your name, you sure as hell talk like it. Chances are you didn't even bother downloading 1, yes 1, track from any of the albums i posted to check it out before you made your statements.

[ÆNIMA]

It wasn't a personal attack yung. All of the mainstream hip hop I've heard lacks major melodic themes. Where there is melody, it's highly repetitive, usually one theme throughout the entire song.

I assume since I referred to mainstream hip hop, that you're going to suggest I listen to some underground, instead of attacking me personally?

[yungLOVESyou]

The premise of this ENTIRE thread was to showcase true hip hop artists as opposed to commercial ones. I made that very clear, yet you still took liberty and flamed the genre even after I discussed the OTHER part of the spectrum. I apologize if you think i attacked you personally, but I am very passionate about this topic, and i truly hope that you take the time to listen to what the genre has to offer.

Like I said, it's like me listening to CrazyTown and saying "sorry all of rock sucks cuz they suck." When it doesn't, and how do i know that? Because I took the time to listen to other types of rock and other flavours and explored the genre throughly before passing judgement on it PUBLICY.

[Mr. Peanuts]

i dont like hip hop personally.

i once asked my ex gf, "wheres the most beautiful place in the world?"

she replied with "thugz mansion"
i recently seen a load of girls on my MSN with thug inspiration in their names.

i saw one like "the thug in my dream was a thug who respects me etc etc"
isnt that a contradiction in terms?

ok, now thug in the dictionary is

an aggressive young criminal
synonyms are: hood, hoodlum, goon, punk, tough, toughie

ok. so girls like aggressive people in mansions?

they risk being beaten and allsorts. so why do they think that this place is so good?

[yungLOVESyou]

Originally posted by Mr. Peanuts
i dont like hip hop personally.

i once asked my ex gf, "wheres the most beautiful place in the world?"

she replied with "thugz mansion"
i recently seen a load of girls on my MSN with thug inspiration in their names.

i saw one like "the thug in my dream was a thug who respects me etc etc"
isnt that a contradiction in terms?

ok, now thug in the dictionary is

an aggressive young criminal
synonyms are: hood, hoodlum, goon, punk, tough, toughie

ok. so girls like aggressive people in mansions?

they risk being beaten and allsorts. so why do they think that this place is so good?

Haha, that's a joke right?
I'm not supposed to take it seriously?

[bloodzombie]

aen, don't be a fruit.

Mr. Peanuts, I don't even know what you're talking about.

Yung.. good post, there's a few cds on there that I'll definitely check out.


personally I think blackalicious NIA is a better cd than blazing arrow. I also don't much like emenim's debut album, it's alright, but I think he's come a long way since then.

I also want to add:

Non-Prophets - Hope. (anything Sage Francis does kicks ass).

Guru - Jazzmatazz (jazz/hip-hop fusion)

[Dayz V@mp!re]

Thug lol

[yungLOVESyou]

I agree about Blackalicious BZ, NIA is a better album, Blazing Arrow is just more recent (I believe). I like eminem's debut album because I can see his progression as an artist and appreciate it more. I also compare his debut album to alot of other people's debuts, which werent as good
Non-Prophets are awesome, i'm gonna pick up that CD for sure.
Never heard Guru - Jazzmatazz, that's Guru from Gangstarr i persume? And yea, Sage Francis is a fucking animal, everything he touches I love.

[Dayz V@mp!re]

Blazing Arrow is pretty good yeah but the old ones are true ownage.

[bloodzombie]

yeah, jazzmatazz is guru from gangstarr with bunch of jazz musicians. I love guru's voice and his flow, but his lyrics generally leave much to be desired. But this is a very good album overall. He made a jazzmatazz 2 which wasn't as good.

Maybe if you break down definitions, hip hop's not music, I dunno, and I don't care. it's an art form, and it makes my ears happy.

[yungLOVESyou]

Bloodz, be nice, give telcat a hug.

[bloodzombie]

Have you ever listened to sage francis' cds that he released on his own? If yuo haven't, you should check them out. I think the best one is "still sick... urine trouble"