[QUOTE=Decameron]The one thing I dont like/understand about rap is how a word that was used just 40-50 years ago to mentally and emotionally degrade black people, and used when they were lynching them, is thrown around constantly like its nothing these days, by members of their own race. Also, they get soo offended when white people say it, but they can use it all they want.[/QUOTE]
All I have to say is..








Hear, hear!:thumb:

That's because most people don't understand what's going on so they look at it as hypocritical when really it's not, just remember that hip hop is a culture, it's not just music, therefore like anything, things evolve, you might not like it, but if you can learn to understand the evolution rather than detest it per se you will understand many things down the road and it will help you further in "getting it" you have to learn to dig deeper as well for the answers that you don't understand and not settle for just that answer alone, you are merely scratching the surface

[QUOTE=G_Mac07]There's plenty who don't rap about such things.

My suggestion would be for you to check out Hilltop Hoods. :cool:

Suggested listening includes: [i]Left Foot, Right Foot[/i], [i]Illusionary Lines[/i], [i]What The Season Change?[/i], [i]Dumb Enough[/i] and [i]1979[/i].[/QUOTE]
New album out.

Got it yet?

I have been so far unsuccessful in finding a rap artist I enjoy as much as Sage Francis. Could anyone recommend artists with similar lyrical stylings (somewhat poetic, I suppose), and content?

[QUOTE=The Great Decay]I have been so far unsuccessful in finding a rap artist I enjoy as much as Sage Francis. Could anyone recommend artists with similar lyrical stylings (somewhat poetic, I suppose), and content?[/QUOTE]
most definitely :) check out Saul Williams (he's better than Sage imo, also writes poetry books and is an actor etc just released a new album last year self-titled and a new book recently called The Dead Emcee Scrolls), Ursula Rucker (you may have heard her voice on The Roots interludes and such, specifically "the return to innocence lost"), just relased a new album called "Ma'at Mama" very good imo) and Taalam Acey (he's spoken word, a little more on the poetry side of things, but he has music intertwined with his poetry) also The Last Poets (they're practically legendary) and that's all i can think of at the moment anyways check out their sites and or info here:

1. [URL="http://www.saulwilliams.com/"]Saul Williams[/URL]
2. [URL="http://www.ursula-rucker.com/index2.html"]Ursula Rucker[/URL]
3. [URL="http://www.taalamacey.com/"]Taalam Acey[/URL]
4. [URL="http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/LAST-POETS/last_poets0.html"]The Last Poets[/URL]

since you did say similar to Sage, start with Saul Williams first then i'd go with Ursula Rucker then The Last Poets and lastly Taalam Acey

I've already checked out Saul William and enjoy his music/spoken word. I will definitely look into the others, though.

[QUOTE=The Great Decay]I've already checked out Saul William and enjoy his music/spoken word. I will definitely look into the others, though.[/QUOTE]
ahh ok well hope you find something you like

In addition to The Last Poets I'd suggest some Gil Scott Heron solo stuff (he was a member of The Last Poets). His best known song is The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, great song.

Yea, Sage Francis is amazing.

Lately I've been listening to the Gnarls Barkley album. Anyone else have it yet?

[QUOTE=musicforlife]Are there any rappers, that don't rap, about drugs, cars, women etc. Any recommendations would be awesome.[/QUOTE]

Tupac.

A Tribe Called Quest.

Biggie.

Public Enemy.

Kanye West ( Through the Wire. Jesus Walks ( I actually like these songs ) )

I would say Dr. Dre and NWA but those don't fit your requirments.

Outkast?

[QUOTE=rosenheim]New album out.

Got it yet?[/QUOTE]

Actually, I just finished reviewing it a while ago. It's pretty decent, but I don't think it compares to The Calling.

It's not one of my better reviews though. :(

/hasn't looked in here for ages.

[QUOTE=We_Love_Lime]Tupac.

A Tribe Called Quest.

Biggie.

Public Enemy.

Kanye West ( Through the Wire. Jesus Walks ( I actually like these songs ) )

I would say Dr. Dre and NWA but those don't fit your requirments.

Outkast?[/QUOTE]
Add Aesop Rock, Eyedea & Abilities, Eyedea's solo work, Atmosphere, Sage Francis, Saul Williams, Deltron 3030, Dr. Octagon, and Brother Ali to your list.

[QUOTE]Are there any rappers, that don't rap, about drugs, cars, women etc.[/QUOTE]

1. Immortal Technique
2. MF Doom
3. Wu-Tang Clan
4. Killah Priest
5. Nas

There's plenty, of course some artists may mention it, whilst other rappers may just rap about these things all the time i guess. Those above are pretty good though check em out if you don't know em.

Killah Priest's 'One Step' is one of the best Hip Hop songs ever IMO.

Anyone know what's going on with Immortal Technique's 'Middle Passages'? I haven't seen an update on his site for a while....I want a release date :(

My friend just burned me a CD that introduced me to Nujabes and Cunninglyinguists. Needless to say, I was impressed. Added to my list of favorite hip-hop artists.

:eek: I dont know anyone thats into Cunninglynguists! Please tell me you got 'Mic Like A Memory'

Their new CD is bananas. Probably the best hiphop-album released this year up till now. :)

the only cunninlynguists song i've heard is 616 rewind - what are some other songs i should check out

ITP: I rant about my 2 week excursion into hiphop.
 

I consider myself a pretty educated music listener. By this I mean that with any genre of music that is presented to me, I can listen to it, analyze it for things that I may like or dislike, and overall form my own educated opinion on whatever genre/band/whatever I'm listening to.

With this on my mind, I dove into rap. I started (and I guess I'm still on) the artists that I had heard the most about through the mainstream. The first artist(s) was NWA. Naturally, [I]Straight Outta Compton[/I] was my first choice. I first concentrated on the lyrics. Honestly, everytime I listen to an artist like NWA, I love it even more. This whole idea of gangsta rap really appeals to me. I love the idea of packin' gats and hustling and sexing bitches up and smokin' niggaz. I can't imagine what hip hop fans were feeling when NWA released this album. It must've been an amazing feeling because even a person like me who has no experience with hip hop can tell that this album was revolutionary.

Eazy and Ice Cube are tied for me on this album. I think Ice Cube had better rhymes, but Eazy ties it up just because of how badass he constantly sounds. MC Ren is crap. I don't like him.

Next I went on to Notorious B.I.G. After listening to [I]Ready To Die[/I] probably 10+ times, I think Biggie is probably my favorite. He's just so raw and gangster. I honestly think he's a lyrical genius and had a natural talent for rapping. I really wonder what his work would've been like had he not been shot. "Juicy", "Machine Gun Funk", and especially "Ready To Die" are all amazing songs and I would be surprised if "Ready To Die" wasn't a top 10 hip hop song of all time.

Dr. Dre's [I]The Chronic[/I] did not impress me. I'm not really sure why. I think it might be because I'm not sure exactly which songs he is rapping in. I hear so much Snoop and other people I'm just not sure what to think about it.

Snoop Dogg's [I]Doggystyle[/I] was the album in this "G-Funk" genre. I think Snoop is a pretty exciting rapper. He's a pretty good lyricist imo, and his voice and whole act in general makes him seem really chill and just awesome. I especially liked how powerful "G-Funk Intro" is. The girl who does the first verse, Rage I think her name is really impressed me and I'd be interested in some of her work if there is any. "Lodi Dodi" and "Gin and Juice" are two other songs I really enjoyed.

I checked out a few more artists like Big L, Big Daddy Kane, Ice Cube (solo), A Tribe Called Quest, Eric B and Rakim, Eazy E (solo) but none of these impressed me as much as the others.

By the way, I'm a huge Nas fan. I checked out Stillmatic a few years ago after hearing "One Mic" and it's still one of my favorite albums to this day. Illmatic is also amazing, but Stillmatic beats it out just because it's a favorite of mine.

So, thats it. I guess what most impressed me about hip hop is the blatent talent and skill it takes to be such great story tellers. Any recommendations would be great.

I'm prepared to get flamed... but please be gentle.

Does anybody here listen to the Kottonmouth Kings, or anybody from Psychopathic Records? Just curious because I prefer underground material such as these. Now, Bone Thugs aren't exactly underground, but I don't wanna say mainstream either...

To the point!! If you know these groups, you know the styles I like, and possibly share my ideas soo.... My friend I and are trying to start something, and I'd like to post some songs up here to see if anybody thinks we have potential.

If you're not familiar with any of those, but you're particularly open-minded, would anybody give it a listen? (and if so, where is the proper place to post such things - don't want the wrong content in the wrong forum now do we?)

Our group name is Chilltouch, and (for the sake of a label) I'd probably have to classify us as psychedlic rap metal... Hope I didn't create too much intial negativity with any of these descriptions.

NO MORE RAMBLING.. Peace

[QUOTE=Skrunnch]I consider myself a pretty educated music listener. By this I mean that with any genre of music that is presented to me, I can listen to it, analyze it for things that I may like or dislike, and overall form my own educated opinion on whatever genre/band/whatever I'm listening to.

With this on my mind, I dove into rap. I started (and I guess I'm still on) the artists that I had heard the most about through the mainstream. The first artist(s) was NWA. Naturally, [I]Straight Outta Compton[/I] was my first choice. I first concentrated on the lyrics. Honestly, everytime I listen to an artist like NWA, I love it even more. This whole idea of gangsta rap really appeals to me. I love the idea of packin' gats and hustling and sexing bitches up and smokin' niggaz. I can't imagine what hip hop fans were feeling when NWA released this album. It must've been an amazing feeling because even a person like me who has no experience with hip hop can tell that this album was revolutionary.

Eazy and Ice Cube are tied for me on this album. I think Ice Cube had better rhymes, but Eazy ties it up just because of how badass he constantly sounds. MC Ren is crap. I don't like him.

Next I went on to Notorious B.I.G. After listening to [I]Ready To Die[/I] probably 10+ times, I think Biggie is probably my favorite. He's just so raw and gangster. I honestly think he's a lyrical genius and had a natural talent for rapping. I really wonder what his work would've been like had he not been shot. "Juicy", "Machine Gun Funk", and especially "Ready To Die" are all amazing songs and I would be surprised if "Ready To Die" wasn't a top 10 hip hop song of all time.

Dr. Dre's [I]The Chronic[/I] did not impress me. I'm not really sure why. I think it might be because I'm not sure exactly which songs he is rapping in. I hear so much Snoop and other people I'm just not sure what to think about it.

Snoop Dogg's [I]Doggystyle[/I] was the album in this "G-Funk" genre. I think Snoop is a pretty exciting rapper. He's a pretty good lyricist imo, and his voice and whole act in general makes him seem really chill and just awesome. I especially liked how powerful "G-Funk Intro" is. The girl who does the first verse, Rage I think her name is really impressed me and I'd be interested in some of her work if there is any. "Lodi Dodi" and "Gin and Juice" are two other songs I really enjoyed.

I checked out a few more artists like Big L, Big Daddy Kane, Ice Cube (solo), A Tribe Called Quest, Eric B and Rakim, Eazy E (solo) but none of these impressed me as much as the others.

By the way, I'm a huge Nas fan. I checked out Stillmatic a few years ago after hearing "One Mic" and it's still one of my favorite albums to this day. Illmatic is also amazing, but Stillmatic beats it out just because it's a favorite of mine.

So, thats it. I guess what most impressed me about hip hop is the blatent talent and skill it takes to be such great story tellers. Any recommendations would be great.[/QUOTE]

I don't listen to a lot of rap myself but I can definitely recommend Gang Starr's [I]Daily Operation[/I] just for DJ Premier's jazzy beats. Also if you don't mind venturing into the underground, check out Prince Paul's [I]A Prince Among Thieves[/I]. It's by far one of the most well-executed concept albums I've heard (call it a hip-hop tragedy, if you will) on top of awesome production and numerous guest stars.

[QUOTE=Skrunnch]This whole idea of gangsta rap really appeals to me. I love the idea of packin' gats and hustling and sexing bitches up and smokin' niggaz.[/QUOTE]

Just wanted to see if this read as stupid in quote as it did in the paragraph body.

Anyways, some suggestions: Mobb Deep's [I]The Infamous[/I], Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's [I]E. 1999 Eternal[/I] or Xzibit's [I]At the Speed of Life[/I]. Or just keep digging on the artists you like already. Ice Cube's early stuff is definitely worth looking into and B.I.G's [I]Life After Death[/I], if you haven't checked it out yet, has a couple gems. And Gang Starr's a good recommendation, too.

[QUOTE=kyle6677]the only cunninlynguists song i've heard is 616 rewind - what are some other songs i should check out[/QUOTE]

Get Thugged Out Since Cub Scouts.

i'm not saying you should share you music with me, but if you accidently ysi.com the best of sugar hill gang i'd under stand.

Cold Crush Brothers. Yeeeyah.


I've just discovered Pete Philly & Perquisite. I'm in love.

no one mention dead prez,paris,tragedy,outlawz
i been listing to underground stuff, I like local artist, check this kid out
[url]http://www.soundclick.com/dirtypocketsproductions[/url]
[url]http://www.musicane.com/staxbrix[/url]

If you get a chance to see Common live, I suggest you take it.

[QUOTE=dirtyp]no one mention dead prez,paris,tragedy,outlawz[/quote]
paris and dead prez has been mentioned, good stuff there, there use to be a group called "savage family" under soundclick but i guess they're no more

Anyone else think the "Adjust" by Atmosphere is an amazing song? Overcast is a freaking amazing record.

"Pushing Buttons" by E&A is a great song too...

The more I listen to Percee P, the more I think he's the greatest rapper in the history of mankind. But then I wonder why his album keeps getting delayed and that makes me mad so I kick a puppy.