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i am fairly new to hiphop.... i like lyrics born, blackalicious, djshadow, gift of gab, j-5, atmosphere, etc... what are some other things i should check out that fit into this type of hiphop music? i downloaded like three aesop rock songs and wasnt all that into it... what do you recommend from him?
dudezer47 said:
Aesop Rock is sort of typical from the Def Jux label. I love Def Jux, but I know a lot of people who don't really like a lot of the roster. Other Juxies to check out though: El-P, Cannibal Ox, Company Flow, Cage, RJD2, Perceptionists, Mr. Lif and Murs.
Sage Francis is pretty good too. Highly political stuff with a lot of energy.
Other acts to check out: The Coup, Beanie Sigel, Cam'ron, Beans, Edan, Dead Prez, GZA, Raekwon, Wu-Tang Clan, The Roots, Danger Mouse, Black Star (Kweli & Mos Def), Cee-Lo, Dilated Peoples, Outkast, Dungeon Family, Ghostface Killah, Meshell Ndegeocello (more soul than hip/hop), N.E.R.D.
British Grime: Dizzee Rascal, The Streets aka Mike Skinner, Lady Sovereign, Tricky (more Trip-Hop), Roni Size (also more Trip-hop), Ms. Dynamite, Roots Manuva, Wiley
Old Skool: De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Eric B. & Rakim, The Pharcyde, N.W.A., Dr. Dre, Kool Keith, Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, Arrested Development
The key with hip/hop is to get yourself out of your comfort zone. There's a lot of cross cultural democracy in the music, and if you pigeon hole yourself in one style of hip hop, you're gonna miss out on the big picture. You might not 'get' some hip/hop at first, but eventually, you'll find yourself able to sit back and jam from the high altar of De La Soul or KRS One to the mainstream dance hall tunes of Missy Elliott or Jay-Z.
I practically posted Keith's question word for word about a year ago. I still haven't heard plenty on dudezer's list, but I agree with everything I am familiar with. A few specific recomendations:
Quannum: I get into pretty much everything on this Bay Area label. The label was founded by Blackalicious, LB, Shadow and Lateef the Truthspeaker. You can find Lateef w/ Lyrics Born on LatyrixThe Album and with Chief Xcel (Blackalicious DJ) on Lateef & the Chief (aka Maroons): Ambush. My other two favorite Quannum discs outside of LB, Blackalicious and Gift of Gab are Pigeon John...Is Dating Your Sister and LifesavasSpirit in Stone.
Def Jux: I didn't dig Aesop Rock at first either. For me, it was all about getting the lyrics book that comes with some copies of the Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives EP (contains all lyrics to all five of his releases). The earlier releases are more accessible. Start with Labor Days (2nd album), then get the lyrics book with Fast Cars...(5th and most recent), then pick up Float (1st). If you are downloading tracks, check out the free videos on definitive-jux.net, or be sure to seek out "Daylight" and "Lucy" from Labor Days.
Aesop basically sounds like he's babbling nonsensically at first to me. Once you dig into, the cat is deep, profound and gifted. Its basically stream of conciousness, and starts to make a lot more sense when you know 20 songs than it does when you are listening to the first. Its a lot more cynical and hard-edged than the Quannum stuff, but if you get in deep enough and listen carefully, you realize the guy is just being true to who is and that there are shards of light and hope to found in his music:
Life's not a bitch, life's a beautiful woman You only call her a bitch because she wouldn't let you get that pu$$y Maybe y'all just didn't share similar interests, Or maybe you're just an a$$hole who couldn't sweet talk the princess
Is that cynical and pessimistic or positive and optimistic (life is beautiful and its your fault if you don't know)? Or is it just hilarious and true?
I any case, he's definitely my favorite artist of any kind these days. He is also a tie for me with Lyrics Born as the best live MC I have ever seen. Regardless of how you feel about the recorded stuff, GO SEE AESOP ROCK if he comes to your town. Last year (about this time) I was just getting into him and went to a show by myself. I didn't even encourage my friends to go because I assumed he was just to weird, cynical and inaccessible (this was before I had gotten to Labor Days). The guy walks out on stage and he is the most loose, fun, accessible, charismatic, "this is a fucking party and I'm the emcee" MC I had seen. Damn it is just a blast to watch him do his thing.
Other Def Jux: Based on your likes above one of the first things I would check out would be Mr. LifI, Phantom.
Rhymesayers: I wasn't into Atmosphere before the Roo announcement (and he's not right up my alley), but since I started checking him out, my favorite discovery has been Eyedea. Someone made me a Rhymesayers mix, and I found out that everything I dug on it was by Eyedea & Abilities. Guy talks about physics and philosophy more than your average MC.
thanks alot guys...ive checked out some eyedea and it is good stuff... i also got some more aesop rock and i am gettin into it now...i think it was just the first few songs i listened to werent that great... but i like almost all the rest of the stuff i got...9-5 anthem, big bang, and save yourself are all pretty sweet... i love everything lyrics born is a part of... that guys the nuts.... cant believe i hadnt heard of him prior to now.... i cant wait for roo!
Last Edit: Mar 24, 2006 9:48:13 GMT -5 by keithk1055 - Back to Top
Post by Lucid Interval on Mar 24, 2006 12:55:02 GMT -5
Im not a huge hiphop fan but there are these two white guys from down south somewhere who call themselves "Rehab". They actually met in rehab and started writing music about their lives together and when they got out they released "Southern Discomfort" their first album which i totally recommend. Its really talented writing and its full of dark and twisted humor about drug use and addiction. Some songs are hilarious (even if a little depressing) and others have a more serious tone to them but the whole album is great. Check these guys out...
I just came across another Aesop Rock lyric I have to share (from Skip Town)
I interviewed the sun he said the futures lookin bright I interviewed the rain he claimed the sun's truly an a$$hole I was supposed to interview the snow today but of course he flaked so I let my freaky demeanor teeter and took his place
Post by ClarkGriswold on Mar 25, 2006 21:24:05 GMT -5
Political hip-hop?
I’m not a big hip hop fan, but I do like the Perceptionists. The song Memorial Day by The Perceptionists is as close to a hip-hop political song I know of, but sorry my exposure is limited.
i was looking for some politcal hip-hop. I saw someone said Sage Francis is there any other out there?
I would say that most "underground" hip hop is political, but I guess that's another discussion.
Clark is right about the Perceptionists, although I prefer the Mr. Lif (one of two Perceptionist MCs) solo album I, Phantom. Definitely one of the more overtly political albums I own.
The Blackalicious and Lyrics Borns of the world definitely touch on politics here and there along with many other subjects. A few examples are: "The Last Trumpet" LB feat. Lateef off of Later That Day "Brain Washers" Blackalicious feat. Ben Harper off of Blazing Arrow
Mos Def Black on Both Sides is another one that comes to mind. Old school politics: KRS-One or Public Enemy. As I said, I pretty much think that hip-hop is an inherently political form and there's political content in almost all of it (although too often bad political content, usually cynical materialism). If you like where someone is coming from, and its something other than a straight party album, chances are their politics will make themselves known in their hip-hop.
While I'm at it, I didn't really mention LB and Blackalicious above because keith mentioned he was already into them in his original post, but for my money, these are two all-time hip-hop masterpieces that anyone who loves hip-hop should have:
and this is the best book I've read in a long time:
