::rap Thread::

[Jaboldinho]

Kanye seems to be a big fan of more obscure design clothing. And he can actually pull it off.

 

[Filipower]

I spent the day listening to Dark Twisted Fantasy. It's insane. I think I mentioned before that I don't know to which extent it's exactly rap/hip-hop, but it's brilliant.

 

[Chacarita Juniors]

the reason i dont listen to anything now is there is no content in the tracks.
they are catchy but they dont say anything.

i remember when a tracks content was the struggle, a definition of what the artist stood for & the way of life that everyone from the class of life could relate to.

now its artists who sign a deal who get an advance the size of the earnings an artists first album would generate 10 years ago.

w/ advances like that the hunger is gone, hence the garbage you hear on the radio today.

I couldn't have expressed it better, my thoughts as well.

Rap is dead as dead can be, some very very minor exceptions. I thought Eminem was funny and had some good tracks in his first two albums, but I was simply annoyed by his voice after a while.

Also agree that Jay Z is incredibly overrated. I would go as far as to give Black Rob the nod over Jay and he only had one good album! He is just all hype and no substance. His lyrics often don't make sense, and at times it doesn't even seem like he's trying anymore or he's just not that talented. I'm a huge Nas fan but I think after Illmatic, he also lost his touch.

That said, I stopped listening to rap year ago (sans Lupe Fiasco, J. Cole, Wale & Kanye here and there), it just seems like the whole genre is in a downward spiral and I don't even want to know what's new with rap.

It's A Hard Knock Life, Big Pimpin...I love, all his other stuff is just aight, nothing great. Nas is in a league of his own a top with the greats IMO.

After mid-2000's, you tell me a rapper that was big after those years I would probably be like...What? Who Dat? And even if I know them, it's probably garbage = commercial rap. That includes Lupe, Kanye, a Lil' Wayne who I liked in the beginning but just became unlistenable for me after they made it "big".

Hey skip, you fond of Control Machete, Cartel de Santa?

 

[Back Door Skip]

I used to listen to Control Machete when I was in high school, but haven't really kept up with them after that.

 

[Chacarita Juniors]

Yeah, Fermin (lead) left the band and became a new-born christian, thug-gone-priest, WEIRD. Pato (the chubby dude) kept with his solo career and the other guy probably mixes music and works with other lesser known rap groups.

How could I forget to mention my all-time favorites. Nobody will ever come even close to touching these guys...

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Calling Lupe and Kanye garbage? Get some taste. Kanye is in a genre of his own right now, doing things no one else can conceive. Lupe is the only current artist who could have hung in the early/mid 90s, but he harkens back even further to De La and Tribe. Food and Liquor and The Cool are both classics, no doubt.

And you still look like B-Real.

 

[Chacarita Juniors]

I have my own taste and I don't consider it to be better or worse than yours, it's just my own taste, you know. I'm more into old school gangsta' rap, underground hip-hop, and rappers/rap groups that have a sincere and true-quality social message and that rap about situations/circumstances that I identified with growing up. I'm talking about groups like The Roots, Binary Star, and yes A Tribe Called Quest.

I tried listening to those guys for a period of time, but after a while I put them in a category with all the rest. Maybe they aren't trash, but to me they're aren't anything special I'll be reminiscing about 15 years from now. You came to that conclusion about Lil' Wayne in a span of 5 years so what gives, lets hope those two ..."rappers"... don't let you down with their next few albums.

Think that if we didn't have our own likes/dislikes then what a boring world this would be, sheep fallowing the heard if you know what I mean.

B-Real is one handsome devil then.

 

[Back Door Skip]

Lupe and Kanye are on different levels. I don't even consider them hip hop. They cross over to different genres, and their lyrics, Lupe more specifically, has so much meaning and word play that you can't really compare to anyone else. As far as sound, Kanye is in a league of his own. He loves to add so much depth to the beats and is so detailed to it that his music feels like something else. His lyrics are also nothing to scoff at considering his trade is more in producing. He blows a lot of rappers out of the water with his lyrics.

Other than that, there just aren't other rappers that can't compare. I became a bit of a rap snob because outside of Lupe/Kanye there is no substance whatsoever.

I'll agree that Lupe's CDs might not be completely appealing and eve his last album became super commercialized but his mixtapes are another story. Dude wrecks it, and he's the type you can listen to endless amount of times and read his lyrics and get something new out of it. He's deep. His sound is very much like The Roots and Common. I think they call it soul rap now.

Rap is just **** and it isn't getting any better. Rappers like Wiz Khalifa, Tyger, Lil Wayne etc, etc are ruining the genre, and it seems the majority of people don't seem to mind it.

Edit: Oh yeah, another rapper that is in a league of his own is Immortal Technique. He's a master lyricist, a little off the wall and shock and awe kind of delivery, but he's very talented.

Edit #2: Used to love Bone, now I can't ******* stand them. I can blame my brother for overplaying the **** out of them.

 

[ARIAGA II]

Lupe Fiasco's last album turned me off so much I may never listen to anything he puts out again. I did like that song that had Ibaka in the video. I lost all respect for Common when Drake washed him in Stay Schemin'.

There is tons of new stuff that's pretty good, Kendrick Lamar for one and for those who like him Nas is still making new music.

 

[Back Door Skip]

I was bitterly disappointed with his last album, but I heard that he was basically forced to make a bit of happy-go-lucky, commercial, political and otherwise ****ty album by his record label. His next album is supposed to be Lup E.N.D, not what he dropped. So I don't judge him for his last album.


Anyway, he more than redeemed himself on his last mixtape.


This is one of my favorite songs from it:

 

[Chacarita Juniors]

Soul rap, ok. You see I actually like Common. Sometimes I think it comes down to thier voice...If I ain't feelin' it, then it becomes awfully difficult for me to keep fallowing their career. Who knows, I might even download a song or two from them, you guys sound really convinced about Lupe and I just might give it a go at his mixtapes.

Immortal Technique is crazy sick, the content of his songs is down right masterfull, and I can't even begin to think of the adjectives that properly describe him. His sh*t's just raw and that's something you gotta admire and honor. Master lyricist, ABSO-fncken-LUTELY!

Sucks about your brother overplaying Bone...hopefully you can listen to them after a long while and it might bring back your thuggish-ruggish memories that once made you love them. I think their style will be forever unmatched and were just superbly unique.

Wu-Tang Clan, Ice Cube, Gang Starr, Jurrasic 5, KRS-One, Beatnuts, Cypress Hill...are also among my favorites.

 

[Back Door Skip]

Check this out just to see how deep his lyrics are. It's almost a story on its own.





Anyway, I mostly listen to older stuff now, too. I seriously stay away from the radio like the plague. So of course, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Nas, Wu Tang, Gang Starr, Mos Def, Cypress Hill (Roll it Up, Light it Up kills anything weed related Wiz Khalifa has made and will ever make combined) and other old school ****.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Binary Star

Nawwwww you ******* didn't!!!!!!!! YOU LEGEND!!!!!!!!

Don't judge Lupe by his last album. He got totally ****ed by his company and went to war to even get the ******* thing put out. It was obviously his worst album, but he still does kill a lot of tracks if you just go by flow. Even so, I think it was a good album, just maybe doesn't have any long range social significance. Even so, I will listen to "Words I Never Said" "I Don't Wanna Care Right Now" "Show Goes On" Coming Up" and "Beautiful Lasers" for a long time. I think if anything, he put out 2/3rds of an album, he was just missing 5 socially conscious tracks, but I think a lot of judgment is because Lasers isn't as good as his first two. But **** man, put that album on and it goes hard in my opinion.

Now obviously it won't go as hard as old school ****. I had a barbeque Sunday and the best **** the whole time was "Time 4 Sum Aksion" by Redman which started a ******* party, but nothing new is going to bump like that. At the same time, Tribe wasn't any better than Lupe, and NO ONE has been as musically significant in hip-hop as Kanye. And **** man, De La is boring as ****.

 

[ARIAGA II]

This is awesome.

 

[Keegan]

2-Pac, B.I.G. (obviously), Busta Rhymes (pre remix-king), D.M.X. and I'm fine. Ironically, I'm listening to Drake's Take Care album as I type this.

 

[regularcat]

the **** right here...

 

[regularcat]

grab these 2 albums too.

smif n wessun - dah shinin' album
cocoa brovaz - the rude awakening

they are the same group under a new name, classic hip hop.

 

[Zlatan]

I'm really digging The Pharcyde right now. Going to see them live in a week time.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

UP FROM THE 36 CHAMBERS!!

Loving this **** at work today.

 

[Chacarita Juniors]

the **** right here...

Dat real sh1t right there.

Dude, PLEASE POST MORE ALBUMS!!!

I think we're all pretty much well acquainted with 'known' rap artists, but I think you know your rap pretty well, at least way better than me.

Please give us a list of your 'likes' and recomendations of whatever you think is classic, I would gladly appreciate it. The more artists/albums you include, the better.

Thankyou. Naw seriously, thankyou for you good taste in rap.

I will rep you eternally every time you post a list(s). I'll be eagerly checking in for your posts...