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Rap appreciation!

#63
Malodorous said:
....Aesop Rock....
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+!0000000

He has too many good lines to even go into its absurd. If you want a good example of the modern word turned into real art he's a good place to start. "Float" is an incredible album.

But honestly, anything from the New York underground is good. You don't even have to look that hard just make an attempt to turn over some internet stones.

Also---A Tribe Called Quest, Immortal Technique, Mr Lif (yea Malodorous!!), the list just goes on.

Edit: Actually also I wanted to mention Erykah Badu even though she's not a rapper hot damn she's good. She knows how to put a song together (bass lines can get heavy in all the right ways!!!)
 
#65
neurotictim said:
+1 to those suggesting MFDOOM, Madvillian, and a few others. I've always appreciated Dre more behind the board than behind the mic, but some of it is pretty good. I was never sure if Snoop was for real, or tongue-in-cheek, but I think it's awesome that he's diversifying. I have always liked OutKast and was pretty into Busta for a while, but he sorta fell off the map. DMX was always a favorite vocally and lyrically, but you had to find the good songs in between the club/posturing crap. As he's gotten older he's gotten better. I dig Eminem, but have never been one of the fanboys. Clever rhymes and interesting phrasing/rhythm, but not "saving rap". And I never gave a **** whether an artist was black, white, or Martian.

I tend to shy away from the soulless "club" music - 50 Cent and Jay-Z come to mind - and stick with real lyrical content. That's when rap is the best for me. Sadly, by and large it appears that lyrical content is inversely proportional to production value - Madvillian is a great example of that. Amazing phrasing and strong lyricism, marred by less-than-stellar production. I know that's probably intentional, to "keep it raw", but I don't like it.

The best mix of both I've run into is Shad. He's topping my list of favorite rappers. I highly recommend checking out "A Good Name" or anything off of TSOL, really.
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Huge props for mentioning Shad, I have been following him since he was lighting up clubs in London and Toronto before he had ever released any albums. Crazy talented guy.

lowsound
 

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