I wanted to start another music thread specifically for those of us who love hip-hop and rap music and culture. Personally, I am a 90s/00s Northeastern head myself, with plenty of love for the Dirty South and West Coast, along with the Upper Midwest scene especially Minneapolis, Detroit, Chicago. I also love international hip-hop in different languages, I only understand Spanish but they’re all fun with subtitles nowadays and flow is flow. Drop your track and album recommendations here, with links if you can, and any particular thoughts or memories you want to share about the music.
My tastes are pretty eclectic, after saying that. I like exploring proto-hip-hop, like West Indian toasting and the sound system culture, and I like modern glitch-hop.
My main requirements are:
A dope lyrical flow is a must (quoting KRS-ONE)
Beats need to either be slamming or get out of the way of the rapping
I like gangster and horrorcore but I don’t like stupid shit, there’s a line between an image and being a dumbass
Unusual time signatures in the beat and/or flow will always get my attention, whether it’s an unconventional ride on a weird beat or managing to smoothly cross back and forth over something swerving too hard to follow straight on.
I’ll start off with a very random list of what I’ve been listening to in the last day or two:
This was so influential on my development as a fan:
Also a fan of mashups back to the Grey Album, it’s the sample ID game with myself on another level!
Most of modern hiphop has unusual time signatures and really good flows. This came out yesterday.
Rap keeps evolving.
Then there’s “new” songs that sound like old songs
Since about 2011/2012 The beats and flows have really diversified. The decade prior to that was hella stale and I was really looking back to the 80s and 90s for the “real shit.” Rap is a youngins game… That’s why 3 stacks is on tour playing his flute. Though that’s not to say old heads can’'t make good songs…
I’m an old hip hop head from way back!! Grew up in the midst of the seen and had my prime youth in the 90’s as well as being a stone’s throw from New York. I grew up on the legends like biggie, Nas , Sean P,BIG L, pac , Smif n Wessun, KRS, Jedi Mind Tricks etc. this is my passion, I was fortunate to meet and hang out with many a legend while we had a production business in the 90’s “trilateral” I became good friends with Sean Price, Schoolboy Q, B-Real and Sendog, Vinnie Paz and I’ll bill, immortal technique, gravediggaz, onyx and slaughterhouse but specifically Joell Ortiz. I’m a New York gangster rap hip hop head no question ! And I cherish those moments to this day. Not a lot I kept in touch with besides Sean P, Classified, Snak The Ripper and Paz (he’s my homie) but those I did are some of the most humble, amazing, legendary people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing . Hip hop is in my blood and something I’ve always lived and breathed . The entire culture.
That’s true and I forgot about it, but I would love to have a place to focus on talking about lyrics and flow in particular, separate from music that’s more repetitive and easy listening, more about the beats and the dance floor or the subs in the trunk. Though maybe we need a topic for just beats and instrumental tracks…
I used to run one of the biggest hiphop websites on the net and knew DJ’s and interviewed some rappers like Catch Wreck(local Boston rapper) and Cold187um (Big Hutch) from Above The Law. I set up an interview with Kool g Rap but it didn’t work out. I remember when I lived in vegas I hopped a fence to sneak into a vinnie paz and ill bill show. Living in the bay now literally hiphop is alive and everywhere here. It is awesome. I just recently was at Hiero Day last September in Oakland and the Mayor Sheng Tao introduced Del and Common… it took place right in front of city hall. Glad I had my Chocolate Diesel that day.
Hell yeah dude! What an experience that must have been, I’ve always just been a fan in this genre, never met many artists but loved the shows I’ve been able to make it to. I grew up young on the early file sharing sites and I particularly enjoy the non-radio, non-album work by a lot of these folks, like radio show freestyles and written performances, remixes and chopped and screwed versions, etc.
Huge fan of Def Jux and other NYC labels of the aughts
Hell ya, it’s the underground stuff that I love too! I seek it out constantly. So many slept on lyrically gifted individuals too! It’s crazy what you can find sometimes just going down the rabbit hole
