nakia said:
I am desperately searching for some good rap/hip-hop. In high school, I listenend to a lot of it -- De la Soul, Ice Cube, Ice-T, Public Enemy. But I have not really explored rap/hip-hop in a long time. I like Jay-Z's stuff, but don't own an album. Any suggestions? I think I would like Nas, or maybe even Kanye West
My wife watches MTV and Listen to the radio so I get to see what passes for mainstream Hip-Hop and it pretty much sucks. Well maybe sucks is too harsh of a word, it's more like Hip-Pop instead of Hip-Hop. Mostly my iPod's Hip-Hop playlist is filled with tracks and groups from a few years back as most of the recent stuff isnt to my liking.
If you can track down FUNCRUSHER PLUS by COMPANY FLOW that'd be a good start. In the hip-hop underground it's pretty much considered a classic (at least here on the east coast...) You might want to track down:
THE COLD VEIN by CANNIBAL OX
I PHANTHOM by MR LIF
BLACK ON BOTH SIDES by MOS DEF
BLACK STAR by BLACK STAR (Mos Def & Talib Kweli)
LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE by COMMON
LYRICIST LOUNGE Vol 1
SOUNDBOMBING (various artists, most of which can only be found on vinyl including two early tracks by Mos Def, several underground classics on this joint. I actually have a bunch of thses on vinyl and they are HARD to find)
SOUNDBOMBING II
DE LA SOUL IS DEAD and STAKES IS HIGH by DE LA SOUL (S=slept on classics)
THE LOW END THEORY, MIDNIGH MARAUDERS, PEOPLES INSTINCTIVE TRAVELS ON THE PATHS OF RYTHMS by A TRIBE CALLED QUEST (these 3 are definitive Hip-hop classics)
I usually dont recommend Jay-Z as I think he's a big part of what's wrong with the current state of hip hop right now, but if you can get your hands on the Danger Mouse remix of Jay-Z's BLACK ALBUM (callled the GRAY ALBUM) that's a good one. It's only available as a bootleg on line though...
Despite what most people think there are actually quite a few very good hip-hop albums out there, the problem is that people see the stuff that's ojn BET and MTV and think that's ALL hip-hop is. Which is about as dumb as venturing onto RPG.Net and thinking that lot represents all gamers...
) And, (and you'll probably laugh and call BS at this point, but it is all true) I have a very strange lingering problem - ANY time I remember ANYTHING that ever happened at a Wal-Mart from before the wreck, my memory always places that Wal-Mart in Springfield, MO, even if that is completely impossible. A brief mental review of what stores were around that Wal-Mart and where THAT stuff was usually clears it up.
