The Alternative Hip Hop Thread...

[john_rambo]

I love hiphop, but definitely tend to lean toward Alternative hip hop. To me what qualifies as alternative is the less club friendly, more conscious type of rap... here we can discuss, recommend, and defend our favorite artists and albums of the genre... I'll show some of my favorite artists from the genre to see where I am getting at...

Tribe Called Quest- Killer band with an awesome almost jazz based sound.

The Fugees- Many probably would call them the best of the genre, and for good reason, their sound is just so great. Lauryn Hill is IMO the best female rapper in the game. Too bad she is not more active.

The Roots- Probably MY personal favorite of the genre. There is probably not a harder working group in the hip hop world today. They manage to tour, perform for Fallon every night, and are currently working on a new CD. Questloves drumming and Black Thoughts flow definitely are the highlights

Wu Tang Clan- Hip Hop Royalty... next

Mos Def- Yes, one of the few that is actually good at acting AND rapping (in my opinion) Black on Both Sides is a classic album.

more coming. What are some of your favorite, I'll tackle more artists and say some of my favorite albums later.

[The Postmaster General]

Have you seen Dave Chappelle's Block Party?

[john_rambo]

Have you seen Dave Chappelle's Block Party?

Negative, never really understood what it was about I do know the fugees re united for it.

[DaveyJoeG]

I love all of the artists that you have listed so far and I'll add a couple.

Outkast: these are the guys that originally got me into hip hop, they surprised a lot of people with the maturity in their second album ATLiens. That along with Aquemini are two of my favorite albums ever. They have lyrics that come at you a mile a minute but are still clear and easy to understand.

Talib Kweli: the other half of Black Star(along with Mos Def) with just as much talent and potential. Some argue that his recent albums have been lacking, but he has constantly moved into new areas without sticking to a formulaic sound. Few can deny the greatness of his first solo album Reflection Eternal.

De La Soul: perhaps the first positive rappers to blow up on the scene. Their first album 3 Feet High and Rising was groundbreaking and showed the world a new side of hip hop. They've had some low points where they tried to force a more harder sound, but when they're just being themselves they unstoppable. More recent favorite albums include Stakes is High and AOI: Bionix. They also appeared on the hit Gorillaz song Feel Good INC.

Aesop Rock: a rapper with an impressive vocabulary and unique sound, his lyrics are mystifying and complex. Even if you're not sure what he's talking about the ride is still damn entertaining. Highlights include Labor Days and None Shall Pass.

[The Postmaster General]

Negative, never really understood what it was about I do know the fugees re united for it.

It's basically a concert film done outdoors in Brooklyn. I recommend it though because Mos Def and The Roots perform - also like you said, The Fugees, which I didn't know but you might still dig the set up for their part.

[john_rambo]

It's basically a concert film done outdoors in Brooklyn. I recommend it though because Mos Def and The Roots perform - also like you said, The Fugees, which I didn't know but you might still dig the set up for their part.

damn, I definitely gotta check that out. thanks

[DaveyJoeG]

I can't say I'm surprised that there hasn't been more activity in this thread. There hasn't been a lot of love for hip hop on these boards, in fact there has been quite the opposite on some occasions. I recall several instances where a hip hop artist(not a particularly talented one necessarily) came under fire for some negative press and several schmoes jumped at the opportunity to decry hip hop in general and imply that all hip hop artists were untalented and unintelligible when that can be said for artists of any genre of music.

[The Postmaster General]

Yeah, both rap as a vocal art doesn't get much appreciation in general. I think there is also a stigma attached to it for people that grew up after it was transitioned into the mainstream. That was how I was with country music for a long time, where aside from some novelties, it was all intolerable to me because I grew up seeing a lot of rural extremism. So sometimes I think there's a lot of close-mindedness directed toward cultural leanings surrounding rap music as it is portrayed in popular culture. It's no surprise to find derailments of rap music at times near words like thug or even wigger. To me it falls under the same camp as not liking country because it's a bunch of rednecks or not liking classical music because it's shit you hear when you are on hold. That's not across the board, mind you, just a small fragment of what I've observed during discussions on rap music. For me I generally lean more towards more upbeat rap music than the more aggressive or politically driven type of stuff, with exceptions like some stuff by the Perceptionists.

Anyone like ¡Mayday! ?

[Reigh Kaufman]

Can't say I've heard of the, Bubba. I'll check it out when I get home.

Hmm. I have lots of stuff at home, but it's all pretty old school - Warren G, De La Soul, Coolio (pre-Gangsta's Paradise), Tribe Called Quest, Onyx, Das EFX, Public Enemy, Grandmaster Flash et cetera.

I Remember from To Catch a Thief by Coolio is probably one of the best "driving on a hot Summer's day" songs ever.

Eye Know by De La Soul is one of the best songs ever. 3 Feet High and Rising is amazing. I have the special edition.

I used to like Busta Rhymes but his schtick got old when after Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See.

[Danger^Cart]

Though I've listened to Wu-Tang for years, I've only recently got into U-God. Check out his album "The Golden Arms Redemption," and more specifically the track "Pleasure or Pain." It is fucking...well, godly.

[john_rambo]

Got an interesting CD last week that is definitely not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but I personally liked it for it's unique sound. Eligh and Jo Wilkinson: On Sacred Ground. The story is Eligh, from Living Legends, is the son of Folk Singer Jo Wilkinson, and they always talked about a collaberation but never got to it til this year. Some of the songs are straight folk, but 3/4 are hip hop/folk fusion. Like I said, I guarantee it's gonna be too different for some people, but I think others will love it if they give it a listen.

http://www.netweed.com/prohiphop/graf/onsacredgroundwilkinson.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNPG0dMmmEw

[QUENTIN]

Immortal Technique

The single most talented rapper to ever pick up a mic in my opinion. Most intelligent, eloquent lyrics, clever rhymes, incredible flow, he's a monster with a lot to say.

Public Enemy, Dead Prez, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, their collaboration Blackstar, NWA, KRS-One, Brother Ali, Blackalicious, Diabolik, Blue Scholars, The Roots, Wyclef, The Fugees, Pharaohe Monch, De La Soul, and Wu-Tang Clan are also all ace and great examples.

I listen to plenty of hip hop and with the exception of the occasional Big, Jay, Nas or the like, it's pretty much all "alternative." Very sadly dismissed, underappreciated and underheard genre.

[echo_bravo]

A lot of great hip hop artists mentioned here.

I have been listening to some Wale as of late. He is an up and coming rapper out of D.C.
He is getting a lot of hype lately. I really like him rapping over that Justice song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6b6MuwFqoo

Royce Da 5'9 is really good rapper too. Not really mainstream but he has done some tracks with Eminem. He is currently in a group called Slaughterhouse.

[dfd3657]

I'm not really a huge fan of hip-hop, but I just started listening to Jedi Mind Tricks, and they're pretty awesome.

[detective mills]

Apart from what's already been said:

Jurassic 5 was a great hip-hop group, especially their cds "Quality Control" and to a lesser extent "Power in Numbers."

CunninLynguists are one of my favorite hip-hop groups as of late. Their first 3 cds are all amazing, especially "A Piece of Strange."

After hearing Kid Cudis's "Man on the Moon" I think that he might belong in this category as well.

[john_rambo]

Immortal Technique

The single most talented rapper to ever pick up a mic in my opinion. Most intelligent lyrics, clever rhymes, incredible flow, he's a monster with a lot to say.

After reading this I realized I didn't have any of his cds. Had heard him quite a few times but couldn't name a song. DLed the the first Revolutionary CD, and it is great. He's good, he just holds back his feelings too much :D;). Nah this CD was fuckin' great. Dance with the Devil is an amazing song.

Also DLed some Brother Ali, this dude can flow too. He is actually an white muslim albino rapper (I know, there are far too many of those). He's got some great lyrics. I fell in love with this song "Take Me Home."

Keep this thread going! I already got music from it. :D

[SamSanchez]

I'm a big underground hip-hop guy. One of my favorite hip-hop albums of the post couple years is Common Market's Tobacco Road:

http://www.metrospirit.com/Image/20.05/ComMarketCD.jpg

Highly recommend checking it out.


Just to gauge my taste, I highly enjoy stuff like
The Roots
Public Enemy
Black Star
Atmosphere
Jurassic 5
KRS-One
Common
Saul Williams
Pharcyde
J-Live
Aesop Rock
Organized Konfusion
Del tha Funkee Homosapien
Blackalicious

etc...

[Kastman]

My favs areeee

Outkast
Nas (Stillmatic is ridiculous)
Wu tang

and...

Lil Wayne.

What are peoples thoughts of him?

See I think he is seriously amazing at rapping, even the message isn't really that important, he's just got serious talent. Sure he's made some duds, but the carter 2, dedication 3, drought 3, and i have only been listening to no ceilings for a couple days, but theres some amazing stuff on there too.

althoguh he may not be considered alternative hip hop? then again, im not entirely sure what that means.. :/

[QUENTIN]

Saul Williams


Great call.


Lil Wayne.

What are peoples thoughts of him?

See I think he is seriously amazing at rapping, even the message isn't really that important, he's just got serious talent. Sure he's made some duds, but the carter 2, dedication 3, drought 3, and i have only been listening to no ceilings for a couple days, but theres some amazing stuff on there too.

althoguh he may not be considered alternative hip hop? then again, im not entirely sure what that means.. :/

I think being signed to an underground label or self-distributing and having politically/socially conscious or anti-establishment lyrics are two of the biggest designators of "alternative hip hop."

I'd say if you're a multi-platinum superstar on a major label rapping about poppin bottles, fuckin models, and how she licked you like a lollipop, great as your flow may be, you're decidedly mainstream.

[drc5145]

I have been listening to some Wale as of late. He is an up and coming rapper out of D.C.
He is getting a lot of hype lately. I really like him rapping over that Justice song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6b6MuwFqoo


I've been hearing a lot about him as of late. Living in DC, he's slowly becoming a bigger name in the area. I have not heard any of his stuff yet myself but since I'm slowly getting into Hip-Hop, I may give him a shot next. His 1st album, Attention Deficit, comes out on Nov. 10th.

[SamSanchez]

I've been hearing a lot about him as of late. Living in DC, he's slowly becoming a bigger name in the area. I have not heard any of his stuff yet myself but since I'm slowly getting into Hip-Hop, I may give him a shot next. His 1st album, Attention Deficit, comes out on Nov. 10th.

I recommend checking out Wale's Mixtape About Nothing

[Dehydrator]

I´ll toss Gravediggaz, Stetsasonic, Das Efx and The Psycho Realm in the mix. There´s one unreleased song of theirs called "Circles of Sin", I just recently rediscovered on youtube. It´s very good, everybody listen to it! I`m also a fan of Kool Keith, old school Redman and Cunninlyinguists, the later fit the pattern of "alternative hiphop" quite well. Very concious, non-commercial apporach and their instrumentals are pretty slick as well. I`m not sure if DJ Shadow qualifies as hip-hop ( to me he does anyway) but some of the man´s works are just plain great. We had a quite good hip-hop scene in Germany back in the day (yeah, wave the nostalgia flag) but most of it is gone to shite since the post-millenium gangsta movement swapped over here and now we have people who think they are "ghetto" and "real gangstaz" because they spent two months in Berlin. If anyone´s interested here are some of the nicer examples of germans doing good shit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5ZjxG1knLw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwoq92Ft4TI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok2FnD4O_xM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MR0u537Yxc

[DareDevil]

Royce Da 5'9 is really good rapper too. Not really mainstream but he has done some tracks with Eminem. He is currently in a group called Slaughterhouse.

I started giving him a chance after i heard him on a cypher, which led up to me finding out bout Slaughterhouse. SH member Crooked I recently got the groups name tattooed on his arm... and spelt it wrong. I dont think i can ever listen to him the same after that. After 1 listen to the Slaughterhouse CD Joe Budden rapped the best IMO out of them, and i also thought his solo album that dropped right after the SH debut; was better.

But its really dope to see an actual hiphop conversation happening in here... I've been really feeling the newer hiphop acts coming out over the last few years

LUPE FIASCO
WALE
KID CUDI
BIG SEAN
YOUNG CHRIS
CONSEQUENCE
CURRENSY
ASHER ROTH
MICKEY FACTZ
YOUNG CHRIS
COOL KIDS
CHIP THA RIPPER
B.O.B
J.COLE
SKYZOO

The 1's on Bold are the real standouts, and the top 3 that are really moving hip hop forward by just putting their foot in the door, a lot of the top rappers out right now are looking at them for inspiration and are kind of jocking their style.

[john_rambo]

Lately I've been listening to the Living Legends different projects, specifically The Grouch and Eligh, I recommend their CD's to anyone. They are great. Two more that should be a lot bigger than they are. Here are a couple samples...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIItEigwW8w - All In (feat. Gift of Gab and Pigeon John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hefdWgnkyU&feature=channel - !BOOM! (feat. Slug)

On the same note check out the Grouch's new solo album, "Three Eyes Off The Time"

[Kastman]

Does anyone know/like Starlito?

I have this album renaissance gangster... its pretty awesome.

[smok3h]

Some of my favorites:

(the first three are twin cities, gotta rep ya'll ;))
Atmosphere - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owJNDMUdQSE
Brother Ali - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ScPoBEFl1Y
Heiruspecs - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc9BjyRhxYk
not sure how popular he is but I really like him: Kid Cudi - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xzU9Qqdqww

[echo_bravo]

Atmosphere is dope as hell.

[Cenopath]

Here's something that's quite out there. I bring you Dälek (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zysrjSnWvQg&feature=PlayList&p=891D688FED4C2B88&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=51).

[Cop No. 633]

Not bad, but I really didn't like the mix on that song. You can barely hear what the guy's saying.

Another weird rapper I enjoy from time to time is Warcloud (Holocaust). The guy was talented and had some of the most off-the-wall rhymes. He could qualify as a horror rapper just based on his imagery.

Here's two songs, "America"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUMRL31eY3U

"Island of Dr. Warcloud"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIf1zHmR3sg

Here's a recent classic joint I love. "Biochemical Equation" by RZA featuring MF Doom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPVAyoJc91k

[The Postmaster General]

J Dilla had some great songs.

[Cosimo]

J Dilla had some great songs.

ya dilla (rip) is a god

donuts is the best rap beat album of all time

[Cenopath]

His collaboration with Madlib (Jaylib) was also great.

[Cop No. 633]

Dilla's one of the patron saints of hip-hop. Immensely talented and created awesome beats. I love Donuts. Glazed is one of my favorite songs of all time.

Anybody dig DJ Premier's work? His beats for Gang Starr are really great. I love his minimalist touch with Jeru the Damaja. The Sun Rises in the East and Wrath of the Math are two of my favorite albums. I love Jeru's lyrics and delivery over Premier's beats.

"Jungle Music"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmX_feWJN1E

"Me or the Papes"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSSI-OA26gU

[therealjohng]

Saul Williams is the end all be all artist of Alternative Hip Hop. A true bright star. I saw him live a couple years ago. He can thrown down like no one's busniness.

[Darth Kenshin]

Anybody dig DJ Premier's work? His beats for Gang Starr are really great. I love his minimalist touch with Jeru the Damaja. The Sun Rises in the East and Wrath of the Math are two of my favorite albums. I love Jeru's lyrics and delivery over Premier's beats.

"Jungle Music"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmX_feWJN1E

"Me or the Papes"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSSI-OA26gU

Primo has been one of the best producers for like 20 years. Loved his stuff with KRS One, and although this is an "alternative hip hop" thread, I gotta admit that Primo's beats for Jay and some of his pop/r&b beats (stuff for D'Angelo and even Christina Aguilera) were pretty hot. Probably my favorite producer. Most versatile I think.

[Darth Kenshin]

Saul Williams is the end all be all artist of Alternative Hip Hop. A true bright star. I saw him live a couple years ago. He can thrown down like no one's busniness.

Dude is dynamite.

[john_rambo]

Been listening to MF Doom and MF Grimm

Liked everything I heard from them so far. MF Doom is a crazy motherfucker that has about 12 different Alter Ego's, he's pretty popular for an Underground rapper, if you listen to Gorillaz, he's the rapper on "November has Come".

Grimm is more of a conscious typre rapper, rapping from the heart. He's been confined to a wheelchair since before he really took off, spent overcome a life sentence by spending his time locked up studying law, (spent three years instead), started his own label, and has been recording ever since. They recorded an album together right before he got locked up as well. Check out both of them if you haven't.

[DaveyJoeG]

Has anybody ever listened to Five Deez? I've been enjoying them quite a bit lately. Here's a sample from their latest album Kommunicator:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3vc88FH0As

[john_rambo]

Yeah I've heard of Deez. (wait for it, wait for it, wait for it...)


DEEZ NUTZ!!!!!!

[NathanRomano]

Eyedea & Abilities!

[Mongo]

Digital Underground and Public Enemy would be my top two.

[Dom Shady]

Primo has been one of the best producers for like 20 years. Loved his stuff with KRS One, and although this is an "alternative hip hop" thread, I gotta admit that Primo's beats for Jay and some of his pop/r&b beats (stuff for D'Angelo and even Christina Aguilera) were pretty hot. Probably my favorite producer. Most versatile I think.

Primo is my favorite producer. The guy is like a hip hop encyclopedia, he'll remember obscure lines from songs and incorporate them into his beats. My favorite aspect of a hip hop beat is scratching and Primo is an expert; it's become a signature of his. Some of my favorite songs are produced by Primo, and the fact that he'll scratch in lines from the artist's past makes the song legendary to me.

I'm just disappointed that him and Guru had a falling out before Guru died. I loved Gang Starr.