Hip Hop

[Kenny]

Does anyone hear regularly listen to hip hop? If so, what have you been enjoying lately? Thoughts in general? This could be the catch-all thread if there was enough interesting.

I've been listening to Jay Z's D.O.A. single lately, and me likey. Hopefully we get a full album of this kinda stuff.

I just downloaded Sage Francis' new SICK OF WASTING mixtape (which you can get right here for free). I haven't listened yet, but Sage is my favorite rapper right now and I'm sure it'll be great. If you're not traditionally into hip hop, Sage (and a lot of others from the late 90/early 2000s indie scene) is a great way to test the waters of indie rap.

Discuss!

[JJ Smooth]

Hip Hop pisses me off. No wait, let me explain. I grew up in the early 90's with my cousins who BMX raced, skateboarded, and snowboarded. They would constantly have Beastie Boys, Run DMC, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest playing (mixed in with some Operation Ivy from the punk genre, because ya know, their skate guys). That list of groups were and are my all-time faves over the Biggies and Pacs.

Today I see hip hop as a fad and going for ringtone sales over making a dope beat and having something interesting to say on an album. Even though I'm a hip hop purist, I greatly appreciated Jay Z doing the "D.O.A." single and getting that message out. No more Lil' Wayne or T-Pain. Drop the talk of money, sex, and drug sales; get back to burning other rappers with your flow and word wizardry.

I've got a great appreciation for rappers and groups slightly outside the mainstream like The Roots, Talib Qweli, DOOM, Common, and Mos Def. I enjoy commercial rap like Kanye, Jay Z, and (to an extent) Eminem. But sadly, 95% of hip hop is garbage, sad and true.

[_OM_]

• OM’s Law #20: (c)Rap: The C is silent.

[Kenny]

@JJ Smooth: I both agree and disagree.

I love the early 90s stuff, De La is probably my favorite group ever. I wasn't around to experience that stuff, but I love it looking back. I also largely agree that most of rap now is very commercial, very played out, and the overuse of things like autotune are hurting the industry.

However, I've got to say that I think this is a good time for rap overall. No matter where you look, there's something to appreciate. I love Lil Wayne, and he, Jay Z, T.I., Kid Cudi, etc. are all commercial rappers who are also fantastic. Then you've got the Anticon guys, Sage, Rhymesayers, Oldominion, etc. It's harder to find stuff to really appreciate, but once you find what you like there's a lot there, I think.

Good discussion going on so far.

[DarkKnightJared]

Hip Hop pisses me off. No wait, let me explain. I grew up in the early 90's with my cousins who BMX raced, skateboarded, and snowboarded. They would constantly have Beastie Boys, Run DMC, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest playing (mixed in with some Operation Ivy from the punk genre, because ya know, their skate guys). That list of groups were and are my all-time faves over the Biggies and Pacs.

Today I see hip hop as a fad and going for ringtone sales over making a dope beat and having something interesting to say on an album. Even though I'm a hip hop purist, I greatly appreciated Jay Z doing the "D.O.A." single and getting that message out. No more Lil' Wayne or T-Pain. Drop the talk of money, sex, and drug sales; get back to burning other rappers with your flow and word wizardry.

I've got a great appreciation for rappers and groups slightly outside the mainstream like The Roots, Talib Qweli, DOOM, Common, and Mos Def. I enjoy commercial rap like Kanye, Jay Z, and (to an extent) Eminem. But sadly, 95% of hip hop is garbage, sad and true.

Yeah, most of the hip-hop I do listen to are the less mainstream, more underground guys like The Roots and Doom, though I still have a soft spot for Eminem (and Relapse was a pretty damn good album, I thought).

I have to admit, that a lot of my faves comes from the genre of nerdcore--like MC Frontalot, MC Chris, MC Lars, & Beefy. Here's a good example of it:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdwzZmDjpZs"]YouTube - Pron song - MC Frontalot[/ame]

[Kenny]

@DarkKnight: Ha. I used to be heavily involved in the nerdcore scene. I actually played a show with Beefy, mc chris, and others a few summers ago. I don't rap anymore, but I still check out most of what chris, Front, YTCracker and Lars do. There's definitely some bright spots in that genre, but unfortunately there's a lot of dark ones as well.

[Captain Zzap]

I can't say much about hip hop except that I have a friend in Canada that puts Eminem to shame!

Zzap!

[rex]

I like to adjust the treble until I can't hear their white hating lyrics.

I only listen to Toad The Wet Sprocket

[_OM_]

I only listen to Toad The Wet Sprocket

...Quick! Identify the source of that band's name! Winner gets a date with their choice of the "Trilogy of Trolling" that's plaguing the boards!

[Captain Zzap]

Rutland Weekend Television!

Can I actually get a date with Mark Seifert?

Zzap!