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Hip hop was better in the 90s.

entremet

Member
I used to be like you with the "I'm too good to listen to you" attitude. That ain't healthy. Every generation has to discover the current greatness. The will always be the past. Hip Hop is always the future.
Genres definitely have their eras of greatness, though. Look at Rock. Doesn’t mean current stuff sucks.
 

cromofo

Member
Late 80s/early 90s are my favorite.

Big Daddy Kane and Too Short come to mind.

I just don't like the new style/beats as the old stuff. Old stuff was simple and impactful, now it's a mix and mess of everything.
 

TFGB

Member
Late 80s - early 90s. I stopped following the culture after that.

Our side:

Hijack
Hardnoise
Gunshot
Son Of Noise
London Posse
Demon Boyz
Mell’o’
Overlord X
She Rockers
Cash Crew
Mighty Ethnicz
Mc’s Logik
Outlaw Posse
F.O.R.C.E
Mc Martay & Dj DBM
Mc Duke
Katch 22
Blade
Icepick
Merlin
Caveman

Across the Pond:

Stetsasonic
Tuff Crew
Ultramagnetics
Son Of Bazerk
Kings Of Pressure
Melle Mel
EPMD
Marley Marl
Chuck Chillout
Digital Underground
Jungle Brothers
Cold Crush Bros.
T La Rock
Mantronix
Just Ice
K-Solo
MC Lyte
3rd Bass
Whodini
Jeff and the Prince
 

spock

Member
I used to be like you with the "I'm too good to listen to you" attitude. That ain't healthy. Every generation has to discover the current greatness. The will always be the past. Hip Hop is always the future.

Actually I love when Gaf or anyone points me to new stuff that I can resonate with. Helped me find Danny brown, Joey badass, Kendrick, etc. on the whole though there is just a TON of great older stuff in contrast to nuggets of new stuff that appeals to me. Like other genres, certain eras have a unique soul or vibe that's very hard to recapture simply because the entire cultural structure of the sound, people, time, motives, etc. clicked things in just the right combination to create a distinct paradigm in the music that ends up being a keystone period point within genre. Every genre seems to have 1 or more. They occur as the exception not the rule.
 

Soodanim

Member
I keep seeing people say "Hip Hop is the future, the great stuff is out there" but I'm not seeing much effort at proving that point. On the other hand, people asked for names that weren't the usual suspects and a big list was delivered.

The big crime of the thread is how many said the 00s were shit. Some good stuff came then, definitely shouldn't be grouped in with the 10s.

GAF hates him but Kendrick
Ab-Soul
Isaiah Rashad
ScHoolboy Q
Denzel Curry
Freddie Gibbs
Childish Gambino
T.I. somehow is still doing his thing
Smoke DZA
Chance The Rapper
Kanye
Joey Bada$$
Vince Staples
Run The Jewels
Danny Brown
Lute
I tried. I went through every name in this list listening to the top songs on Spotify, and I immediately crossed off anyone that mumbled, slurred all their words or just used trap beats, which was most of them. In the end the only names I thought would be worth any further listening were Joey Badass and Lute, and I already know about Gambino, Kendrick and RTJ. Now I'm listening to ATCQ to cleanse. It's all subjective, but most of this new shit ain't for me.
 
I keep seeing people say "Hip Hop is the future, the great stuff is out there" but I'm not seeing much effort at proving that point. On the other hand, people asked for names that weren't the usual suspects and a big list was delivered.

The big crime of the thread is how many said the 00s were shit. Some good stuff came then, definitely shouldn't be grouped in with the 10s.


I tried. I went through every name in this list listening to the top songs on Spotify, and I immediately crossed off anyone that mumbled, slurred all their words or just used trap beats, which was most of them. In the end the only names I thought would be worth any further listening were Joey Badass and Lute, and I already know about Gambino, Kendrick and RTJ. Now I'm listening to ATCQ to cleanse. It's all subjective, but most of this new shit ain't for me.
you implying Vince mumbles, he doesn't just speaks in low energy
 

SKINNER!

Banned
I tried. I went through every name in this list listening to the top songs on Spotify, and I immediately crossed off anyone that mumbled, slurred all their words or just used trap beats, which was most of them. In the end the only names I thought would be worth any further listening were Joey Badass and Lute, and I already know about Gambino, Kendrick and RTJ. Now I'm listening to ATCQ to cleanse. It's all subjective, but most of this new shit ain't for me.

How the fuck is SchoolBoy Q, Danny Brown and Vince Staples mumbley/slurred?
 
I love both 90s and contemporary rap, but the Memphis 90s scene really deserves more recognition IMO. So ahead of its time:

Tommy Wright III

https://youtu.be/857acvJ4l2A

https://youtu.be/OYZgIM0haJA

https://youtu.be/0wgWpvVwMmk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe-KBHQYmxo

Riverside click

https://youtu.be/LV2Dy7tyoXk

Ruff Draft (DJ Paul produced)

https://youtu.be/UuSkNMfjikE

Koopsta Knicca

https://youtu.be/vTJCRs7bmMo

https://youtu.be/trTUVVrgSXo

Kingpin Skinny Pimp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmiEgds5Wv0
 

Laws00

Member
When I listen to hip hop now and then listen to something in the 90s I have to take a second and realize what im listening to sometimes

its so night and day.
 

Sami+

Member
There's good shit out there now but honestly I just fucking hate trap and that awful triplet composition.

Bada bida bada boom
Bida bada bida boom
Dada dida dada boom

ugh
 
At least it was hype and hard and somewhat unique to him.

this new shit is outright retarded. the bar to be acceptable had dropped too low.
IDK man. ODB was dope but there were times you had no idea what the hell he was saying at all. I'd accept that it was unique to him and I agree. Hype and Hard is subjective in comparison to mumble rappers

BUT calling their music "retarded" and saying ODB stuff wasn't is odd. A lot of these rappers are actually using words lmao. I think a lot of it is their accents making them seem intelligible but come on ODB was wild on songs man you couldn't understand shit. You can't say new music is "retarded" but give him a pass lol
Tell which 20 albums, and I'd be happy to tell you an alternate list of 20.

Here's a few off the head (I tried to list artists that haven't already been mentioned in this thread):

Downtown Science- self titled
Freestyle Fellowship - Innercity Griots
Lord Finesse - Return of the Funky Man
King Tee - Tha Triflin Album
Redman - Whut? Thee Album
Artifacts - Between A Rock And a Hard Place
Blackalicious - Melodica
The D.O.C. - No One Can Do It Better (1988, but fuck it, dude was incredible)
Ice-T - O.G. Original Gangster
Jungle Brothers - Done By The Forces of Nature
Pete Rock & CL Smooth - Mecca & The Soul Brother
X-Clan - To The East, Blackwards (with a KEY! Sissseeeeeee)
Justin Warfield - My Field Trip To Planet 9
K.M.D. - Mr. Hood
3rd Bass - Derelicts of Dialect
Poor Righteous Teachers - Holy Intellect
U.M.C.'s - Fruits of Nature
Beatnuts - Intoxicated Demons
Yaggfu Front - Action Packed Adventure
DJ Krush - Meiso
Ultramagnetic MCs - The Four Horsemen
Thanks for doing this list. I've actually only listened to at least 8 of these albums so I appreciate it for sure. I just know there's a lot of gems that were missed, hell that are missed every decade but we instead chose to talk about the popular albums
 
I enjoyed it more back then for sure. Felt more genuine to an extent (Biggie/Pac especially). Anyway, if you like it better now I ain't gonna hate, its art so not everyone is going to like everything the same.
 
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