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Recommend me some rap/hip-hop

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L

Ladekabel

Member
As probably many others I had an Eminem phase when I was a teenager. Resonated with me. Got the Eminem Show after the fact and got a fan right around the time when Encore came out. At the time I liked it but not as much as Show. And after Recovery I fell off. I left my only connection to the genre and it probably didn't help that the only other one I listened to was 50 Cent and I only really liked Candy Shop. Never heard much other rap or hip-hop. Maybe a little bit of Tupac's Ghetto Gospel in ringtone commercials.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I listened to the podcast version of a radio show. During the show the host requested that Hood Politics from Kendrick Lamar and a something from Drake. In the podcast version I only heard a few tunes on my commute but I liked what I heard and once I was at home I listened to To Pimp a Butterfly and loved it. Since then I wanted to get a little bit more into hip-hop.

So far I've listend to and liked:
  • Kendrick Lamar: good kid, m.A.A.d. city; To Pimp A Butterfly (listen to King Kunta almsot to a daily basis) Edit.: Untitled Unmastered.
  • Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (love Dark Fantasy and All of the Lights); Yeezus (listened to it once. Didn't resonate with me like MBDTF but might give it another chance)
  • Biggie: Best of (listen to Juicy and Hypnotize daily)
  • Tupac: Not much besides Hit'em up, All Eyez on me and Hail Mary

Now I'd like to know where to go from here. Where to start with Drake? Where to continue with Pac, Biggie, Kendrick and Kanye? What others should I check out.

Hit me up, GAF!
 
Y

Yaphett Kotto

Member
Listen to Kendrick Lamar's Untitled. Its TPAB 0.5 with unfinished tracks, but its still really good.

Also, his older mixtapes still hold up. Overly Dedicated and his EP are available on DatPiff.
 
E

Extollere

Sucks at poetry
Listen to Lil Wayne Tha Carter 3 (and 2 if you need more). If you're behind on hip hop and listening for the first time it will blow your mind.
 
L

LionPride

Banned
Noname
Chance the Rapper, just dropped a mixtape yesterday
OutKast
Beastie Boys
A Tribe Called Quest
Future, specifically DS2
Mick Jenkins
ScHoolboy Q
The Roots
Danny Brown
6lack
Gucci Mane
Jeezy
Yo Gotti
ludacris
Missy Elliot
The Internet
Isiah Rashad
Flatbush Zombies

I'll update with more
 
I

iModem

Banned
Grieves, Sadistik, Eyedea, No Bird Sing, Watsky, Dumbfoundead, Rone if you like live rap battles, Run the Jewels
 
M

Matty77

Member
My recommendation for the day is:

Heavy Mental by Killah Preist

Full of awesome imagery and metaphor, only flaw is he peaked there and while I am still a fan of his he has never attained that level again.
 
?

____

Member
Isaiah Rashad
Ab-Soul
ScHoolboy Q
Devin the Dude
Chance the Rapper
Andre 3000
Big KRIT

I think would be good starters.
 
N

NandoGip

Member
Try to stay away from the deep cut type stuff for now. I'm sure most will recommend you really random guys, which I'm sure they're great, but it might not be the best to be introduced to.

My recommendation is to start with a list of classics you can find through googling. Then based on what you like, find other artists from that era and location.

Stuff great for beginners:
Early Outkast
Early Wu-tang
Early Jay-z
Early Nas

Some current-ish stuff that is good for beginners:
J Cole
Chance the Raper
Early Drake
Carter 2 - Carter 4 era Lil Wayne
Kendrick GOOD Kid Mad City

After getting to know some of the more popular respected artists and the classics, move on to what is your taste.

My biggest tip: Don't let the elitist dictate what you like. There is always a group of vocal dust heads who scream how specific subgenre's of hip hop are bad and you should feel bad if you like it. It's okay to like Kendrick and to also like Young Thug.

Edit:

By the way OP, let us know your opinion as you listen.
 
Q

QuantumSquid

Member
NandoGip said:
Some current-ish stuff that is good for beginners:
J Cole
Chance the Raper
Early Drake
Carter 2 - Carter 4 era Lil Wayne
Kendrick GOOD Kid Mad City
Click to expand...

tumblr_nloyqkWRXQ1rqqhtho1_500.gif
 
M

Matty77

Member
NandoGip said:
Try to stay away from the deep cut type stuff for now. I'm sure most will recommend you really random guys, which I'm sure they're great, but it might not be the best to be introduced to.

My recommendation is to start with a list of classics you can find through googling. Then based on what you like, find other artists from that era and location.

Stuff great for beginners:
Early Outkast
Early Wu-tang
Early Jay-z
Early Nas

Some current-ish stuff that is good for beginners:
J Cole
Chance the Raper
Early Drake
Carter 2 - Carter 4 era Lil Wayne
Kendrick GOOD Kid Mad City

After getting to know some of the more popular respected artists and the classics, move on to what is your taste.

My biggest tip: Don't let the elitist dictate what you like. There is always a group of vocal dust heads who scream how specific subgenre's of hip hop are bad and you should feel bad if you like it. It's okay to like Kendrick and to also like Young Thug.

Edit:

By the way OP, let us know your opinion as you listen.
Click to expand...
I agree with the general advice in this post, sometimes it's best to find an "artists like" off of what you have heard and enjoyed.

Also yeah as someone who prefers certain sub genres I just listen to what I like, and hope others do the same even if it's stuff I don't enjoy.

A live and let live philosophy is best I feel, especially with Rap and Metal because they get so divisive and contentious and life's too short to get caught up in purity tests and snobbery over something that's supposed to make you happy.
 
M

Manbig

Member
Since you mentioned liking Biggie OP, you should check out more of the classic New York OGs.

I can't really get links at the moment because I'm at work, but here are some must listen albums...

Nas - Illmatic

This is considered one of the greatest and most influential rap albums of all time. The whole thing is worth a listen, but if you just wanna check out one or two tracks real quick, I'd say go with 'It Ain't Hard to Tell', 'The World is Yours', and 'Halftime'.

Wu Tang Clan - Enter the Wu Tang (36 Chambers)

You've heard of the Wu Tang Clan even if you've never heard a song of theirs. They have countless fantastic tracks and several of the members have amazing solo projects too. This album is a great place to start checking them out. Some of the must listens are 'Da Mystery of Chessboxin', 'C.R.E.A.M', and 'Protect Ya Neck'. If you end up digging Wu Tang, be sure to check out their solo stuff too.

Jay Z - Reasonable Doubt

You already know who Jay Z is, but this was Jay Z when he was still hungry. 'Dead Presidents' both 1 and 2 are great, and the sample is absolutely untouchable.

Gang Starr - Every Album

Though not exactly NYC, they were still very much of the NYC East Coast style. Gang Starr was the combination of one of the best beat producers of all time in DJ Premier, with one of the best lyrical artists of all time in Guru (R.I.P). You can pretty much pick any Gang Starr song and it'll probably be fire. My personal favorite though is 'Moment of Truth'.

There's really so many more, but this is a pretty good start. If you end up liking the East Coast style a lot, there is a current artist that I recommend named Joey Bada$$ (if you can get past his stupid name at least). Both of his mixtapes '1999' and 'Summer Nights' are great listens, though his voice changed a lot between then because he was 17 (I think?) when he made 1999. He dropped his first major album last year named B4.DA.$$ and I enjoyed it a lot. Hope you do too!
 
T

TheBowen

Sat alone in a boggy marsh
Just some albums i would recommend for a begginner like yourself


Jay Z - Black Album
Kanye West - Late Registration
Outkast - Aquemini or stankonia
Notorious BIG- Ready to die ( fuck the greatest hits compilation )
Dr Dre - Chronic or 2001


After those, you can get into more indie stuff and more technical rap ( GZA, Mf Doom, rapsody, Nas, tribe called quest etc) because i find people like MF Doom a shit place for new listeners to start


If you dont like the albums above, hip hop may not be for you fam
 
C

Catvoca

Banned
Got into hip-hop a few years ago in a similar way. Here's some random recs both new and old.

Vince Staples - Summertime 06
Nas - Illmatic and It was Written
Madvillian
Noname - Telefone
A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Mauraders/ Low End Theory/ We Got it from here (These are a very good gateway to hip-hop)
Run The Jewels (Another band non-hip hop heads dig.)
Mos Def - Black on Both sides
The rest of Kanye's albums (Late Registration and 808's for sure)
 
Soapbox Killer

Soapbox Killer

Grand Nagus
Catvoca said:
Got into hip-hop a few years ago in a similar way. Here's some random recs both new and old.

Vince Staples - Summertime 06
Nas - Illmatic and It was Written
Madvillian
Noname - Telefone
A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Mauraders/ Low End Theory/ We Got it from here (These are a very good gateway to hip-hop)
Run The Jewels (Another band non-hip hop heads dig.)
Mos Def - Black on Both sides
The rest of Kanye's albums (Late Registration and 808's for sure)
Click to expand...


This is a solid list.

let me add a few.

Outkast....anything really but Aquemini is probably the best they've ever done and a top 10 album all time.

Ghostface Killah Supreme Clientele.

Jay-Z The Blueprint. People will debate till the end of time whats the best HOV album, but if they don't tell it's this one they are wrong.

Little Brother the minstrel show 9th Wonder does his thing on this underrated classic

J Dilla Donuts

The Greatest Rap Producer of ALL TIME. Donuts is a masterwork. It has no lyrics but don't let that fool you. IT IS THE SOUL OF HIP-HOP!
 
I

Inferno313

Banned
I'll focus on a couple great album's from this year:

Chance The Rapper's Coloring Book is probably a great one to hit up next. It's the perfect mix of being very very good while also being very accessible to those who aren't super into the genre.

Also check out Frank Ocean's Blonde from this year, my absolute favorite album of 2016. It's kind of debatable as to whether it's Hip-hop or R&B, it's a bit of a mix, but I think you'll love it. Fair warning, it's definitely more somber and downbeat than Coloring Book.
 
L

Ladekabel

Member
Thanks for the recommendations so far!

Currently listen to Aquemeni and liking it so far.

Plan for the next days: Enter the Wu-Tang, Ready to Die, Something Jay-Z

Will try to listen to most of the other stuff, too.
 
C

CDV13

Member
Listen to Kyle. Specifically Don't wanna fall in love, and doubt it. If you can stand Lil Yachty, iSpy is catchy by him too.

Also check out Reflex by Saint Jhn

Artist with alot of music you need to check on though : Big KRIT. He is, and will always be, phenomenal.

Many of the others have already given you dope artists.
 
J

joelseph

Member
Gaf hop is a time machine into the past. Not a bad thing, just something worth noting to someone looking to get into an evolving scene.
 
N

Nielm

Member
Jay Z - Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love)
Kanye West - Through The Wire
OutKast - Elevators
Nas - Nas Is Like
Wu Tang Clan - C.R.E.A.M.
A Tribe Called Quest - Electric Relaxation
UGK - The Game Belongs To Me/Diamonds & Wood

Isaiah Rashad - Heavenly Father/4r Da Squaw
J. Cole - Who Dat/Apparently
ScHoolboy Q -Man Of The Year/Studio
A$AP Rocky - Everyday ft. Rod Stewart, Miguel, Mark Ronson
Lupe Fiasco - Kick Push/Hip Hop Saved My Life
Big K.R.I.T. - The Vent
Chance The Rapper - Summer Friends

Curren$y - Still
Flatbush Zombies - Face - Off
A$AP Rocky - Peso/Goldie
ScHoolboy Q - Hands On The Wheel ft. A$AP Rocky

Desiigner - Panda
Gucci Mane - First Day Out Tha Feds
Travis Scott - Antidote
Kevin Gates - 2 Phones

Jay Electronica - Exhibit C
Nas ft. Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley - Patience/As We Enter
DJ Shadow feat. Run The Jewels - Nobody Speak/Killer Mike - Reagan
Lupe Fiasco - Freedom Ain't Free (Around My Way)/Adoration Of The Magi
 
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