Hip Hop/Rap fans

Thats a hard question rap/hip hop is such a vast genre. do you know of any songs you like ? that would help

 

The only thing I appreciate about hip hop is the fact that I can dance to it and it has a good beat ... most of the time I don't even know the words except for the chorus as they are meaningless to me ... I just like it when I'm out and all the girls in the car or the people in the club start dancing to the music ... THATS IT!

So try it ... just listen for the beat and try not to get disgusted by deciphering what they are saying ...

ITUNES

Candy Shop -- 50 Cent
Got That Vibe -- Afrika Bambaataa & King Kamonzi
Ghetto -- Akon
Wonderful -- Ashanti, Ja Rule & R. Kelly
Menage a Trois -- Baby Bash
Girlfight (Radio Edit) -- Brooke Valentine featuring Big Boi & Lil Jon
Like a Pimp (Remix) -- David Banner
White Tees -- Dem Franchize Boyz
**** You -- Dr. Dre
Encore / Curtains Down -- Eminem
Breathe -- Fabolous
New York -- Fat Joe, Ja Rule & Jadakiss
Westside Story -- The Game & 50 Cent
How We Do -- The Game featuring 50 Cent
Soweto -- Goapele & Hieroglyphics
I Like That --Houston
Peruvian Cocaine -- Immortal Technique
The Lyricist -- J-Live Hip Hop/Rap
Choosin' -- Jagged Edge, Jazze Pha & Too Short
Numb / Encore -- Jay-Z & Linkin Park
Get Em High -- Kanye West, Talib Kweli & Common
Damn! -- Lil' Jon & Youngbloodz Hip Hop/Rap
Shake That Monkey -- Lil' Jon, The Eastside Boyz & Too Short
No Problem -- Lil' Scrappy
Go DJ -- Lil Wayne
Night Prowler -- Living Legends & Slug
Karma -- Lloyd Banks
On Fire -- Lloyd Banks & Eminem
Get Back -- Ludacris
Pass Out -- Ludacris
Got It Twisted -- Mobb Deep
Shook Ones, Pt. 2 -- Mobb Deep
Told Ya So - Moka Only -- Moka only
Just a Moment -- Nas
Act. Phenom -- Pep Love
Vibrate -- Petey Pablo & Rasheeda
Call Me -- Play-N-Skillz & Chamillionaire
We Like the Girls -- Silkk the Shocker
3 Kings -- Slim Thug
Sound Bwoy Bureill -- Smif-N-Wessun
Let's Get Blown -- Snoop Dogg
Drop It Like It's Hot -- Snoop Dogg & Pharrell Williams
Mr. Brown -- Styles of Beyond
My Advice -- Swollen Members
Take It Back -- Swollen Members
Bring Em Out -- T.I.
Let's Go -- Trick Daddy
Sugar (Gimme Some) -- Trick Daddy
Some Cut -- Trillville & Cutty
Audible Angels -- Visionaries
Let Me In -- Young Buck
Shorty Wanna Ride -- Young Buck

 

A great stepping off point would be to get a copy of Nas "Illmatic". It's older (I think it came out in '96 or so), but arguably one of THE best hip-hop albums of all time yet still reasonably modern sounding. As far as current stuff maybe check out some more underground stuff such as what's coming out of the Quannum camp & such: Quannum, Lyrics Born, Latryx, DJ Shadow (not really hip-hop per se, but great nonetheless), Blackalicious, Lateef, Gift of Gab, Jurassic 5, Deltron 3030 (formerly Del tha Funky Homosapien), Aesop Rock, et cetera. A good idea is to go to CDNow.com and check out some of the sound clips they have there which should help you pinpoint a sound that works for you. Not to mention you'll be able to find other artists that you've never heard of just by following related links. Just my $.02

 

i'd recommend aceyalone and/or busdriver... i'm usually not much of a hip hop listener, but those two(alond with a few that johnny bravo mentioned) I really enjoy.

/back to lurking

 

Tupac: all Eyes on me (2 disc set)
OutKast : ATLiens
Notorious Big : Life After Death (2 Disc Set)


I don't like todays rap to much, but those are classics that will make you appreciate RAP Music/ Hip Hop

 

Rap, and popular music in general, died in 2001. Today's stuff can be fun to dance to, but doesn't have many musical qualities.

I have this theory about music reflecting the underlying feelings of the general American populace. To me, the shift in the American phsyche caused by 9/11 really had a big impact on music. My favorite years of music are about 98-01, when the economy was great, we didn't have all these problems with terrorism, etc. 9/11 really screwed up music, and rap in particular.

So, basically, look at anything pre-2001 for the best rap, with maybe a smattering of things since . My favorites:

DMX - Party Up
Jay-Z - Can I Get A...
Jay-Z - Big Pimpin'
Jay Z - I Just Wanna Love U
Jay-Z - Girls, Girls, Girls
Juvenile - Back That Ass Up
Dr. Dre - Still D.R.E.
Dr. Dre - Forgot About Dre
Dr. Dre - What's the Difference
Dr. Dre - Next Episode
Dr. Dre - Let's Get High
Dr. Dre - F*ck with Dre Day
Eminem - Without Me
Eminem - My Name Is
Eminem - The Real Slim Shady
Cash Money Millionaires - Project B*tch
Snoop Dogg - Do You Wanna Roll
Snoop Dogg - Nothin' But a 'G' Thang
Snoop Dogg - Who Am I (What's My Name)
Snoop Dogg - Ain't No Fun
Snoop Dogg - Do U Wanna Roll
Snoop Dogg - Gin & Juice
Foxy Brown - Candy
Holiday Styles - Good Times (I Get High)
Killer Mike - Adidas
Kurupt - We Can Freak It
Ludacris - What's Your Fantasy
Mase - Feels So Good
Nas - If I Ruled the World
Nelly - Country Grammar
Outkast - ATLiens
Outkast - Ms Jackson
Pras Mitchel - Ghetto Superstar
Roscoe - I Love Cali
2Pac - California Love
Shade Sheist - Where I Wanna Be
Skee-Lo - I Wish

That should be a good list to get started...

 

I have to say all of 2Pac. Don't just listen to the words, look for meaning behind them(for all songs). A lot of stuff he said in his songs is pretty powerful. Obviously not EVERY song will be like that. You should note that has an education.

I would also recommend Tupac Resurrection the movie, which is about him. I was surprised at a lot of stuff I didnt know or had never seen before. You'll see various interviews of him and you can really tell that he is a very nice and caring guy away from it all.

 

I second this. 2Pac was an extremely intelligent, though misguided, individual. The sheer amount of poetry and music that he created was unreal. He knew that he would come to a tragic end, and he prepared for his death by writing and leaving a legacy. He was extremely well read and actually knew and was influenced by books and authors that the average middle class white kid just gets cliffs notes to understand.

While some of his songs are just "thug life" drivel that use the same recycled lines and anthems, many of his songs are well written and dare I say profound. Even the ones that are just ho-hum gangsta rap tunes are often enjoyable because of the raw and intense emotion and energy he exuded.

"Dear Mama", "Keep Ya Head Up", "Changes"... good mainstream songs with a message and probably enough to get you hooked. Since you seem to like rock, definitely listen to the acoustic version of "Thugz Mansion". Its haunting to hear him talking about death and heaven years after he actually did die, especially since the song was released posthumously.

I also recommend reading or watching some sort of bio on him, as you'll get a firmer grasp of why he wrote the way he did and of exactly the impact he made.

 

Just as mbmike stated, rap has downgraded and died off.
To this day, only rap I prefer to listen too is anything 2pac created.
Now days its mostly just beats and hooks, nothing about the song is meaningful or drives a certain message. Can you find another rapper to write a song about the love for his moms, or contribute a song to a city such as Los Angeles without having to refer back to his cars and rims, I doubt it. But 2pac did that, and went beyond that.
I remember from a interview in the studio Pac would gather up people he wanted to be on the track with him, drop a certain topic, and create the song from there. And he would tell them that by the time he's done writing his first verse, if they don't have anything written down they can't be on the track with him.
That not only showed me the genius that was in Pac, but proved that the man was truely, and still is, a legend at what he did and thats spark the definition of rap.

Sum it all up, listen to some 2pac because now its not the same rap it use to be, now all the rappers sound the same and are strictly producing tracks for club/party type scenarios.

 

Kanye West and Snoop is really all i listen to rap wise

 

I would say that Kanye has some good lyrics too. I mean the lyrics in the song All Fall Down, just the "...we're a little self-conscious, I'm just the first to admit it..." To me thats the damn truth. And the Jesus song brings up a lot of good points. Check out Kanye too.

 

If you listen to bet/mtv i agree but there are alot of mainstream artist still putting out good music, in the same line as tupac The Games last cd is very good less gangsta Twistas kamikaze.

Any rap collection has to include N.W.A, despite being "gangsta" it has little to do with bling and 20's instead a very detailed social commentary by people who didn’t think they had a voice at the time. As an entity it could be argued that they are the most pivotal/ influential of all time merely following their lineage would amount to an enviable and extensive collection of some of the heavy hitters of the last 20 years. Possibly Easy E as well though he is definitely hardcore hip hop

If you are after more laid back old school Run Dmc, del a soul and naughty by nature are definite musts. Jay –z, Nas, Dmx, ludacris, busta rhymes, P Diddy, Notorious BIG

 

Mos Def
- bio on MTV site is by AMG.

 

Reason why I don't have much respect for the work put out by mainstream rappers like Half Dollah, or The Game, is because they phony. If you listen to the song Game Over by Yukmouth you'd understand what I mean. He talks about how The Game was talking sh*t on a internet forum about Yuk and this the same guy who claims he's a hardcore thug?
All mainstream artists today are puppets in my eyes, just created as a certain image to sell CDs to a targeted market.

One other rapper that did make proper music was Ice Cube from N.W.A, and his CD War and Peace Vol.1 till this day can't be touched. Its one of those CDs where you set it on the first track and let it play all the way through.

 

90's rap -------------------
I second (or third, fourth, whatever) the 2Pac recommendation. He has a Greatest Hits 2 disc set that is good, and I also enjoyed All Eyes on Me. As others have said, he was a GREAT lyricist.


2000'ish------------------------
Jay-Z has exceptional talent as a writer, and I like the way he weaves his lyrics together.



The only current rap I can stomach is Eminem. I think the Black Eyed have some talent, too.

 

GILLES,

I'll fifth this statement . 2Pac is by far the most talnted lyricist in the genre. His album All Eyez On Me is undeniably (IMO) the best rap CD ever created. His lyrics are very thoughtful with powerful underlying messages. Sure, he has his share of "Ho'z and *****ez" songs, but so many of his tracks have really deep meaning.

A few songs that I recommend that really bring out his lyrical talent and intelligence are:

- Letter to the President
- The Good Die Young
- White Manz World
- Changes
- Ballad of a Dead Souljah
- Me Against the World
- Letter 2 My Unborn

...to name a few.

 

A good primer album might be "More Music From 8 Mile". Its music that was played in the movie 8 Mile, not the soundtrack itself. Mobb Deep, 2Pac, Biggie, Naughty by Nature, etc, etc. Very listenable hip hop album, which you can't say for most.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000798NA/qid=1109609265/sr=2-2/ref=pd_ka_b_2_2/104-9555946-1865517

Tracklist:
1. Shook Ones - Mobb Deep
2. Juicy - Notorious BIG
3. Gotta Get Mine - MC Breed (w/Tupac)
4. Feel Me Flow - Naughty By Nature
5. Player's Ball - Outkast
6. Get Money - Jr. Mafia
7. You're All I Need - Method Man & Mary J. Blige
8. Temptations - Tupac
9. Shimmy Shimmy Ya - Ol' Dirty Bastard
10. Bring Da Pain - Method Man
11. C.R.E.A.M. - Wu Tang Clan
12. Runnin - Pharcyde
13. Survival of the Fittest - Mobb Deep

 

The list of Rap artists that I like is rather abbreviated.

 

Try...

Break ya neck - Busta Rhymes
Over and over again - Nelly
2Pac - Changes
Locked up - Akon
Is this the end - Genuwine, Twista, Carl Thomas
Still not a player - Big Pun
Bang out - Snoop Dogg
Higher - Twista, Ludacris
Overnight Celebrity - Twista, Kanye West
Ghetto Superstar - Pras ft. ODB and MyaEngy Me - 50 Cent
Hush - LL CoolJ
Beautiful - Snoop Dogg
The Next Episode - Dr. Dre
Why - Jadakiss
Mundian to Back KE

 

Yeah, Punjabi MC - "Mundian To Bach Ke" is a good one to...

 

I second those suggestions. Those are artists that show you can rap about lots of things without using the words Hoes, Cash or Bling.

I'll add to the list: Mos Def, Kanye West, Common, Jedi Mind Tricks, Talib Kweli, Dialated Peoples, Canibus; ALL very great artists you should listen to.

 

Personally,I like
Cypress Hill
Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony (IMO they would sound incredible in a an R&B album)
Three-Six Mafia
Tupac
Snoop
Dr.Dre.
Eazy-E
Master P's Ghettos Trying to kill me, and Ghetto-D album.
I liked Twista before he got mainstream, so his older stuff is good.
Do-Or-Die's album "Headz or Tailz" is great as well.

I don't see how anyone didn't mention Biggy Smalls, aka Notorious B.I.G.
Jay-Z eh, yeah I guess him too
I've just got interested in Mike Jones, and his companion Pah Wah (Paul Wall) You can hit it up with Coolio too with Fantastic Voyage and Gangsters Paradise You'll find all of these mixed in with some DeBussy

I don't like EMINEM, I think he's just a novelty act, and his music is blah.
I don't like DMX, Juvenille, Ludicrous, Nelly, or 50 cent.

 

Biggy used to be my favorite rapper of all time, but for some reason recently I just feel kinda meh about him...His best song is Hypnotize, IMO.