Hubski, as the title so plainly asks, who is your favorite rapper?? I really want to know who everybody likes to listen to and what you think is great about your favorite rapper! For me, it'd have to be MF DOOM. His bars never cease to amaze me. He can just create strings of rhymes like nobody else I've ever heard. On top of that, his beats are super creative and compliment his jokes and stories superbly. So, who's your favorite rapper?
Earl Sweatshirt is like a new age DOOM. He hasn't really come out with a fantastic album yet, but I think that there are flashes of brilliance in his work, and lyrically he's one of the best out there. I think he's Kendrick Lamar's favorite rapper as well. My favorite track by him is Wind In My Sails:
Earl is dope! If you haven't, for sure check out Between Villains. It's got DOOM, Earl, and Captain Murphy (Flying Lotus' alter ego)
This is one of my favorite tracks. The amount of respect he has for early 20th century black music shows through in the fucking awesome sampling on tracks like this. He turned me on to Gary Bartz, a fucking wild jazz saxophonist, on his radio show thing with Knxwledge.
I have a soft spot for Earl as well. I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside is such a perfect encapsulation of I don't even know what. That shit mood you get in sometimes? But it's very specific. I guess the best way I can describe it is to say listen to the album.
That album is for when you're borderline depressed and want to be borderline depressed.
I know the classic example of his rhyming prowess is That's That, but I think Guv'nor is crazy because he uses Eyjafjallajökull and rhymes every single syllable!!
Don't get me started on him dude. I listened to Madvillain one day my junior year of high school and it was over. He's the sole reason I started really following hip-hop at all, and at this point I know for a fact that there is no greater living legend in hiphop than Daniel fucking Dumile. e- there's a Nardwuar interview somewhere of Earl losing his marbles talking about the first time he ever saw him. A couple months later, Between Villains came out.
I'll check out the other guys you mentioned, but Outkast is fantastic
Happened to revisit this thread, I nabbed Aquemini on vinyl and I can only describe it as the most juicy sound to ever come out of my record player.
No problem! I will say this: Serengeti is a bit of an oddball - the way I usually describe him is anti-rap, kinda like Jeffrey Lewis or Daniel Johnston are anti-folk. Hyper personal, kinda mundane slice of life lyrics, never takes himself too seriously. Kinda like Open Mike Eagle, if you listen to him.
Sounds like I'll enjoy him cause I love all of Hellfyre Gang!
#1 would probably be Dälek, followed closely by Saul Williams.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Aesop Rock yet. His flow is sloppy but he has the largesr vocabulary in the genre. The way he writes songs is incredible: every bar furthers the verse and every verse works together to form a cohesive idea. Honorable mentions: Kendrick (enough said) and Oddisee
DOOM is my favorite, can't believe how many other people on the thread feel the same way. I love him for his terrible hilarious flow. I love a lot of old school stuff. Kurtis Blow, Slick Rick, Sugar Hill, Whodini, Afrika Bambaataa, Big L, Wu Tang and what not. More than a few other early things that everyone has forgotten. Gil Scott Heron and the Last Poets, lots of Jamaican stuff that was rap in all but name before rap was a thing, the same for some calypso, proto-rap I guess. Honorable mention of Mike Ladd for doing things different (why don't Marxist rappers get traction?). I've listened to a lot of Antwon (he isn't the best but something about the way he sees it keeps me coming back).
Absolute Power and Killer are probably my favorite albums, but All 6s and 7s is ok too. I can't really get into the newer stuff, but you come into contact with it a lot living near KC. Every so often I'll meet someone at work who moved to the area to try and get signed with Strange Music. So far, non have, but one does work with them now and then.
Lupe Fiasco is up there. Billy Blue RA the Rugged Man. Big Boi. Andre 3000. From England: Dizzee Rascal.
I haven't actually heard of Billy Blue before! The song you linked was pretty dope, so I'll definitely check out more of his stuff.
Don't go too far back. Start with Bluminatti (ha) but don't get to the first album. It's garbage. And he wasn't always as deep. There's some straight up trap shit on there like the one he's on with Brisco (which might actually be called Trap Shit) and another one with Mannie Fresh. You get what you get. It wasn't until around Fundamentals when he gets really good like that song I posted. And he is still very much street. I met him and he's still rockin' gold grills and a snap back that looks like it got made and embroidered at a kiosk at a mall.