A Battlecry (Hip-Hop Thread)

Gammarah

Hi, I'm Gammarah. You might remember me from my other thread, in which I expressed my love for Cowboy Bebop and wanted suggestions for jazzy music similar to that used in the show.

Now, I'm in the mood for hip-hop, and having re-watched my other favorite Shinichiro Watanabe show, Samurai Champloo, way too many times, I'd love more music like that featured in the show. However, I really have no idea where to start. Like all overly white teenagers, I love the Beastie Boys, but other than that, I don't really know any other hip-hop artists. Since you guys were so helpful in the past, I'd love any more suggestions on what to listen to. Suggestions on more trip-hop would be awesome too, because I can't listen to Massive Attack, Portishead and the Sneaker Pimps forever. Thanks in advance!

-Phil-

Hip Hop:
Wu-Tang Clan
Run DMC
Tribe Called Quest

Not sure if its trip hop:
Groove Armada
Infected Mushroom

The Cow

I don't think there's any place I'd go that would call Infected Mushroom trip hop, but they're an amazing music act nonetheless and worth checking out anyway.

So, as a white boy, I obviously love hip hop, and I love recommending great hip hop.

I will start by seconding the Wu Tang Clan. ODB, RZA, GZA, Mastah Killah, Ghost Face Killah, U-God, Raekwon, Method Man, and goddamit I always forgot one of the original nine. Usually it's Method Man. EDIT: oh man I just forgot Inspectah Deck. My shame is great. However, it did remind me of another great artist, so my ruin is your gain!

Deltron 3030 aka Del tha Funky Homosapien
MF Doom
Brother Ali
Binary Star
RJD2
Atmosphere (seriously, Slug is amazing)
Tech N9ne (a lot of party sound, but some more lyrical verse as well)
Immortal Technique
The Last Emperor
Glue
Kool Keith
Nonphixion
EDIT; Gangstarr

Nerdcore artists:
MC Chris
MC Frontalot (check out his collab with KOMPRESSOR)
Optimus Rhyme

pick and choose, some may sound good, some may sound awful, and some may grow on you. Most of these are relatively underground, i.e. you're not gonna hear em on TRL anytime soon, so if you want some more mainstream stuff feel free to ask.

starmanbrand

How about some Blue Scholars?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZccsPd83O8

Here is an older

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB4CYHkwrFI

Also, I can't forget my current favorite to listen to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-k49meMDDQ

And because I haven't posted about hiphop in a while I am editing some of Cow's list into my post and marking off my favorite albums from those listed, if you need a jumping off point.

Wu Tang Clan- I like the solo stuff more, usually. I could listen to Ghostface- Fishscale all day.Same for GZA- Legend of the Liquid Sword.
Deltron 3030 aka Del tha Funky Homosapien- Deltron 3030 s/t album.
Brother Ali- I love all his stuff, but I'd start with Shadows on the Sun
Binary Star- Masters of the universe
RJD2- the horror
Atmosphere (seriously, Slug is amazing)- Slug has become far less amazing to me as I've gotten deeper into hiphop, but I still listen to some tracks off of Godlovesugly
Immortal Technique- Revolutionary Vol. 2.
Glue- Seconds Away
EDIT; Gangstarr- I'd suggest moment of truth.

mastman

These are some of my favorite artists, and a song to get you started.
The Roots - Game Theory
Common - Be
Jurassic 5 - Great Expectations
Q-tip - Manwomanboogie

Gammarah

These are really great suggestions so far, I'm listening to Gangstarr and Atmosphere and loving it, and I'm gonna check out everything else suggested. I also really liked that Jurrassic 5 link posted. You guys have given me a great list of stuff to listen to so far and it's awesome, I especially appreciate the album suggestions because they give me a really good jumping off point into this stuff, especially since there's so much music out there. Keep them coming.

Matt_S

I'm going to be a little Seattle-centric because I love my local hip hop.

Blue Scholars were posted, they were the first hip hop act I ever got into and I love those guys. They are 206 scene royalty. This is one of my favorite songs (not my favorite though - it's hard to choose)
Blue Scholars - Loyalty

Here's some more:

Macklemore - I Said Hey

The Physics - Callin

Also second The Roots, Atmosphere, and Jurassic 5.

Oooh, can't forget Aesop Rock. Crazy lyrics.

Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass

eternalbl

Sweet, I get to be first to mention De La Soul. And Common Market and Panacea.

Edit: I'm gonna add Beastie Boys, just in case, and Jay Dilla, probably the greatest hip hop producer so far. Find a song with one of his beats and you'll find good hip hop.

Small Time Crooked

My list will include the following:

Typical Cats
Kirby Dominant
Canto I
Cubbiebear
The Cool Kids
Intelligent Hoodlum
Da Phlayva
Tumi
White Lotus
Molemen
Ang 13
Haiku

That's all I got off the top of my head. Oh snap, don't forget Lil Wayne.*

(*Just kidding..)

redraptor

Lupe Fiasco
Black Star

Zombiemambo

Atmosphere
Jurassic 5
Blue Scholars
Common Market
Aesop Rock

Napalm Donkey

The cool kids
K-os
Eric b and Rakim
Nas

Ages

Definitely this one:

Nujabes ft. Cise Starr & Akin - Feather

The background music is made by the same guys behind Battlecry too (Nujabes).

Rderdall

Judging from the OP's description, it sounds like we share similar musical tastes. This is a list of my hip-hop albums that get frequent plays on my Zune.

Sage Francis - Personal Journals
Sage Francis - Human the Death Dance
De La Soul - Buhloon Mindstate
De La Soul - Stakes is High
The Lab Rats - Half Full Ashtrays, Half Empty Glasses
Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint That Sh*t Gold
Atmosphere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having
Dangerdoom - The Mouse and the Mask
Danger Mouse and Jemini - Ghetto Pop Life
Buck 65 - The Situation

Quick breakdown:
Sage Francis - Poet turned spoken word artist turned rapper. Lyrics don't get any better than this.
Atmosphere - Name of group, not rapper. Rapper is Slug. Raps about real life. Google 'Guarantees'.
De La Soul - Quintessential old skool. These are my fav two albums by them.
Lab Rats - Two white college guys from Ohio. Very catchy breakbeats, and are quite talented.
Buck 65 - Rapper from the east coast of Canada. Storytelling rap with a unique approach.
Dangerdoom - DJ Danger Mouse and MF Doom pair up for cartoon themed rap for Adult Swim. A must have in EVERY collection.
Danger Mouse and Jemini - The rap combination we were hoping Gnarls Barkley would have been.

Page-

If you're willing to listen to something completely different then I'd suggest Shad (K) and Why?

Shad is an AMAZING lyricist with a great sense of humour. Why? is a little more out there, and his last album and a half are edging closer and closer to indie rock, now that he's got a full time band behind him, but still very nice to listen to.

But they're completely devoid of your standard hip-hop touchstones, so if that's what you want then you're not going to find it here.

Shad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBm0VHb2NZQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TaFqPYLjZw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Jhn3X8gGEA&feature=related

Why?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr-N4AH_TIw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir-oBeMltLY&feature=related

Jubeh

Listen to shad like this man says. ^

Also shing02 is the rapper that performs on battlecry, you could just look at his stuff. I like his luv sic tracks, but overall he is kind of inconsistent. He has good songs and some seriously terrible songs.

Delzhand

So it's been a few years since I've listened to anything but free music, but there's some rad shit in this thread. Seeing as I've been out of the scene, are there any pay-by-the track services where you can get DRM free music? Long ago I bought exactly one song on iTunes and realized I couldn't play it in winamp.

Kris

Jubeh wrote: »

Listen to shad like this man says. ^

Yes, yes, double yes. I make sure to preach this guy's name in every hip hop thread I see. Shad deserves to make it big.

Holy shoot just listen to this guy go off!

Shad - I Get Down

Rderdall

Wow. Shad is pretty slick. I'll be putting that on my zone asap. Thanks guys!

RoyceSraphim

K'Naan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlBFLuW-_ek

Gammarah

Wow. I am absolutly blown away by how awesome Shad is. Just amazing.

Kris

Gammarah wrote: »

Wow. I am absolutly blown away by how awesome Shad is. Just amazing.

His new album comes out May 25th. Get hype. :P

Shad - Yaa I Get It (Teaser)

GiantRobo

The Cow wrote: »

Tech N9ne

Rderdall

One other thing I do, is listen to Basement Tapes Live radio station, at Live365.com. It's full of artists I've never heard of and has REAL hip-hop, not that trash on the radio. You have to pay a subscription, but it's well worth it, IMO.

MisterGrok

Jesse Dangerously
More or Les
Zion-I
P.O.S.

Chop Logic

MADVILLAINY.

GET MADVILLAINY BY MF DOOM AND MADLIB.

It is my favorite hip hop album BY FAR.

Tarranon

Eminem-The Marshall Mathers LP, various singles. You have to know how to approach this guy. If you take him seriously,you are setting yourself up for some serious dissonance. But the flow is almost always fantastic, lyrics are cleverly rhymed, all and all he is quality work.

Roots-Game Theory(album). Maybe there is a better starting roots album, I dunno. This is the first one I listened to, and it's pretty great. Has more of a band aspect to it; lots of emphasis on guitar, bass, drums, in addition to the beat and lyrics.

Gorillaz-Demon Days, various singles, to a lesser extent Plastic Beach(not as much hip hop on this one, but really good none the less). These guys are a pretty great electric, hip hop, synth, disco, uhhh pretty much every niche interest you can think of is represented in some gorillaz song. Not all of their stuff is hip hop oriented, but a good chunk of it is, and the rest is quality as well.

starmanbrand

I know I've already dropped by once, but I also wanted to toss a nod to Handsome Boy Modeling School. Broken up now, but they put out two excellent ablums. Both are producers who team up with tons of awesome people, from Brand Nubian to Cat Power and Jack Johnson. If you listen to both albums you'll have heard a ton of different people.

J-Live murders this track, just have to wait for it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWOxdpvi8hw

Sporked

This thread is missing some Aesop Rock. (Everything else in this thread is pretty much gold)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qz2MfXTsk0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouHbbbHUpo0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrsj653088E

Projeck

If you're going to get into Atmosphere, don't forget the free little album they put out two years ago, here

Gammarah

starmanbrand wrote: »

I know I've already dropped by once, but I also wanted to toss a nod to Handsome Boy Modeling School. Broken up now, but they put out two excellent ablums. Both are producers who team up with tons of awesome people, from Brand Nubian to Cat Power and Jack Johnson. If you listen to both albums you'll have heard a ton of different people.

J-Live murders this track, just have to wait for it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWOxdpvi8hw

Wow, that was awesome, I'll have to check them out.

I'd like to thank everybody again for all the awesome recommendations, I've loved or liked everything I've listened to from this thread so far and I'm not even halfway done with all of it. This thread has been very enlightening.

hatedinamerica

hands down, my favorite Aesop song. So sick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6BEpiEC7nU

pardzh

Wale is relatively "new" and has put out some good mixtapes. Try to find the one produced largely by 9th Wonder.

Forget the name. Also:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTOg_RGOEBg

Illmatic is easily my favorite hip hop album, classic from start to finish, albeit very short.

firewaterword

Hi. Good idea OP. Here's a link to a super cool thread stuffed up with a bunch of pretty awesome hard core hip-hop, if that's your thing. Lots of Jedi Mind Trick, Cannibal Ox, et cetera. Hope you enjoy!

Oh and get Soundbombing II. People might clown because it's pretty old by now, but I shit you not this is one of the best hip hop mixtapes in the history of awesome hip hop mixtapes.

Plus it's mixed by J-Rocc and Babu. Checkout Syndromes 1 and 2 by J-Rocc too if jazz mixes are your thing.