Hip Hop me up.

[WOM]

I'll just expose my ignorance and get it over with.

I know sweet f*** all about Hip Hop. I've cultivated a dislike for it over the years based on my perception of it as the following: it's all about swinging your dick/your gun/your bling. It's about bitches and hos. It's violent and misogynist. The artists are generally enormously egotistical jerks.

Here's what I've liked so far: The Streets 'A Grand Don't Come for Free' and MIA's Kala.

What's been out in the last two or three years that's going to hit all the right notes with me?

Cheers.

[Incandenza]

Hip Hop me up.

Do you like instrumental hip-hop at all? I don't think you can go wrong with any of these:

J Dilla - Donuts
any Madlib mix
and, don't know if you've ever heard it, but DJ Shadow's Endtroducing... is a classic.

You might also like Madvillain's Madvillainy--comic book superhero hip-hop.

For some real smooth flow without gangsterism, I really like Kev Brown's I Do What I Do, which hardly anyone knows about.

Not all within the last 2-3 years, however.

[WOM]

Hip Hop me up.

My level of knowledge is such that I didn't know there was instrumental and non-instrumental hip-hop. But thanks for the suggestions.

My 2-3 year caveat was to keep people from suggesting things like "It takes a nation of millions...". I know that stuff. I'm looking for something new and interesting, without the usual hip-hop cliches.

[Incandenza]

Hip Hop me up.

Well then...

...have you ever listened to Jurassic-5? More like old-school group hip-hop, really relaxed and fun. Same goes for Ugly Duckling.

And one of my favorite hip-hop albums is Aceyalone's The Book of Human Knowledge. It's kind of long and there are some tracks I skip over, but Aceyalone's delivery is amazing, I think.

I can care/share some tracks later for you if you'd like.

[delicatemoth]

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You might like Busdriver. Very wordy and clever. I love him - http://www.myspace.com/busdriver

Dangermouse is best known for being half of Gnarls Barkley, but his own work is great. Particular highlights include his album with MF Doom, the DM & Jemini album and his cut-up of The Beatles and Jay Z, The Grey Album.

A lot of stuff on Stones Throw records is worth investigating. Incandenza mentioned some but I'd also recommend the Lord Quasimoto album - http://www.last.fm/music/Quasimoto/The+Further+Adventures+of+Lord+Quas

I love Edan - seriously psychedelic. http://www.humblemagnificent.com/discography/discography.html

The ex-Company Flow guys - EL-P, Mr Len and, erm, the other one - make extremely dense, complex rap with doomy sci-fi storylines.

I think those are most of my recent favourites that don't involve the lyrical tropes you mention, or at least not much. Bear in mind that a lot of bragging hip hop is ludicrously cartoony and OTT, those guys aren't always serious - Kool Keith is a good example of someone who might seem obnoxious but is actually hilarious and ace.

Have fun.

[Lucia Lanigan]

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Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein. You'll love it.

[Carcass]

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Jay-Z's 'Kingdom Come' album was pretty good but not one of his best.
Wu Tang's '8 Diagrams' "come-back album last year was mint.
The Clipse album was pretty good.

'Aftershow Babies' by Cadence Weapon doesn't deal in the usual bling/guns/drugs stuff. Neither does 'Alopecia' by Why?

If you want something Anglicized and roughneck try The Bug's magnificent 'London Zoo' platter: a hyper mix of street beats, ragga, dub step and Jamaican inflected toasting/rapping/singing: "Nurse! Nurse! Call for de hearse!"

I like a bit of electro cross over like Yo Majesty and the like but shamefully, hip hop just doesn't excite me any more. I must be getting old.

I've heard people really singing the praises of Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne but I nothing of either.

I've just looked at Delicatemoth and if we're going back further than two years I'd heartily HEARTILY/PARTILY recommend Edan, Company Flow, Madvillian, MFDoom, King Geedorah . . .

[Incandenza]

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Edit: Never mind

[WOM]

Hip Hop me up.

Excellent. Thanks all. I've got a fair amount of work to do. I'll let you now how I do.

I read that The Streets' follow-up album was a bit shit. True/false?

[delicatemoth]

Hip Hop me up.

You should meet my housemate Inca, he's absolutely obsessed with Stones Throw. To be honest I lose track of all the different permutations of personnel, but I'll listen to anything that's got Madlib on, I think he's terrific.

The defunct record shop I mentioned upthread briefly had a hip-hop only shop in Camden, staffed by two really knowledgeable and enthusiastic guys - now it's shut I don't know where to hear the more obscure new music.

Can't help you with the Streets WOM, I quite liked the first one but that's as far as it went for me.

[Incandenza]

Hip Hop me up.

Edited my earlier post--I confused Stones Throw with Up Above, which is the Long Beach label I was thinking of (Kev Brown is on Up Above, Stones Throw is the more instrumental stuff).

Have you listened to any Yesterdays New Quintet, delicatemoth? You might like that, WOM, if you don't mind jazz--it's Madlib's side project, a mixture of jazz and hip hop.

[delicatemoth]

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I don't think so - I'll check that out, and Kev Brown. Cheers.

[WOM]

Hip Hop me up.

That Yesterday's New Quintet sounds quite nice. (I'm jumping between here and sampling on iTunes).
I think Wu Tang might be a bit heavy for my tastes.
Like The Bug.
Like Cadence Weapon.
Going back for another Cannibal Ox listen.
Listened to Edan but can't remember if I liked it. Specific album reco on this one?

[delicatemoth]

Hip Hop me up.

Beauty And The Beat - sampledelic.

[Incandenza]

Hip Hop me up.

J Dilla - "Anti-American Graffiti"

Aceyalone - "The Guidelines"

Kev Brown - Work in Progress

And you say you know the classics, WOM, but have you ever listened to Gang Starr's Daily Operation? It's not as well known as some others, but one of the best rap albums ever.

[Toby Gymshorts]

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Incandenza wrote:

DJ Shadow's Endtroducing... is a classic.

What this man said. It's a cracker.

[Er Liquidatore]

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I know it's old but if you haven't heard it then try Mos Def - Black on Both Sides. But to be honest, if you don't like bragging and talking about how great you are then you don't like hip-hop.

[WOM]

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Okay, the kids upstairs have hooked me up with Donuts and Madvillainy. Looking around for some of the others now.

[Guest]

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Aces thread, I just got me some Cool Kids, some Aesop Rock and some Blue Sky Black Death for my next things to listen to.

[steveeeeeeeee]

Hip Hop me up.

If you like watching "The Wire", then I could suggest Mobb Deep's albums "The Infamous" and "Hell on Earth". Every song on those records is like an episode of The Wire.

[Taylor]

Hip Hop me up.

I'll second, or third, (the admittedly poorly-titled) "Beauty And The Beat" by Edan. It's really something.

Very, very white-boy, in many ways (most of the samples are from 60s/70s psych-rock, and Edan himself is a slightly nerdy middle-class Jewish guy from Boston), but a.) that's not really a problem here, is it? and b.) it's not really a problem anyway, because it's a fucking brilliant, utterly insane record. Makes Beck sound like a total wanker, that's for sure.

[diggedy derek]

Hip Hop me up.

Edan is indeed really something. He's certainly one of the greatest acts I've seen live in any genre. Check out this short clip: what he's doing is pretty hard: "cutting and rhyming, rhyming and cutting, make it sound easy like I'm pushing on buttons....".

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hRWIPzS_QBw

Have I mentioned the line "T La Rock's futurism must have been acceptable/'cause Tragedy from Queens was young but very technical"? I have now.

Regarding Mobb Deep, I was similarly struck to Steveeeeeeeeeeee how similar GZA's Liquid Swordz is to The Wire once you listen closely. Things like "I'm in the park, settin up a deal over blunt fire/
Bum niggaz sleepin on the bench, they had em wired".

Some great rap albums of the last eight years or so:

Guilty Simpson- Ode To The Ghetto
Madvillan - Madvillany
Quasimoto - The Unseen
Clipse – any album

[evilC]

Hip Hop me up.

I've lost touch with this scene somewhat, so I'm glad to pick up recommendations too.

Back in the mid-90s I was totally into the Wordsound label and all that dub-hop/illbient stuff. So, upon being spurred into action by this thread, I thought I'd check out what the last release by Sensational (aka Torture) was. I didn't expect it to be a fucking collaboration with Kouhei (aka Mou)! I'm downloading that as I type this. I have to say the idea of Sensational vs Kouhei remixed by Autechre just about blows my mind!

Anyone got any opinions on that album? I probably need to have my expectations lowered!

[Jon]

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...have you ever listened to Jurassic-5? More like old-school group hip-hop, really relaxed and fun.

Yeah, I'd second that - been listening to Power in Numbers for the last few days. Chali 2na has a) the best name in hip hop b) the best voice and c) the best flow. Without him J5 would be nothing. (Or just J4, maybe).

On a similar tip, DJ Format is a British based hip hop artist but he usually gets Americans like Abdomainal and the aforementioned 2na to rap for him and he just produces. 2 or 3 really excellent albums.

Like Carcass said, Lil Wayne brings you bang up to date and is highly rated but I have only heard the singles.

[danielmak]

Hip Hop me up.

If you want to avoid the gangsta/dick swinging stuff and at the same time want to avoid the mainstream crap, then you need to check out the underground stuff. If you want to work chronologically, then I would start with Gang Starr. Before that rap is just rap--there can't really be an underground because there isn't really a mainstream (although some records sell really well--LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Public Enemy). So start with the following:

Gang Star (esp. Step in the Arena)
A Tribe Called Quest
Hieroglyphics crew (esp. Del the funkee homosapien/deltron)
Black Star

Someone already mentioned a lot the Def Jux stuff (El-P, Aesop Rock, etc.) but I would especially recommend Mr. Lif's album, I-Phantom.

Finally, since I am in Chicago, I would be remiss if I did not mention some of the great stuff happening here: check out myspace sites for Gravel Records, EV Productions, and Molemen.