AudioCircle
Music and Media => The Music Circle => Topic started by: vilding on 14 Sep 2020, 09:32 pm
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Time to get a nice little hip hop thread going on AC. :D
So what are your favourite songs, albums, DJ's, rappers, producers etc? And why? what makes a certain track so amazing?
I'm gonna start with one of my all time favourite albums, NAS "Illmatic".
I first heard this album when I was maybe 13 or 14, and it blew my mind! The deep, deep, heavy beats and great storytelling, delivered with that raspy unmistakable voice with perfect flow just resonated strongly with me.
I had listened to hip hop before; some De la soul, Snoop Dogg, Public Enemy, ATCQ and others. But it was just that dark rawness of NAS that got to me. "Life's a bitch and they you die, that's why we get high cause you never know when you gonna go" And the beats from that album are sublime! Jazzy, suggestive, a bit romantic and like nothing else from that time. With Primo, Q-tip, Pete Rock and Large Professor in the drivers seat and on top of their game, that's a giventhough, right...? I mean the piano/bassline from "NY state of mind... It is also a very well engineered album. Crisp yet dreamy.
More then twenty years later I still come back to it, and it was in many ways the starting point for my dive in to the magic realm of hip hop.
One love!
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why is rap considered music? shouldn't it classified as poetry set to music?
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why is rap considered music? shouldn't it classified as poetry set to music?
Naaah.... It's a valid musical expression in it's own right. And rap is hardly contained to the musical genre of hip hop or really a musical genre in it self. It is though an elemental part of hip hop music, which I hope to celebrate and discuss in this thread.
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I think I would have to choose artists like Ice Cube, 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G, Digital Underground, Boogie Down Productions ect. You already named some of the ones I like in your list.
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For modern rappers I really like Die Antwoord and the rapline from BTS. Older artists I like are KRS-1, Big Daddy Kane, NWA, Tupac, Jay Z, 50 Cent, Eminem, Ice Cube, Biggie Smalls, Nas, DMX and Run DMC.
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Not much into hip hop but I'm impressed with Dre's Chronic on vinyl. Well mastered and a great pressing.
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=214623)
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OK. No proper hip-hop thread can be started without mention of Wu-Tang Clan. Huge fan since 1994 when I first heard them while I was in Rhode Island for summer art school. I was also introduced to Nas at that time as well, all on cassette tapes! Amazing. A large portion of Wu-Tang's massive catalog of solo stuff is equally great. I almost don't know where to start.
Other favorites include Atmosphere, Czarface (Inspectah Deck's most recent solo stuff), Run The Jewels, Outkast, Guru and Gang Starr. Man there's so many greats, but I'd say music from these guys (including all of Wu-Tang and Nas) is what I almost always have somewhere in rotation at any given time.
Wu-Tang forever!
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OK. No proper hip-hop thread can be started without mention of Wu-Tang Clan. Huge fan since 1994 when I first heard them while I was in Rhode Island for summer art school. I was also introduced to Nas at that time as well, all on cassette tapes! Amazing. A large portion of Wu-Tang's massive catalog of solo stuff is equally great. I almost don't know where to start.
Other favorites include Atmosphere, Czarface (Inspectah Deck's most recent solo stuff), Run The Jewels, Outkast, Guru and Gang Starr. Man there's so many greats, but I'd say music from these guys (including all of Wu-Tang and Nas) is what I almost always have somewhere in rotation at any given time.
Wu-Tang forever!
Indeed! Wu-tang is like a universe on it's own.... To many great tracks and albums to list. If I had to choose on stand out, probably GZA's "Liquid swords". Bet you had a nice and hazy summer. ;)
Not much into hip hop but I'm impressed with Dre's Chronic on vinyl. Well mastered and a great pressing.
"One, two, three and to the foo..." Awesome, awesome album.
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why is rap considered music? shouldn't it classified as poetry set to music?
Rap is not necessarily the same as hip-hop. Hip-hop embraces a broader culture, of which rap is a part. So 'hip-hop' music doesn't mean rapping is required.
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Wu-Tang will always have my love since they grew up watching the same kung fu (wushu) movies as me especially my favorite kung fu director Liu Chia Liang (hence my username). I know all the movie samples from their early albums.
One of the great underrated albums of hip-hop is Mos Def's 'Black on Both Sides'. I classify it as a perfect album.
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I’m pretty old school. Most of my hip hop listening was done in the mid-eighties. I still like to revisit artists like Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Sugarhill Gang, Beastie Boys, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5, Nucleus, Kurtis Blow, Boogie Down Productions. You get the picture.
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=214661)
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Glad I dont know what hip hop is, continue to listen Steely Dan, Frank Zappa or Bach.
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Wu-Tang will always have my love since they grew up watching the same kung fu (wushu) movies as me especially my favorite kung fu director Liu Chia Liang (hence my username). I know all the movie samples from their early albums.
One of the great underrated albums of hip-hop is Mos Def's 'Black on Both Sides'. I classify it as a perfect album.
Yup. I really enjoy old Kung Fu movies too! I know most of the movie samples. In college, my buddies and I would rent the movies on VHS. Five Deadly Venoms has one of the best, most iconic, character introductions of the genre...which Wu-Tang sampled extensively. A friend introduced me to that film while I was still in high school. I loved it immediately.
Agree Mos Def's debut album is about as pure hip-hop as it gets especially around the time it came out. 1999 was a significant year for hip-hop : Chronic 2001 came out, Eminem's debut, The Roots album Things Fall Apart came out, as well as some REALLY great underground stuff from Blackalicious and Handsome Boy Modeling School. Talking about them makes me want to break those albums out and listen. :thumb:
As far as hip-hop music that isn't rap, I'm a big DJ Shadow fan. Endtroducing is a truly legendary album. El-P has some amazing instrumental mix albums as well. I'll Sleep When You're Dead is fantastic as is Cancer 4 Cure. RJD2 has some great music as well.
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Rather than spew out a bunch of perjoritives about rap or hip hop, what's the difference between the two? I had no idea there was any difference and won't be listening to either to find out, but how would the fans here describe the distinction?
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Hip-hop is really a culture, which rap music is a part of. Where things get confusing is that I (and many others) don't consider all rap music hip-hop music. There's a lot of rap music that's just commercial garbage and not connected to nor progressive to the culture of hip-hop.
Whether folks consider rap/hip hop "music" or not is not what this thread is about. It is sonic and vocal art. In other words it is definitely music. There's no arguing that regardless of one's personal contempt for it.
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Having listened to Hip Hop streamed through the PA system at work I have to say I don't like it. I do have the album 'No Roots by Faithless' that I play occasionally at home. The closest thing to Rap that is ever going to play on my rig. It is classified as Trip Hop, Trance. :smoke:
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I find it funny that people that don’t like something, goes into a thread about that thing to say they don’t like it. If you don’t like something why not just stay away from it? :scratch:
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I find it funny that people that don’t like something, goes into a thread about that thing to say they don’t like it. If you don’t like something why not just stay away from it? :scratch:
I thought I should support the Thread being the Moderator. :thumb:
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Hip-hop is really a culture, which rap music is a part of. Where things get confusing is that I (and many others) don't consider all rap music hip-hop music. There's a lot of rap music that's just commercial garbage and not connected to nor progressive to the culture of hip-hop.
Whether folks consider rap/hip hop "music" or not is not what this thread is about. It is sonic and vocal art. In other words it is definitely music. There's no arguing that regardless of one's personal contempt for it.
Well said!
+1 for Mos def. Listened to "Black on both sides" just the other day. :)
I think hip hop today is superexciting and there are a lot of great artists and producers out there to check out.
I really like Lil Simz, Big K.R.I.T, Westside Gunn, and of course, J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar. There are tons more of course.
I also like the more jazzy things coming out like the different offerings from the likes of Robert Glasper.
Check out his "Black radio"-albums and August Greene, which is Glasper, Kariem Riggins on drums, and Common on the mic. Dark stuff, but sooo sooo sweet.
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I know, right? Hip hop / rap is the only music genre I know of where I've seen numbers of people so adamantly against it that they feel the need to voice their disapproval. Folks don't understand it or it is unrelatable to them, so they don't like it...like many things in this world. What's absurd to me is that I wouldn't go into a pop country music thread and bash it just because I don't like it.
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I've tried to listen to hip hip over the years. The dark lyrics and feel of the music always turned me off. Very early hip hop music that was in mainstream pop chart was fine and enjoyable but the real hard core stuff that has taken over now is hard to take.
One hip hop song that I love is Bouncin Back by Mystikal. But it's written by Pharrell Williams and has a lot of pop influence in it, so I don't even know if it's really hip hop or not... :lol:
I think the negativity is the point and purpose of modern hip hop, and I don't need or want any more negativity in my life. I can see how some people can't get enough negativity, and I can see how others think that hip hop is not negative, but the most beautiful music ever made.
I keep trying to find something in it, I listen to Billboard hip hop chart every once in a while. It is very eye opening to say the least. I don't want to become that desensitized to be able to tolerate listening to that all the time.
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There is a lot of rap music that is negative. It can be very graphic in many ways and violent. The best artists typically have a message or a story. It's not just negativity for the sake of it...though that type of rap music exists too. Some people are entertained by that in very much the same way people are entertained by graphic action and horror movies. What's funny to me is that people will praise a crazy action movie. But when an artist comes out with a lyrically controversial song in rap form, people have problems with it.
That said, negativity is definitely not the point and purpose of hip hop. Not at all. Again, keep in mind hip hop is a culture. Read this when you get a chance. I think it'll help contextualize what I'm saying. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop
I like that you're at least open to trying to listen to rap and hip hop, however, rarely is the Billboard hip hop chart a great gauge for quality. Sure, there might be a gem here or there that is both progressive to hip hop culture and palatable to a mainstream audience, but most of it is absolute garbage. It's pop music made purely for selling records. If someone asked me what the top rap song on the charts was last year (let alone last week), I would have no idea. You know why? It was probably irrelevant to begin with ; A flash in the pan. There are a lot of rappers who are in it just to make a hit or two then they're done. This is not part of hip hop culture and I'm not a fan of it, but I can understand why people do it. It's industry culture. I can see how people are entertained by it and I can see how it generates money, but this is not real substance. That's the main differentiator (to me personally) between rap and hip hop. Hip hop music has substance that rap music doesn't necessarily have.
Even if you were shown the way to good hip hop music, I wouldn't expect you to like it. Different types of music click with different types of people. I liked The Fat Boys from the very first time I heard them in the early 80's as just a kid. It clicked immediately. For some of my friends, rock music and metal clicked with them. It's interesting how that happens.
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Very interesting. Thanks RDavidson! I agree with your points.
Music industry treats every genre the same. Do whatever it takes with no scruples to make the money. It cheapens all music to the point where there isn't much new music that's worth listening to, and that affects hifi industry too.
I see some recommendations in this thread, but what are some great and historically significant hip hop albums for a beginner to listen? Like jazz and classical noobs ask "where to start."
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Oh man...that's a tough question, but I kinda saw it coming and was actually thinking about it before your post. To me, the best place to start is probably in the rap / hip-hop "golden age" i.e. the 90's and early 2000's. Listen to some Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul and perhaps The Pharcyde for starters, especially as you're looking for positivity, if not fun. Heck, throw some Beastie Boys in there! :D The Mos Def album mentioned a couple of times is an absolutely solid recommendation. Listen to the Fugees, if you never have. A couple of obscure "underground" recommendations that I'd throw in that shortlist are Blackalicious and Jurassic 5.
Hip hop is very nuanced, as most longstanding music genres are. One can pick albums based entirely on mood. What's interesting too is that hip hop music is very regional. Different regions or even cities have their own sound. Lyrical content can even be very local...to the point of being specific to neighborhoods and streets.
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I see some recommendations in this thread, but what are some great and historically significant hip hop albums for a beginner to listen? Like jazz and classical noobs ask "where to start."
I'd say: Eric B & Rakim - "Paid in full", Gang Starr - "Hard to earn", ATCQ - "Midnight marauders" (but really all their albums...), De La Soul, "Buhloone Mindstate", OutKast - "ATLiens", Common - "Like Water for Chocolate", Kendrick Lamar - "To pimp a butterfly".
Highly subjective list and all gangster rap excluded. :) I could go on but I'm gonna stop myself there... :lol:
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From a Google search:
"The standard answer is that hip-hop is a culture with four elements* – deejaying, MCing, graffiti, and dance – and rap is a form of popular music that grew out of Hip-Hop culture. In this view, hip-hop is deep and cultural. Rap is superficial and commercial".
Additional reading suggests there's a debate within hip hop about going too pop or too commercial. Different opinions converge on rap basically dying out as a genre by itself and being only a component of hip hop. Not my opinions as I know nothing about the subject, just trying to understand.
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I find Slick Rick a fun listen, including his vocals on Morcheeba's Women Lose Weight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_jGgZ35W5s
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Well said!
+1 for Mos def. Listened to "Black on both sides" just the other day. :)
I think hip hop today is superexciting and there are a lot of great artists and producers out there to check out.
I really like Lil Simz, Big K.R.I.T, Westside Gunn, and of course, J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar. There are tons more of course.
I also like the more jazzy things coming out like the different offerings from the likes of Robert Glasper.
Check out his "Black radio"-albums and August Greene, which is Glasper, Kariem Riggins on drums, and Common on the mic. Dark stuff, but sooo sooo sweet.
Yeah, there's some truly great hip hop these days, but most of the time you have to seek it out. Most wouldn't know where to start. So much of today's rap is just snare hits with a lot of autotuned vocals. And the rappers are just that. They're rappers, not lyricists whatsoever. In the mainstream right now, the only lyricists that come to mind are Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and probably Drake. As far as underground stuff, there's are many more active and truly good artists.
With all that said, no hip hop group I know of has been more consistently good for such a long period as Atmosphere....who has another album coming soon. They're one of my all time favorites. It may also help that they're from the midwest (Minneapolis) so I can relate to the songs a bit better than other hip hop. Their most "commercial" album is "You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having" which is also a good intro for someone who has never listened to them.
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I'd say: Eric B & Rakim - "Paid in full", Gang Starr - "Hard to earn", ATCQ - "Midnight marauders" (but really all their albums...), De La Soul, "Buhloone Mindstate", OutKast - "ATLiens", Common - "Like Water for Chocolate", Kendrick Lamar - "To pimp a butterfly".
Highly subjective list and all gangster rap excluded. :) I could go on but I'm gonna stop myself there... :lol:
Yes. Highly subjective. I like De La Soul's "Stakes is High" most. Really all their albums are good, very similar to A Tribe Called Quest in that way. I think The Roots needs to be added to your shortlist. :D
"Things Fall Apart" and "Illadelph Halflife" come to mind first. Since you brought up Common I'd also add Common Sense "Resurrection."
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I use to listen rap in the 80s and 90s.
Some of the hip hop from the early 2000s was good.
Like other genres, the newer stuff just doesn't sound as musical to me and can't really get into it at all. Def the oldschool stuff like NWA, PE, Run DMC, LL Cool Jay, etc. was great and is still fun once in a while.
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This morning on a lark I asked Alexa "what is the best rap music?" expecting it to say the usual "I don't know that one."
But instead, it said "Playing rap music on AmazonMusic"
I'm thinking, OK buckle up.
But it played something that I really liked the groove and the sound of it, and I found it easy to ignore the lyrics.
I asked "Alexa what album is this?"
"Hypnotize, by Notorious B. I. G. from the album Life After Death."
Huh. I've heard of him, maybe it's because all his music is good like this, so maybe I will like him. "Alexa play this album"
I don't know what song it played but within 5 seconds even over the noise of scrubbing dishes I couldn't ignore the lyrics about killing people or whatever it was.
"Alexa Stop!" haha
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I’d recommend the Netflix show The Evolution of Hip Hop.
For those of us old enough, it’s an amazing journey through history and how and where great artists came from.
Along the way I’d bet you uncover a sub genre worth digging into.
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This morning on a lark I asked Alexa "what is the best rap music?" expecting it to say the usual "I don't know that one."
But instead, it said "Playing rap music on AmazonMusic"
I'm thinking, OK buckle up.
But it played something that I really liked the groove and the sound of it, and I found it easy to ignore the lyrics.
I asked "Alexa what album is this?"
"Hypnotize, by Notorious B. I. G. from the album Life After Death."
Huh. I've heard of him, maybe it's because all his music is good like this, so maybe I will like him. "Alexa play this album"
I don't know what song it played but within 5 seconds even over the noise of scrubbing dishes I couldn't ignore the lyrics about killing people or whatever it was.
"Alexa Stop!" haha
Notorious B.I.G. was a rap legend and lyrical genius. RIP. He and Puff Daddy produced many hits. Some, like "Hypnotize," were massive commercial successes. However, as you found, much of his catalog can be characterized as gangsta rap, which definitely isn't for everyone. That's the NY street life he came from and rapped about. But it was his intelligence and talent that got him off the streets and into music. His greatest hit is the song "Juicy." I LOVE this track. It is a hip hop masterpiece.
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Yes. Highly subjective. I like De La Soul's "Stakes is High" most. Really all their albums are good, very similar to A Tribe Called Quest in that way. I think The Roots needs to be added to your shortlist. :D
"Things Fall Apart" and "Illadelph Halflife" come to mind first. Since you brought up Common I'd also add Common Sense "Resurrection."
Yeah The Roots should been there... Without a doubt! ;) My bad!
With all that said, no hip hop group I know of has been more consistently good for such a long period as Atmosphere....who has another album coming soon. They're one of my all time favorites. It may also help that they're from the midwest (Minneapolis) so I can relate to the songs a bit better than other hip hop. Their most "commercial" album is "You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having" which is also a good intro for someone who has never listened to them.
I think it might be time to really check them. Remember listening a lot to an Atmosphere album early 00's, but then I kinda lost them. Can't for my life remember the name of the album now...
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I think it might be time to really check them. Remember listening a lot to an Atmosphere album early 00's, but then I kinda lost them. Can't for my life remember the name of the album now...
It was likely "Lucy Ford" or "God Loves Ugly." Both are great albums. I think "God Loves Ugly" is a fan favorite and perhaps their best. It's certainly an underground classic. However, "You Can't Imagine..." came out in 2004 and as I mentioned it got some commercial attention, so it's possible you heard that album then. They've released so much music including compilations like the "Felt" albums with Murs. In fact, they have yet another album "Felt 4 U" coming out soon. On pre-order. :thumb:
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Was Bob Dylan the first rapper with Subterranean Homesick Blues on Positively 4th Street? :)
https://www.amazon.com/Positively-4th-Street-Single-Version/dp/B00137O45Q/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1055975V2PO92&dchild=1&keywords=positively+4th+street+bob+dylan&qid=1600479718&sprefix=positively+4%2Caps%2C223&sr=8-5
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In the 1970s popular singers as Michael Jackson was cited as too comercial music and poor music but it sold a lot, in the 80s and 90s the fever spread tô 100% bussines music, I really wonder what "músic" we will be listening in 10 years.
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It was likely "Lucy Ford" or "God Loves Ugly." Both are great albums. I think "God Loves Ugly" is a fan favorite and perhaps their best. It's certainly an underground classic. However, "You Can't Imagine..." came out in 2004 and as I mentioned it got some commercial attention, so it's possible you heard that album then. They've released so much music including compilations like the "Felt" albums with Murs. In fact, they have yet another album "Felt 4 U" coming out soon. On pre-order. :thumb:
Lucy Ford's the one! Have to revisit and explore further.
I’d recommend the Netflix show The Evolution of Hip Hop.
For those of us old enough, it’s an amazing journey through history and how and where great artists came from.
Along the way I’d bet you uncover a sub genre worth digging into.
Cool! That's definitely going on the list! I loved The Get Down. Cheezy and Netflixy but really endeering and kinda exciting. :)
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Thought I'd drop this little contemporary gem in here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB-S8wL-AKY
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The Tiny Desk Concert series is great! Thanks for sharing this. I don't know how, but I kinda forgot about it. :oops:
Folks, even if you're not into hip hop, check out the series. It spans a few different genres including indie rock and country. Good stuff.
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Thought I'd drop this little contemporary gem in here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB-S8wL-AKY
Love that fusion of jazz and hip hop.
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The Tiny Desk Concert series is great! Thanks for sharing this. I don't know how, but I kinda forgot about it. :oops:
Folks, even if you're not into hip hop, check out the series. It spans a few different genres including indie rock and country. Good stuff.
Such an insane amount of great shows! As you say, in all genres too. Many, many great hip hop acts for sure, and a nice mix of old heroes and new favourites. I mean... Wu-Tang, The Roots, Rakim, GZA, Primo, Masta Ace and many more on the side of heroes... :o
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Gonna have to check this out. Brand new Public Enemy album. :o
https://www.billboard.com/amp/articles/news/9455124/public-enemy-chuck-d-def-jam-george-clinton-new-album-listen
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Gonna have to check this out. Brand new Public Enemy album. :o
https://www.billboard.com/amp/articles/news/9455124/public-enemy-chuck-d-def-jam-george-clinton-new-album-listen
Damn! :thumb:
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I really like Mac Miller’s last two albums. Jazzy, melodic , awesome!!
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Interesting to see hip hop spreading to other cultures:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGjAWJ2zWWI
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Sorry for not posting this sooner. It is the Beastie Boys' last show back in 2009 and it is only available to watch this weekend. It's hard to believe MCA died just 3 years later. F*** cancer. RIP
https://youtu.be/0oNDwGtL3cQ
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Was Bob Dylan the first rapper with Subterranean Homesick Blues on Positively 4th Street? :)
https://www.amazon.com/Positively-4th-Street-Single-Version/dp/B00137O45Q/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1055975V2PO92&dchild=1&keywords=positively+4th+street+bob+dylan&qid=1600479718&sprefix=positively+4%2Caps%2C223&sr=8-5
Bob adopted the Talking Blues style of Woody Guthry and Phil Ochs for many of his protest songs. While not Rap per se he was definitely rapping. Another rap type song would be New Speedway Boggie by the Grateful Dead. The opening line is, "Please don't dominate the rap Jack, if you got nothin new to say".
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I really like Mac Miller’s last two albums. Jazzy, melodic , awesome!!
Me too, those are both in heavy rotation in the wife's and I's vehicles. Tiny desk was mentioned earlier in this thread. Mac has a great one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrR_gm6RqCo