Every week there's a new thread about the top 5 rappers ever or why Rakim is garbage to anyone who comes from the inner city where there are the same circular debates not leading to anything. Somebody will give their opinion and someone else will say "You're an idiot for not having KRS on that list." That person will post their list and somebody'll be mad because Eminem is on it. Then they'll have their list, and somebody'll attack that because Jay-Z was ahead of Nas, and so on forever, until the next weeks thread.
I think I have a twist on it that's a little more productive.
The purpose of this thread is to post your favorite rappers and the songs that either make them your favorite or that best demonstrate their talent, in your eyes. Not necessarily their hits, but a great sampling of the artist. (In fact, it'd be good to avoid the hits, because most people have heard them.)
I'm going to use Zshare, to allow people to listen to shit without forcing them to download it. I think it's a good precedent for this.
For clarity: I'm not arguing as to who is the best. I'm younger-- in my early twenties-- so I don't know shit about Run-DMC, who were doing it before I was born. I know Rakim, I know KRS, but I don't know Kool G Rap except for a few songs. So, while I think KRS and Rakim are top 5, they aren't the rappers for me to post. I've been listening to rap my whole life, but I've been an active fan since about 2000.
Don't go crazy and post an entire album. The whole point is to narrow it down, hopefully allowing people who aren't familiar with an artist (or certain aspects of his work) to try it rather than just shoot it down. Also, how likely are two people picking Andre 3000 to pick the exact same songs? It'll give a nice sampling and maybe allow us to see different features of an artist.
With no further adu, allow me to kick this off:
NAS-- Maybe the best, I put it between he and KRS personally.
One Love-- Probably my favorite track off of Illmatic... I can upload this one tomorrow, but I don't have it right now.
Second Childhood -- I believe someone mentioned this in the top five thread. This might be the best track off of Stillmatic; it's probably the deepest. Love the second verse especially... musical chairs, exactly, "on the corners at night, with young dudes this dummy wanna be like..." Just paints a great picture, all the way around. "Shorty they call her the brain surgeon, time flyin, she the same person," top notch lyrically as well.
Book of Rhymes -- Not the best track off of God's Son, but a personal favorite of mine. Overall, a very underrated album. As a writer, I just love the way this song as a whole describes the process-- the contradictions, "I remember this bullshit right here," "nah that's weak"-- and the snippets express some really deep thoughts.
Doo Rags-- The first song off of The Lost Tapes, this beat is so mellow and Nas just flows perfectly over it. I can listen to it over and over and over. The reflective rhymes are top notch, again. "They used potatoes to make liqour, just to prove we some creative niggas." I don't believe the God stuff at the end, but it's still just such a beautiful song that even that doesn't detract from it for me. "I done it, got God Son on my stomach, my heart and lungs were affected from hennies and gettin blunted, do your body right and it loves you back, you only get one life and yo because of that..."
What Goes Around (Poison) -- I think Stillmatic is better than Illmatic and my best defense as to why is this song. Nas was just at another level here; the growth as a person and a thinker is obvious. You could get so many threads started debating these lyrics, but I think most here will definitely feel his views. The legendary Ike with the Itis is one example of the vivid imagery here.
Black Zombies --This song is one of the best critiques of black culture I have ever heard. This is why I put Nas above almost any artist-- fuck the Lil Waynes, I'm talking real artists-- who but KRS creates music this deep with this level of skill? This speaks to something way more important than "Hip Hop is dead," though its related. "Do you believe when they say we ain't shit, we can't grow, alll we are is dope dealers... walkin talkin dead, though we think we're livin, we just copy cat, followin the system." Glad somebody said it... "You scared to be yourself, 'cause you in a trance..."
Eminem-- the most hated on out of all those who say they get hated on...
Say What You Say -- I think Dre & Em have a great chemistry; all of their songs together sound great but I particularly like the back-and-forth style of this one. Just them flexing some muscle at the time of The Eminem Show-- "It gets worse, it gets much better than this, amateurs drink veteran piss..."
As The World Turns-- I think this is the best of all Eminem's humorous songs-- this is top notch lyrically and made me laugh, "Then I remembered this magic trick..." I don't actually have that album though, so I'll have to upload it tomorrow. Until then, a good one if you like South Park is The Kids, which replaced "Kim" on the edited Marshall Mathers LP.
It's Okay -- This is off of Infinite, the very first Eminem CD and my favorite from it. I hated that CD at first because of his voice, but I still love this track. It's got great lyrics throughout and I think it's a really easy track to feel if you've had similar hard times and asperations.
Rabbit Run -- Straight spitting, off the charts, off the 8 Mile Soundtrack, all three of his songs on this were great. "By the looks of 'em, you would swear that Jaws was comin'..." "If I gotta scream till I have half a lung," this shit is passionate, it was my anthem for at least a year. "You wait, it ain't too late to finally see/What you closed-minded fucks were too blind to see... The clock strikes midnight. one, two, then half past three..." Like Book of Rhymes, this also takes you into the writer's mind.
Ricky Ticky Toc -- A track off his most recent album, basically about rhyming and his place in the business, with some slick lines about Maxell cassettes and a very nice flow overall.
Proof-- Not to claim that he was the best or anything, but I was a fan of the group and he was my favorite out of it... I loved his lyrical style and I think he has a lot of work worth listening to.
City of Boom -- This is off the Promatic album, a rap duo Proof had going with a Detroit rapper named Dogmatic, who raps first. Proof is the second rapper and I can't imagine anybody listening to his verses and not saying that shit is ferocious. "Blast through your flesh/imagine your chest... It's wet like vaginal sex" and he continues the pattern for the entire verse. Dogmatic does well, but Proof owned this track, the second verse is also very nice.
Ali -- Again, Proof is the second rapper on this track. I don't think the first rapper's appearance is all that great, but Proof comes on and his full verse, starting at about two minutes in, is complete fire. My favorite verse on his only official solo album.
Neil Armstrong -- Love the lyrics here from begining to end. "You see them killers in your face, they were sent by me, no sympathy, tell your kids to they face it was meant to be... Big Proof, spit truth, never a lie, no individual gets loose beter than I," it's cold, but I love the wordplay and delivery.
Oil Can Harry -- Even better than the last song... "God can't save you, Bibles is nothin, this rifle I'm clutchin to leave you stiffled on crutches"
Forgive Me -- This was my favorite track off of his solo album, with the possible exception of Kurt Kobain. I had this track memorized at the time of his death and that really turned the meaning of that second verse around... Still, a great track... true depth and emotion, this song is just incredibly powerful.
BONUS TRACK: These Streets ft. Chino XL -- Newly released
Canibus-- Probably the best straight lyricist ever.
Buckingham Palace -- "Straight shittin, from New York to Great Britain," this is probably the best track of off his debut, Can-I-Bus. He sounds great over this soft beat, "so recognize or be hospitalized, 'cause lyrically on a scale of one to 10 I'm 25," probably the best line to sum up this MC.
How We Roll - Also off of his first album, listening to these two tracks should show you that the album doesn't deserve to be talked about as badly as it is. "I'm barbaric with the alpha-numeric, hittin you with rhymes to separate the body from the spirit." "You must be askin for, some sort of a massacre, I'll attack your cardiovascular!" Too quick for the human retina to register!
Spartibus -- This is the most battle-oriented track off of Rip The Jacker, this is where you really start to see the scientific side of Bis win over. " have another example for later, but I'm a student and it's kind of cool to hear songs that go into some of the processes you've read about. "If the protons don't attack the retina, all we'd ever see is black..." Plus, lyrically potent from the start, "Atomic thrusts turn you into cosmic dust."
Lost @ C -- This is one of Canibus's best displays of lyrical dominance. "Ninety percent of the shit that rappers give is subject matter-less/Not original, but blasphemous... Usin' the same formulas to have a hit, usin' the same actors and actresses, same shit different laxative." And, my favorite line from the album: "faster than 12 cylinder engines with nitrogen in 'em, faster than F-1 with light pistons/Fast enough to give your brain an aneurysm, 'cuz you niggas is slower than fat bitches metabloism" Damn!
Poet Laureate II-- There are three songs in the Poet Laureate series and this is my favorite of the two I've heard. I'm still waiting to get his most recent album-- I have it on reserve and it should be coming any day-- and that'll be the first album I buy this year just to get the new Poet Laureate Infinity song, which is designed so that every time you play it, it's mixed differently. But this one is great... I love the depictions of LL Cool J-- "Trying to escape the wicked emperor of Def Jam, in the land where lyrics are bland and heretics hang..."-- and the first one "liked Cool J at first, but Steven Jay Gould was cooler" was the first I'd ever heard of Steven Jay Gould and, now, I would have to agree that he was much cooler.
The Coup= Boots Riley + Pam the Funkstress out of The Bay area
Skit setting up first song + the song-- Ass Breath Killers:
I included a skit here because you need it to set up the song, which was the most creative track on one of last year's best albums. This one should especially be a hit here, I'll let it speak for itself.
Ghetto Manifesto This song is terrific from the first couplet to the last. "I write my lyrics on parking tickets and summons to the court; I scribbled this on an application for talent support." The trees we got lifted from made our feet dangle, so when I say burn one, I mean the star-spangled! That's The Coup.
Heven Tonight -- Absolutely beautiful song. Compare the message here to Doo Rags from Nas above; I think Boots Riley is the smartest of all the conscious MCs I've heard, his views definitely come closest to mine. "I ain't sittin' in your pews, 'less you helpin' me resist and refuse, show me a list of your VIEWS..." If anybody wants elaboration, I'll provide it later, but there is unbelievable depth to "check out the introvert in the corner with the rip in her skirt, stomach pains so she grippin her shirt, ain't never had dinner so she know she ain't gettin dessert, don't try to tell me it's her mission to hurt!"
Might add some more later, but that's it for now...
And on that note, we say peace.
I think I have a twist on it that's a little more productive.
The purpose of this thread is to post your favorite rappers and the songs that either make them your favorite or that best demonstrate their talent, in your eyes. Not necessarily their hits, but a great sampling of the artist. (In fact, it'd be good to avoid the hits, because most people have heard them.)
I'm going to use Zshare, to allow people to listen to shit without forcing them to download it. I think it's a good precedent for this.
For clarity: I'm not arguing as to who is the best. I'm younger-- in my early twenties-- so I don't know shit about Run-DMC, who were doing it before I was born. I know Rakim, I know KRS, but I don't know Kool G Rap except for a few songs. So, while I think KRS and Rakim are top 5, they aren't the rappers for me to post. I've been listening to rap my whole life, but I've been an active fan since about 2000.
Don't go crazy and post an entire album. The whole point is to narrow it down, hopefully allowing people who aren't familiar with an artist (or certain aspects of his work) to try it rather than just shoot it down. Also, how likely are two people picking Andre 3000 to pick the exact same songs? It'll give a nice sampling and maybe allow us to see different features of an artist.
With no further adu, allow me to kick this off:
NAS-- Maybe the best, I put it between he and KRS personally.
One Love-- Probably my favorite track off of Illmatic... I can upload this one tomorrow, but I don't have it right now.
Second Childhood -- I believe someone mentioned this in the top five thread. This might be the best track off of Stillmatic; it's probably the deepest. Love the second verse especially... musical chairs, exactly, "on the corners at night, with young dudes this dummy wanna be like..." Just paints a great picture, all the way around. "Shorty they call her the brain surgeon, time flyin, she the same person," top notch lyrically as well.
Book of Rhymes -- Not the best track off of God's Son, but a personal favorite of mine. Overall, a very underrated album. As a writer, I just love the way this song as a whole describes the process-- the contradictions, "I remember this bullshit right here," "nah that's weak"-- and the snippets express some really deep thoughts.
Doo Rags-- The first song off of The Lost Tapes, this beat is so mellow and Nas just flows perfectly over it. I can listen to it over and over and over. The reflective rhymes are top notch, again. "They used potatoes to make liqour, just to prove we some creative niggas." I don't believe the God stuff at the end, but it's still just such a beautiful song that even that doesn't detract from it for me. "I done it, got God Son on my stomach, my heart and lungs were affected from hennies and gettin blunted, do your body right and it loves you back, you only get one life and yo because of that..."
What Goes Around (Poison) -- I think Stillmatic is better than Illmatic and my best defense as to why is this song. Nas was just at another level here; the growth as a person and a thinker is obvious. You could get so many threads started debating these lyrics, but I think most here will definitely feel his views. The legendary Ike with the Itis is one example of the vivid imagery here.
Black Zombies --This song is one of the best critiques of black culture I have ever heard. This is why I put Nas above almost any artist-- fuck the Lil Waynes, I'm talking real artists-- who but KRS creates music this deep with this level of skill? This speaks to something way more important than "Hip Hop is dead," though its related. "Do you believe when they say we ain't shit, we can't grow, alll we are is dope dealers... walkin talkin dead, though we think we're livin, we just copy cat, followin the system." Glad somebody said it... "You scared to be yourself, 'cause you in a trance..."
Eminem-- the most hated on out of all those who say they get hated on...
Say What You Say -- I think Dre & Em have a great chemistry; all of their songs together sound great but I particularly like the back-and-forth style of this one. Just them flexing some muscle at the time of The Eminem Show-- "It gets worse, it gets much better than this, amateurs drink veteran piss..."
As The World Turns-- I think this is the best of all Eminem's humorous songs-- this is top notch lyrically and made me laugh, "Then I remembered this magic trick..." I don't actually have that album though, so I'll have to upload it tomorrow. Until then, a good one if you like South Park is The Kids, which replaced "Kim" on the edited Marshall Mathers LP.
It's Okay -- This is off of Infinite, the very first Eminem CD and my favorite from it. I hated that CD at first because of his voice, but I still love this track. It's got great lyrics throughout and I think it's a really easy track to feel if you've had similar hard times and asperations.
Rabbit Run -- Straight spitting, off the charts, off the 8 Mile Soundtrack, all three of his songs on this were great. "By the looks of 'em, you would swear that Jaws was comin'..." "If I gotta scream till I have half a lung," this shit is passionate, it was my anthem for at least a year. "You wait, it ain't too late to finally see/What you closed-minded fucks were too blind to see... The clock strikes midnight. one, two, then half past three..." Like Book of Rhymes, this also takes you into the writer's mind.
Ricky Ticky Toc -- A track off his most recent album, basically about rhyming and his place in the business, with some slick lines about Maxell cassettes and a very nice flow overall.
Proof-- Not to claim that he was the best or anything, but I was a fan of the group and he was my favorite out of it... I loved his lyrical style and I think he has a lot of work worth listening to.
City of Boom -- This is off the Promatic album, a rap duo Proof had going with a Detroit rapper named Dogmatic, who raps first. Proof is the second rapper and I can't imagine anybody listening to his verses and not saying that shit is ferocious. "Blast through your flesh/imagine your chest... It's wet like vaginal sex" and he continues the pattern for the entire verse. Dogmatic does well, but Proof owned this track, the second verse is also very nice.
Ali -- Again, Proof is the second rapper on this track. I don't think the first rapper's appearance is all that great, but Proof comes on and his full verse, starting at about two minutes in, is complete fire. My favorite verse on his only official solo album.
Neil Armstrong -- Love the lyrics here from begining to end. "You see them killers in your face, they were sent by me, no sympathy, tell your kids to they face it was meant to be... Big Proof, spit truth, never a lie, no individual gets loose beter than I," it's cold, but I love the wordplay and delivery.
Oil Can Harry -- Even better than the last song... "God can't save you, Bibles is nothin, this rifle I'm clutchin to leave you stiffled on crutches"
Forgive Me -- This was my favorite track off of his solo album, with the possible exception of Kurt Kobain. I had this track memorized at the time of his death and that really turned the meaning of that second verse around... Still, a great track... true depth and emotion, this song is just incredibly powerful.
BONUS TRACK: These Streets ft. Chino XL -- Newly released
Canibus-- Probably the best straight lyricist ever.
Buckingham Palace -- "Straight shittin, from New York to Great Britain," this is probably the best track of off his debut, Can-I-Bus. He sounds great over this soft beat, "so recognize or be hospitalized, 'cause lyrically on a scale of one to 10 I'm 25," probably the best line to sum up this MC.
How We Roll - Also off of his first album, listening to these two tracks should show you that the album doesn't deserve to be talked about as badly as it is. "I'm barbaric with the alpha-numeric, hittin you with rhymes to separate the body from the spirit." "You must be askin for, some sort of a massacre, I'll attack your cardiovascular!" Too quick for the human retina to register!
Spartibus -- This is the most battle-oriented track off of Rip The Jacker, this is where you really start to see the scientific side of Bis win over. " have another example for later, but I'm a student and it's kind of cool to hear songs that go into some of the processes you've read about. "If the protons don't attack the retina, all we'd ever see is black..." Plus, lyrically potent from the start, "Atomic thrusts turn you into cosmic dust."
Lost @ C -- This is one of Canibus's best displays of lyrical dominance. "Ninety percent of the shit that rappers give is subject matter-less/Not original, but blasphemous... Usin' the same formulas to have a hit, usin' the same actors and actresses, same shit different laxative." And, my favorite line from the album: "faster than 12 cylinder engines with nitrogen in 'em, faster than F-1 with light pistons/Fast enough to give your brain an aneurysm, 'cuz you niggas is slower than fat bitches metabloism" Damn!
Poet Laureate II-- There are three songs in the Poet Laureate series and this is my favorite of the two I've heard. I'm still waiting to get his most recent album-- I have it on reserve and it should be coming any day-- and that'll be the first album I buy this year just to get the new Poet Laureate Infinity song, which is designed so that every time you play it, it's mixed differently. But this one is great... I love the depictions of LL Cool J-- "Trying to escape the wicked emperor of Def Jam, in the land where lyrics are bland and heretics hang..."-- and the first one "liked Cool J at first, but Steven Jay Gould was cooler" was the first I'd ever heard of Steven Jay Gould and, now, I would have to agree that he was much cooler.
The Coup= Boots Riley + Pam the Funkstress out of The Bay area
Skit setting up first song + the song-- Ass Breath Killers:
I included a skit here because you need it to set up the song, which was the most creative track on one of last year's best albums. This one should especially be a hit here, I'll let it speak for itself.
Ghetto Manifesto This song is terrific from the first couplet to the last. "I write my lyrics on parking tickets and summons to the court; I scribbled this on an application for talent support." The trees we got lifted from made our feet dangle, so when I say burn one, I mean the star-spangled! That's The Coup.
Heven Tonight -- Absolutely beautiful song. Compare the message here to Doo Rags from Nas above; I think Boots Riley is the smartest of all the conscious MCs I've heard, his views definitely come closest to mine. "I ain't sittin' in your pews, 'less you helpin' me resist and refuse, show me a list of your VIEWS..." If anybody wants elaboration, I'll provide it later, but there is unbelievable depth to "check out the introvert in the corner with the rip in her skirt, stomach pains so she grippin her shirt, ain't never had dinner so she know she ain't gettin dessert, don't try to tell me it's her mission to hurt!"
Might add some more later, but that's it for now...
And on that note, we say peace.
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