10 Greatest Rap/Hip-Hop Bands...
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Okay... I am (was) a HUGE hip hop fan. But I have to clarify. Maybe it's because I've gotten older or maybe because the youth in this country has gotten dumber... either way, the hip hop of today is CRAP. 50 cent= crap. Nelly= crap. Chingy= crap. All of it... garbage.
But there was a time when hip hop peaked and showcased a lot of talent, believe it or not. It was driven by well written lyrics with excellent delivery over complimentary beats. Those days seem to have given way to ignorant club anthems with jackass emcees who hollar the same crap over and over and over.
I could list a lot of excellent hip hop from yesteryear that is truly creative and well done but I guess no one would read it here anyway. But just know that hip hop has not always been worthless. I'm pretty confident that I could recommend some stuff that many who hate rap would actually like.
But there was a time when hip hop peaked and showcased a lot of talent, believe it or not. It was driven by well written lyrics with excellent delivery over complimentary beats. Those days seem to have given way to ignorant club anthems with jackass emcees who hollar the same crap over and over and over.
I could list a lot of excellent hip hop from yesteryear that is truly creative and well done but I guess no one would read it here anyway. But just know that hip hop has not always been worthless. I'm pretty confident that I could recommend some stuff that many who hate rap would actually like.
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Public Enemy - The only rap group where I actually still have cds/tapes of because if I break them out now they are still just as good as they were then.
BDP - Guy, KRS 1, had a way with words and to make you think, even if you did not agree with him.
Run DMC - They were never the best rappers per se but still gotta give em props.
Erik B and Rakim - see BDP.
LL Cool J - People may think he is nothing, but the kid had serious skills, just listen to nitro if you need to hear em as a younger guy, and one of the few that has had power to keep coming back with stuff.
NWA - Now the downside is they started the gangsta rap stuff, however to ignore a group that had Eazy- E (although he had little talent), Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and MC Ren would be a mistake. I could easily give Dr. Dre and Ice Cube their own spot on the list but decided to keep them together.
Tupac - Like him, don't like him, really makes no difference as the guy had skill in his genre.
Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel (& the Furious Five also on sugar hill records aka Sugar hill gang) - (Ooooh...White Lines) Vision dreams of passion
(Blowin through my mind) And all the while I think of you. When you heard the opening you just loved the song.
Beastie Boys - Like em, hate em, call them rap or rock, they really opened a lot of doors for rap in the mainstream audience and radio.
P-Funk - They actually have a song called Chocolate City that is considered to be one of the first rap songs, before there was real rap. Also since so many rap artists have sampled their work, and since I just like P-Funk...I will use them to round off the list.
can anyone tell that I do not listen to rap now...since all of mine are old school.
BDP - Guy, KRS 1, had a way with words and to make you think, even if you did not agree with him.
Run DMC - They were never the best rappers per se but still gotta give em props.
Erik B and Rakim - see BDP.
LL Cool J - People may think he is nothing, but the kid had serious skills, just listen to nitro if you need to hear em as a younger guy, and one of the few that has had power to keep coming back with stuff.
NWA - Now the downside is they started the gangsta rap stuff, however to ignore a group that had Eazy- E (although he had little talent), Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and MC Ren would be a mistake. I could easily give Dr. Dre and Ice Cube their own spot on the list but decided to keep them together.
Tupac - Like him, don't like him, really makes no difference as the guy had skill in his genre.
Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel (& the Furious Five also on sugar hill records aka Sugar hill gang) - (Ooooh...White Lines) Vision dreams of passion
(Blowin through my mind) And all the while I think of you. When you heard the opening you just loved the song.
Beastie Boys - Like em, hate em, call them rap or rock, they really opened a lot of doors for rap in the mainstream audience and radio.
P-Funk - They actually have a song called Chocolate City that is considered to be one of the first rap songs, before there was real rap. Also since so many rap artists have sampled their work, and since I just like P-Funk...I will use them to round off the list.
can anyone tell that I do not listen to rap now...since all of mine are old school.
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Wow Brain.
That's not just old scool...
That's from a time when the term hip hop wasn't even used. It was strictly called "RAP".
From that list, I'd agree with some Eric B and Rakim and Beastie Boys.
But the best hip hop happened about a decade later once the music evolved.
Redman
De La Sol
Mad Skillz
The Alkaholiks
Talib Kwali
Tribe called Quest...
That's not just old scool...
That's from a time when the term hip hop wasn't even used. It was strictly called "RAP".
From that list, I'd agree with some Eric B and Rakim and Beastie Boys.
But the best hip hop happened about a decade later once the music evolved.
Redman
De La Sol
Mad Skillz
The Alkaholiks
Talib Kwali
Tribe called Quest...
k19
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haha my list is alot like your BP
Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three
Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew
Erik B and Rakim
KRS-One Boogie Down Prouctions
Run DMC
Whodini
Roxanne Shante
Sugar Hill Gang
Kurtis Blow
Fat Boys
Grandmaster Flash
Can't forget the Beasties and Public Enemy
Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three
Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew
Erik B and Rakim
KRS-One Boogie Down Prouctions
Run DMC
Whodini
Roxanne Shante
Sugar Hill Gang
Kurtis Blow
Fat Boys
Grandmaster Flash
Can't forget the Beasties and Public Enemy
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Nothing wrong with a lil old school, Brain. I like your list. KRS-One came to UH way back in the day to speak and he truly was a great orator. (If I dig for it, I could prolly find the notes from it. When I was doing the journalism thing full-time, I was taking notes almost religiously.)
To stay on that vibe, I'd like to add some ladies to the mix.
Queen Latifah - Truly the queen of hip-hop
Salt n Pepa - One of the more successful female hip hop groups without being trashy.
MC Lyte - She truly is an MC.
As far as some current male hip-hop artists just based either on lyrical content and/or lyrical flow, I like, in no particular order:
Common - content/flow
Mos Def - content/flow
Kanye West - content/flow
Jay-Z - flow
The Roots - content/flow/musicality - the guys are skilled
Eminem - flow/content (so-so)
Ice Cube - flow/ content (so-so)
Public Enemy - content
LL - content... There's a reason the ladies do luv him... ~sigh~
Redman - pulled that from Qwik..
Method - luv his flow
I'm sure I could prolly come up w/some more, but I gotta kinda get back to work.
------
One thing I hated about the whole gangsta rap movement or whatever, it took the ladies out the game. It didn't really look cool for a woman to try to play hard. Unfortunately, they decided to go trashy on the pre-text of being sexy. There's nothing sexy about Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, and Trina, IMO.
To stay on that vibe, I'd like to add some ladies to the mix.
Queen Latifah - Truly the queen of hip-hop
Salt n Pepa - One of the more successful female hip hop groups without being trashy.
MC Lyte - She truly is an MC.
As far as some current male hip-hop artists just based either on lyrical content and/or lyrical flow, I like, in no particular order:
Common - content/flow
Mos Def - content/flow
Kanye West - content/flow
Jay-Z - flow
The Roots - content/flow/musicality - the guys are skilled
Eminem - flow/content (so-so)
Ice Cube - flow/ content (so-so)
Public Enemy - content
LL - content... There's a reason the ladies do luv him... ~sigh~
Redman - pulled that from Qwik..
Method - luv his flow
I'm sure I could prolly come up w/some more, but I gotta kinda get back to work.
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One thing I hated about the whole gangsta rap movement or whatever, it took the ladies out the game. It didn't really look cool for a woman to try to play hard. Unfortunately, they decided to go trashy on the pre-text of being sexy. There's nothing sexy about Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, and Trina, IMO.
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Roxanne Shante!!!!k19 said:
uke: Man, I remember all the Roxanne songs from that time. I'm surprised you didn't mention JJ Fad...
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I'll give you MC LYTE.Woody'sGirl said:Nothing wrong with a lil old school, Brain. I like your list. KRS-One came to UH way back in the day to speak and he truly was a great orator. (If I dig for it, I could prolly find the notes from it. When I was doing the journalism thing full-time, I was taking notes almost religiously.)
To stay on that vibe, I'd like to add some ladies to the mix.
Queen Latifah - Truly the queen of hip-hop
Salt n Pepa - One of the more successful female hip hop groups without being trashy.
MC Lyte - She truly is an MC.
As far as some current male hip-hop artists just based either on lyrical content and/or lyrical flow, I like, in no particular order:
Common - content/flow
Mos Def - content/flow
Kanye West - content/flow
Jay-Z - flow
The Roots - content/flow/musicality - the guys are skilled
Eminem - flow/content (so-so)
Ice Cube - flow/ content (so-so)
Public Enemy - content
LL - content... There's a reason the ladies do luv him... ~sigh~
Redman - pulled that from Qwik..
Method - luv his flow
I'm sure I could prolly come up w/some more, but I gotta kinda get back to work.
------
One thing I hated about the whole gangsta rap movement or whatever, it took the ladies out the game. It didn't really look cool for a woman to try to play hard. Unfortunately, they decided to go trashy on the pre-text of being sexy. There's nothing sexy about Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, and Trina, IMO.
But Queen Latifah= wack.
Salt N Peppa= wack.
There is really only one worthy female emcee that I've heard in 2 decades+ of hip hop.
Bahamadia (discovered by the Roots, out of Philly)
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Push it good...Kangaroo said:
Seriously, they did have a lot of cool songs. Too bad they grew up and decided to focus on family.
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Here's one you probably won't recognize.Woody'sGirl said:Roxanne Shante!!!!
Man, I remember all the Roxanne songs from that time. I'm surprised you didn't mention JJ Fad...
UTFO (starring Kangol)
They were always battling with Roxanne in their songs.
"Roxanne Roxanne... I wanna be you man."
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Qwickdraw said:
The title read best RAP/HipHop....I like the old school stuff. Then I got out of it and never went back to getting into rap.
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k19 said:
Haha YES.
Whodini - You got the mouth all mighty tongue everlasting, you aint satisfied unless somethings happening...you gotta a Big Mouth a Big Mouth lol
Oh and the Roxanne vs UTFO songs.
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Your entitled to your opinion of Latifah and Salt n Pepa, of course, but I luv'd them. For lady rappers, I liked what they brought to the table.Qwickdraw said:
I didn't forget Bahamadia, I just couldn't remember how to spell her name real quickly.
I like her skills, but I've always liked the Queen more. Her early stuff was truly underrated. When she decided to start singing and then the acting then, she's not really looked upon as a rapper anymore. But when she and Lyte first came out, there was nobody better.
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Sorry a lot of this part of music is lost one me
I know Run DMC, beasties at Fat Boy but other than those like none in that time period I was listening to
Metallic Master Puppets and Ride the Lighting albums
Suicidal Tendencies
Dead Milkmen
MegaDeath
Violent Fems
Agent Orange
Red Hot Chili Peppers early years Uplift Mo Party freeky style and Mothers Milk
etc
etc
I know Run DMC, beasties at Fat Boy but other than those like none in that time period I was listening to
Metallic Master Puppets and Ride the Lighting albums
Suicidal Tendencies
Dead Milkmen
MegaDeath
Violent Fems
Agent Orange
Red Hot Chili Peppers early years Uplift Mo Party freeky style and Mothers Milk
etc
etc