Oh, is this my forte, or what? Indie hip hop is my thing; I listen to it, know it, DJ and create it.
Independent Hip Hip is going through an absolute renaissance right now, akin to what happened to indie rock in the 80s with labels like rough trade, SST, even sub pop and dischord later in the decade.
The basic primer looks something like this - there are several labels/crews, each with their own aesthetic, and each putting out absolutely amazing stuff.
Begin with Definitive Jux records records, based out of New York and run by underground legend EL-P. After Company Flow (one of the first major “indie rap” groups in the 1990s - their “funcrusher plus” record is essential) broke up in 2000, EL-P started Def Jux records. Their first four releases - Cannibal Ox’s “the cold vein,” Aesop Rock’s “Labor Days,” RJD2’s “deadringer,” and EL-P’s own “Fantastic Damage” -were just flawless. They’re easily four of the strongest hip hop records released in the past 20 years, all insta-classics that are eye-opening in their inventiveness, raw skill, intelligence, artistic vision, and originality. Also, their recent releases by Murs, Mr. Lif, and others have been amazingly dope.
In '98, DJ Shadow started
Quannum Projects, a re-launch of the legendary Solesides crew from the early 90s. If you haven’t heard DJ Shadow’s genre-defining “Endtroducing” from '96, pick it up immediately. Constructed entirely from samples and intricately edited and programmed, the record defined a new era in hip hop production while looking to the influences of of the past 30 years of rock, soul and funk, jazz, and hip hop.
Quannum are based out of Bay Area San Francisco, so they have the whole “conscious” hip hop aesthetic going. Unlike the unabashed furturists at Def Jux, the Quannum sound is more about the heyday of classic hip hop, rapping over those dusty funk breaks and grooves. From Quannum, Blackalicious’ records “Nia” and “Blazing Arrow” are amazing, and the recent Gift of Gab solo record was stellar. Lyrics Born also recently released a great one on Quannum, and the Lifesavas show a ton of promise.
Next up is Stones Throw Records, run by Peanut Butter Wolf. His '97 album, “My vinyl weighs a ton,” was an underground classic. PB Wolf is an amazing producer who makes dusty, vintage sample-based tracks, and he teamed up with some amazing underground MC’s for that record. The Lootpack’s “soundpieces: da antidote” was another great release from that era.
But Stones Throw didn’t really pick up until Madlib, a member of the Lootpack, broke out on his own, releasing the album “The Unseen” under the name/alter-ego Quasimoto. Madlib soon debuted his one-man jazz/funk band, Yesterday’s New Quintet, in which he plays all the instruments. Since then, he’s blown up, doing a whole record of remixes for Blue Note records (“Shades of Blue”), and teaming up with MF Doom (on the “Madvillain” record) and Jay Dee (on the “Jaylib” album). Madlib is easily one of the biggest indie-hop talents, and Stones Throw’s breakout artist.
But that’s not all- Stones Throw has released a ton of other great stuff, like the recent solo record (secondary protocol) by Lootpack member Wildchild and a series of rare funk 7"'s.
Finally, we get to the most controversial group/crew/label, Anticon. The Anticon crew is made up of white midwesterners raised on indie rock, who cross-pollinate indie rock and hip hop, and vice versa. The result- jagged, lo-fi beats made on 4-track recorders in bedrooms, rapping into headphones run through old guitar pedals, and songs about everything but urban living. It’s this combination - the avoidance of tradition, the midwestern/suburban perspective, the whiteness- that causes the controversy, as many “b-boys” feel that Anticon isn’t “real” hip hop because of this combination. However, they’re making some of the most amazingly creative, different, and challenging music in any genre, and hip hop has always been about pushing the envelope and bringing new ideas and sounds into the canon.
The essential Anticon records are Clouddead’s self-titled record (“sounds like people rapping over radiohead”), Sole’s “selling live water” (blisteringly angry and incredbly wordy), Why?‘s “Oaklandazulasylum” (bedroom folk-hop), as well as Themselves’ “the no music”, along with releases by Buck 65, Alias, etc. etc.
Those are the four “big crews” that seem to be doing the best and most representative stuff in the indie/alternative hip hop world.
But don’t forget to check out MF Doom. Formerly known as Zev Love X when he was a member of the 80’s group KMD, Doom does traditional hip hop that’s a bit too esoteric, wordy, and weird for the mainstream. He makes all of his own beats (favoring bizarre 80’s funk and jazz) and drops amazing verses on top of them. His “operation doomsday” is a classic, and he’s released five volumes of “special herbs” instrumental records. He came out with another great record last year under the name King Gheedorah, and then another under the name “Victor Von Doom,” which found him rapping on other producer’s beats instead of his own.
I hope that’s a decent primer to get started; there’s a ton more out there. Any of those websites should have plenty of sound and video samples for you to check out their stuff. Hope it helps!