# Hip hop enthusiasts: recommend me some really CLEVER rap. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hip-hop-enthusiasts-recommend-me-some-really-clever-rap/733742 "2015-10-06T19:11:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hip-hop-enthusiasts-recommend-me-some-really-clever-rap/733742/21 "2015-10-07T14:18:27Z")
[MC Frontalot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yrwzi3clPQ) [Masta Ace](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dJE0mvQsLU) [Dessa](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvi3UDQdl7k) [The Pharcyde](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hZKN4AZ63g) [Leaders of the New School](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG4h1pGfHC8) ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hip-hop-enthusiasts-recommend-me-some-really-clever-rap/733742/22 "2015-10-08T15:48:29Z")
If the OP likes Epic Rap Battles of History, [Professor Elemental](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iRTB-FTMdk) seems like what he’s looking for. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hip-hop-enthusiasts-recommend-me-some-really-clever-rap/733742/23 "2015-10-08T16:09:47Z")
Johnny Bravo, have you listened to any of the suggestions? What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hip-hop-enthusiasts-recommend-me-some-really-clever-rap/733742/24 "2015-10-08T16:09:48Z")
“Back to Back” is pretty clever. 🆒 > [@NAF1138](#): > > Oh, and Talib Quali. Reflections eternal is the album you want. Also Blackstar where he teamed up with Mos Def. Nitpick: Kweli. But, yeah, I tend to agree that _Blackstar_ is a pretty clever album, at least in terms of wordplay. Particularly “Hater Players.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hip-hop-enthusiasts-recommend-me-some-really-clever-rap/733742/25 "2015-10-08T17:42:03Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > Johnny Bravo, have you listened to any of the suggestions? What do you think? Not yet, but I gave been following with interest. I need to set some time aside to sit down with all the suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hip-hop-enthusiasts-recommend-me-some-really-clever-rap/733742/26 "2015-10-08T17:55:57Z")
Not typical of the genre or the musician: James McMurtry “How’m Gonna Find you Now?” ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hip-hop-enthusiasts-recommend-me-some-really-clever-rap/733742/27 "2015-10-08T19:19:04Z")
> [@Reluctant\_A](#): > > “Back to Back” is pretty clever. 🆒 > Nitpick: Kweli. > > But, yeah, I tend to agree that _Blackstar_ is a pretty clever album, at least in terms of wordplay. Particularly “Hater Players.” Yep, sure is. :smack: Blackstar pretty much was my favorite album for about the whole of 2000-2003…it was already a couple years old when I discovered it, which means it is also old school I guess.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hip-hop-enthusiasts-recommend-me-some-really-clever-rap/733742/28 "2015-10-08T21:00:03Z")
I’m not much of a rap/hip-hop fan, but I also like Epic Rap Battles of History. I haven’t listened to much in the genre, but I find I really dislike the “I’m such a thug gangsta, yo! Look at my bitches!” style, and like a lot of [nerdcore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerdcore)(rap with nerdy lyrics). MC Frontalot and MC Lars are two I like. I also like Weird Al’s raps. In fact, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not the rap/hip-hop genre that I dislike, but just a lot of the subject matter of the popular stuff. I also like “Thrift Store” by Macklemore and Lewis, which has (at least to me) a bit of a nerdcore vibe. And the only mainstream rapper I’ve ever enjoyed is Eminem. The wordplay and clever rhymes in some of his stuff appeals to me. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hip-hop-enthusiasts-recommend-me-some-really-clever-rap/733742/29 "2015-10-09T01:19:05Z")
Thirded on the _Hamilton_ cast album. Kayla was fortunate enough to attend the show this past spring while it was still at the Public Theatre; she set her iPhone to stream NPR nonstop for a week when the preview version went up, and bought it on iTunes the first day it went on sale. I’m wholly unqualified to discern good hiphop/rap from bad, but I’m not wrong about this being great stuff. Mr. Miranda truly earned the MacArthur “genius” grant this work got him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hip-hop-enthusiasts-recommend-me-some-really-clever-rap/733742.md?page=1)