New to Rap: What Should I Listen To?

Cafe Society
21

It may help to familiarize yourself with some of the history and various styles of rap music.

Old School Rap started in the late 70s /80s with groups like The Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash. Some of their classics can still be heard on the dance floor however you may find their sound a bit primitive these days.

Rap hit a sort of Golden Age in the 80s with acts like Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, KRS-0ne, Erik B & Rakim, Rob Base, Slick Rick and so on. The music from this period was kind of a mix of afrocentric inner city politicicism and party music.

With acts like NWA and Ice-T, Gangsta Rap (specifically West Coast) was born. NWA consisted of Dr Dre, Ice Cube, Easy E and a couple of other guys. It didn’t become commercially viable as a music genre, however, until 1992, when Dr Dre’s The Chronic was released and later his protegee Snoop Dogg’s Dogiestyle. By then, of course, NWA had broken up and Dre and Easy E had their falling out.

About the same time on the East Coast, a group of rappers got together and called themselves the Wu-Tang clan. While not initially as mainstream as Dre or Snoop, they continue to be a favorite of white suburban kids everywhere.

In addition to the gangster rap of the day (both East and West Coast), you also have the smooth sound of various non-gagsta hip hop acts like A Tribe Called Quest, The Fugees, Brand Nubians, Arrested Development and so on.

You also have the “New Jack Swing” sound of the early 90s that mostly consists of hip-hop influenced R&B like Color Me Badd, Bell Biv Devoe or Boys 2 Men.
In the mid 90s, gangsta rap started to take on a more grandious image with acts like Notorious BIG, Tupac (both dead) and Puff Daddy (now Diddy). Rap started to become more about the bling and less about the street.

Southern rap has also started to become popular with acts like Ludacris, T.I., Outkast, Witchdoctor, Young Jeezy, Yung Joc, The Ying Yang Twins, and Lil Jon (see Crunk).

And several Midwestern artists like Eminem and Kanye West have risen in popularity over the years.

22

I agree with the previous recommendations of the Roots and the Beastie Boys. And I will add a recommendation for El-P. I don’t listen to a whole lot of rap or hip-hop, but I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead is in my list of top 10 albums of all time. Possibly in the top 5.

23

See if you can find a list of albums that have gotten 5 mics in The Source. Not a definitive list of good albums by any means, but a good jumping off point.

Also check out MF Doom.

Once you get a better idea of what you like it’ll be easier to give you recommendations. For instance, if find out you like Wu Tang, you’re in luck; there’s about a million albums between them and all their side projects.

Don’t listen to whoever said ignore anything after 1995. That’s uneducated snobbery.

24

I’d second Outkast. I’m not a rap fan by any means, but I really like some of their work, especially “Rosa Parks” and “Bombs Over Baghdad”.

Also, French rapper MC Solaar’s “Solaar Pleure” is so very beautiful.

25

Tim Dog’s “Penicillin On Wax” album is worth checking out, along with the UK band Gunshot’s debut LP, “Patriot Games”!

26

Here.

As you say, by no means definitive, but there are some absolute must-haves in this list.

Notably:
Aquemini - Outkast - if I had to pick, I’d say this is my favourite hip-hop album ever. That it was so far ahead of its time, in 1998, makes it all the more impressive.
The Blueprint, Reasonable Doubt - Jay-Z
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx - Raekwon
Liquid Swords - Gza/The Genius
Ready to Die - Notorious B.I.G.
Illmatic - Nas
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) - Wu-Tang Clan
The Low End Theory - A Tribe Called Quest
AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted - Ice Cube

The list is also interesting as an indication of how far The Source has fallen in recent years. Since 2002 they’ve given two 5 mic ratings - to Scarface’s Fixed, which is good, but nothing special, and to Lil’ Kim’s The Naked Truth, which isn’t even good.

Albums from the last 5 years that all hip hop fans should check out -
Game Theory - The Roots
Fishscale - Ghostface Killah
Be - Common
Desire - Pharoahe Monch
Hell Hath No Fury - Clipse
Grandmasters - Muggs & Gza
No Said Date - Masta Killa

27

Holy fuck that’s awesome! And I found this one, ‘‘Trying to Find a Balance.’’ This is exactly what I’m talking about.

You guys thank you so much, this is great. mssmith I especially appreciate the history lesson, that will be a good place to start.

14 hour road trip ahead! Time to load up the MP3 player!

28

I’ll second Eric B and Rakim
Their albums “Paid in Full” an “Follow the Leader” are excellent

29

I’m certainly no expert on rap, but as a 33 year old female raised in the midwest I can tell you what I like.

Beastie Boys. As mentioned before, “Paul’s Boutique” is incredible and, IMHO, their best.
Tupac. As I’m sure you’ve heard before, there are college courses dedicated to studying his music. It’s rough around the edges and graphic, but there is beauty in it and (it seems) a lot of truth.
Eminem For me, his work is blistering and raw. Some of it is difficult to listen to, but I feel like he has a lot to say. You also can’t take a lot of it as his view as in some of his work, he’s satirizing.
Kanye West. I admit I don’t know LOTS about him, but what I’ve heard I do enjoy.
Common. He’s not like a lot of the others. There’s a definite softer side and a bit of a higher consciousness.

30

So many albums and artists have already been named that I like, and would def. suggest to you… but I’ll name some again.

If you like Eminem, you should go and check out Tupac def. Tupac can be hit or miss, as he’s got some GREAT Meaningful songs (Changes is still one of the greatest songs out there in my book) combined with some filler and more mysogenistic stuff though, but he’s a good introduction to the newbie.

I would also suggest Nas’s material as a “socially concious” rapper along the veins of Tupac as well, Illmatic is a great album (though I prefer Stillmatic a bit more, but it’s def. more pop, and bouncier). His latest album IS quite political and I do love it, however it’s probably not the best way to get into the artist (as the album’s focus is basically focusing on the word N in all it’s uses). Though his 2nd newest album “Hip Hop Is Dead” was a GREAT album with great throwbacks to older artists in it.

Also, Eric B and Rakim are GREAT examples of Vocalists- Rappers who just show off the “skill” of rapping. I consider them great examples of an emphasis on Vocals and “scratching” (use of the Turntables). If you like this, but want a more rocking and fast paced album, with an emphasis on Politics, then you should DEF. check out Public Enemy “It takes a Nation of Millions”. a GREAT seminal Album.

Also, I will second the BlackStar nominee as well- their first album was GREAt, Mos Def and Talib were GREAT together.


Now I'll throw out one or two suggestions of my own:
If you want Meaningful Rappers with a message/ something different than the others out there, you should check out **Lupe Fiasco**. He's a newer Rapper, but he's inspired by Nas, and tries to emulate him. I think the kids got GREAT potential to be a future Nas out there, and his latest album ("The Cool" was really great as a political and a visionary sorta album. You should check out the single "[Dumb it Down (video)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1Et1siZhTk) " on Youtube, if you like it, then that's the sort of things you can expect from Lupe- Heavy emphasis on message, with lots of word play and rhymes).

Also, I LOVE **the Roots **(they're in my Top 5 bands PERIOD list along with the likes of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the Steve Miller Band). 
They've really evolved over time, starting out with their more simpler times of Keyboards and bass, and evolving to be more rock and heavier with their Message. I personally think *the Tipping Point* is the better album to start with. It' the true start of their rock/political vibe, but it's still a "fun" album, and the two albums that follow it get Darker and Heavier and MORE political though (Game Theory and the newest one).
Also, a DVD you might want to check out- Check out *Dave Chappelle's Block Party*. Just rent it, and watch that movie. It's a GREAT concert sort of film, with a little bit of humor (but the focus is on the Music more than Dave Chappelle, he only plays host to them, just setting it up and letting the artists sort of do their thing).
Alot of artists already mentioned above are featured in that movie, and you can check that out to DEF. get a smattering off the different vibes and artists out there (Kanye vs. BlackStar vs. Common vs. Dead Prez 's different styles are all in that film).

Also, I really like the Song "[Us Placers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC_ir5wM8mE) " by Child Rebel Soldier (a supergroup consisting of Pharrel Williams, Kanye West, and Lupe Fiasco). but it's the only song they've formally put out (I HOPE they make an album though). I'd buy it for this song along.
Check it out.
31

Additionally, back at the OP. You claim to like George *Strait * but you misspelled his name…

32

I second MC Solaar, even though I don’t understand a word he says. So for all I know he might be rapping about “b***s and hs”.