A little from colum A and a little from column B. Eminem is very talented, but he’s not the best out there by far.
I’m getting the impression that you’re new to hip hop, so if I go over some obvious stuff, just ignore me. But here’s my basic guide to good hip hop, which I fully admit contains some omissions due to personal taste and the fact that no-one can completely know any genre.
First, get aquainted with some old stuff. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s *The Message is pretty much the greatest hiphop track from the very old school, and it still stands up today. From there, get aquainted with Run-DMC’s work, particularly the album Raising Hell. Their contemporaries, the Beastie Boys are significant in terms of Eminem, because they’re early period shares a lot of features of his career. They’re both talented and respected white rappers in a predominantly black genre, and they both caused a huge amount of controversy due to their lyrics and actions. All of the Beastie’s albums are great, but check out Licensed to Ill and Paul’s Boutique in particular.
The late 80’s Native Tongues collective produced some of hip-hops most important music, and revolutionised the technique of sampling. De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising is probably the classic album, but also check out works by Jungle Brothers and A Tribe Called Quest.
I must also mention the amazing Public Enemy, who were the first political rap group. Listen to the album It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back.
I must mention NWA, Ice Cube, Dr Dre and Snoop here, because despite my unfamiliarity with their music, they’re seen as very important contributers to the genre, and I can’t leave them out.
Having covered the past, I’ll move on to the present:
You are right, most of the artists as good or better than Eminem don’t get his press, but there are some quite good mainstream rappers. Outkast do some great stuff, both vocally and musically, and as far as hip-pop is concerned, you don’t get better than Missy Elliott.
More underground MCs: Definitely try the old school stylings of Jurassic Five, and other similar west coast artists Blackalicious and the Black Eyed Peas. Also take a listen to British rapper The Streets - he’s quite unlike anything you’ve ever heard in hip-hop before. His beats veer more towards jungle and garage, and his accent may be off putting at first, but he is such a talented MC and songwriter that should you give him a chance, his music will undoubtedly grow on you. For something a little more experimental, listen to DJ Shadow. His music is almost completely instrumental and is entirely sample driven, and at times sounds nothing like hip hop at all. But his skill as a DJ and his amazing ability to twist samples into entirely new forms makes him a very worthy edition to the list.
Finally, The Roots are apparently doing some really good stuff, and their new album Phrenology is getting rave reviews. Also, the Wu Tang Clan apparently have made some of the best hip hop in the genres history.
Go forth, listen to it all. It mightn’t all be to your taste, but there is a world outside Eminem, and you’ll listen to some great music discovering it.
