Hip Hop/Rap

[Carnivore Chris]

Yeah I'd say I preferred Ruthless records as well.

Westcoast hip hop was excellent back then but it has to be said that if I had a choice, it would be East Coast all day. Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep, Nas, Big L, Jadakiss, Rakim, G Rap, Redman, Pun, Biggie, Capone n Norega....

 

By the way, I would have always expected you to be more into the likes of Immortal Technique(who I was bang into at one point, his first 2 albums still are great to be honest) and Canibus.

Speaking of Canibus, he was a beast in the late 90s/early 00s, same with Eminem in fact and this is brilliant:-

 

 

It's a collection of their 'freestyles' from back then.

Edited January 30, 2018 by The Rebel CRS

[Panflute]

I always preferred West Coast music because I liked the productions better. I mean, beats like Shook Ones, CREAM and Da Mystery of Chessboxin are among the best, but West-Coast producers like Dr. Dre, DJ Quik and especially DJ U-Neek came much closer to being proper songwriters. It's my theory that this is also why the East Coast has generally had the better MCs, because the music was more centered around the vocals, whereas in the West you could get away with being a technically mediocre rapper and still have major hits (Eazy-E and Dr. Dre again being prime examples). Not to say there weren't excellent rappers on the West too.

It's why Bone Thugs-N-Harmony are my favourite: their early work combines technically outstanding rapping with the laid-back Western sound. On the other hand, I can't listen to Biggie because even though he was a great rapper, I don't find him pleasant to listen to. I never really got into Eminem for the same reason.

As for Immortal Technique, I was never into explicitly political hiphop. I like a few of his songs, but I get tired of that stuff pretty fast.

[Carnivore Chris]

Yeah West coast beats were mazing as they were funky, the production was also more "professional" compared to the more underground and raw style from the East Coast. I do love the west coast, don't get me wrong(I also love UK hip hop and even some Spanish stuff nowadays) and there is always a time and place for it. But for me, the east coast was better allround. It was more lyrical, raw and the beats were a lot harder, although there is a time and place for all types of hip hop.

Immortal Technique's first 2 albums made me a big fan. Since then I generally grew out of him but I still do listen to his first two albums from time to time.

 

His metaphors on that album were insane. He also tells it how it is in the music industry and to become a millionaire yourself on the underground hip hop scene, without signing to any label or having any form of marketing is impressive to be honest.

But as you say, he is generally too political and political hip hop is boring.

 

[Carnivore Chris]

@Panflute What is impressive about rappers from both coasts back then is how young some of them actually were, but it fools you. It seems as though they are much older. The DJ Quik track you posted up there, for example, was made when he was just 19 years old. Then you listen to some of the old Big L freestyles and he was as young as 17 on some of them, yet seems a lot older than he is. Mobb Deep's first album was also made when they were about 18/19 and Nas was very young when he recorded his original material. If you listen to a lot of young English MCS of the same age(or MCs in general of today), they sound like kids.

Black Americans grew up quickly in the 90s. I suppose they had to though.

 

Speaking of young MCs, Shyhiem was murdering the mic when he was about 12 and it still sounds brilliant now:-

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 3, 2018 by The Rebel CRS

[Carnivore Chris]

 

@Panflute back to the West, MC Ren was immense when he went solo for a while.. He went underground and didn't gain the same commercial success as the likes of Ice Cube and Dre, but he was HARD. Probably my favourite from NWA overall, along with Ice Cube.

 

We also can't forget Ice T:-

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 5, 2018 by The Rebel CRS

[Panflute]

On 2/3/2018 at 08:46, The Rebel CRS said:

@Panflute What is impressive about rappers from both coasts back then is how young some of them actually were, but it fools you. It seems as though they are much older. The DJ Quik track you posted up there, for example, was made when he was just 19 years old. Then you listen to some of the old Big L freestyles and he was as young as 17 on some of them, yet seems a lot older than he is. Mobb Deep's first album was also made when they were about 18/19 and Nas was very young when he recorded his original material. If you listen to a lot of young English MCS of the same age(or MCs in general of today), they sound like kids.

Black Americans grew up quickly in the 90s. I suppose they had to though.

Yeah, that keeps surprising me. Tupac died at 25, Biggie was only 24. BG Knocc Out was still in high school when he made Real Muthaphukkin' Gz with Eazy-E, and iirc in Shook Ones, Progidy says he's 19. It seems many rappers also make their best stuff when they're young. Ice Cube had already made all his classic stuff by the time he was 25, Ren released all but one of his albums with NWA or solo before he hit 30, and King Tee's last album is from 2002, when he was in his early thirties.

One thing that seems different about hiphop compared to metal is that there is a much greater need to be ahead of the curve if you want people to remember you, and it seems that as soon as you lose that edge, you're seen as outdated. By the time NWA released their second album, it was still great, but everyone was already doing it so the impact wasn't quite as big. Same goes for Bone-Thugs, Wu-Tang Clan and a slew of others. Not saying they can't make good music anymore, but there's never going to be something that hits as hard as E.1999 or 36 Chambers.

Pretty sure DJ Quik was in his mid-twenties when he made that song though, as it came out in 1995 and he had already been making music since 1987.

16 hours ago, The Rebel CRS said:

 

@Panflute back to the West, MC Ren was immense when he went solo for a while.. He went underground and didn't gain the same commercial success as the likes of Ice Cube and Dre, but he was HARD. Probably my favourite from NWA overall, along with Ice Cube.

That's one of the main things that bothered me about the Straight Outta Compton movie (other than Eazy-E being made to look like a broke chump): if you watch it without knowing the group, you'd think MC Ren was a background figure, while in reality he was the best rapper in NWA. Ice Cube may have been the better lyricist, but if you listen to songs like If It Ain't Ruff or any of the stuff on Niggaz4Life, he just had the best flow of that group. Not to mention that he also co-wrote Eazy-E's first solo album, and the NWA aesthetic (black jackets, white shirts and Raiders caps) was based on what Ren was wearing. Ice Cube and Dr. Dre are undeniable titans of industry, but the way they tried to change history with that movie gives me a very sour taste in the mouth.

[Machado]

 

 

[Happy Blue]

The next big white rapper!!

 

[Happy Blue]

 

[Carnivore Chris]

 

Celph Titled is my favourite white rapper(not including the old skool Eminem shit or Jehst & Chester P if speaking UK hip hop), he's a beast.

 

 

[True Blue]

I am certain @The Rebel CRS rates KRS highly

[True Blue]

Never heard this one before, what a killer beat tough @The Rebel CRS

[Dalmore]

f@ck those niggas who think they are the best MCs in America and the whole world.

In Canada hip hop is owned by white guys 

 

 

[UNORTHODOX]

 

[Inverted]

Not really hip-hop, but I stumbled across this young London producer who's got an album out recently, it's really amazing jazz improvs with a slightly hip-hop production.

 

[Carnivore Chris]

 

That beat though! Fire.

 

Edited March 8, 2018 by The Rebel CRS

[True Blue]

 

[Samuel Eto'o]

A true bonafide classic. Give it a listen if you haven't already. Also liked his metal effort with his band Bodycount. 

 

Edited March 29, 2018 by Paulo Dybala

[carefreeluke]

Remember all for dinner all we ate was Captain Crunch, now we blow big blunts on the way to brunch...♪

 

[Fairy In Boots]

Discovered these yesterday better than 95% of the stuff i've heard since 03

 

[Rick]

Run The Jewels are class.

[JoshBRFC+]

Anyone watched the series on Netflix about Dre? It’s a good watch. 

[Carnivore Chris]

 

[Rick]

Yep, J Cole killing it with his new album 

[Rick]

41 minutes ago, Cannabis said:

Hate J Cole with a passion. Never heard his music but it always makes me think that Joe Cole has quit football and started writing music.

What? 😂 thats just bizarre. Weird cunt x