Hip Hop

The only Hip Hop album I own is Nas' Illmatic. It's great. Does anyone well versed in Hip Hop have other rec's? I'm looking for something as strong as this one.

For clarification sake, is there a difference in your eyes between rap and hip hop?

Well, let's see. There's the Beastie Boys Check Your Head, and um…does Beck count?

Probably not. Again, I don't know much about either unless it's songs I've heard on the radio. Is Nas considered Rap or Hip Hop?

Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer:
Well, let's see. There's the Beastie Boys Check Your Head, and um…does Beck count?

nm.

You're asking the wrong member of Indie Yuppie Establishment the difference between rap an hip hop.

But given what you said, I would suggest:

Straight Outta Compton - N.W.A.
It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back - Public Enemy
Criminal Minded - Boogie Down Productions
The Message - Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
Raising Hell - Run DMC
Pauls Boutique - Beastie Boys
The Low End Theory - A Tribe Called Quest
The Chronic - Dr. Dre
Radio - LL Cool J
Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) - Wu Tang Clan

de la soul - de la soul is dead.

I second everything on Vansmack's list – they're hip-hop classics. But if you want more albums specifically in the vein of 'Illmatic' (early 90's NY style), check out:

Gangstarr - Hard to Earn
Pete Rock & CL Smooth - Mecca & the Soul Brother
Beatnuts - s/t
Jeru the Damaja - The Sun Rises in the East
Redman - Whut? The Album

Originally posted by vansmack:
You're asking the wrong member of Indie Yuppie Establishment the difference between rap an hip hop.

But given what you said, I would suggest:

Straight Outta Compton - N.W.A.
It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back - Public Enemy
Criminal Minded - Boogie Down Productions
The Message - Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
Raising Hell - Run DMC
Pauls Boutique - Beastie Boys
The Low End Theory - A Tribe Called Quest
The Chronic - Dr. Dre
Radio - LL Cool J
Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) - Wu Tang Clan

nice list, but for someone just getting into it now…i think a lot of those would sound really dated.

if the beats are what grabbed your attention on 'illmatic' (great "only hip-hop album" to have, by the way) try these:

pete rock & cl smooth - 'the main ingredient'
gang starr - 'daily operation'
tribe - 'midnight marauders'

all 3 of those produced by the same producers who contributed to 'illmatic'…and arguably all of them at their peak.

if it was the words that got your attention…

mobb deep - 'the infamous'
black moon - 'enta the stage'
gza - 'liquid swords'

they all paint similar pictures…not quite as great as nas on illmatic though.

as far as more recent stuff, (i don't listen to hip-hop like i used to):

people under the stairs - 'question on the form of an answer' is nice.

j-live - 'the best part' i like as well.

enjoy..

Was hip hop at it's peak in the 90's? What's the general consensus of current hip hop? My impression of indie stuff is that's it's pretty, excuse the term, wack.

Originally posted by TEM:

Beatnuts - s/t

I am not sure what s/t stands for but of the Beatnuts work I would say go with "The Intoxicated Demons EP"

It is tough to find a lot of rap in the vein of Illmatic because part of what makes that a critical success is that it was so different for the time. Of new rap stay away from the stuff on the radio (G-Unit, The Game, ect.) and look for MF Doom or one of his many guests.

Originally posted by tbmtt:
I am not sure what s/t stands for but of the Beatnuts work I would say go with "The Intoxicated Demons EP"[/QB]

s/t stands for "self titled." As much as I like Intoxicated Demons, their first full-length LP (also called "Street Level") is a classic in my eyes.

Common - Ressurection
Black Star - Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star
Mos Def - Black on Both Sides
OutKast - ATLiens, and Aquemini

There are so many great records that I don't want to think I left out any so I'll be lame and tell you to pick up a copy of Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists and go through it so you can be a bit more informed the next time you go record shopping. Also watch the movies Wild Style & Style Wars to get more familiar with hip hop's past. It will give you a more cultural understanding of it. 95.5 and 93.9fm have "old school hour" at 12 & 5pm every Friday. If you are interested in a more contemporary sound (late 90's til now) there's a favorite comp of mine called "farewell fondle em" that highlights some of the best in rap's underground. Speaking of Fondle Em records, the label's owner had this radio show Stretch & Bobbito in NYC from like 1990-2002 and it was the best radio show in the world. It was every Thursday night 1am-5am. If you can somehow track down copies of some of the shows(not too hard if you look) it is the very best introduction to rap i can imagine. I hear they are going to start officially releasing 2disc editions of some of the more classic shows theyve had over the years too.

Familiar with Stretch and Bobbito as I used to date a girl that went to Columbia. Thanks for the recs everyone.

Oh yea I'd like to add Oc - Word.. Life. It was released around the same time as Illmatic and the only reason it's so obscure now is because it was completely overshadowed by the hype machine and expensive promotion surrounding Illmatic at the time. O.C. could very well have had Nas's career. It was just a matter of bad timing and poor marketing. I'll be honest and say I think Illmatic is better but Word.. Life is about as good of a rap album as you'll ever hear. On a related note, O.C. is actually making a rare DC appearance opening for Heiroglyphics & Non Phixion at the 930 in August. Hopefully, he'll stick to older material.

i'd take "paul's boutique" before "check your head", although they're both indispensible

some other random rec's:

a tribe called quest - anthology
– good starter album for tribe

black star
– one of the best hip-hop albums of all time

cee-lo green is the soul machine
– great genre-busting "urban" music

common, "like water for chocolate"

deltron 3030, "deltron 3030"
– very not-wack "indie" hip-hop

little brother, "the listening"

OUTKAST, "ATLiens"
– will always be my favorite hip-hop album, great end-to-end

people under the stairs, "question in the form of an answer"

the roots, "things fall apart"
– simply incredible

talib kweli & hi-tek, "reflection eternal"
– wow

anything by MF doom/viktor vaughn/madvillain/king geedorah
– more not-wack indie

nas, "it was written"
– nothing can hold a candle to illmatic, but i like nas, even his cheesy stuff, and this is my 2nd fav album

2pac, "all eyez on me"
– everyone needs to own this album

dre, "the chronic"
– see above

gza, "liquid swords"
– whenever i hear the opening intro, its hard to turn this album off

method man, "Tical"

mobb deep, "hell on earth"

biggie, "ready to die"
– see 2pac and dre

snoop, "doggystyle"
– you have nas, but you don't have this??

wu-tang, "enter the wu-tang"
– must-have

Check out Newark's dälek. Their recent CD Absence is one of this year's best.

"Dälek is a band that's been around the world more times than most, playing shows and expanding minds since 1997. Quiet for almost a full year after constant DIY touring with such bands as Mike Patton's Tomahawk, ISIS, KRS-One, De La Soul, The Melvins, Grandmaster Flash, and fresh off of a landmark collaboration and release with Germany's krautrock legends Faust, dälek are back with their third and most sonically challenging full length to date, Absence. Expanding their sound and pulling from their influences, Absence recalls the best parts of Public Enemy and the Bomb Squad, the street poetry of KRS-1, the raw beats of Gang Starr and Mobb Deep, and the fearlessness of the avant garde, like Glenn Branca, My Bloody Valentine and Penderecki."

- from Forced Exposure

how could you 930 heads forget about

KRS ONE

BOOM BAP

you guys know 930 gets a shout out on the 1st track of his latest cd…

Originally posted by vansmack:
For clarification sake, is there a difference in your eyes between rap and hip hop?

Rap - Generic bling-bling thug music that needs image to sell. Not to say its horrible, some may be good in one's opinion, but very cookie-cutter.
Hip hop - Genre in which artists contribute thoughtful lyrics to beats.

I don't know how old the poster is but older stuff: Public Enemy, Tribe Called Quest, Eric B. and Rakim, Gang Starr, NWA, Run DMC, Big Daddy Kane, Ice-T. PE and Tribe you cannot go wrong with any record. Most of these have best of records by now.

Newer stuff: Im getting older so I'm losing touch, but Roots, Common, Outkast and Jurassic 5 are all great. Also, newer Mos Def is pretty damn good!