The Best Underground Rappers You Aren't Listening To

[rousseau]

I have no one to talk about hip-hop with so I'm just going to put this here:

https://seatgeek.com/tba/music/the-top-10-rappers-you-arent-listening-to/

Some of the tunes in the article are instant classics.

 

[ronburgundy]

Shouldn't Tupac count as an "underground" rapper?

 

[Smoker]

I prefer Aesop Rock over A$AP Rocky, and Wu-Tang over all these half ass rappers that can't make their own beats.

 

[Smoker]

 

[tantric]

kudos for immortal technique, so here's some 3rd world rap. pitch black afro (zulus knock out their front two teeth for beautification)

 

[DrZoidberg]

Riff Raff and Danny Brown rock my world

Japanese breakers Hifana are another favourite. They're a hoot

 

[PyramidHead]

Not to hijack the thread. But I'm trying to get into hip hop. I'm in love with the beats and the sampling style, especially DJ Premier, J Dilla, and that ilk. But every time I try to enjoy a hip hop some with actual lyrics, I come up short. Most of them seem to primarily rap about how good they are at rapping, or how hard things are in the ghetto. Not that there's anything wrong with either of those topics, but there must be other stuff they care about. Right now the only MC I really dig is MC Ride from Death Grips. His lyrics are abstract and chaotic, full of self-loathing at the same time as they are braggadocious. I've never come across another guy who can rap in that way. Any suggestions, or am I listening to the wrong genre?

 

[DrZoidberg]

Not to hijack the thread. But I'm trying to get into hip hop. I'm in love with the beats and the sampling style, especially DJ Premier, J Dilla, and that ilk. But every time I try to enjoy a hip hop some with actual lyrics, I come up short. Most of them seem to primarily rap about how good they are at rapping, or how hard things are in the ghetto. Not that there's anything wrong with either of those topics, but there must be other stuff they care about. Right now the only MC I really dig is MC Ride from Death Grips. His lyrics are abstract and chaotic, full of self-loathing at the same time as they are braggadocious. I've never come across another guy who can rap in that way. Any suggestions, or am I listening to the wrong genre?

Hip hop doesn't talk to your brain. It talks to your ass. Hip hop is fundamentaly dance music. It's all rhythm. Try listening to it standing up. It should be an all body experience.

I have never a clue what the words mean. Don't hear them. In hip hop the voice is just a percussion device. That's what makes it special. Listen for the rhythm!

 

[Playball40]

Try listening to the Hamilton soundtrack.

Not to hijack the thread. But I'm trying to get into hip hop. I'm in love with the beats and the sampling style, especially DJ Premier, J Dilla, and that ilk. But every time I try to enjoy a hip hop some with actual lyrics, I come up short. Most of them seem to primarily rap about how good they are at rapping, or how hard things are in the ghetto. Not that there's anything wrong with either of those topics, but there must be other stuff they care about. Right now the only MC I really dig is MC Ride from Death Grips. His lyrics are abstract and chaotic, full of self-loathing at the same time as they are braggadocious. I've never come across another guy who can rap in that way. Any suggestions, or am I listening to the wrong genre?

 

[another1]

Death Grips are the strangest and most distorted kida stuff I've heard in the past couple years, PyramidHead. Bitch Please is intense, and I looped it in the truck for all day listening many a time. If you can play it down to 33rpm its like a friggin rap black mass. Spooky and just unconventional sound. Das Racist has some strange side projects. Everything is so weirded out in rap lately. As far as actual substance I've got to vote for Immortal Technique. He's not much of a lecturer but he can write and speak some unmatched stuff in a studio huh.

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh3UZrnMY0Q[/YOUTUBE]

This guy raps with his eyes closed, so we know he isn't reading from his phone or whatever. He is the best I know of, as far as unsigned and relatively unknown. And white. Untreated vocals and just a dude in his room doing it right.

 

[PyramidHead]

Not to hijack the thread. But I'm trying to get into hip hop. I'm in love with the beats and the sampling style, especially DJ Premier, J Dilla, and that ilk. But every time I try to enjoy a hip hop some with actual lyrics, I come up short. Most of them seem to primarily rap about how good they are at rapping, or how hard things are in the ghetto. Not that there's anything wrong with either of those topics, but there must be other stuff they care about. Right now the only MC I really dig is MC Ride from Death Grips. His lyrics are abstract and chaotic, full of self-loathing at the same time as they are braggadocious. I've never come across another guy who can rap in that way. Any suggestions, or am I listening to the wrong genre?

Hip hop doesn't talk to your brain. It talks to your ass. Hip hop is fundamentaly dance music. It's all rhythm. Try listening to it standing up. It should be an all body experience.

I have never a clue what the words mean. Don't hear them. In hip hop the voice is just a percussion device. That's what makes it special. Listen for the rhythm!

Fair enough. But two things. DJ Premier's instrumental jams go straight to my brain. The way he chops and slices little snippets from movie soundtracks and old jazz records, the laid back mood from the beats being ever so slightly off kilter, it all just fascinates me. And as another1 pointed out, Death Grips is not really danceable and that's kind of their appeal. MC Ride is like a crazed junkie having an out-of-body experience while running from mysterious forces in trench coats and gas masks. It hits the body, it's vulgar and visceral, but it's also thought-provoking at least to me. I'm of the opinion that any kind of music can be a vocabulary. And if hip hop is just to get your hips moving, it seems weird and arbitrary that the lyrics are so often specifically about just a handful of things, not all of which have anything to do with dancing. It's cultural and stuff, but I'm wondering if there are examples of artists who use that as a springboard to make something that's not really in the classic vein. I'll try to listen without interpreting so much next time.

 

[rousseau]

Not to hijack the thread. But I'm trying to get into hip hop. I'm in love with the beats and the sampling style, especially DJ Premier, J Dilla, and that ilk. But every time I try to enjoy a hip hop some with actual lyrics, I come up short. Most of them seem to primarily rap about how good they are at rapping, or how hard things are in the ghetto. Not that there's anything wrong with either of those topics, but there must be other stuff they care about. Right now the only MC I really dig is MC Ride from Death Grips. His lyrics are abstract and chaotic, full of self-loathing at the same time as they are braggadocious. I've never come across another guy who can rap in that way. Any suggestions, or am I listening to the wrong genre?

Some cerebral rappers that I know of: Kendrick Lamar, Common, Lupe Fiasco, Jurassic 5, J-Live, Kemba

But I do agree with the above, a lot of the hip-hop I really like is either an aggressive banger, or at least sounds nice and flows well. Kendrick is one of the first rappers to really move the genre into the intellectual space, so most stuff put out there pre 2010 is going to give you a similar vibe.

Even despite the vibe, I can appreciate someone like Jay Z going toe to toe lyrically with Nas. For a lot of these guys rap is their only way to earn an affluent life-style, so being aggressive and ego-ist is a part of the game.

 

[tantric]

Not to hijack the thread. But I'm trying to get into hip hop. I'm in love with the beats and the sampling style, especially DJ Premier, J Dilla, and that ilk. But every time I try to enjoy a hip hop some with actual lyrics, I come up short. Most of them seem to primarily rap about how good they are at rapping, or how hard things are in the ghetto. Not that there's anything wrong with either of those topics, but there must be other stuff they care about. Right now the only MC I really dig is MC Ride from Death Grips. His lyrics are abstract and chaotic, full of self-loathing at the same time as they are braggadocious. I've never come across another guy who can rap in that way. Any suggestions, or am I listening to the wrong genre?

digable planets - femme fetal


dilated peoples - proper propaganda



blackalicious - release



spearhead - it's a crime to be broke in america



deltron 3030 - love story



i have many, many more - just ask

 

[tantric]

Not to hijack the thread. But I'm trying to get into hip hop. I'm in love with the beats and the sampling style, especially DJ Premier, J Dilla, and that ilk. But every time I try to enjoy a hip hop some with actual lyrics, I come up short. Most of them seem to primarily rap about how good they are at rapping, or how hard things are in the ghetto. Not that there's anything wrong with either of those topics, but there must be other stuff they care about. Right now the only MC I really dig is MC Ride from Death Grips. His lyrics are abstract and chaotic, full of self-loathing at the same time as they are braggadocious. I've never come across another guy who can rap in that way. Any suggestions, or am I listening to the wrong genre?

Hip hop doesn't talk to your brain. It talks to your ass. Hip hop is fundamentaly dance music. It's all rhythm. Try listening to it standing up. It should be an all body experience.

I have never a clue what the words mean. Don't hear them. In hip hop the voice is just a percussion device. That's what makes it special. Listen for the rhythm!

okay no. that's funk. as george clinton said "free your mind and your ass will follow". hip-hop isn't at all dance music - techno is dance music. nudisco is dance music. now there are artists that some think of as hip-hop that are dance - moodymann, but that's really house.

moodymann lyk u use 2 (anemic dance music)



lords of acid - i sit on acid (decent dance music albeit dated)

 

[another1]

I prefer Aesop Rock over A$AP Rocky, and Wu-Tang over all these half ass rappers that can't make their own beats.

Yeah same because Aesop Rock is heady and A$AP is just painting a Godless and heroin addicted America in every song. I figure the stuff sinks in because of playing it in repetition and common sense n' all. Really negative Gangsta rap that A$AP. Luvin the Aesop when I hear it. It has much stronger meanings and roots than A$AP - which I haven't heard since 2012. He may be Mormon rap by now for all I know. Fuck the guy though.

 

[Smoker]

Riff Raff and Danny Brown rock my world

Japanese breakers Hifana are another favourite. They're a hoot

Fuck yeah, I love Riff Raff. He's a lot better than all the other white rappers out there in my opinion. I can listen to his music all day and it just makes me happy. Watch how when he comes into this song it gets a lot better.

 

[Smoker]

This is that Houston rap that is slowed down by Codeine fluid and probably other mind altering substances.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Hip hop doesn't talk to your brain. It talks to your ass. Hip hop is fundamentaly dance music. It's all rhythm. Try listening to it standing up. It should be an all body experience.

I have never a clue what the words mean. Don't hear them. In hip hop the voice is just a percussion device. That's what makes it special. Listen for the rhythm!

Fair enough. But two things. DJ Premier's instrumental jams go straight to my brain. The way he chops and slices little snippets from movie soundtracks and old jazz records, the laid back mood from the beats being ever so slightly off kilter, it all just fascinates me. And as another1 pointed out, Death Grips is not really danceable and that's kind of their appeal. MC Ride is like a crazed junkie having an out-of-body experience while running from mysterious forces in trench coats and gas masks. It hits the body, it's vulgar and visceral, but it's also thought-provoking at least to me. I'm of the opinion that any kind of music can be a vocabulary. And if hip hop is just to get your hips moving, it seems weird and arbitrary that the lyrics are so often specifically about just a handful of things, not all of which have anything to do with dancing. It's cultural and stuff, but I'm wondering if there are examples of artists who use that as a springboard to make something that's not really in the classic vein. I'll try to listen without interpreting so much next time.

I didn't say that the words can't be meaningful. But if you listen to it like you would, let's say singer songwriter songs or heavy metal, you'll miss the experience. It's rhythm first. If you listen to a guy like Riff Raff. He literally raps about nonsense. His sentences are grammatically correct. But everything is bizarrely out of context.

 

[PyramidHead]

Fair enough. But two things. DJ Premier's instrumental jams go straight to my brain. The way he chops and slices little snippets from movie soundtracks and old jazz records, the laid back mood from the beats being ever so slightly off kilter, it all just fascinates me. And as another1 pointed out, Death Grips is not really danceable and that's kind of their appeal. MC Ride is like a crazed junkie having an out-of-body experience while running from mysterious forces in trench coats and gas masks. It hits the body, it's vulgar and visceral, but it's also thought-provoking at least to me. I'm of the opinion that any kind of music can be a vocabulary. And if hip hop is just to get your hips moving, it seems weird and arbitrary that the lyrics are so often specifically about just a handful of things, not all of which have anything to do with dancing. It's cultural and stuff, but I'm wondering if there are examples of artists who use that as a springboard to make something that's not really in the classic vein. I'll try to listen without interpreting so much next time.

I didn't say that the words can't be meaningful. But if you listen to it like you would, let's say singer songwriter songs or heavy metal, you'll miss the experience. It's rhythm first. If you listen to a guy like Riff Raff. He literally raps about nonsense. His sentences are grammatically correct. But everything is bizarrely out of context.

I'll check him out. Chances are I'll still continue to prefer instrumental cuts, but that's because I mainly prefer music without lyrics anyway.

 

[another1]

To see if rap is all about rhythm to you - just listen to every track acapella first. I have uncounted acapella stuff that I used for mixing. Sometimes it makes its way into my general music's population and I don't enjoy it. Even really good rappers with actual rhythm don't sound good to me acapella. So I guess it is the rhythm for me.

Freestylers are pathetic. Aren't they? God Bless the doughy little people doing it to express themselves, but good God they are terrible. I know of very few that have impressed me. Lil Flip was Okay. Eminem is astounding, but he can afford speech therapy, and he probably has some form of mental illness that causes people to think and express themselves in rhyme naturally. Those exist. Look at Eminem. There is something wrong with him. That is easy to see. The drugs probably hindered him. He could probably be the best of all times, if not for the drugs. Instead, the drugs were played up to be his Popeye spinach power. Now you have suburban heroin addicts jamming his shit since 93, or whenever, but that is just how hip hop goes.