The Golden Days of Hip Hop

[quote]Higher Game wrote:
You can blame Master P for leading to the garbage called “Crunk” and bringing down Hip-Hop. Gangsta rap is underrated, actually, golden age stuff is good, but after 97 or so, the whole thing went bad.

Interestingly, rap’s history is very similar to black metal’s. They both had good stuff in the 80’s, controversial good stuff in the early 90’s, and both died in the mid 90’s or so.[/quote]

My World My Way by Silkk the Shocker is one of my favrite CDs. And Master P didn’t have much to do with Crunk. He’s from New Orleans and Crunk came out of Atlanta. I like Crunk music a lot, mostly because it’s fun, party-based you know. And it’s got real heavy beats you can get hyped to and bounce around before you lift or before a game. I like it but it’s a taste thing.

I like lots of rap, but not much of that Hyphy stuff that kids in Sacramento used to blast reppin’ the Bay when they never really been there for more than a couple days

[quote]Higher Game wrote:
You can blame Master P for leading to the garbage called “Crunk” and bringing down Hip-Hop. Gangsta rap is underrated, actually, golden age stuff is good, but after 97 or so, the whole thing went bad.

Interestingly, rap’s history is very similar to black metal’s. They both had good stuff in the 80’s, controversial good stuff in the early 90’s, and both died in the mid 90’s or so.[/quote]

97 was more or less the end for me. Tupac and Biggie were dead, and I bought Wu-Tang Forever, without having heard any of the tracks, listened to it all the way through once and never again. Stopped watching rap videos too, cause most were just softcore porn with a really shitty sound track.

Good stuff still comes along every now and then, but I don’t keep up.

Primo beat w/ Rakim, KRS1, Nas, & K.West … I’m just glad that Mr. West has the first verse so we can get him out of the way …

On this topic I just watched this and this the damned funniest thing I seen all night

[quote]skaz05 wrote:
Xylene wrote:
True, but Eazy-E use to be a big drug-dealer in their area.

:slight_smile:

Eazy-E was the greatest rapper that ever lived. [/quote]

I think Tupac was the greatest that ever lived.

[quote]Ghost22 wrote:
texasguy1 wrote:
Freaky Styley wrote:
texasguy1 wrote:

I was recently clued into the fact that there’s a difference between “rap” and hip-hop.

Rap is that mind-numbing shit you hear at the bars and clubs.

Hip-hop requires actual skill.

That’s how it was told to me, at least. [/quote]

That is an accurate statement. Rap is essentially half singing and half talking fast with no flow to it. Hip-hop needs skills and sounds much better, even without the music in the background.

[quote]texasguy1 wrote:
Hip Hop had a golden age?[/quote]

Yeah, I would say the golden age of hip-hop was from the founding fathers of rap/hip-hop in the early eighties (Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, Kool Mo Dee, etc.) and ended when Biggie and Tupac were killed (1996-1997).

Pretty much everything after that time frame (last 10 years) hasn’t been so good. In fact, no one has even been close or even been compared to either Biggie or Tupac. Jay-Z has been probably been the closest in terms of status, but in terms of rapping is highly debatable.

[quote]tmoney1 wrote:
texasguy1 wrote:
Hip Hop had a golden age?

Yeah, I would say the golden age of hip-hop was from the founding fathers of rap/hip-hop in the early eighties (Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, Kool Mo Dee, etc.) and ended when Biggie and Tupac were killed (1996-1997).

Pretty much everything after that time frame (last 10 years) hasn’t been so good. In fact, no one has even been close or even been compared to either Biggie or Tupac. Jay-Z has been probably been the closest in terms of status, but in terms of rapping is highly debatable.[/quote]

Talib Kweli and Common instantly come to mind, as does Nas.

[quote]JokerFMJ wrote:
Talib Kweli and Common instantly come to mind, as does Nas.[/quote]

I really like Kweli’s Get By. The song is good as a stand-alone, but the visuals of the city (Brooklyn, I think?) in the video are great.

There are still plenty of talented hip hop artists out there.

Some of his stuff is too “clubby” for me, but Jay-Z has one of the best flows of all time. I feel this way about Ludacris too, some of his tracks are stupid but some are ridiculous. Eminem is good as a rapper but lyrically maybe better than anyone out there in terms of covering such a broad spectrum and taking on so many different topics.

Apart from those mainstream artists, guys like Talib Kweli and Mos Def can kill it. I saw Lupe Fiasco live and I think he’s a rising star. Last but not least I’d put Immortal Technique up against anybody out there. Great style and packs a lyrical punch and actually has something to say.

Hip Hop’s still very much alive, you just have to look a little harder to find it maybe.

[quote]jtrinsey wrote:
There are still plenty of talented hip hop artists out there.

Some of his stuff is too “clubby” for me, but Jay-Z has one of the best flows of all time. I feel this way about Ludacris too, some of his tracks are stupid but some are ridiculous. Eminem is good as a rapper but lyrically maybe better than anyone out there in terms of covering such a broad spectrum and taking on so many different topics.

Apart from those mainstream artists, guys like Talib Kweli and Mos Def can kill it. I saw Lupe Fiasco live and I think he’s a rising star. Last but not least I’d put Immortal Technique up against anybody out there. Great style and packs a lyrical punch and actually has something to say.

Hip Hop’s still very much alive, you just have to look a little harder to find it maybe.[/quote]

Man, I don’t know how I forgot Lupe Fiasco. That’s one of my faves, and I don’t know why “Kick Push” wasn’t a bigger hit.

[quote]JokerFMJ wrote:
tmoney1 wrote:
texasguy1 wrote:
Hip Hop had a golden age?

Yeah, I would say the golden age of hip-hop was from the founding fathers of rap/hip-hop in the early eighties (Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, Kool Mo Dee, etc.) and ended when Biggie and Tupac were killed (1996-1997).

Pretty much everything after that time frame (last 10 years) hasn’t been so good. In fact, no one has even been close or even been compared to either Biggie or Tupac. Jay-Z has been probably been the closest in terms of status, but in terms of rapping is highly debatable.

Talib Kweli and Common instantly come to mind, as does Nas.[/quote]

Yeah, good call on Common. Chi-town’s finest.

[quote]JokerFMJ wrote:
tmoney1 wrote:
texasguy1 wrote:
Hip Hop had a golden age?

Yeah, I would say the golden age of hip-hop was from the founding fathers of rap/hip-hop in the early eighties (Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, Kool Mo Dee, etc.) and ended when Biggie and Tupac were killed (1996-1997).

Pretty much everything after that time frame (last 10 years) hasn’t been so good. In fact, no one has even been close or even been compared to either Biggie or Tupac. Jay-Z has been probably been the closest in terms of status, but in terms of rapping is highly debatable.

Talib Kweli and Common instantly come to mind, as does Nas.[/quote]

Lets not forget about Mos Def and the work he did with Talib in Blackstar.

One of my favorite songs to just cool out to: Mos Def, Talib Kweli & Common - Respiration - YouTube

The GZA’s ‘Liquid Swords’ is easily the greatest hip-hop album ever.

Hip-hop wizardry.

If anybody else listens to other genres of music, do you guys seperate your music into real and fake?

It’s so stupid breaking rap music into hip-hop and rap. If a rap song comes out and you don’t like it either say you don’t like it or it sucks, it’s not a whole other form of music. There’s no fucking hip-hop culture. I don’t need to wear baggy pants to listen to rap, nor do I need it to rap.

I had a blast with a lot of the lesser known artists. I’m from the Netherlands, and grew up with ‘villa 65’ and ‘hip-hop 120 on kink fm’. I got all the underground stuff on these radio shows, stuff I sometimes couln’t even buy on vinyl records. Some names that come to mind:
-el-p (just came out with a real good record this year)
-non phixion
-showbiz & AG
-mr. complex
-Sir menelik
-Godfather Don
-Masterminds

When they stopped with these radio shows hip-hop didn’t die for me (it never will), but god I miss these shows. I’m now sentenced to buying CD’s.

We’re on the Wu kick so here you go. A Wu subsidiary. Loved these fucking guys.

There is most definitely still good hip hop music being created. A lot of the guys have been mentioned here. Mos Def, Common, Outkast, Kanye West, MF DOOM, Ghostface Killah, Dead Prez, The Roots, Nas, Jay-Z, Little Brother, 9th Wonder, some of the newer guys, Skyzoo, Saigon, Lupe Fiasco the list goes on. Hip Hop sales are down but it is most definitely not dead. Name me a genre that the sales aren’t down.

I’m listening to Lupe Fiasco’s Food and Liquor right now. It’s freakin’ brilliant.

I’ll have to check out Little Brother, 9th Wonder, Skyzoo and Saigon… Thanks for the heads up meangenes.

I’m always looking for new quality hip hop artists. And people who say hip hop suck have never heard quality hip hop in my opinion.

One more artist that I really like that isn’t that well known is Aesop Rock. His stuff is great.