The General Hip-Hop Thread

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I love Run the Jewels, El-P and Killer Mike. I do think Run the Jewels has gotten gradually worse with each album tho, but the entire discography’s good. But the debut just hits different.

And when we’re talking about El-P, we can’t forget Company Flow. Funcrusher Plus is a masterpiece!

And Cannibal Ox’ “The Cold Vein”, which was entirely produced by El-P. Superb album!

There’s something really special about his mid-to-early 00’s productions. It’s got this beautiful futiristic and cinematic quality to it, without even being over the top with big, majestic elements or anything. This is what I imagine Brian Eno sounding like if he produced hip hop.

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43

Fucking Cannibal Ox! The Cold Vein is legendary! What a monument to NY hip hop. I spin this album regularly! Too bad I’m not as fond of any of their revival stuff, but I’m glad Cann O is still putting out music. For a while I was worried about Vordul…

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we UNDERSTAND UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF LOVE

cc fellow jsrf enjoyer @zeus

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45

How’d you like the new Clipse album? It’s got me in a chokehold rn.

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46

Just heard the single off of it (Chains & Whips) and it’s pretty :fire:

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it is so so good

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P.O.V, So Be It, M.T.B.T.T.F., Inglorious Bastards, and Let God Sort Em Out with Nas :folded_hands: .

Pharrell cooked and Clipse delivered.

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52

This topic started with Tyler so it’s only fitting to push his newest here.

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53

I think it’s safe to say that I’m in the minority here, but the Tyler appeal compleeeeetely fucking eludes me.

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I like his album “Flower Boy” a lot as I thought it had a unique laid back vibe and I found a lot of it incredibly catchy. I still revisit tracks from it today. “Where this flower blooms” is wonderful.

He’s pretty into video production and releases some pretty unique music videos. And I think they add a lot to his image as he carries the same energy/visuals into lives. Granted, I think this only started happening after that Flower Boy album and I’ve only seen 1 clip ever of a live performance.

He definitely also got popularity from appearing on shows. He was on something called Loiter Squad and also appeared on the Eric Andre show. Both aired on adult swim.

But that’s enough about him. Who you listening to these days CAT5?

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55

I’m not big into hip-hop but when the mood strikes, I usually gravitate towards stuff like this

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56

Any Saul Williams fans?

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Thanks for sharing your experience with Tyler. I’m glad that you’ve found some angles at which you can engage with his music.

Personally, I’ve tried to give Tyler a fair shake, but everything about him just reeks of the kind of gentrified hip-hop that pitchfork loves to push, and I simply cannot get behind it.

As for what I’ve been listening to? Hip-hop wise, the last thing to leave a major impression on me was Killer Mike’s “MICHEAL” from 2023.

This album pretty much became my life soundtrack at one point and got me through a lot of hard work days.

As a black man at damn near 40 years old, I found the subject matter explored on this album to be very relatable. Killer Mike actually has some real shit to say, and that’s a lot more important to me at this stage in my life than just listening to some random n!gga brandish his bravado (altho i like that shit, too).

Mike is not the most lyrical MC around, but his bars tend to hold a lot of weight.

Sound and style-wise, this album strikes a very specific chord for me, as it hearkens back to a time in Altanta hip hop (and the south in general), that I feel has been largely lost in the modern hip-hop landscape, yet it’s still modern enough to be appreciated as more than just a nod to the the past. You can hear the careful thought that went into production. And unlike a lot of modern stuff, I feel the production is actually soulful and uplifting. Props to mike for using actial singers btw.

I can continue to sing this album’s praises, but suffice it to say that this is an album that I’ve been actively living to for going on 2 years now.

As for other stuff, I just been enjoying random tracks here and there.

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I fell down a fucking rabbit hole. Send help.

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Can’t argue with that. That’s a 100% accurate take.

I’ll give MIKE a playthrough sometime! Thanks for sharing your experience with it and getting personal. I gave Run The Jewels a listen and his work in that group, although solid, wore off quite quickly for me. Perhaps his solo work will hit differently! Always love hearing what you’re listening to CAT5.

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No one asked but I can’t get enough of WDFA nerd rap. We made it 55 posts before I brought up Trap Ketchum. It was inevitable.

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Is it an accurate take, though!?!? I don’t think I’ve seen any negative talk about the new Tyler, and I can’t say that I see much negative talk about Tyler in general to be honest (outside of my wife :joy: ).

Sometimes I wonder if I’m just old, stuck in my ways, and just can’t keep up or connect to a lot of the current trends in hip hop, or if my views on the matter actually do hold water and the industry truly has gone to shit. :joy:

And yeah, I can understand RTJ wearing off after a while. I mostly listen to some of their stuff in very specific contexts - like working out or playing a fighting game. I found that I could listen to Micheal in a more variety of ways, though.

What else have you been into?

I been bumping these 2 tracks a lot these past few days:

Looking forward to his upcoming album next month, which incidentally, Killer Mike is also gonna be featured on….so I’m very curious about that!

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Any love for 80’s hip hop here? I am, like most other older hip hop fans, a huge fan of 90’s hip hop, especially the first half of the 90’s. But I have always been more drawn towards 80’s hip hop and it is by far the decade I’m most into.

Public Enemy, Run DMC, Ice-T, Eric B & Rakim, Ultramagnetic MCs, LL Cool J, Boogie Down Productions, De La Soul, Slick Rick, N.W.A., Beastie Boys, The D.O.C., Big Daddy Kane, EPMD, Cool G Rap, Jungle Brothers, MC Lyte, Schoolly D, Geto Boys, Eazy E, Stetsasonic, Biz Markie, Marley Marl, Too Short, MC Shan, Kool Moe Dee, Whodini, Kurtis Blow, Fet Boys etc. I could go on forever I think. The entire decade is filled with fantastic albums that’s more or less perfect from beginning to end.

But like I said, I am also a huge fan of the 90’s. I personally think the 90’s Memphis scene is incredibly overlooked and underrated. I didn’t discover this scene until some years ago when Joel Grind of toxic holocaust fame released a Memphis mixtape, so I was late to the party. But as soon as I heard the classics from the scene I just knew this was for me. Dark, morbid, raw and mean, not to mention innovative. They really had their unique thing going, and the traditional Memphis albums sounds like nothing else released in the 90’s (or later really). Awesome stuff!

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I’d say so!! You’re right about him being popular on music sites and just with the youth in general. I mean, the guy has his own clothing line that young people are waiting at home in front of their computers to buy and everything sells out. I’m not so into his recent stuff but I also haven’t really followed him after his last few releases.

I think it’s a mix. Modern media is always finding new lows to sink to. But that also doesn’t mean there aren’t popular artists in the mainstream who have something interesting or impactful to say.

I haven’t been able to keep up with new music these days, but in the rap genre I’ve really enjoyed Denzel Curry and Freddie Gibbs.

Denzel Curry used to go real hard on trap and hardcore hiphop, which I loved, but he’s mellowed out quite wonderfully and pulled out gems like Walkin:

I’ve really liked Freddie Gibbs collab with The Alchemist. Their album Alfredo has a classy and stylish laid-back vibe. Gibbs’s flow over The Alchemist’s beats is incredibly smooth.

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Oh I’ve heard some Lecrae back in the day! A gourmet serving of holy hiphop lol. Oh that’s funny! Not a collab I would’ve expected but that does sound interesting!

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