Hi All,

Wondering if anyone could recommend some good underground hip-hop for me. I used to be a big hip-hop head years ago (from about 87-97), but lost interest in the past 5 years as the music became to mainstream for my liking.

Anyways, I've picked up a few LP's recently that have sparked my interest again. In specific I picked up:
- prefuse 73 "One Word Extinguisher"
-rjd2 "dead ringer" & "since we last spoke"
-soul position "1 million stories"
-mf doom "mm food"
-madvillain "madvillainy"

I'm looking for stuff with nice creative beats, and some decent delivery. Not gangsta rap or the party-blig-blig stuff out now on top 40.

Any recommendations for lesser known artists worth a look ??

Thanks,
Jas

Dude...Atmosphere...

Agreed. Also, give a listen to the Heiruspecs.

these songs are pretty badass....

candy razors - j-zone, huggy bear, trip & kobayashi
bounce - non prophets

i can email you the tracks if you want, by the way

Atmosphere is the hip hop version of Dashboard Confessional...it would certainly fill your quota of self-obsessed, whiny, faux teen angst.

I'd recommend Lifesavas, Hieroglyphics, El-P and Aceyalone.

That stepfather factory album by El-P is depressing, but fucking good.

Man Thrilla your a tool, you don't even like them..

Sorry I know him...

but on to the real reason you are hear....

Along w/ Atmosphere try out Brother Ali.

Has 2 cds out, look for Shadows in the Sun.

Since youre an MF Doom fan:

Victor Vaughn -Vaudville Villain
Victor Vaughn - Venomous Villain
King Geedorah - Take Me to Your leader

Spectre

Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein

Vast Aire (half of Can ox) - Look Ma, no hands.

Aesop Rock - Anything (fucking brilliant)

The Dynospectrum

and everything listed so far.

Vontel
Chino XL
Atmosphere
There is a great song on a Nitin Sawhney where the rappin is done over very interesting beat. The song is called the Pilgrim (I think).
Also check out this gem: Gotan Project - EL CAPITALISMO FORANEO (Antipop Consortium - Kushite Remix)
Mr. Iroc
Bookie
Cut Chemist Suite

Connected By Foreign Exchange, some real mellow beats, I even liked it better than The Listening.

If you like RJD2, did you check out DJ Shadow's work yet? How bout the rest of the Quannum family? Also go through the hip-hop threads here on dvdtalk, and it's mostly good hip-hop being recommended.

Who gets wicked like SAGE DOES. Check out Sage Francis. My personal favorite.

Atmostphere has some REALLY GOOD tracks. To bad there's only a few per CD.

Also, check out Del the Funkee Homosapien.

DJ Shadow? Cut Chemist? All good ones.

Ugly Duckling has some fantastic stuff.

More big ups for Sage Francis and the group he is in with Joe Beats, the Non-Prophets.

Jurassic 5 has flirted with mainstream success, but their inventiveness and great beats make them worthy of your time.

Also, older Mos Def, Talib Kweli and Black Star (which is Mos Def + Talib) are great. I'm not so keen on their newer stuff, but they are still really good artists.

After you've checked out DJ Shadow, check into "Psyience Fiction" by UNKLE, a group that used to include Shadow + some killer contributors like Thom Yorke and Mix Master Mike.

The Streets and Dizzee Rascal are two good young artists from the UK.

Some good labels include Definitive Jux (El-P, Aesop Rock, Mr. Lif, etc ...), Rhymesayers, Quannumm (sp?) and anticon.

Oh yeah, listen to the rest of the people mentioned in this thread; that should keep you busy for awhile.

Another vote for the Streets and Del.

Not so much "underground" as "unheard of in the US", but I might suggest some english hip hop. I like some of the nice, laid-back stuff by Roots Manuva.

If you like RJD2, check out Madlib. His album "Shades of Blue" is really good.

Anything by Antipop Consortium and the solo albums by former Antipop member Beans.

This doesn't fill you specs as far as beats are concered (I like em but I know they aren't for everybody), but if you want some really though provoking lyrics check out some of The Coup's stuff. It's very pro-black & pro-revolution & very anti-"the man" (think Dead Prez but less ignorant) which can be a good or bad thing depending, but how dude crafts songs is amazing. While I don't agree with all their views, I just like listening to a rapper who is passionate about something other than bitches, bling, or gangsta shit.

Check out "Ride the Fence" & "Fat Cats, Bigger Fish" to sample some of their stuff.

Thanks for the replies all. I already had a bunch of the suggestions listed (Jurasic 5, foreign exhange, Del, etc.), but I have some new ones to add to my list.

I just ordered the soul position (love that rjd2 beats), and kool keith diesal truckers (I'm an old skool ultramagnetic fan). Soul Position is a solid 4 out of 5, while Diesal Truckers is probably a 3-3.5 out of 5. Keith still has the off-beat delivery and lyrics, but some of the beats never matched his flow.

The cool thing was, I ordered from fatbeats.com and they slapped a bunch of free ish in there as well, including a rhymesayers mix cd. I think I may try the atmospehre album next. Most of the stuff I heard from ryhsesayers was nice.

I've gotten a bunch of stuff from Def Jux, and that label is pretty hit or miss with me. The Aesop Rock album bazooka tooth was a bit of a let down considering all the hype over it on the net. Same with EL-P....just can't get into that at all. Meanwhile I really digging the RJd2 albums on def jux, as well as the last Murs album.

Keep the suggestions coming !

I like a lot of the other suggestions (Jurassic 5, Atmosphere -- hit and miss, though, Aesop Rock -- also hit and miss, Heiruspecs--saw them open for Cake, Mos Def/Talib/Blackstar, etc.), but here's a couple of others that shouldn't be overlooked:

Typical Cats (great jazz-tinged beats and semi-old school rhymes; i wouldn't put them in the same category as the older Diggable Planets, though. I like these guys better.)

The Visionaries

I'll try to think of more, if I remember that I've posted in this thread.

Slug has fallen off, his first 2 albums are his best.

Atmosphere is a duo, Slug is the MC, ANT is the producer.

Overcast! and Lucy Ford LP are your best choices. God Loves Ugly and Seven's Travels are average. Get Brother Ali's Shadows On The Sun album.

Try Murs - Murs Rules The World, if you like the production on the Foreign Exchange album/Little Brother then check out Murs's 3:16 9th edition.

CunninLynguists - Southernunderground

Mr. Lif - I Phantom

Deltron 3030 Really good delivery, no gangster shit. Just solid.

Or if you don't have Eric B and Rakim: Paid in Full, I highly recommend that one.