Funky, up beat Hip Hop works for me, the sampled Boom Bap drums, interesting lead / hook samples - clever word play - fast rhymes, this is all joyous. Was difficult to distill this down to 5 but picked some that clearly stand out.
Stanley Franc
De La Soul - Me, Myself and I
'Me, Myself and I' - De La Soul - would have preferred ‘Three is the Magic Number’ but this isn’t on Spotity, tsk. Anyway, this is a single from debut Three Feet High and Rising a brilliant debut released in 1989. This is generally about the group not wanting to be considered just about an image and that their focus is music. This was the first hip hop album I owned that was consistently strong throughout and is a great listen from start to finish.
Jurassic 5 - Concrete Schoolyard
A 5 piece collective, listen to the clear difference of the different members to their approach in rhyme and difference in tone as well as the way they play off each other.
Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow
A 2 piece from California known for their complex rhymes. This is from their 2002 album of the same name, very socially aware, classic use of samples but from some pretty obscure places.
Lyrics Born - Callin Out
My brother recommended this artist to me and this happened to be the first track I randomly downloaded of his and what a belter it is, great bass line intro, drums kick in, female backing vocals and then enter the main verse - he has a great voice, interesting word play and its just so damn funky. Saw him perform at the Jazz Cafe in Camden with a full band where he absolutely slayed it.. Annoyingly my other main memory of this gig was a woman leaning over from the balcony over looking the stage and vomiting over one of the backing singers.. They were, understandably, not impressed.
RA The Rugged Man - Definition Of A Rap Flow
Comments