Favorite rappers/rap groups/rap songs?

[Forum Refugee]

My favorite rap group is Bone Thugs N Harmony, and not just because I'm from Cleveland. They're just heads and shoulders above anyone else I've heard, both as a group and each member individually. Their speed is of course the first thing most people will notice about them--all four (really five) members are tongue-blisteringly fast--but within that they use these sophisticated phrasings and polyrhythms and clever internal rhymes. I tend to like my rap over-the-top violent, and they deliver on that front as well, while avoiding rapping about women and sex, which happens to be something I don't like in my rap, so it's a double-win.

Even though I got into Bone Thugs embarrassingly late (just a couple years ago, I'm ashamed to say), their rap puts me right back in my teenage years, cruising through East Cleveland late at night with my friends, doing things we shouldn't have been doing, going to corners we shouldn't have been going to, acquiring substances we shouldn't have been acquiring. Ahh, those were the good old days.

One critique I'll bet many people have of Bone Thugs is that their beats are cheesy. Although this critique just isn't true for some of their well-known songs--"Thuggish Ruggish Bone", "Thug Luv", and "Notorious Thugs" have beats that are as iconic and hard-hitting as anything out there--I'll admit a lot of their songs do have some...counterintuitive things going on in the instrumental side. For example, "Shoot'em Up". But, what I actually like about this aspect of their music is that these gentle soft beats accentuate the violence and menace of the lyrics. Somehow it works perfectly.

There are other rappers I like a lot, but rather than write more paragraphs about them I'll ask you: who are your favorite rappers/rap groups? What are some of your favorite rap songs?

And as a bonus: have you incorporated any elements of rap into the stuff you play on your guitar?

 

[brookdalebill]

Uh, I got nothin’.

 

[1guy]

I'ma big fan of the ol school late 80s, early 90s stuff...Run Dmc, PE, BDP, Kane, EPMD, Doug E Fresh and Slick Rick..lots more...NEVER like Bone Thugs..

I HAD to learn the riffs to King of Rock and Rockbox... although a rap song, the riff was/is hella heavy.

 

[radtz]

After all these years I'm finally over the Hip Hop take over from hair metal I like some of that early stuff. Run DMC comes to mind.

 

[Engine Swap]

 

[radtz]

All but Kris Kross. I draw the line there. Hard no on Kris Kross.

 

[Dostradamas]

I like my rap music as I like my bagels, Hebrew, plain white, and from Brooklyn.

 

[Vegetable Man]

I mean the classics are still good.

Kendrick Lamar and Tyler the Creator are probably my favorite out of the more current artists.

 

[dreamingtele]

I grew up in the 90's and listened to quite a few rappers back then.. my favorite is also Bone Thugs.. I also listened to Tupac, but he's a bit too raw, and up your face, I guess its probably that big burly voice..

another few that pops up in my mind is N.W.A, B.I.G, Coolio..

I always have to take a breather after listening to these rap acts.. I feel like there's so much hate in the system.. but growing up outside USA, and my teenager mind, I couldnt really relate to it all, I was just listening because the music sounds cool, but really I couldnt understand half of the words anyway and Id have to have a lyric sheet in front of me. LOL

then again, those times, I was purely into alternative rock (Gin Blossoms, Nine Days, RHCP, Weezer, etc) so the bulk of my listening were mostly guitar driven songs and albums.. it was only when Im growing tired and I wanted to have something different to listen to. hehe

 

[Dostradamas]

After all these years I'm finally over the Hip Hop take over from hair metal I like some of that early stuff. Run DMC comes to mind.

As I said about South Park when it appeared on my scope.

"This will never last.."

I could not have been more wrong about both

 

[naneek]

I don't like mainstream rap. But I love the unique regional local underground artists in alabama and the SF bay area. I grew up with bay area hip hop.

I love alabama artists because their lyrical traditions and song structures come straight from delta blues, and you can hear it clearly. A lot of songs by artists in Pratt City Alabama still use the classic delta blues song structure, including repeating the first line twice.

I love bay area rap because it's totally unique. It's very political, very philosophical, it might not rhyme as obviously, or it might have a much more complex rhyme scheme or song structure, and it always has a sense of humor to it.

bay area rap traditions come originally from jazz and social clubs, where people were rapping in spoken word to jazz music since the mid 40s with topic ranging from hard times and adversity, to partying, to politics.

That gradually evolved into oakland funk, which often had deeply political spoken word vocals and focused a lot on hard times and what people had to do to get by, but also glorifying the unique culture that resulted from that (and you can see that picked up by the gangster rappers). That led to a lot of guitar in bay area rap.

Then as hip hop came onto the scene in the late 70s and early 80s the bay area was early to pick that up and run with it.

Honestly I don't want to post a bunch of little known local underground artists whose music is very personal to me, in front of what is likely a hostile audience here on the telecaster forum (prove me wrong lol).

But here's a classic by e-40, I think people will see the political intent, lyrical complexity, humor, and quality of the production. Note the guitar tracks.

\

there's also a connection between the traditions of delta blues, alabama rap and bay area rap. Many of the black families in san francisco came from the south for work in the ports and shipyards and brought their musical traditions with them.

 

[Engine Swap]

 

[ahiddentableau]

Old school I've got a soft spot for Public Enemy. I think my favs are really conventional though. Tribe Called Quest. The Roots. Outkast. Outkast especially. They are always surprising. Lots of different influences going on. B.O.B. is the greatest rap track ever.

I guess those acts are old now, too. So it goes.

 

[Engine Swap]

 

[TeleBluesMan]

I know this because it samples "Stop" from the Super Session album by Mike Bloomfield & Al Kooper:

 

[1guy]

All but Kris Kross. I draw the line there. Hard no on Kris Kross.

Sheeeeid, Kriss Kross got 2 BANGERS..

Tonight's the Night samples Faze-o's Riding High for a super smooth flow.



Warm it Up Kriss is just a cool track

I like my rap music as I like my bagels, Hebrew, plain white, and from Brooklyn.

These cats are just FONKY beyond belief!!

I think I need to learn the riff to No Sleep til Brooklyn

 

[markal]

I'ma big fan of the ol school late 80s, early 90s stuff...Run Dmc, PE, BDP, Kane, EPMD, Doug E Fresh and Slick Rick..lots more...NEVER like Bone Thugs..

I HAD to learn the riffs to King of Rock and Rockbox... although a rap song, the riff was/is hella heavy.

Same here. I especially like Public Enemy and a Tribe Called Quest. To be honest, I don’t pay attention to hip hop these days but I’ve occasionally found one on a Spotify list that I like.

I have not patience for the misogyny, wealth glorification, and violence, and I haven’t put any effort toward sifting past that stuff to find more interesting artists. Maybe this thread will help me!

 

[Knows3Chords]

What? No love for Slim Shady? I admit I don't care for most rap, but there has been some that I liked. I guess. KRS One comes to mind.

 

[radtz]

Sheeeeid, Kriss Kross got 2 BANGERS..

Tonight's the Night samples Faze-o's Riding High for a super smooth flow.



Warm it Up Kriss is just a cool track





These cats are just FONKY beyond belief!!

I think I need to learn the riff to No Sleep til Brooklyn

Hard. No.

 

[Red Ryder]

Uh, I got nothin’.

I think we can go with the original rapper Bob Dylan and Subterranean Homesick Blues.