im looking for some really good hiphop lyrical music.

and please dont reply 50cent "candy shop" or anything like that.

some really good "underground" lyrical work hiphop.
something really good to listen to with a good style.

 

I don't know about underground... but The Roots have always been pretty good in my book...

 

What do u listen to now?

 

Well, good lyrical work can be really subjective. Lyrical in what way? Like "Conscious" raps, playful wordplay, poetic/spoken word stuff, etc...

Most non hip-hop folks seem to always like stuff from the Quannum label (quannum.com). I'd recommend a dude from my college town Davis/Sacramento called "Lyrics Born" He's a pretty well-rounded rapper and easy to digest.....one of my favorites, can't go wrong. Start with his older stuff from the album "Latyrx".

 

Did you say lyrics?

I am a 31 year old who grew up as a hip-hop head in the Los Angeles area. I have been listening to hip-hop since the early 80's. As an artist I grew up with an airbrush tagging everyones clothes in school with graffiti.

Let me tell you something, listen close. If you want lyrics these are artists you must check out.

Canibus - to hell with what people say about the beats on his albums. He is a lyrical genius. Buy "Mic Club" and listen to "Poet Leauriet" (or however he spells it). There are several hot tracks on this album. Also check out Can-I-Bus, and 2000 B.C.

KRS-1 - OMG one of the dopest MC's of all time. If he is ever performing in your area GO SEE HIM. He is off the charts. He gets extra credit just for ripping Nelly. Find albums that DJ Premier did work on. Go back and find old Boogie Down Productions stuff. If you are studying lyrics Kris is a must!

Kool-G-Rap - another Hip Hop great. Get his older stuff and find albums were he had guest appearances. He helped raise the hip-hop lyric bar.

Rakim - The GOD! What can we say about Rakim? A pioneer, an intellect, had one of the dopest flows of his time. Go back and cop his stuff too.

Biggie aka Notorios BIG - he aint called the greatest of all time for nothin. His two first albums were the hottest IMO. 10 Crack commandments, Unbelievable, Who Shot Ya? Biggie is truely missed.

Nas - even if you arent into Nas these days, his very first album was mind blowing. A classic. He always was doper than Jay-Z.

If you want newer undergound stuff check out Jedi Mind Tricks, Immortal Technique, also Jurassic 5 is cool, Dialated Peoples too. The Roots are dope, I like their early stuff. Thats all I can think of for now, but of course there are a lot of dope MC's out there, if I think of more I'll reply again.

I know these may not all be technically considered underground, but if you are at the store you shuold be able to find these fairly easily. Oh yeah I always did like Jeru The Damaja!

 

If you know hiphop, then you might think I'm crazy for suggesting Camron and his Dipset stuff. Dude is so out there that he's gotta know what he's doing. If you really look at his lyrics, its as if it's a calculated bananas style....hahah

Oh, and if you like crazy stuff, try Kool Keith/ Ultramagnetic MCs...that dude is LYRICAL...hahahaha

 

hell yeah Kool Keith rules!

 

^ = good stuff.. Adding to the list above: Deltron 3030, Hieroglyphics, Living Legends, A Tribe Called Quest, Pharcyde, Blackalicious, and Mos Def. On the deep under theres Abstract Rude, Grouch, Scarub (SoCals undergrounders), and many more... + tons & tons more that weren't named.

 

Sage Francis! His flow kind of sucks but he's an amazing lyricist.

 

2 words...Little Brother. Check out their latest CD "The Minstrel Show". I have not gotten tired of this album yet...it's that dope. Lyrcis for days on that album. By far my favorite album of '05. Also check out Planet Asia (his older stuff was dope), Kev Brown, Zion I, 2Mex, Danger Doom (a little strange and crazy but dope none the less), I can go on...

 

Though i don't categorize my rap into underground or commercial, one of my favorite artists in terms of wordplay and lyrics would be Big L. A lot of the real heads who go back to the breakbeats and DITC days would definitely agree with me. I consider him more hardcore than underground, but then again, I don't categorize my music. Whatever's good is good.

And yes KRS-One will school your **** no matter if you graduated from Harvard or MIT.

If you want more just give me a PM even tho I've past my rap/hip-hop days. I'm pretty deep on this stuff.

Vince.

 

WoW! awsome. i didnt expect to get so many responces with so many people/albums to check out.
thanks to all of you.

a few of the more main stream people i like is Jay Z, mos def, Xzibits older stuff. he is pretty good most of the time and i can listen to him without getting annoyed (i.e. Yinyang twins, Lil John....)
i listen to alot of rock music. but for some reason i love hearing really good flowing hip hop with smart lyrics. not the same old "BLING BLING" "G-unit" and that freak of nature Lil john! that get really really old.
that just has no style unless your in a night club.

 

Big L is definitely one of the best lyrical artist of his time...there are so many variations of underground hip hop that its kind of hard to see what you like. You have indie rap which has really come up strong all over the US...labels such as Rhymsayers featuring Atmosphere(Slug), Eyedea & Abilties, Sole etc, then you have Def Jux with Aesop Rock, Mr. Lif, etc...I wont go on naming anymore cause I will be here forever, but if you are interested in some stuff shoot me a PM...I have a really big library of underground hip hop.

 

Check out "Draped Up" by Bun B. he's on the rise in H-Town

 

I'm going to second R2D2 on Hieroglyphics!!!!

 

Heiro is good because when broken into individual artists, they are all on point...Pep Love and Del both have had success on their solo careers. "Trinity Lost" by Pep Love has got to be one of my favorite songs

 

If you're looking for "underground" (i.e. stuff that doesn't sell...hahaha), IMO, the "undergound" kinda peaked in the late 90s and kinda dried out. I guess there's still some good stuff coming out here and there....

I'm not big into Anticon/Emo-raps kinda stuff. In fact most of that stuff is annoying as hell....although, I can dig the last album from Edan. Edan seems to have a good following of dudes transistiong from rock to hip-hop..

If you like smart/funny raps, try MC Paul Barman!

Uh, let's seee.....what do you know about Grime music from England? Have you heard of Lady Sovereign? Try downloading "Random" She is pretty cool. Check her if you wanna hear something new and different....

For smart lyrics, you can also check out Saul Williams. Not typical rap, more like spoken word, and there's some out-there beats too....

That's all the non-commercial stuff I can think of right now, but don't totally rule out the commercial stuff either!

 

Three Six Mafia - Slang n Serve (really killer lyrics)

 

I thought I was the only one who listened to MC Paul Barman back when. I watched him perform back when he was still on the DL. Isn't he part of Project Blowed?

 

Theres plenty of others that I like from the east coast you would probably enjoy if your not down with Rhymsayers such as...Brooklyn Academy, **** Peddlers, The Weathermen, Non Phixion, Akrobatik, 7L & Esoteric, Jedi Mind Tricks, The High & Mighty, Virtuoso...O.C, Big L, Diamond D (all from the D.I.T.C. crew), Cannibal Ox, Shabaahm Sadeeq.
I like some West Coast stuff to...gotta love the album "The Platform" (Dilated), J5, Planet Asia, Cali Agents etc.