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Not enough Del in here… 
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I knew I could count on you. 
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Sorry, couldn’t help myself.
I’m a prick
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It’s all good. Haha. I can take it.
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Aesop Rock is kind of the reason why I fell head over heels for hip-hop in the first place. I always loved poetry and rhythm. I studied poetry and Middle Eastern and African percussion and was on the Dallas poetry slam team. I liked hip-hop but never really jumped into it full force because it always felt too aggressive/gangster for my tastes (at the time). Then someone turned me on to Labor Days, Float, and Bazooka Tooth. Yeah, all of a sudden, my world was rocked. Here was a real poet/lyricist the likes of Shakespeare and Wordsworth and Whitman but with a New York swagger and interesting production. I was hooked. I had always kinda rapped on the side but never with a serious passion or anything, just for fun. But after getting into Aesop and then soon after, MF DOOM, there was no looking back.
Percee P, I didn’t hear about until I was fully into the culture and studying it like it was my major in college. I picked up his 30 year in the making debut album because it was released on my favorite label (at the time) Stones Throw. I dug it but didn’t really come to appreciate him fully until I saw him live at the 2006 Adult Swim sponsered tent show in Austin at SXSW which ended up being filmed and put on the Chrome Children 2 DVD. That show was bonkers. Aloe Blacc sang, rapped, and played the trumpet, Then Roc C (with Oh No as a special guest), Then Oh No, Then Dudley Perkins, Guilty Simpson, MED, Percee P (who was incredible live), Madlib, PB Wolf, and then MF DOOM/Madlib. JRocc hosted it and did some DJ sets in between. They were handing out early promo singles from Donuts at the show. This was just after his passing. If you watch the DVD, you can see me (whipping my long ass hair back and forth and freak dancing on my date) on the thirdish row. It’s a shame Percee never got to really shine that much. He was already pretty old by the time he finally released his debut. I remember one other album but I haven’t heard from him since.
Guilty Simpson has had some hit or miss periods throughout his career but there’s always a gem or two on every album. Can’t wait to hear the one that’s fully Dilla production. He’s also surprisingly chill and kind for being such a gangbanger on the mic.
Killer Mike also deserves an honorable mention here, as does Big Boi, who never gets shine because Andre is everyone’s favorite.
Tobe Nwigwe is cold too. Mayhem Lauren. Rome Streets. Stove God Cooks.
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No love for Clipping.
I don’t generally listen to rap. I don’t usually enjoy the music production. I feel like so much of it same same with different lyrics over the top. With that said, I really like clipping. The production is more electronic sounding and experimental. Their videos are fun too.
Here’s a live one
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I shouted them out fam. But good looking out.
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ya beat me to it @Funk_Illuminati i was also gonna pop in to mention them Griselda boys. they got me all the way back into boombap, im real big into conway, benny the butcher and mach-hommy right now.
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Dig your picks. No surprise there. One thing that came to mind though after reading your thoughts on Immortal Technique, and that’s his performance at the 2006 Rock The Bells show in The D (Detroit not Dallas).
I had missed the RTB Dallas show because I was in Scandinavia for a tour. When I got back my partner at the time surprised me with a pair of tickets to the Detroit show. So, picture this, I have just returned from Scandinavia after spending nearly half a year on tour. I’m extremely jetlagged and exhausted. The day I get back, I have to help my father and partner move house (within the city of Denton Texas) and as soon as the move is done, my partner and I take turns in shifts driving her car to Detroit. FLATTEST DRIVE EVER. Looking back, it’s amazing I survived the drive there, much less the ride back.
However, it was well worth the trouble. The biggest disappointment was that MF DOOM didn’t show up. Supposedly, he had been sending out his hype man as an imposter in a DOOM mask who was just lip syncing his flows. Lolol.
The second biggest disappointment was Tech. He was such a sexist prick I couldn’t be a fan anymore even though I owned both of his CD’s and put him on the same tier as Dead Prez whom I love. Afterwards, I used his discs as coasters for a while and then threw them away. Seriously, f*$# that tiny little p*#ck
The highlights of the show included Nas, Pharoahe Monch with a live band, People Under The Stairs played a cool set. The Grouch and Eligh were superb. Wu-Tang took top prize away from Pharoahe though. At the Dallas Show I missed, two of the best members of the clan were absent, GZA and Meth. They were all there for the D. Even ODB’s oldest son, who rapped Shimmy Shimmy Ya with the whole audience singing along.
My favorite memory from the show was when Meth told the crowd to bumrush the VIP seating. I’ve never seen people move so fast. Meth was on FIRE that night too. Wu Tang is for the babies!
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That’s what she said.
I get this but I still think he’s trailer trash Paul Wall. I’ll take PW any day. Best cracker on the mic? Prolly EL-P or Aesop Rock. Maybe The Grouch. Maybe me. Gimme a few years to get the albums out and then judge.
Eminem can certainly rap his ass off, that much is super obvious, but too me, he’s super overrated. His first two albums bang but only a few times each IMO. Shock value humor raps just don’t do it for me. It might be kinda funny at first but once the shock value wears off, it’s not clever or funny anymore and it’s just sad to see someone who is trying so hard to prove that he’s not a homosexual that he sounds like a closeted homosexual. Nothing wrong with gay BTW, but own it maybe, yahming? Maybe I’m just a hater.
As far as speed and annunciation on the speedy delivery, Em is hard to beat. Only a handful of cats that can rap that fast and stay understandable. These include but are not necessarily limited to: Twista, Tech 9, Myka 9, Busta, Wheezy, Krazyie Bone, Dizzie Rascal, Wiley, Tonedeff, and myself. JID, Cole, and Kung Fu Kenny can all rip pretty fast too when they want to.
Oh and that New Braunfels dude, Crucified but he just sounds like mumble f#$kery cause he’s going too fast.
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This thread sent me down a major youtube rabbit hole!
A.G
Tragedy Khadafi
Craig Mack
Raekwon
ODB
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Anyone who lists ODB is a true head.
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Oh and speaking of pricks, and white rappers! I feel like a prick for forgetting Mac Miller, who deserves to be in the conversation as one of the best white spitters of all time. I also didn’t mention any of the Beastie Boys. Where is my mind? A pixie must have slipped in my head and taken it.
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Track is fire; skip to 2:55 for Jeru the Damaja:
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Continuing the discussion from Favorite Rapper and Why is it MF Doom?:
If I’m being completely honest though, and that’s the plan, MF DOOM probably influenced the way I write Hip-hop more than anyone else. That King Geedorah tape is forever rotation. As is Mmmm FOOD. Madvilliany might be the greatest rap record ever made. And the first Viktor Vaughn tape is flawless and effortless. Man was magic incarnate.
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