Hi! first post here. long time rap fan, used to produce rap music, so this is a good place to start.
I like mostly underground stuff.
some of my favorite hip hop albums are by Freestyle Fellowship.
like 'Inner City Griots'
Aceyalone's 'A Book of Human Language' is probably the best-written rap album of all time... (arguably of course) and 'All Balls Don't Bounce' is also amazing.
IMO, Myka 9 is one of the best freestyle rappers of all time, although he has yet to release anything groundbreaking on his own.
which brings me to Haiku De Tat.... anything they make is great. Jazzy, smooth, insightful, and extremely technical raps.... wonderful.
Reflection Eternal - Train of Thought
obviously Doggy Style,
EVERYTHING BY OUTKAST!
and +1 on madvillain.... and anything produced by madlib is great.
aaand unfortunately I love anything timbaland produces, even though he's literally a plagiarist.
pop is my guilty pleasure.
kanye west is a genius....
K-os is cool. not my favorite, but he's a great musician. I actually won his remix contest a while back and I'm on the cd.
probably missed a bunch.. but check some of that out!