saint.panda
Headphoneus Supremus
I second The Roots since it is a fairly uncontroversial recommendation and a good entry into hip hop. They are an authority in the respected hip hip business and "Things Fall Apart" is probably their most popular album with the famous Erykah Badu feature. Personally, I really like "do you want more?!!!??!" which makes stronger use of real instruments and has some jazzy elements in it as well. Anybody who doubts the musical abilities of these people should listen to track 11. In any case, "Things Fall Apart" should be a good introduction to hip hop. The Roots is my most favourite hip hop group and I encourage you to try out some samples from this CD sometime.
Same goes for Mos Def and the other members around Rawkus Records such as Talib Kweli. Mos Def's "Black on Both Sides" would be the one look out for. Talib Kweli's "Eternal Reflection" and his collaboration with Mos Def on "Black Star" are also very good ones. Rawkus has a very modern sound with extremely cool beats. If you're afraid of monotonous and boring beats, then check out something by these people, especially the newer realeases.
I'll also second the recommendation for De La Soul's "Three Feet and Rising". They were the first to experiment with soul and jazz as early as 1989.
Depending on what musical areas you come from, there's a lot of hip hop with certain types of musical influences which you might like. Rock with hip hop has been pretty popular lately (The Root's "Phrenology" album takes a direction towards rock music just like Mos Def's latest "New Danger") but there's also a lot of hip hop with jazz elements such as represented by Guru Jazzmatazz (he even collaborated with Herbie Hancock for the track "Timeless") or Gangstarr (which is basically Guru and DJ Premier). Outkast can be pretty funky and is always a good choice for extremely entertaining hip hop. There are also a lot of hybrids between hip hop and electronic music. Of course, a lot has been done betwen hip hop and soul or RnB music. Really a lot to choose from.
Then there's also the serious type of hip hop which focus more strongly on things like societal critique. The earliest one is Public Enemy's "It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back" (1988). Immortal Technique goes into a similar direction but is much newer with this "Revolutionary Vol. 1" and " (...) Vol.2". I don't really care for this kind of hip hop but it's got a big audience.
Just to throw a couple of famous recordings into the mix:
Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang Clan (their most influential album even though "Wu-Tang Forever might have been more succesful; I find Wu-Tang to be a boring but ymmv)
Nas - Illmatic (His debut which he was never able to top; very conventional hip hop; overhyped in my opinion but good nonetheless)
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - E. 1999 Eternal (uses RnB elements; it's nothing great imo)
Brand Nubian - One for all (1990)
Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (an...acquired taste but no doubt that these people have a lot of energy)
Eminem - Marshall Mathers LP (controversial person but I like his music and this is his best album imo)
Arrested Development - 3years, 5months & 2days in the.. (uses influences from African music)
Common - Be (Common along with Mos Def, Talib Kweli and The Roots used to define the term 'Conscious MCs'; he's made some classics in the mid 90s but this one is his best imo; positive music and it's either produced or at least strongly influenced by Kanye West)
Kanye West - College Dropout (a bit poppish but I like his style a lot; this guy definately knows how to entertain and this is an extremely well-executed album. Uses some soul elements, too. He is a much better producer than rapper however)
My personal problem with hip hop is that I can hardly finish a track without fast forwarding or skipping to the next track after a minute or two when it usually becomes too repetetive. One reason could be that I don't pay as much attentention to the lyrics anymore and after all, that's what this is all about.
Same goes for Mos Def and the other members around Rawkus Records such as Talib Kweli. Mos Def's "Black on Both Sides" would be the one look out for. Talib Kweli's "Eternal Reflection" and his collaboration with Mos Def on "Black Star" are also very good ones. Rawkus has a very modern sound with extremely cool beats. If you're afraid of monotonous and boring beats, then check out something by these people, especially the newer realeases.
I'll also second the recommendation for De La Soul's "Three Feet and Rising". They were the first to experiment with soul and jazz as early as 1989.
Depending on what musical areas you come from, there's a lot of hip hop with certain types of musical influences which you might like. Rock with hip hop has been pretty popular lately (The Root's "Phrenology" album takes a direction towards rock music just like Mos Def's latest "New Danger") but there's also a lot of hip hop with jazz elements such as represented by Guru Jazzmatazz (he even collaborated with Herbie Hancock for the track "Timeless") or Gangstarr (which is basically Guru and DJ Premier). Outkast can be pretty funky and is always a good choice for extremely entertaining hip hop. There are also a lot of hybrids between hip hop and electronic music. Of course, a lot has been done betwen hip hop and soul or RnB music. Really a lot to choose from.
Then there's also the serious type of hip hop which focus more strongly on things like societal critique. The earliest one is Public Enemy's "It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back" (1988). Immortal Technique goes into a similar direction but is much newer with this "Revolutionary Vol. 1" and " (...) Vol.2". I don't really care for this kind of hip hop but it's got a big audience.
Just to throw a couple of famous recordings into the mix:
Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang Clan (their most influential album even though "Wu-Tang Forever might have been more succesful; I find Wu-Tang to be a boring but ymmv)
Nas - Illmatic (His debut which he was never able to top; very conventional hip hop; overhyped in my opinion but good nonetheless)
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - E. 1999 Eternal (uses RnB elements; it's nothing great imo)
Brand Nubian - One for all (1990)
Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (an...acquired taste but no doubt that these people have a lot of energy)
Eminem - Marshall Mathers LP (controversial person but I like his music and this is his best album imo)
Arrested Development - 3years, 5months & 2days in the.. (uses influences from African music)
Common - Be (Common along with Mos Def, Talib Kweli and The Roots used to define the term 'Conscious MCs'; he's made some classics in the mid 90s but this one is his best imo; positive music and it's either produced or at least strongly influenced by Kanye West)
Kanye West - College Dropout (a bit poppish but I like his style a lot; this guy definately knows how to entertain and this is an extremely well-executed album. Uses some soul elements, too. He is a much better producer than rapper however)
My personal problem with hip hop is that I can hardly finish a track without fast forwarding or skipping to the next track after a minute or two when it usually becomes too repetetive. One reason could be that I don't pay as much attentention to the lyrics anymore and after all, that's what this is all about.
