I think some of y'all are confusing "underrated" for "past his time". Some of the people y'all are mentioning may not be relevant NOW, but once upon a time had a heavy hand in growing hip hop into what it is now. MF Doom Jeru Mos Def Talib Lord Finesse Scarface Big L Buckshot Grand Puba A lot of these artists were integral to rap at some point. Their name just looses steam with each new generation of fans. But they've had their day covering rap mags, MTV/BET airing their videos, selling out venues, (with the exception of Big L, of course RIP). If pitchfork was around in the 90's, these albums would be making their "end of the year best" lists. I mean, shyt...look at MF DOOM in particular. To this very day. People have been swindling venues/crowds across the country by throwing on a DOOM mask and lip syncing shows as a fake DOOM to get that DOOM money.. and these shows still sell out depending on the location. Their names may not ring bells in the modern day mainstream, but just as you'd never see kids talking about Shawshank Redemption or more than likely wouldn't catch TNT airing Pulp Fiction - that doesn't take away the notoriety and impact on the industry those titles made in their own time. As far as new cats like Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, Danny Brown, Action Bronson, Chance.. They pretty much ARE what's considered the artists "trending" in the hip hop world. They may not get radio play but if you consider yourself part of the hip hop "in-crowd" then you should know these names. Of course, there's still exceptions as a good deal of people are aware of Big KRIT but people STILL don't give him the burn he should be getting. And J Cole's newest album was the top 5(or maybe 6) most sold rap album of 2013.. Far from underrated BUT still doesn't get the credit he deserves from certain corners of hip hop fans. My top 3? Bingo. This should almost be written in stone and placed on display in a park in the Bronx. The two things people thinks about when the Roots are mentioned? ?uestlove and Jimmy Fallon. Thought will never sniff the accolades, credit and love that he deserves, unfortunately. I can't believe that Black Thought doesn't have the never expiring "OG Cool" card like Bun B has with the rest of the rap community. Both with fans, young bloods and his contemporaries. Songs I'd recommend with Black Thought: Spoiler <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/DWuBTLJdoJY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> I have to repost the song Joseph did.. Easily one of the greatest verses to come out of 2013 (last verse) lyrics: Spoiler [Verse 3: Black Thought] It's the elephant in the room Created by a collision of the sun and the moon My sonogram was an image of a gun in the womb Now assumed to be doper than heroin in a spoon I'm astonishing, honestly my future looking promising As my skin tone and a crystal clean onyx is Darker thoughts let the beats break like a Amish's I'm a stroke of genius like Mickalene Thomas is Hip-hop and body rocking and doing it dude I am the living definition of improving the groove I use the same tools to shoot that Kubrick used Take your hero to the river, give them two b-rick shoes Who lose? If you really ain't nobody till somebody love you I say you ain't nobody til they speaking highly of you And what I'm sure you wouldn't want is any kind of trouble Unless you got a crash dummy or a body double You got a couple homies down to catch a homi- for you Well I'mma fold *****s into origami for you The most notorious, Poet Laureate Whole story is glorious, stoic warriors And I got my eyes wide open on you quasi- Haters still smirking like the gators on an Izod Lacoste, y'all tomato head *****s are Imposters, long drawn out process Triple OG's got a worn out conscience Reminiscing to when we was all out monsters, on Our Sierra Leone reigning tyranny I strike fear in their hearts, rappers stear clear of me Black Sankofa, Ayatollah, Range Rover, games over Bill folder, give *****s that Ebola virus Huh? You got me chopped like Miley Cyrus Naw, I'm on your block with Somali pirates Spoiler <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VAxfhruk1bo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Spoiler <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/xSmV449phG8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> (last verse) Spoiler <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5pcu6dbTb00" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> And of course Joseph would also bring up the 2nd most criminally slept on emcee in the world [fact. source: life and everything in it]. Phonte has been the unsung hero of inspiration and influence for many big time rappers during their come up from the likes of Kanye to the likes of Drake. Dude spits nothing but TRUTH. Unadulterated grown man rap and he does it so f--king smooth and effortlessly. Phonte taps into a mans stream of consciousness with verses unlike any other rapper I can think of can do. Songs I'd recommend with Phonte: Spoiler <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/nKH4pHcRTsk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> last two verses Spoiler <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OT0v7ZgsNh0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> 2nd verse Spoiler <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/e5fHosZtZmo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> 3rd verse Spoiler <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/FzCePJM2GOo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> 2nd verse This part is simply amazing: "I wish BET and MTV would judge more wisely But I don’t know what’s worse the fact that they ain’t playing our **** Or the fact that it don’t even surprise me Because I ain’t shucking, because I ain’t jivin’ Some of these crackers won’t stand beside me And cuz I ain’t killin’ and don’t support pimpin’ Some of these *****s wanna call me a Cosby Well, I’ll be that dude, I’ll scratch that itch I’ll play that role, call me Heathcliff b****! And if this ain’t what you want then fine But somehow someway we gotta draw that line" ^^^ one of my favorite verses of all time Another artist I've been following since he first started and somehow hasn't garnered the cult following he deserves is: WAX This guy can out rap almost anyone you name and can do so with such an expansive broad arsenal of styles, themes or content. From humor, to real issues. Party to introspective. Flows to lyrics. Playful to vicious. I've yet to really find a major flaw in what he can do. Songs I'd recommend with Wax: Spoiler <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0fjON1YA32E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Spoiler <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/LIKA20Hgd_s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> listen for the Houston shoutout Spoiler <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/e6hf7t7abVw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Spoiler <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZsO4w7hTdWE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Honorable Mention: - Blu (could have been huge if he didn't fall victim to his own demons) - XV - Nickelus F - Brother Ali - Fashawn
Had to look Rittz up, and I just remembered who he was. I saw a couple of videos of his a few months ago. I like him. I still like Yelawolf more, though. His use of drumbeats in F.A.S.T. Ride is flat-out wicked, especially towards the end of that track. Weird-ass video, though. I still remember watching some of MGK's early videos and saying "damn". Pretty much figured out how he got the name Machine Gun Kelly pretty fast. lol.
I always thought canibus was slept on, it might be a little bias but SPM had houston buzzing for a few years. DMX to me is underrated people forget he was right on par with JAY-Z for a while
Canibus made his bed to sleep in. Dude had it all lined up for him to take. He performed during the Grammy's, had Wyclef exec. producing his album, had public beef with eminem and (mainly) LL Cool J then started dropping a bad or weird album after bad or weird album. Alienated his fan base (as far as checking for new material) then the guy further bastardizes the classic Canibus we all knew and loved with the notepad stunt during a freestyle battle live on PPV. A large amount of people once heralded Canibus as one of the top 5 dead or alive smh... My how the mighty have fallen.
