Cause we all got at least one question, and we all got at least one answer too!
Who are some of your favorite Underground Artists/Rappers that everyone should check out? My favorite Underground Rapper is Immortal Technique. He has really deep lyrical content. He is also socially conscious and very intelligent as well. I've always wondered why he isn't more mainstream. Everyone should definitely listen to his YouTube interviews. He's knowledgeable about everything including Politics.
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He’s one of the guys I’ve been meaning to get into. My underground playlist is full of Black thought, Mos Def, Talib kweli, Gangstarr, Little brother, The roots, Binary star, Souls of Mischief, Hieroglyphics, Blu & Exile, Black Star, Royce5’9, Elzhi, Del Tha Funky Homosapien, Jay Elect, Pharoahe Monch, Common, J Dilla
That's a really great list. Do you listen to R.A. the Rugged Man?
Rugged Man's aight, good flow, intricate lyricism. There's a mix called "Who Do We Trust" with Method Man, Nas, Immortal Tech, Jadakiss, and RA, hella fire of a song. Check it out. Immortal Tech is the guy that saved me from the mainstream back in the early 00's with his album Revolutionary Vol. 2. Thank goodness for that. Got a bunch of artists for you to spend hours on here.
Check out Epidemic (From the Bits to the Cosmos, highly recommend song), Brother Ali, Jedi Mind Tricks, Living Legends, Atmosphere, Awon and Phoniks, and Ugly Heroes for that traditional hip hop bump and deep lyricism that provokes thought. Aesop Rock as well, dude's flow is trippy and complicated as hell without being cringy. Grieves too, kid's got skill and is well grounded in hip hop legacy (highly inspired by blues music with some tight beats and great lyricism). Good shit.
Isaiah Rashad, Leroyce, and Mick Jenkins for some of the new school flavor in their beats without the sacrifice of lyrical prowess, deep meaning, and flow.
The Four Owls, European hip hop group. Major props to them for their work. Staying true to hip hop 100.
Along with some of the well-known UG artists mentioned in this thread, these will make a great addition to your UG playlists IMO.
All of Griselda, Wiki, Ka, Your Old Droog, Blu and much more
you might like The Coup. heavy leftist rap from the Bay + Boots Riley made "Sorry To Bother You" too.
also check out Ruby Ibarra, my favorite song is "Us"
Planet Asia, Skyzoo, Elzhi, Your Old Droog, Ransom, Rome Streets, Hus KingPin, Roc Marciano
Apathy
I don't listen to these guys all the time but here are some Underground rappers I've enjoyed listening too over the last few years: Diabolic, Percee P, Canibus, Chino XL, K-Rino, R.A. The Rugged Man, The Last Emperor, Virtuoso, early JMT, Pharaohe Monch, One Be Lo, Killa Sin, La The Darkman etc
Why didn't Canibus have more mainstream success? I've heard that it was because of LL Cool J.
Was a mix of things really, when Bis' first album came out people were expecting it to be the greatest Hip-Hop album of all time but then it got regarded as a flop due to it's production, which I've always maintained wasn't as bad as people made it out to be but still the expectations were so high. Of course LL was already pretty much a legend at the time and people didn't want to pick the new guy who no one knew anything about really compared to LL.
If 2000 BC was Canibus's debut I believe he would have gotten a better response, most people seem to remember him from his 90's work which while was amazing, his best work was yet to come but by that time people stopped checking for him.
Great assessment. That’s pretty much it.
Edan
Homeboy Sandman
Styles of Beyond
I’ve been fuckin wit Billy Woods a lot lately. Smart dude.
Vinnie paz
Ill bill
R.A the rugged man
Chino XL
And the Gods killah priest and canibus.
Don't forget about China Mac. He's another undergrad rapper that gets overlooked by the mainstream media.
I don't listen to him.
China Mac's politics are wack as fuck to me
Yes I agree with you he definitely seems Homophobic to me. But he's definitely not as bad as Lord Jamar in my opinion.
not familiar with his music but yeah homophobia is wack as hell.
i'm asian-american and really hated his whole "you can't burn us all" campaign in response to anti-asian violence during covid. he didn't connect with any organizations who actually work on the issue and rather led a dumb campaign that ultimately called for more cops and more hate crime legislation.
He’s dope. He paralyzed Jin’s homie though.
How about AC3 and VA Slim?
I've never heard of those two rappers before. What about Slim Jesus? Lol jk🤣😂
Kxng Crooked and Elzhi
Andy Cooper puts out dope albums. BlabberMouf almost always is dope.
I'm an older head, so I tend to like hip hop that has an older feel to it. If interested, I have a spotify playlist of over 50 hours of lesser known mostly old school feel type hip hop.
I really wish Andy C, Dizzy Dustin and Young Einstein would get Ugly Duckling back together for some shows or an album. Their whole catalog is dope.
KIMBO PRICE
Ka has some of the best writing in rap history
What about West Coast Kam?
Ice cubes cousin? What about him
He's a pretty good underground Rapper too even though he hasn't released a lot of music.
Ka
I think you would like Bambu and Paris if you since immortal technique
Have you seen any of his interviews on YouTube?
No
I would definitely recommend giving his interviews a listen.
there's a new Immortal Technique interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulMJvWLm2uM&t=24s
E From The L.O.S.T.
Mick Jenkins, Conway the Machine, Wiseboy Jeremy, Kid Abstrakt, Ivan B, Witt Lowry, KAAN, Mach-Hommy, Westside Gunn, Ben Beal, Deca, Scallops Hotel, Samsa and Na$ty
MC Wicks, Savage-C, Equipto,
Immortal Technique isn't more mainstream because he says a lot of things that wouldn't fly in mainstream media. Imagine if Dance With The Devil was on the radio; news outlets would shit themselves. Another reason he is not more mainstream is because his music just doesn't vibe with enough people.
Certain artists are underground for a reason, and Immortal Technique is definitely one of those guys.
His intelligence is incredible. Every thime I hear him speak. I always learn something new that I didn't know before. Greydon Square is another Rapper that doesn't get mentioned enough in the mainstream media. In your opinion why do you think that his music doesn't vibe with enough people? I think that it definitely should because his lyrics definitely have something for everyone.
Which single do you think could be a radio hit?
In my opinion it's definitely Natural Beauty. I absolutely love that song and can relate to it in so many ways.
Here's basically the same song but made for the radio: https://youtu.be/WKW5XRRDH00
Some key differences: J. Cole tries to relate to his listener right of the bat, where as Immortal Technique is already forcing his way to the meat of his content, as he tends to do. Immortal Technique is very much focused on the "why," and is already throwing a lot at you in the first verse, while at the same time just explaining the social justice issues surrounded around the image of beauty. Most people don't want to hear that kind of stuff in their music. They want things they can sing along to. Immortal Technique's unnecessary use of vocabulary makes this incredibly hard, and if you ask me, he is over-explaining things when the message of both his song and J. Cole song are essentially the same. J. Cole definitely has some statements about beauty as a social issue in his third verse, but he warms you up to it with two verses that are from the heart. He doesn't try to force vocabulary in, he doesn't try to force in political or controversial statements, he's just talking about the issue the way he knows how. It feels more genuine and accessible than Immortal Technique's take on the concept. It was easier to sing along to, rap along to, or even for just vibes in the background. That's kind of why it was more appreciated by a mainstream artist. Also, controversial statements don't sit well with everybody, which is why Immortal Technique stays underground. There would be too much backlash if Immortal Technique ever went mainstream, and his music is certainly not for everybody. J. Cole was more relatable, more charismatic, and overall, wrote a better song, in my opinion. And they both tackled exactly the same concept. J. Cole just didn't need all that research to write it.
Dr oop Capone. Busdriver. The CuF. Living legends. Otherwize nocando open mike eagle. Mc Paul barman
Jedi Mind Tricks/Aceyalone/Mos Def/Sean Price
Porn Theatre Ushers! Nabo Rawk is hilarious and the DJ Mister Jason are dope AF!
Musalini
Tech N9ne, K-Rino, RA the Rugged Man, DOOM, Sage Francis are ill rhyme sayers.
You guys should check out Paranom and Hex One
J-Live
Camp Lo
Esoteric
People under the stars
Killah Priest
Please explain me what "underground rapper" means 🙏🏽
Billy Woods, one of the best rappers in the underground scene right now and i will die on that hill
Ransom
either Cannibal Ox or Immortal Technique
I actually follow him on Instagram and Twitter. In one of his posts. He said that he's not a nice guy but is a good person. I was kinda disappointed and shocked when I read that.
why were you shocked?
I guess that I expected with his kind of intelligence to have a good personality. But maybe he lives in a world where being nice to people doesn't mean anything. His post didn't make any sense to me. How can you be a good person but not be a nice guy?🤷🏿♀️🤷🏿♀️
you can have very strong ideals but just be very cold(Stannis Baratheon from Game of Thrones comes to mind)
I'm an underground artist. I wish I had more time to create and release more stuff but life ya know. Anyway, peep my new shit. Any feedback is appreciated. https://youtu.be/H8r5YDXeuUk
Depends
UGK
I just googled it. There were three seasons.
JAY HUMBLE