I don’t know much so educate me up.
Obvious one from me. Clarity, flow, storytelling, dark humour, sheer braggadocio, it’s got it all.
1 Like
Outkast - Liberation
Big Rube on the final verse… words, message, cadence, tone… it’s all there.
4 Likes
Often overlooked, but for me Black Moon were among the premier architects of that NY sound in the mid 90s.
https://youtu.be/NQh3c-pikWc
3 Likes
Funniest rhyme award goes to Black Sheep’s gangster rap parody.
https://youtu.be/hblAppO67Ig
2 Likes
Nas’ verse on live at the BBQ was his debut on record and made serious waves in hip hop - producers were lining up to work with him on his first album and he took the pick of the bunch.
5 Likes
From start to finish
1 Like
Here’s one that stuck in my head years ago:
Now I don’t know what y’all been told
But if ya hot ya hot
And if ya not ya cold
Akbar - Hot Ya Hot
Actually…Jay Z - Allure. From start to finish, the Grey Album version.
Absolute stone cold classic and banned on YouTube obvs.
“My women friends get tennis bracelets
Trips to Venice, get their Winters replaced with”
Whole thing is a masterclass.
Was the lou donaldson sample what drew me to this.
The lyrics take the form of Nas writing to his pal locked up in prison, relating to him what’s been happening on the outside.
Genius.
Like a season of The Wire condensed into 5 mins.
Extra points for being produced by the most talented man in Hip Hop imo, Q Tip.
3 Likes
despite peak 2000s production style which I imwh don’t think ages that well (blaze i still love uuuuu) a much hyped but mostly inconsistant Jay Electronica fires this shooting star into space. verse 2 is wild.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLjuG6hERGQ
2 Likes
Did anybody watch the KRS vs BDK Versus?
It was Kane all day for me
Ive never watched a Versuz but KRS Vs BDK is a must to watch, both are favourites from back in the days, over the years though I have a clear favouite out of the two and thats BDK.
Without a doubt
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CVD_4wRKxuP/?utm_medium=copy_link
1 Like
Always enjoyed Quantum’s the Wreckoning
And also Dephlon Safar slams on this DJ Krush track from the Meiso lp
4 Likes
1 Like
Tennesse - Arrested Development
One line… Hits you right there 
:
“Climbed the trees my forefathers hung from.”
Brand Nubian ‘Claimin’ I’m a Criminal ':
Got some bad news on my one phone call the other day
“I love the kids and I teach em to love their father
I’ll get you some kicks and try to send some flicks
But it’s over, baby, yes it’s over”
Ain’t much you can do when you’re holdin’ a phone
A million inmates but ya still alone
You’re not cryin’ but inside ya dyin’
You might cry in the night when ya safe and outta sight
Damn I miss my peeps and the rides in the jeeps
And my, casual freedom, where’s my crew when I need em
2 Likes
Have loved this since i first heard it :
Big Daddy Kane - RAW
Here I am, R-A-W
A terrorist, here to bring trouble to
Phoney emcees, I move on and seize
I just conquer, and stomp another rapper with ease
'Cause I’m at my apex and others are below
Nothing but a milliliter, I’m a kilo
Second to none, making emcees run
So don’t try to step to me, 'cause I ain’t the one
I relieve rappers just like Tylenol
And they know it, so I don’t see why you all
Try to front, perpetrating a stunt
When you know that I’ll smoke you up like a blunt
I’m genuine like Gucci, raw like sushi
The Sage of Rage is what rap did to me
To make me want to create chaos and mayhem
Cold rock a party, until the A.M.
I’ll make a muscle, grab the mic and hustle
While you stand dazed and amazed, I’ll bust a little rhyme
With authority, superiority
And captivate the whole crowd’s majority
The rhymes I use definitely amuse
Better than Dynasty or Hill Street Blues
I’m sure to score, endure for more without a flaw
'Cause I get raw
I give a speech like a reverend, rappers start severin’
And in my lifetime, believe I’ve never been beaten
Or eaten, or just tooken out
You know, come to think about, I keep emcees lookin’ out
And real nervous, when I’m at your service
So give me that title boy, you don’t deserve this
I work like a slave to become a master
And when I say a rhyme, you know that it has to
Be perfectly fitted, ‘cause I’m committed
The entertainer and trainer and Kane’ll get with it
I go and flow and grow to let you know, I’ll damage ya
I’m not an amateur but a professional unquestionable, without a doubt superb
So full of action, my name should be a verb
My voice will float, on every note
When I clear my throat, that’s all she wrote
The minute that the Kane starts to go on
Believe it’s gonna be smooth sailing, so on
As I put other rappers out of their misery
Get em in a battle and make them all history
Rulin’ and schoolin’, emcees that I’m duelin’
Watch em all take a fall, as I sit back coolin’
On a throne, with a bronze microphone
Uhm, God bless the child that can hold his own
'Cause I get raw
Twenty-four-sev’ chillin’, killin’ like a villain
The meaning of RAW is Ready And Willing
To do whatever is clever, take a loss never
And the rhymes I bust, comin’ off is a must
And I come off hard with rhymes that are odd
I rip the microphone and leave it scarred
Never smokin’ or hittin’ or takin’ a sniff
Only crushin’ emcees that be tryin’ to riff
I get strong and titanic, do work like a mechanic
Make emcees panic, they all get frantic
And skeptic, like a girl on a contraceptive
As I rocked, but hey, what you expected?
I’ll get raw for ya, just like a warrior
Rather like a samurai, and I’ll be damn if I
Ever let a Fisher-Price emcee hang
Their rhymes are toy, nothing but ying yang
So if we battle on the microphone
Bring your own casket and tombstone
And I’ma preach your funeral, tell me who in the world
Could ever come with more, I get raw
6 Likes