Candidly, I don't even like rap music...

Kind of cool? Grandmaster Flash??

They only helped invent the genre of hip-hop

You should check out Wild Style

>>> You should check out. period

ftfy

hip hop for people who dont like hip hop;

Kendrick Lamar - i

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sop2V_MREEI

Kendrick Lamar - Untitled 8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cziv-WGRLcE

Ensemble Mik Nawooj - Black Swordsman, Live at La Pena, Berkeley CA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O84Yv6OVP8s

Shabazz Palaces - An Echo From The Hosts That Profess Infinitum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnvQod9zb_c

Guru - Jazzmatazz Vol. 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FzV21Lqd3A&list=PLoJR7HIEfo2i70gn_NWQ27...

Aesop Rock - No Regrets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JX4c8nXPsA

Lucy was 7 and wore a head of blue barrettes
City born, into this world with no knowledge and no regrets
Had a piece of yellow chalk with which she'd draw upon the street
The many faces of the various locals that she would meet
There was Joshua, age 10
Bully of the block
Who always took her milk money at the morning bus stop
There was Mrs. Crabtree, and her poodle
She always gave a wave and holler on her weekly trip down to the bingo
parlor
And she drew
Men, women, kids, sunsets, clouds
And she drew
Skyscrapers, fruit stands, cities, towns
Always said hello to passers-by
They'd ask her why she passed her time
Attachin' lines to concrete
But she would only smile
Now all the other children living in or near her building
Ran around like tyrants, soaking up the open fire hydrants
They would say
"Hey little Lucy, want to come jump double dutch?"
Lucy would pause, look, grin and say
"I'm busy, thank you much"
Well, well, one year passed
And believe it or not
She covered every last inch of the entire sidewalk,
And she stopped-
"Lucy, after all this, you're just giving in today??"
She said:
"I'm not giving in, I'm finished, " and walked away

1 2 3
That's the speed of the seed
A - B - C
That's the speed of the need
You can dream a little dream
Or you can live a little dream
I'd rather live it
'cause dreamers always chase
But never get it

Now Lucy was 37, and introverted somewhat
Basement apartment in the same building she grew up in
She traded in her blue barrettes for long locks held up with a clip
Traded in her yellow chalk for charcoal sticks
And she drew
Little bobby who would come to sweep the porch
And she drew
The mailman, delivered everyday at 4
Lucy had very little contact with the folks outside her cubicle day
But she found it suitable, and she liked it that way
She had a man now: Rico, similar, hermit
They would only see each other once or twice a week on purpose
They appreciated space and Rico was an artist too
So they'd connect on Saturdays to share the pictures that they drew
(Look!)
Now every month or so, she'd get a knock upon the front door
Just one of the neighbors,
Actin nice, although she was a strange girl, really
Say, "Lucy, want to join me for some lunch??"
Lucy would smile and say "I'm busy, thank you much"
And they would make a weird face the second the door shut
And run and tell their friends how truly crazy Lucy was
And Lucy knew what people thought but didn't care
'cause while they spread their rumors through the street
She'd paint another masterpiece

Lucy was 87, upon her death bed
At the senior home, where she had previously checked in
Traded in the locks and clips for a head rest
Traded in the charcoal sticks for arthritis, it had to happen
And she drew no more, just sat and watched the dawn
Had a television in the room that she'd never turned on
Lucy pinned up a life worth's of pictures on the wall
And sat and smiled, looked each one over, just to laugh at it all
No Rico, he had passed, 'bout 5 years back
So the visiting hours pulled in a big flock o' nothin'
She'd never spoken once throughout the spanning of her life
Until the day she leaned forward, grinned and pulled the nurse aside
And she said:
"Look, I've never had a dream in my life
Because a dream is what you want to do, but still haven't pursued
I knew what I wanted and did it till it was done
So I've been the dream that I wanted to be since day one!"
Well!
The nurse jumped back,
She'd never heard Lucy even talk,
'Specially words like that
She walked over to the door, and pulled it closed behind
Then Lucy blew a kiss to each one of her pictures
And she died.

Aesop Rock was married to a friend of mine he is a total and complete fucking asshole FYI

Gang Starr is WAAAAY better than Jazzmatazz

Gang Starr is great.

anybody been catchin those semi-recent gza and wu tang npr tiny desk performances?

they're kinda off the hook

yea they crush that tiny desk. i thought about posting it but wu tang is pretty clearly hip hop for people who like hip hop.

aesop can be an asshole, thats ok. he is a titan of underground hip hop and one of its greatest and most controversial innovators...his new material has taken a dive but float, labor days, appleseed and music for earthworms are all incredible, groundbreaking albums...although not as much as El-P's Fantastic Damage, which IMO is the peak of Def Jux...i dont listen to those albums because i think me and aes would be best chums.

gangg star is great also but IMO jazzmatazz is a better album to post for non hip hop fans on a GD board...its more live music, whereas alot of gangg star's stuff is very clearly edited and arranged into beats, even if the instruments were recorded live. plus jazzmatazz has branford marsalis. 

I'm starting to wonder if run the jewels is capable of making a bad album

Jazzmatazz fucking sucks dude. Stop acting like you know what you're talking about because you don't. Stick to guitar rock.

Aesop Rock is no titan of hip hop. His work is pretty good but he came along way too late to be considered a titan of anything. 

Oh shit we’ve got an old fashioned rap-beef here!!!!

i think Franklin is a stinking Tottenham fan if you need any ammo 

its cool if you dont like the albums but jazzmatazz does not "fucking suck" its a well loved classic hip hop album by fans and critics alike. i mean, jesus, montiplier, france has a street named after guru that's mostly owed to jazzmatazz. so again, cool if you dont like it, i dont give a fuck what albums you like or dont, but to say a well loved and critically acclaimed album that was the impetus for a major metro area to name a fucking street after him, sucks, is pretty silly.

and aes made 2 great EP's and 2 great LP's that were a huge influence on alot of alternative/experimental hip hop that came after it. i wouldnt call him a "titan of hip hop", but i think its pretty clear that most of the classic def jux albums are some of the biggest and most influential albums in alternative/experimental hip hop.  kinda strange to get that worked up about some rap albums a random guy on the internet happens to hold in high esteem. the links i provided are not some great hip hop retrospective, its just some hip hop songs i feel would appeal to the general musical taste around here for people who dont like hip hop.

>>>Stop acting like you know what you're talking about because you don't.

care to address this 

not really. im not some kind of music expert im just a guy who listens to hip hop. im not trying to say anything that isnt either my opinion, or easily verifiable fact. i dont mind if people disagree with my opinions regardless of their experience level or knowledge regarding hip hop. it does not bother me if other people like albums i dont or vice versa, and i dont need to have some specific level of knowledge to make statements about hip hop that are widely held ideas, or to have opinions on a style of music ive been listening to since i learned to read.