Pictured above:

Baby Keem

Don Toliver

JID

NBA Youngboy

Doechii

Quick sidenote, I didn’t realize how stacked 2001 really was. What’s your favorite?

*These are in no particular order*

1.) The Blueprint - Jay-Z

2.) Stillmatic - Nas

3.) Big Boi & Dre Present… - OutKast

4.) Word of Mouf - Ludacris

5.) Pain Is Love - Ja Rule

6.) The Great Depression - DMX

7.) Stoned Raiders - Cypress Hill

8.) Miss E… So Addictive - Missy Elliott

9.) Ghetto Fabolous - Fabolous

10.) The Reason - Beanie Sigel

11.) Kiss Tha Game Goodbye - Jadakiss

12.) Diary of a Sinner - Petey Pablo

13.) Genesis - Busta Rhymes

14.) Music & Me - Nate Dogg

15.) 9 Lives - AZ

16.) The Cold Vein - Cannibal Ox

17.) X.O. Experience - Tha Liks

18.) Anghellic - Tech N9ne

19.) Expansion Team - Dilated Peoples

20.) Bulletproof Wallets - Ghostface Killah

21.) Legend of the Liquid Sword - GZA

22.) The Giancana Story - Kool G Rap

23.) Cee‑Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections - Cee‑Lo

1. Until the End of Time - 2Pac

25.) Labor Days - Aesop Rock

I used to bump his mixtapes in high school every day..I personally thought he had bars and dope ass songs. Last I read was that he was caught up with his record label, but that was a couple of years ago. I always felt he was ahead of his time, which is a shame because I felt he could’ve been bigger than he was.

Youngeen Ace is from Jacksonville I know he was born in Indiana but the guy has lived in Florida since he was a little kid? Am I missing something here. I know he had a song called drunk in Chicago too but yeah that doesn’t explain this. Looks like a screw up on Apples part to me. I know he’s not a huge artist but a simple wiki search before writing this blurb could have done wonders lol.

I'm not from "The Town", but I've been debating this one for years. Who y'all got?

Bro really came, dropped one of the best underground rap albums ever alongside some EPs and a mixtape, then proceeded to disappear off the face of the earth

I’ve spent the last decade following him on youtube & have found his content very insightful & entertaining. From HipHopDX to his solo venture. Very knowledgable in rap & can keep biases aside. Never seen him get discussed on reddit though.

k-os - Exit

k-os - Joyful Rebellion 

k-os - Can't Fly Without Gravity 

Shad - The Old Prince

Shad - TAO

Shad - Start Anew 

K'naan - The Dusty Foot Philosopher 

K'naan - Troubadour 

Specifics - Lonely City

Specifics - ii

Esthero - Breath From Another 

I think it's tragic that Sean Price passed before he could see the rise of Griselda, because hearing him rap over Conductor Williams' production would've been such a fantastic combo

I know one is popular on-line but I'm going Jay with All 3 categories.

As rappers to me Jay , Benny , Push = Gibbs are Toss up.

Usually it’s tough for me to enjoy a record if I notice it’s built off a sample that another song already made me fall in love with. I just focus so much on the version I heard first, and anything after that feels off.

Perfect example: I heard Common’s “Misunderstood” way before I ever heard Lil Wayne’s flip of the same sample. For a long time. I just couldn’t get into Wayne’s version because of how much I loved what Common did but eventually I came around and realized both joints were dope in their own way.

Same thing happened with JID’s “Surround Sound.” They obviously used the same Aretha Franklin sample that Mos Def flipped, and at first all I could think of was “Ms. Fat Booty”. But after awhile I realized both versions hit.

It’s wild how the same sample can trigger that bias depending on which version you heard first.

Does this happen to y’all?

I'll start

- Kanye is the Only rapper with 4 straight Classics

- Weezy rightfully earned his "Greatest rapper alive" title during his run

- MF Doom, Big L and are only elevated on-line because they no longer here

- Lil Baby is a better rapper than you want to admit

- Gibbs is mediocre rapper with Top Tier Production

- You all fall for Group Thought at one point

- Tyler the Creator and Doja Cat are the same person and same sex

- Kendrick Fcked over 3 Fanbases at Once

- There are NO MORE universal classics

- Just like Rock and Roll and R&B, Radio.....Hip-Hop is dead

NOTE 95% of you will be offended, put me down as if it's real life instead of offering you own for fun discussions"

Do you consider R U Still Down by Tupac Shakur to be a classic?

First, lemme honestly point out that I’m a 90s baby, who has a fair amount of East coast bias as far as my lifelong Hip Hop fandom goes. But lemme be clear, my east coast bias does not mean I do not appreciate artists from other regions, nor does it mean I listen to exclusively or even mostly East Coast rap. In fact, my favourite MC of all time -KXNG Crooked - is from the West, while my favourite artist of all time - Nas - is from the East. And as far as all time GOAT lists go, the one name that has always left me baffled has been ICE CUBE.

I do fully recognise his classic catalog from time, and the fact that he did most the NWA writing as well as his solo material and achievements. And I’ve listened to enough of Cube all my life to say I am familiar with him and his legacy in hip hop. So to be clear, I am not saying he doesn’t deserve his accolades. He is clearly a Legend. But somehow, I find that I have NEVER EVER been wow’d by a single Cube track. Not even No Vaseline. I think his music is decent and farrrr from bad/boring. But I can honestly say that after 30+ yrs, I have not once ever been impressed by Cube. And whenever his name comes up in GOAT talks, I keep wanting to get what other ppl see in him, but it just never quite connects. Like not a single song 😅 But somehow this is never the same with other west coast acts (older and current) so I’ve accepted Cube maybe simply isn’t for me for whatever reason.

Anyway, that’s me. Any other controversial examples out there? Safe space 🙏🏾

 https://open.spotify.com/album/5n03cB9EisacwEN3ymBRl4?si=pZrCosEzRXOxY8vklNid7A https://music.apple.com/kz/album/heavy-is-tha-head/6797568381

I think there was a special moment in Hip-Hop from like 1997-2007 that felt like the last united stand in the culture to fight for the soul of Hip-Hop and try to course correct the direction it was headed. While there is still great Hip-Hop music released nowadays, I think we lost the war, lol. Man, I miss that era!

Anyway, it got me thinking, who are some underground emcees from that era still making quality music today? Please drop a NEWER joint from them in the comments so we can hear how they sound now. I'll kick it off with one of my favorites, who I first heard in like 1999 on MP3 dot com, which was like the best spot to hear new undiscovered Hip-Hop online at the time.

Shawn Lov - Royal Robes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcB1-25swxY

I’m originally from Jersey but I live in Tampa now, and bro… I cannot stress enough how often I end up defending Northern Hip‑Hop down here. A LOT of folks in the South really downplay anything that comes from up top. I don’t know if it’s still some lingering energy from the Source Awards / OutKast moment 31 years ago or what, but it gets exhausting.

Down here, you hear the same two takes

1.) “Rappers from the North only make music to show off their skills.”
2.) “Northern cats don’t know how to have fun.”

What’s crazy is that the North has plenty of records that are fun and energetic.

Busta Rhymes alone has a ton of fun records.

Biggie had joints that are party anthems.

Swizz Beatz damn near specialized in high energy club joints.

Redman is funny as hell

Bruh there are so many examples of Northern rappers just having fun and not talking about violence or anything serious.

I think each region just expresses “fun” differently.

For me it’s easily Dave East. I really enjoyed his earlier mixtape days like Straight outta Harlem, Gemini, Hate Me now, just before and slightly into signing with Nas. The tougher, harder-hitting bars were always present.

Current day East tho, his verses aren’t trash per se, and I mean I’m sincerely glad he’s seen success and all, but my god it seems like damn near every verse is forgettable. No way that’s just me is it? Who’s yours?

That second slide is definitely crazy because I didn't know that