Some of the better lyricists and musicians in rap and hiphop?


Going old school, I’ve always admired Chuck D’s powerful voice and his lauded expression and articulation in his delivery. Along those lines, Outkast’s voices and hooks are classic. And Nas’s lyrics are as good as anything ever released in the genre. You combine PE’s Nation of Millions with Nas’ Illmatic and sprinkle in some "Ms. Jackson" and you have the first 20 years of hiphop.


Nowadays Anderson .Paak delivers beautifully, as did Mac Miller (rip).


Please note the topic and add constructively to the conversation.
128x128simao
MC Solaar - Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo (1991) Tremendous verbal dexterity.
You guys are nothing if not persistent. However notice every single time actual rap lyrics are posted someone complains and they are removed because they are RACIST, PROFANE, and MISOGYNIST!

The one exception was one that was in FRENCH! But even that one, if anyone bothered to figure it out, the woman went with an abuser of women because she was a masochist. So like I said, MISOGYNIST!

Carry on fellas, in your little echo chamber, but do it without me. The mods should remove this one JUST LIKE THE OTHERS which exist for no reason other than to gaslight people into thinking the most PROFANE, RACIST and MISOGYNIST music ever is actually really just all fine and dandy.

It ain’t. You admire it, you ain’t either. That simple.
Yes! My former wife introduced me to MC Solaar. She was a French teacher and thus could understand his lyrics. I could not, but his music and delivery really hooked me.

Millercarbon, where did those "Rappers" come from; did you walk out your door one day and it was raining "Rappers".

No, they are descendants of slaves. How did slaves get here? That's far enough for now.
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@simao - Quick question, and pardon my ignorance.  Is there a way to DM you on this site?  I'm new so I don't know the ropes yet. 
@ggoggin -- Yes, just click on my name that will take you to my page you can click on the send message button there
@simao  Thanks. Love your balafon BTW.  I studied some Haitian drumming for a while, using a djembe - also a remarkably expressive instrument. 
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@simao

I’m far from an expert, but would say that Mos Def, Kendrick Lamar and Biggie Smalls are/were first-rate lyricists.

Only those Rappers who went to the advanced school of Rapping qualify as better lyricists.

It's hard to find a school that teaches the finer points of lyrical Rapping now days.
I was telling my students that country and rap have in common the ability to deliver a great metaphor or play on language that makes you look at things differently.


Like in "Django Jane" when Janelle monae is talking about being devalued as a female rapper by the entertainment industry and "I cut em off, I cut em off, I cut em off like Van Gogh." Followed by
" move back, take a seat, you were not involved
And hit the mute button
Let the vagina have a monologue…"

I was telling my students that country and rap have in common the ability to deliver a great metaphor or play on language that makes you look at things differently.
Good approach. I never gravitated to either genre, but learned plenty through just modest exposure.
I’m rather partial to Young MC. Something about his style just gets the body moving. Jamming out to Stone Cold Rhymin’ while typing this.

Much more coherent and educated than Old MC, that’s for sure.
@orpheus10 you know what else sing sing has? A lot of paranoid bigoted white people. You'd fit right in.
@ebm thank you for following instructions and contributing constructively to the discourse. 
Agree with Chuck D. Also:
Mos Def
Black Thought
Kendrick Lamar
Aesop Rock
Tupac
Jay-Z
And so many others...
@simao

Thank you! Very talented, my kind of grooves, and female empowerment.

Nice!
Millercarbon, where did those "Rappers" come from; did you walk out your door one day and it was raining "Rappers".

No, they are descendants of slaves. How did slaves get here? That's far enough for now.

Why was the Republican Party founded? To end slavery. By the time of the Civil War not a single republican owned a slave. Who actually ended slavery? Republican president Abraham Lincoln. Hillary Clinton, who was her greatest role model? Democrat Senator Robert Byrd, former Grand Dragon in the KKK. 

Let's go more recent. Which president made stopping human trafficking a priority? Republican Donald Trump. Who opened the border creating a huge financial incentive for it to return? Democrat Joe Biden.

Don't bring this stuff up, make your one uninformed comment and then say that's far enough. I never start these things. It is always SJW snowflakes so incapable of actual virtue all they can do is wave their virtue signals. Well fine, but if you do that maybe you need to learn your warped world view really is pathetic and warped. I mean, a freaking KKK Grand Dragon, served his whole life a democrat, and you have the gall.... beyond the pale.
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Millercarbon, it was a crime to teach slaves how to read and write, Some descendants had parents who could not read or write.

Both Democrats and Republicans owned slaves, both Democrats and Republicans belonged to the KKK. What's your point?
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Would it doom thris thread if I mentioned Gil Scott-Heron? LOL. Certainly Robert Glasper could be considered an amazing musician who dabbles in the genre.
@ghasley idk. I would differentiate between spoken word and rap as genres. 
This place is getting sad. Same people repeating same blather over and over desperate for attention at expense of others.

Hopefully if this thread gets trashed and deleted as has every other rap thread recently the root cause will be addressed and deleted not just the evidence. Hopefully the thread survives and its the proven  hate mongers get the axe.
Would it doom thris thread if I mentioned Gil Scott-Heron? LOL. Certainly Robert Glasper could be considered an amazing musician who dabbles in the genre.
Quincy Jones, and countless other musicians who the Rap-haters would likely consider to be "legitimate", have also incorporated Rap into their music.
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August Greene (Common, Robert Glasper, Karriem Riggins) - 'Black Kennedy' [LIVE @ SiriusXM]

millercarbon9,008 posts05-02-2021 11:12am Hillary Clinton, who was her greatest role model? Democrat Senator Robert Byrd, ......
Dang it, I was going to say Margaret Sanger.

orpheus108,491 posts04-30-2021 12:03pm
Millercarbon, where did those "Rappers" come from; did you walk out your door one day and it was raining "Rappers".

No, they are descendants of slaves. How did slaves get here? That’s far enough for now.
Your position is that all rappers are descendants of slaves? What a preposterous thing to say. Millions and millions of blacks have come to the United States in a multitude of ways that had nothing whatsoever to do with slavery. To suggest otherwise is absurd.
And as for "How did slaves get here?" Well, the first step was their capture and sale by other blacks, often to Somolis or Arabs, and eventually to Europeans. Don’t be glossing over the ugly truth. Slavery is still being practiced today in parts of Africa and the Middle East.
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"you know what else sing sing has? A lot of paranoid bigoted white people."

I am not sure about that, but it does have a nice view.
Can I respectfully suggest, as @simao has already done, that we focus on the original topic - who are your preferred lyricists and musicians in rap and hip-hop? 
"...who are your preferred lyricists and musicians in rap and hip-hop?"
Chuck Berry and Bob Dylan.

"Can I respectfully suggest, as @simao has already done, that we focus on the original topic"
Is it acceptable to respond to simao's posts that have strayed from the original topic?
@glupson -- when mine have, they've been in reaction to someone else's vitriol. I admit in that case I'm no better than the progenitor of that adolescent id. But I don't think I've really posted anywhere live straight so far off the topic as to make the original topic unrecognizable