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This is a thread I thought about starting when @Lamp, broken circa 1988 made a post saying that Black Milk is one of the greatest hip-hop producers of all time.  So if there is someone, some album, or some song you feel is underappreciated or just not talked about enough post it here.

After listening to his new album on a loop for the last few days, my first  nominee is Phonte.  Phonte is incredibly good at rapping.  I know that sounds like the easiest way to describe a dope rapper, but it's more than that.  He somehow sounds effortless while coming up with things that stops you dead in your tracks.  He's kind of a rap everyman who never tries to wow you with flashy rhyme schemes, but he's so clever with his rhymes about every day life you find yourself wowed any way.  He is especially good when rapping about relationships.  He puts all of his business on these streets in a way that is totally unique in hip-hop.  He's willing to admit when he's wrong, willing to show when he's hurting, but he never makes it sound like he's throwing his significant other under the bus.  On "Sending My Love" he tells a story about cheating on his girl in a way that makes the listener he's 100% at fault, but you also relate to everything he's saying.

He is equally great on the other side of the spectrum.  On "Find That Love Again," he starts by telling the listener where he was mentally when his last relationship ended, and ends talking about how he feels like he feels like he believes in love again.  He explains it by saying, "Coming back to this spot was a long shot, but what's a long shot to a sharp shooter."  That is fucking dope.

When he's not talking about his love life, he's also willing to go deep into other subjects.  On "Expensive Genes" and "Cry No More" he digs in deep on how the loss of his father has him thinking about him and his family's health.  He isn't preaching, he's flat out telling himself and his mother that if they don't change their habits that they are going to end up dead just like his dad.  They ask me where I been, dog I been rebuilding / With my wiz and children, put my pops in the ground / Then hit the repast and ate the same shit that killed him.  

Sometimes though, he just raps his ass off in a way that makes you realize that he's one of the dopest rappers of all time.  He begins, "So Help Me God," with the following bars, "They say they want bars but it's unfounded / Cuz when they get bars niggas be dumbfounded."  He then straight murders the track including my favorite couplet, "I am Hugh Masekela meets Masta Killa / Your OG’s OG, just ask the nigga"  He's just dope.  

 

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alright I've been thinking about putting like ten different things in here and no disrespect to casey but the idea of looking past new Pusha T albums under any circumstances makes me nauseous, so I have to go over the 101 class real quick. Like, on that same reflex that would make me stand up for Black Milk as an all time producer, if Pusha T isn't in your top five I can't take it seriously.

Especially Kanye, since no one sounds better on the planet earth on Kanye beats than Pusha T, whether it's traditional...

...or the experimental stuff.

The key here is that Pusha T's flow is timeless. He could probably rap as fast as whatever cant-hear-them-breathe-on-the-record MC, but that's not Push. Push cuts his lines down so when they hit each line ends with a fucking haymaker hook. A lot of rappers that people put up as all time greats can't do that. A lot of rappers that people put up as the best alive can't do it. A lot of people can throw out as many rhymes and flows as they can and fill a song with words and you can pick your few favorites. That's fine. Pusha T can just put this out and flatten every verse that comes out in a given year.

And he doesn't even have to keep doing this! See, I run this list in my own time that I don't put public of Answers I Would Accept For The Question "What Is The Greatest Song Ever Recorded?" And I only thought of that after realizing I'm able to play back Clipse's "Grindin" in my head backwards and forth. Like, shit, imagine if your first moment on the national scene is a LITERALLY PERFECT SONG, and then you spend like sixteen years being exactly that good only to see that when Kanye West announces there's a new Pusha T album coming, people look past it.

Yeugh.

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I know this has been all hip hop oriented so far (and I love hip hop -- I just passed on buying a copy of Tical and Let's Get Free because I am stupid for the first and I already own two CD copies for the second) but this is my metal pick. Please disregard the awful cover (apparently this one was taken from a t-shirt) and give it a chance. It's breathtaking. It will be operatic, dark as fuck black metal one minute then turn into an almost alternative rock record out of nowhere, and at no time change its vibe. And Big Boss is the Freddie Mercury of black metal, period, King Diamond be damned

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  • 8 months later...

Alright I'm resurrecting this for two reasons. One, I feel bad about bringing an unrelated argument in here and dipping. Two, I've had a REALLY hard week, damn near bottoming out mental health wise and what I'm about to talk about is what pulled me out of it.

Before old heads were yelling at mumble rappers, there was Cloud Rap pulling a majority of the scorn. This was mostly because of the association of the genre with Lil B (who i love but most people hate even though it's now clear he was way ahead of his time), but the only group I ever heard take up the mantle of Cloud Rap was the Best Duo Ever, Main Attrakionz.

It's like this: no matter what mood I'm in, no matter how bad things are, listening to Main Attrakionz records fixes it at least for a little while. It is magical music, to me. And it's in that cloud rap genre; their choice in beats (especially their work with Friendzone, RIP James Lawrence) leads their music to this swelling beautiful quality that not a lot of acts really try to meet. There's LOTS of people out there attempting to sound hard, or attempting to make the hottest club song they can. Main Attrakionz are just out here trying to make beautiful songs about being alive. So if you need something to help you feel better, maybe this'll help because it works for me.

 

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