cbluejays, you seem to know your rap

[bloop]

It goes something like this:

the Roots "Phrenology"
De La Soul "3 Feet High and Rising"
Mos Def & Talib Kweli "Black Star"
Jurassic 5 "Quality Control"
Dr. Octagon "Dr. Octagonecology"
Blackalicious "Blazing Arrow"
Outkast "Aquemini"

What do you think?  Any better ideas?

[cbluejays]

Wow...apparently you know your rap too...

As far as new suggestions...you may like A Tribe Called Quest, they are a bit similar to De La Soul...I would suggest "Low End Theory" or "Midnight Marauders"...Also, you may enjoy Gangstarr, Pharcyde, or even N.E.R.D.  

N.E.R.D (aka Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, the Neptunes), are always critically acclaimed...My main problem with them, is that even though the music is creative, the people they have rap are people like Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, Nelly, Ludacris, etc...and in the songs where they do the vocals themselves, it's not much better, there's very little substance...Therefore, it's unlikey you will gain anything useful from the lyrics...

Your safest bet would probably be to simply get more music from the artists you mentioned...Jurassic 5's newer album "Power in Numbers" is generally regarded as a better album than "Quality", Mos Def and Talib Kweli both have made excellent solo albums, Outkast has a couple more solid efforts, as does the Roots and Del La Soul.  And Blackalicious' first album, "Nia", was solid as well.

[cbluejays]

Oh, and I haven't heard Dr. Octagon yet, although I've heard good things about his album...

I'll have to check him out now...

[Josh]

So tell me...

I HATE almost all of the rap music that I've heard, mostly because it all sounds the same to me. So which album would you suggest me listening to to change my opinion on rap music?

[cbluejays]

Well, obviously it's highly possible you won't find ANY rap you like...some people just can't get into any of it...However, if you are basing your opinion of rap on what you hear on the radio, well rap has much more to offer than that.  

The list Bloop just gave is a great start...For creative, different-sounding hip hop, I would definitely recommend Blackalicious-Blazing Arrow.  Also, one of my personal favorites is A Tribe Called Quest..."Midnight Marauders" or "Low End Theory" would be two I would recommend there...Andree and TRu know even more about hip hop than I do, and could probably help as well...

I gave this link in the Jars of Clay thread, but I would be interested to see what you thought of this hip hop band...

http://www.urbansophisticates.com/downloads.html

There are three songs there for you to listen to...it's very jazz-influenced stuff...