Dynamite Dog posted:

i'm back because we're missing some essential tracks.

today - diss tracks.

they're usually flash in the pan thing that come and go and get forgotten about. only a few really have staying power, and they're generally the ones that are less loud about their targets (like jay-z takeover).

then pusha-t got in a scrap with drake. he must have known what he had because he baited him into getting serious, then he dropped story of adidon. thre has never been a diss track like it. he put a picture of drake in blackface on the cover, he questioned his race, he made fun of his dying friend, and he told the world about the kid he was hiding. total annihilation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4XH3LYleDA

Game-Blouses posted:

I’m sure OP was thinking this already, but just incase… a playlist with the finalized bracket would be dope.

Also, I’m not qualified to pick the seminal song to represent The Roots (or Gang Starr for that matter), but they probably deserve some representation.

insane anime posted:

up to you bro. you want me to add it or nah? i dont thikn anyone is going to object to a tupac song being posted hahaha

yeah actually they will posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS1yYI3Bl_g
Haiku d'Etat - Non Compos Mentis

just an incredible track. all three of them are at their peak here. ive heard mikah 9 called the best technical rapper of all time and his verse on this bears that out. Aceyalone's last verse in this might be my favourite verse of all time

LorneReams posted:

Yeah sure, as long as no one objects. I didn't have some Dennis Miller like deep cuts to add to why it's great, and googling it seemed cheap, but drat is that a fine piece of music.

t a s t e posted:

Mapping out an NCAA style bracket with at-large nominations and auto-qualifying best sub genre songs

EVERY TIME GOING posted:

What up everybody, so glad youre here
it's Coolio wit' the flow back in your ear

To echo whoever subtitled this forum, I'd like to nominate for the best rap song of all time Coolio - Gangsta's Paradise, because while it's fine and dandy to have the connoisseurs itt list their favorite artists who are probably all naturally amazing, eternally sampled, hugely influential, and just bonafide instant classics, I believe that rap is the defining voice of the 90s, as much funk was of the previous decades and remixing/electronic is of the current. Over his music career that peaked in the mid-90s Coolio has been constantly praised for his high-spirited and whimsical at times take on classic OG rap with his message, an unpretentious a-religous gospel touching on the very 90s issues like HIV, education, and institution-centric matters of contention.

Gangsta's Paradise as a single, while may not have the dopest of rhymes or dat af-est of beats and honestly sounds more like a R&B song, is the quintessential Poe's The Raven in the level of vernacular popularity it has achieved. When it came out in '95 everyone had it on replay in the US with it being the #1 single for many weeks across all radio stations. The rest of the world - the non-english speaking countries ate it up too, effectively popularizing hip hop into the mainstream overnight. The following year after the sweep of this single across the globe, Coolio would win a Grammy award for the best rap solo. So I believe that Gangsta's Paradise is the best rap song because not only did it become the fulcrum for Coolio's tongue and cheek critiques of the 90s, but also because it portrays the tragically satirical zeitgeist of SA itself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPO76Jlnz6c

insane anime posted:

great write up. i have the (un?)fortunate? problem with this track of hearing weird al's take before ever hearing this due to my age lol. so in a way its always been hard for me to get passed it. it takes serious meditation for me to be able to listen to it in isolation ahaha

DC Murderverse posted:

All of the songs I’d pick as the official Best Rap Song Ever are already in here (Juicy, Players Anthem, Scenario) so I’m just gonna rep my actual favorite rap song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MvkxHDHfjQ

Best posse cut ever, this song just sounds like talking poo poo with your best friends but also like half of your best friends are god-tier musicians. Like obviously Tyler and Earl and Frank are huge names these days but steel sharpens steel and everyone on this track plays off each other’s energy and kills it (even Jasper). That’s 9 verses total ranging from Frank Ocean talking about going from working at Fatburger to being Frank Ocean, Earl talks about his year “abroad” and sounds like a dude with a years worth of poo poo to say, Hodgy drops mythology burns, and the fun is infectious.

Odd Future came around right as I was really getting into hip-hop and this feels like a culmination of that. While some odd future poo poo has aged like unpasteurized milk, Oldie is timeless and makes me laugh when I listen to it every time. Back in the day it was an event to have Earl back and everyone in a track together but after this everyone went their separate ways (Taco out there trying to earn an Emmy with Lil Dickey???) and now it just sounds like being 20 and ready to gently caress the world up

insane anime posted:

lol niiiice. i didnt expect to see this one. when i first got my drivers license i made my own doom mixtape and this one was on it and always hit hard lol. lot of mmeories driving home late from work or driving around late at night with the crew and even those who never really got into doom would always like this one because the beat is so loving hard hahah

Kuvo posted:

throwin in my nomination with

De La Soul - I Am I Be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcd3SISAnmM

De La Souls third album Buhloone Mindstate is my favorite of theirs. Their debut 3 Feet High and Rising preached lighthearted love and peace, while their second album De La Soul is Dead tried to dispel their 'hippy' image with darker tracks more critical of the genre. Buhloone Mindstate continued to display their evolving style by collaborating with (among others) jazz saxophonist Maceo Parker. Parkers soulful jazz, mixed expertly by producer Prince Paul, goes to create some incredible tracks. It was hard to pick a single song (Patti Dooke, Ego Trippin, Breakadawn are all top contenders) but I settled on I Am I Be as to me it's the track that highlights the groups continuing musical journey. The song is about the changing identity of the group and their place in the world. Posdnous and Trugoy rap about their lives, their disillusionment with the music industry, the falling out of the Native Tongues Posse, and the future of the group. The song is introspective and comes off almost as a swan song of sorts despite the groups later albums. Lyrically the rhymes aren't anything incredible but I feel that just goes to further the frankness of the verses

I am Posdnous
I be the new generation of slaves
Here to make papes to buy a record exec rakes
The pile of revenue I create
But I guess I don't get a cut cuz my rent's a month late

Sharks Eat Bear posted:

Great song. This isn't a nom but there's a nice homage to this song by the minneapolis doomtree rapper POS, of course doesn't compare to the original but worth appreciation in its own right:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lFVTUqSCaI

insane anime posted:

im not saying this to be dismissive but just discussing ive legit never heard of this before . thats probably on me. listened to the track and it seems good. ill relisten in the future. anyone else besides g0m listen to these guys? lol

t a s t e posted:

Yeah it’s loving amazing. Just incredible

The entire album is crazy good as well I have it in my top 5 of that decade if not more

insane anime posted:

ight gently caress it im shooting for a 124 song double elim bracket

signalnoise posted:

aight I'm gonna do it

This is one of the artist's most articulate performances, and managed to break through pop charts despite the artist's frequently controversial and over-the-top lyrics, subject matter, and even delivery. Through all of these things that would commonly be damaging for a rapper's chances at popularity through the mainstream, this music video is recognized as one of the best of its time, and it introduced a new voice to the music industry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXTzm5GtqVo

Did you guess before you clicked? Yes I'm serious about all of it add it to the list

t a s t e posted:

Danny brown just rules it’s simple as that

I didn’t really like all of what he went from tjere but I’m happy for him

Also hell yeah odb

insane anime posted:

                                                                                                                                                                     
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J--rO7FP16U

This post is sponsored by Miller Lite ®

"Sent your bitch a dick pic and now she need glasses.
Turn your bitch Slick Rick right now if I flashed it."

It's not skeet in my eye that's making them misty lol..This is my no kidding best rap song of all time submission. The previous bar is the opener to what I consider one of of most emotional..personal..gut wrenching rap songs ever on the most underrated album of all time..and it starts with a dick joke. It's 30 by Danny Brown; no one else could ever write this. No one else could ever rap OVER this beat. It's the perfect closer to what I think is the perfect album. It's THE example of what I think makes rap so great. Why isn't it talked about more?

What's the context of this song? I won't pretend to know Danny Brown's entire career up until this point, but I can contextualize it into my life: There wasn't much hype for the album XXX. Danny Brown had been after it for awhile. He released a tape called The Hybrid, and people only super deep in the scene probably knew who he was. He had popped up on some features, but I think this album mostly came out of nowhere. It did for me at least. I'd never heard of him. My rap taste was budding. I just happened to be a young guy in high school with enough free time to be able to get into the scene with blogs, youtube reviewers (fantano, he was pretty alright back then lol), and Pitchfork. I watched The Needle Drops review and decided to check it out. I had no idea what I was really getting into. This album would manifest itself into probably my favorite album of all time regardless of genre.

The album is about a lot of things, but it comes across as a last resort for Danny Brown. It's seemingly a hail Mary. Everything is laid down bare for the listener track after track, emotions running high, and it hardly ever lets up until the back end where it just builds up one more time for the big finisher that is 30--just as you finish catching your breath. Skip around on this track - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6z6qZ4s774&t=3s <-- this is the sample that makes up the bread and butter of 30. Imagine anyone you know rapping over that. It's an impossible feat. you're not even THAT surprised though by the beat at this point. Everything up until then has been noisy, grimey as poo poo..just stuff no one had ever heard before. I mean that. The closest thing I can compare the production to is Death Grips and it sounds retarded typing that.

You get to know Danny Brown for 17 tracks up until this one. First and foremost he's a loving freak. This is one of the few rap projects that still to this day, after 1000s of hours put into listening to rap, still gets me to blush from time to time lol. It's contextualized though; you almost feel like you know what it is to grow up isolated in Detroit doing whatever it takes to deal with the pain and survive. You root for Danny Brown from start to finish, because regardless of where you come from you can relate to it. I'll cut back on typing, because I don't really know where I'm going, and it's just a disservice. A quick example though from this track to highlight how vivid the story telling is..that dark humor that makes up the best tracks..

"Came a long way from extension cords in the window
Borrow neighbor's power just to plug up the Nintendo
Where the oven's never closed and the stove's never off
Every winter so cold, niggas sleepin' wearing scarf"

Bottom line is this: We all know what it's like going against the grain; putting everything on the line..being out on an island questioning whether or not everything up until this point was a mistake. Whatever the decision is, it's almost easier just to end it all or at least disassociate through any means necessary. On the album its seemingly Danny Brown fighting off any doubt that he can make it as an artist. And I don't use the word lightly lol. Sacrificed everything, relationships with his daughter..stability..physical and mental health. Make or break time..and it all comes out on this track. I don't think people can appreciate the scope of it without listening to the album, so I recommend doing that.

Incredible use of sample. Hilarious lines that like all good rap are used to get below surface level. unique in the sense that only Danny Brown could do this, and up until this day no one has ever done this or ever will except Danny himself found only on his later project Atrocity Exhibition. I could break it down line by line for this song just how high the stakes were with lines like,

Ever since a nigga eight, knew what I would do now
When I turned twenty-eight, they like, "What you gon' do now?"
And now a nigga thirty, so I don't think they heard me "

but it's better just to listen and reflect on your own life and where you been going. your own life, your own goals.

yeah actually they will posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS1yYI3Bl_g
Haiku d'Etat - Non Compos Mentis

just an incredible track. all three of them are at their peak here. ive heard mikah 9 called the best technical rapper of all time and his verse on this bears that out. Aceyalone's last verse in this might be my favourite verse of all time

insane anime posted:

chrix posted:

I know ATCQ has been mentioned already, so I humbly submit Digable Planets - Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat). They certainly didn't invent jazz rap, but in my opinion, this is when it was truly mastered. You also didn't hear a ton of mixed-gender groups in the early 90s, so the sound was incredibly fresh. I had a hard time picking between this and Arrested Development's Tennessee or People Everyday, but I think Cool Like Dat had more staying power due to a more established and catchy hook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM4kqL13jGM

chrix posted:

I know ATCQ has been mentioned already, so I humbly submit Digable Planets - Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat). They certainly didn't invent jazz rap, but in my opinion, this is when it was truly mastered. You also didn't hear a ton of mixed-gender groups in the early 90s, so the sound was incredibly fresh. I had a hard time picking between this and Arrested Development's Tennessee or People Everyday, but I think Cool Like Dat had more staying power due to a more established and catchy hook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM4kqL13jGM

pog boyfriend posted:

heres my personal fav:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCz0NFZABiI

this one has an incredible hook by nate dogg to start off the track with a beat which is catchy enough but not amazing ... what takes this track over the edge is mos def and pharoahe monch both in their prime making some of the best verses of their career. mos def comes with one great line after another, we get back to the hook, and then pharoahe monch comes in with the best rhyme schemes ive ever heard in my life