Unsigned Hype

I dont know how many hip-hop heads we have here in the halls of ATS, but I was just wondering who you all thought had oodles of talent but have not got any attention from the mainstream.

These can be rappers/groups that nobody knows about, or rappers/groups that have got play on the underground scene but have yet to make it into the big time.

My personal pick would be for Kev Brown. His rhymes are not gonna change the game, but he creates his own beats which in my opinion are some of the best around, and the two go together so very well (his basslines are hot too). Very soulful smooth and jazzy. Plus he is from Maryland, which receives no attention at all from the rap world.

He breaks the stereotypes of having to be from NY or Cali, and I am pretty much hooked.

The Versatility Joint



Who do you think?

What!?

Are there no fans of the uber underground hip-hop? I thought that I would have heard of at least one deserving rapper or group.

Show yourselves hip hop heads! I need to find the next diamond in the rough!

OK I'll bite.

I like rap and hip hop. couldn't be a good bassplyr if I hadn't gotten familiar with the styles and intergrated them into my playing and arranging.

Good rappers do something that almost no other rappers do. it's not neccisarily in what they say in the rap or what the message is about (although thats important, or at last to me, a good rapper it does not make) but in how they work their rapping's cadence around the beat that make the difference. How they lyrically play with the rythym of the song. Kev Brown understands that. TO me he's a better than the average rapper, and should be given a shot on the mainstream.

Case in point that good rapping is all about what the artist decides to do with his rapping, cadence wise, over the beat provided. Eminem for example. known as a great rapper. his messages suck. not much genius to what he's saying. but his "flow" or the way his cadence worked round the beat was what made him stand out. yes he's witty and his rapping in a free for all contest have bitting stinging insults issued out cleaverly to the opponent rapper, but it's his lyrical phrasing that was really his genius. Oh and he did something tha 99% of the history of rappers NEVER did. he added a whole new dimension to his lyrical cadences by adding ....whats that musical term called...ohh yeah...pitches to his lyrics. almost all rappers sing in this monotone voice with little range or variation to thier pitches. Eminem...did the opposite and incorporated pitches into his rapping. He took it one step farther which is something alot of other lesser rappers failed to do and used the pitches ryhtmically adding even more nuance to his already pretty syncopated rapping cadence over the beat.

Most rappers are one trick ponys, even if they are really rich. 50 Cent for example. His raps are all the same flow and cadence over different beats. If you asked him to rap with say a new flow or rythym he would get first confused, then frustrated, and one would see that he ain't so talented. Sorry to say but anybody can take the same rythym and make up new lyrics to them their called...oh yeah....limericks and they been around for about a thousand years. In fact kids on school yards around the country have been doing just that for probably the last century. No genius in that even if they are getting fitty rich off of the trick. Another example of a one trick pony is The Game. Cool we grew up in the same neighborhoods, and I feel that, but seriously his raps are clumsy and lacking in any variation from track to track. If it weren't for the beat being different the songs would all merge into one super rap song all about most likely the same thing.

I wish that the industry would get more underground rappers who understand that good rapping is not just in your message and image but also heavily determined by their ability to play with the beat using their rapping cadence.

Notice how many rappers jump on the rythmic phrasing band waggon when one of them gets it right and comes up with his own style, which is really just that individuels rythmic interpredation of their lyrics over the beat.

I also like rap thats gotten away from the 808 sound. not all rap sounds good as it's blowing out the guy in the car next me speakers, and making his trunk and license plate rattle horribly. Jazzier more intellectual stuff to flow over is important too. I'm glad that Kev is trying to branch out and explore that avenue. It takes real balls to do that. Very unlike the sheeple who are all rapping about the same thing. exaggerating thier experiences to gain public respect,(case in point...Mac 10 lives in Calabassas,California. an upper class "Whitey" neighborhood. and his crew of 6 that claim they "Who Bang" all the time got their asses kicked by one white man in the middle of a Supermarket parking lot one evening back when he was still hardcore in 1997. They all ran like the liers they were. got in their cars and ran when they couldn't even get one dude 6 on one onto the ground. to top it off. a few years later the white guy camer out of the closet and is now Gay with a boyfriend and everything. real hard core gangstas. got their asses kicked and ran by some gay dude on the HS swim team.)

I say bravo to rappers like kev that are truely true to the game.

I guess the old saying of an empty barrel rattles the loudest comes to mind with these gangsta rappers.

Well put BASSPLYR. But then again I wouldnt expect a poor written response from you

You grew up in the same neighborhood as The Game? Is he really as thugged out as he claims he is? I had a good laugh about the Mack 10 blurb, very amusing.

I do agree that most artists are one trick ponies, and the ones that have real talent never get a chance to shine. The rap game is full of these guys and I believe that has led to the stagnance of the genre today. Most of the garbage put out can barely be considered music, but these guys end up making money somehow.

I will stcik to the likes of Kev Brown so I can experience rap from a humble talent point of view.

Are there no underground West Coast rappers you have heard of? Bring the west back...

Unfortunatly no I haven't heard of any good underground west coast guys. Most of the smart/ honest rap is from the east coast. where the culture fosters a little more intellect than the streets of LA or Oakland. Don't know the game personally never met him so I can't say if hes thuged out or not, but I can say that in LA being a drug dealer doesn't give you any stripes and it's so common that it's nothing to even write home about. most cops don't even care if thats what you do anymore out here. However as a kid growing up hes probably seen some stuff, and probably has friends who he grew up with that ended up on the very wrong path.

ONe thing you can always expect from my posts is poor grammer and spelling that I have no excuse for other than I type real fast while mulitasking everything at the same time, and having my boss bark nonsensical orders into the phone on my desk every two minutes.

I can say that the folks down in crenshaw are not that thugged out anymore and the BBQ joints are really kick as down there. Theres a BBQ joint on every corner sometimes right next to each other. it's a trip. all little mom and pop joint but each one kick ass.

Yeah the Mac 10 story is a hard one to swollow at first if one wasn't there to watch it all go down. but I can asure you that his crew ain't a bunch of hard core gangstas. they dress like em, but some esse from east LA/Rampart or a real thug from watts or south central would recognize the bunch as marks. Like two short said the kind that get their ass kicked hanging at the park or in this case infront of the ralphs supermarket in calabassas right next to their ferrari 355 spyder. You know the one down the street from the Mercedes and Jaguar dealships, and the Barny Smith offices or whatever asset broker who decided to move themselves and thier spoiled kids to a safer richer neighborhood.

I agree though that the mainstream cookie cutter rap is contributing to the stagnation of the rap industry. THats why the rap industry comes up with a gimmick every few years to revive sales and interest. The whole west coast east coast thing being one of the fabrications. Lots of good came out of that. Man sometimes I put on old school rap just so that I can remember how it's done. I like new school too. it's jkust that there isn't the substance to it that can now only be found in the underground rap scene.

Don Wahn you might want to check out this dude stealth..

dosn't have any youtube videos but he's got a myspace

www.myspace.com...

listen to a couple tracks and tell me what you think.. if you like him enough PM me and i can hook you up with his mixtape

peace

These boys aint underground anymore but not really mainstream either. I saw them a few years ago playing at my local in front of about 50 people, they've come a long way since and deserve every bit. I'm not much of a hiphop/rap fan but i could listen to these guys all day (they are from my home town after all).
Man, i know these streets and alley's in this song. hope you like.

Hilltop Hoods -- The Hard Road

reply to post by mojo4sale



Wow Mojo, thats sayin a lot postin a fave rap joint in here. Much appreciated, given the "All metal all the time" slogan. Where these guys hail from. It was pretty nice. I'll do some sleuth work and see if they got any other nice stuff. Cheers

reply to post by Don Wahn



Adelaide in South Australia. Yeh they've worked their a**es off and started out with nothing working from a shed.
Metal's the main event for me, but i like music, all sorts, it just has to be good.

Nice Mojo. I am a big fan of rap/hip-hop from all over the world and I cant say that I have ever heard Australian. This is a nice addition to the collection. Its always good to see someone comin up from meager beginnings.

I feel you in that the music just has to be good for me to like it...but I draw the line at country music, thats a no-no 9.99 times out of 10.

@ Don Wahn. Yeh not a big country fan. I can handle some Johnny C and Ozark Mountain Daredevils and thats about it.
Theres actually some really good hip hop and rap coming through down here, if you can get past our Aussie accents. lol.

@Mojo. If I can get past the French and German accents in rap, then Aussie is nothing bad for me man. I havent been able to feel Japanese rap that much yet, but Im trying.

If you have any other rap recommendations from your end of the hemisphere, I am sponge waiting to absorb.

Mojo

[edit on 9/1/07 by Don Wahn]

reply to post by Don Wahn



Gotta go do some RL stuff but i'll get some links for ya later man, theres a couple of dudes from Tassie who are pretty different to your normal rap.

Take it easy, mojo

Good lookin out man. I appreciate anything you can tip me off on.

I'm feelin the aussie rap

Mojo!


[edit on 9/2/07 by Don Wahn]

Figgkidd - My Oh My, this is the guy i was thinkin of from Tassie, this dudes a classic. He's had some minor success. Love his lyrics.



Figgkidd - I Gotta Know



Infallible - The stratosphere, i like this guys stuff too.



Theres some other Rappers that i know of here but there mostly hardcore/metal style.

Many many thanks for the plethora of links Mojo.

I will peep them and see what appeals to my taste.

By Tassie shoudl I assume Tasmania? Sorry i cant quite decipher your abbreviations from her in Denver.

Regardless, good lookin out man!



[edit on 9/3/07 by Don Wahn]

reply to post by Don Wahn



Yeah Tasmania, sorry mate. Easy to forget your talkin to people from the other side of the world sometimes.

double post sorry mods lol

[edit on 8-9-2007 by future flow]

ummm what you guys havent heard about the illest unsigned rapper in history?....ill enlighten you...his name is future flow aka j-money.....and www.mytune.com... is were u can support www.myspace.com... is were you can get at me....lol and no the big headed-ness at the top isnt foreal.....but i do feel and so do a few others...that i have alot of talent...and mad potential...only been rapping for about 2 years but have been involved in music for since i can remeber....hiphop fan since birth though.......id love for all to give my stuff a listen and tell me what you think...as of now ive not recorded in an actualy studio but have pretty good sounding stuff i recorded on my pc...neways gimmie a listen and let me know what you guys think...1


edit to fix links

[edit on 8-9-2007 by future flow]

reply to post by future flow


Honestly future flow, I didnt think it was that bad. Pretty catchy beats and solid flow. Personally, I am a fan of more jazz/hip-hop beats like the last one on your myspace, but Im glad that yours was tight. Most joints I hear on myspace are 9 times out of 10 total garbage.

I would say you definitely got talent rappin. Regardless, you should jump in the studio and spend a couple bones to lay down something hot.

I'd ask where your from as some of my dudes run a studio in Columbus OH. I dont know how far away that is from Everywhere USA. Holler back or u2u me. Peace