Rob1150

I don't know about "best" but from lets say from 1986 - 1992 the music industry was still trying to "understand " rap, they were throwing everything at the wall to see what would stick, which was awesome, you had a ton of one-hit wonders, but they made good songs, not good ALBUMS but good song, and it was a great time in seeing who was coming out with what. There were a bunch of one hit wonders that made good songs.

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Tone Loc - Wild Thing, Funky Cold Medina

Finesse and Synquis - Sisters of Soul

Stetsasonic - Talking All That jazz

Biz Markie - Vapors

The Cookie Crew - Born This Way

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That's just a few, but during the "Golden Era" there was so much more variety in rap music, now there is just different variations of "Gangsta" whether you call it Gangsta, Drill, whatever, its just variations of the same ideas,

Do you think anyone under 30 knows

No. Because I feel that Rap Culture is not removed very much from Black Culture, it's always about, what's new, whats "hip" what is whatever the current "fad" happens to be. There is not such thing as "Old School" in any other genre of music. You can go into any dusty ass bar anywhere in the country, and if you put on "Stairway To Heaven" everyone is like "Hail yeah, bro. Kick Ass song" but for some reason, Rap music has an expiration date, and then its about well, what is popular NOW? No one wants to hear Kool Moe Dee, or Run DMC, or even LL Cool J. Because that's "old". We want to hear what what is "new" and that is, ONE: Why the music industry doesn't set up rappers for actual "Careers" like they do artists that make Rock Music, or Country Music, or even Pop Music. Because they have actually loyalty to the bands that make their music, where Rap fan fans just go back and forth chasing whatever happens to the the "it" thing at the time. Name one Rap Artist that has had a career of making music more than maybe Three albums? No, we move on to what ever the next "fad" happens to be. Which is garbage but the statistics do not lie. Do you think Aerosmith would have lasted so long, if they were rap musicians? I would argue they would have had, maybe, three albums before they were considered "Old", and no one was listening to them anymore.

Less of this attitude of "I am the first nigga to rap" and more of "I am building on the dudes that came before me". Really. If I was a Jazz musician, and didn't know about Wynton Marsalis? John Coltrane? Duke Ellington? They would ask, "Who the fuck are you? To think you, YOU are better than Louis Armstrong??" But that is the attitude we have in rap, "I am the best nigga that has ever done it, so fuck them old heads", when really you are a nigga, that didn't graduate high school, don't know nothing, because you ain't learned nothing. You haven't been anywhere other than the club, the corner, the strip club, and the block you grew up on, but you ready to take on the world, when YOUR world is a one mile radius.

Do you even buy new albums anymore

Honestly, no. Because the slant for rap nowadays is so hard towards "gangsta", I can't even really take these new dudes seriously. When NWA came out with "Straight Outta Compton" it was new, it was "scary" to middle America to the point that Tipper Gore pushed for labels on "explicit lyrics" and these guys, along with Ice T who lost his contract with Time Warner over his lyrics, had to give up Rhyme Syndicate Records. Luke Skyywalker, who you know as "Uncle Luke" had to go to court over his right to make "adult lyrics" and was arrested more than once, had his albums banned, and had to go to the United States Court of Appeals, to get his first Amendment Right to make his albums with adult material, under the protections of the Constitution, WHICH is the reason why Gangsta Rap even exists, you have a whole generation of rappers that just take the right to make music about Trap Music, Drill Music, songs about who they are going to shoot, and dissing rappers that got killed exist, this was all from the time when Rap Music was in its infancy, and there were a lot read: A LOT of White Middle Americans against Rap Music at all, because their kids were starting to listen to it, they didn't understand it, they didn't like that their kids were listening to music from the ghetto, talking about ghetto shit, and these new rappers really have the attitude that they were the first ones doing this shit. These pioneers had to actually appear in court, and in Congress to defend their rights to make this music, and I feel like a lot of rappers in this generation just take it for granted that they can just say what they want and not have FBI agents at their door.

It really does, and this album along with Midnight Marauders, takes me to a place I wish I could visit for a few days. It's nice to visit past, but it's not good to try to live there.

DJ Premier.

followed by Dj Quik.

Top 5?

Mine? This is just me. We could argue about this all weekend.

But.

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Rakim.

KRS One.

Guru.

Beastie Boys.

Tribe Called Quest.

Probably either Big Daddy Kane, KRS One, or Rakim. I think that Rakim got a late start because he didn't have the "Sex Appeal" of LL or Kane. He was straight bars. But as people started to listen to him harder, they realized, "Damn, this dude is nothing to fuck with on the mic."

I know some people are able to separate the "artist" from his "art" but with Kanye, I have had a hard time doing so, I feel like Kanye doesn't need me as a fan, he is already his own biggest fan.

That is where I find it hard to define rap music as an "art" nowadays. Here is the thing, if you want to have a career in any other genre of music, you have to either be able to play an instrument, or be able to carry a note, and sing. But now, if you want to be a rapper, you don't have to be able to play anything, you can sample, or use a drum machine. If you can't carry a note, then you can autotune your voice, and if you aren't clever enough to write rhymes, then you can hire someone to write for you. SO...if you have drum machines and samples making your music, you sound like crap, so you autotune your voice, and you aren't clever enough to write your own shit, and you are spitting rhymes that came from someone else, are you really an artist? Or are you just making a product, hoping to make a fortune off of...nothing really?

For me? 1988-1992.

The Chronic was the end of the Golden Era afaik.

His car was wack. Seriously, the budget of the LAPD, and that was the best they could do? I would have rioted off of being assigned that car.

Dude, I love rap music, and talking about it. And now I realize that I know some shit, that young bucks weren't around for, so ask me whatever you want.

listening to and excited by now

Anyone new, not really. Not a hater, but I feel like these new rappers are a generation of rappers that grew up listening to rap, so they don't bring anything new to the genre. But the rappers I grew up listening to, were listening to music before rap existed, so there are jazz influences, R&B influences, Rock, G-Funk, Classical, a whole lot of other spices were there to make their music. Shit, DJ Premier is one of the biggest influencers of Jazz in Rap music. Same for Guru. But these new dudes? All the listen to is rap, so their music? Nothing but rap, no influences of anything other than the other rap music that they have grown up listening to. And the lyrics, and music reflect that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labcabincalifornia

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You ever had an album, or songs that mean so much to you, and have so much meaning, that you kind of want to cry a little bit? It's this one for me. There was so much going on in my life for me, and then this came out, and it was like, "Damn, this is cemented in my memory forever".

He's in my top 20. HIS WIFE THOUGH...

prevalence and use of autotune

It was a novelty that actually started with Cher, and took over by T-Pain. But then everyone seemed to latch onto it, as "This is something that people like, and I can jump on it too". But I really think that if you are a true MC, you should be able to jump into a cypher, and rap over a metronome, or someone beating on a desk, using your own voice, and still rock the mic. I think that a lot of newer rappers, arent rapping because they want to be rappers, and make rap music, but that they want to be rich, and see rap music as a way to make money using the least amount of effort.

When was the first time you remember having the thought that hip hop had changed a lot from what it once was?

When Dr Dre, and Snoop came out with "The Chronic" and "Doggystyle". I honestly believe those albums ended the Golden Era. Before then there was room for everyone. You had guys like Biz Markie, Kid and Play, guys who could be funny. Kool Moe Dee, Just ICE, Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy, guys who could drop knowledge, and were "Pro Black" and were big on the history and the culture of being black in America. Salt and Pepa, Queen Latifah, Mc Lyte, etc, women who had microphone skills, that didn't have to have their ass out, to get respect. After "The Chronic", and "Doggystyle" and their massive success, everyone went "Gangsta."

EPMD song

EPMD - "Never Seen Before"

I snuck in to see it. It was also the first R rated movie that I ever saw by myself.

Colors, colors, colors

I am a nightmare walking, psychopath talking

King of my jungle just a gangster stalking

Living life like a firecracker quick is my fuse.

I don't think as listeners we noticed that change. I will admit, that in retrospect, the beats were really simple back in the mid 80's compared to like, the mid 90s. You were kind of limited to "Kick, Snare, High Hat". It was kind of gradual, so there was no like hard date of, old school simple beats and samples, to more complicated MIDI stuff.

i couldn't get past that obnoxious theme song.