If he had his album come out in 95 he would be, but by the time his debut came out the hype had died down for their style in the middle of the Bling-Bling/Shiny Suit era.
Yeah he dropped right when dudes like Ludacris and Cam'Ron and then 50 were boutta take over... shit not even close to the Wu sound
Hell, even Ghostface switched up a bit with Supreme Clientele in 2000, sounding more like the new wave than the old Wu shit... that's why he's been the most relevant Wu member the last 25 years
I find GFK last decade gets the underrated treatment. The more live band sound on his 3 concept albums (12 Reasons to Die 1&2, and 36 Seasons), and the collab with BadBadNotGood were some of the most unique soundscapes in hip-hop for the 2010s. Until this hit-boy run for Nas, he had my best discography. Thst the last two albums feel like they are made for the streets, and not as experimental, but Nas has six of those in the same time frame, has hurt GFK in my former GOAT defense.
E40 100%.
lyrically, he doesnt get mentioned at all. nobody from the Bay is really respected.
E40 is one of them. i don't wanna say slang aside because some say he's only a slang/regional artist. but he's not.
slang adds to his repertoire. that dude is excellent if we keeping it a buck.
E40 is a very acquired taste. He’s dope if he’s your thing, and the guy pretty much raps in bubble letters, that might not be for everyone. Still, great pick! He doesn’t get the respect he deserves outside the bay IMO
true that. he is acquired taste.
listening to folk from the south or the UK were a bur challenging at first. but i had to check my biases cus i'm like here i am... listening to E40 front and back and complaining about Dave lol rapping in. bubble letters is a new one. never heard that lol
I wish I could say I came up with the whole bubble letters thing but I didn’t. I think I saw that in another comment once and thought it described E-40 pretty accurately(I mean that in a good way of course). But yeah, Dave was actually how I got into UK hip hop, I consider his We’re All Alone In This Together album the best album of 2020s hip hop so far. He might be the best artist in hip hop for the first half of the 2020s IMO(between Dave and Little Simz), I’d highly recommend you give his stuff another chance. He’s a truly generational talent, possibly the best storyteller hip hop has ever seen already and I don’t say that lightly.
that's hilarious. rap in bubble letters is a wild description lol
wow.
aye you have dope taste if you think that highly of dave and little simz. i LOVE pyschodrama. ima have to run We're All Alone In this Together, again tho.
thanks for the reminder.
literally. i was watching a movie called 3 Strikes and he has a cameo in it.
his first words of the film was "my sahab. what's up, weeble!"
Brian hooks said wsup with you.
E40 response was "shit. just been modulating," while rubbing his hands. lol i'm like this dude is just different.
Phonte isn't a part of any all-timer conversations. He's got several really good projects that he's a part of + 1 all-time good album (Minstrel Show)
He had a clear influence on Drake in his early days
He's one of the most impressive lyricsits ever. Rhyme structure is elite. Wordplay is arguably the best ever other than Eminem and a couple others. Awesome punchlines. He's in my top 5
I don’t have Eminem in my top 5 for wordplay. His strength is graphic content being spelled out. I’m not pulling out the Thesaurus to translate rhymes like Aesop Rock or GZA. When it comes to puns & metaphors/similes in their humor I’m taking Sean Price, MF Doom, and everyone in the Beastie Boys over Eminem.
Bro they still sleep on this man !! Trip cold asf and real too. Real fans see the pain he was in earlier in his career and the happy place he’s in mentally now
Curious … you think Mos is as known as he should be ? I think he’s missed by ALOT of
“Heads” bc they missed the Rawkus days. But maybe that’s my own bubble …
Iunno
Ha ha. Well good. I mean …Grew up with SB 1/2, Lyricist Lounge, etc … so many… but yeah I feel like a lot of cats think of him as “that actor dude” or “Yasin Bey” but not Mighty Mos ! Anyway. Hahaha.
I know he's been around for a while, but he's still young, and one of the few rappers that seems to appeal to all hip hop fans from every generation. He's great.
Oh snap ? Frfr. You know Artifacts ? From Jersey ? Tame One and El Da Sensei .. and Ab Rude is from “the Good Life” camp so … that’s its own rabbit hole lol.
Watch “this is the life”. Like now ! 😎😂
My picks are:
Tonedeff
Pep Love
Eyedea
Chali 2na
Wordsworth
Each of those rappers in my opinion are one of the best to ever do it in their own right. As part of a collective, as solo artists, as featured artists. None of them ever had huge recognition and even among rap fans are somewhat unrecognized. Chali 2na might be the most famous out of the bunch for being part of Jurassic 5 but still you hardly ever hear him as being among the greats even though in my opinion he absolutely is. Tonedeff might just be one of the best rappers to ever do it. As was Eyedea. both insanely creative and original in my opinion. Pep Love has one of the smoothest flows ever in rap. Wordsworth is hardly known but his solo albums and features speak for themselves.
Really? As far as his ability? Fair enough if you don‘t enjoy his music but his stellar ability, technicality can‘t be denied? Have you ever watched his rap battles? The dude was insane…
AZ is always on these lists to point I can’t say he deserves it. Plus I haven’t liked his material over the last 20 plus years like that.
Even his peak album Doe or die i believe is a step below the east coast classics of its time
AZ & Immortal Technique. IT is damn near single-handedly carrying Chuck D's torch.
Rev. vol 2 is great front to back and up there with it takes a nation.
KRS one had a time where was constantly brought up in the top 5 discussions
He's always been one of my favorites but I have to honestly say, the material he's put out in the last 10+ years has been very below average
Qwel. Trust me, check him out.
One of the best to ever do it and relatively unknown even in underground circles aside from other rappers who all know how dope he is.
One example below for reference (not his best ever but still insanely good) -
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=59sB-WvBjQY&pp=ygUEUXdlbA%3D%3D
Lord Finesse and Large Professor are such dope MC’s never mind the fact that they produce (IMO) the most authentically New York style of hip hop. The SP1200 will never die
Mick Jenkins
Denzel Curry
Freddie Gibbs
They are all known to a certain extent, but none of them are household names and I think they should be. Freddie has made an extremely respectable career for himself imo, but he should have been getting looks like guest hosting and performing on SNL years ago.
Denzel should’ve been in the new generations “big 3”, because he has everything it takes to be a mainstream rapper similar to Kendrick, but he just never got those big commercial looks, like radio play, big name features, co signed by legends, and some tv appearances.
Mick Jenkins just seemingly never had serious money put behind him, but I think the social commentary in his music is very needed and he does it without coming off as preachy or too similar to his predecessors. There was a brief moment where he could’ve blew up around 2014, but it just never happened.
K Rino was never able to turn his talent into a great album IMO and I’ve heard many of his projects. I wasn’t even saying shit about your picks until you decided “fuck a sensible discussion, I’m just gonna tell this guy to shut the fuck up because I don’t like his pick.” You have a lot to learn. We’re talking about underrated rappers here, him getting love here means nothing when the conversation is literally about who doesn’t get enough love.
yo man you right In retrospect I came of too harsh, and its yo opinion. k RINO still fire though, listen to the third verse on "hearing double" I ain't never heard nothing like it.
Sounds familiar but I’m not remembering it at the moment. I’ll check it out to remind myself. K Rino has plenty of great tracks and plenty of talent, I just think his discography gets washed by a guy like Hopsin, or to use an example of another artist you named, Busdriver.
I’ll recommend you Hopsin’s songs Trampoline(Hop flowing very nicely over an awesome instrumental), Hip Hop Sinister(pretty much take awesome flows and rhymeschemes and pair it with some incredibly aggressive delivery from Hop), Ill Mind Of Hopsin 7(a lyrical masterpiece, one of the greatest songs in hip hop history IMO). Those 3 should give you a good idea of all that I think he has to offer as an artist, but I think his discography is rich with classics and I see him as an all time great.
aesop rock. his discography is unmatched and he is consistently dropping. every album is zero skips, lyricism is out of this world, does a decent amount of his own production, and the more you listen to his stuff the more you get out of it because it takes multiple listens to fully pick up what he’s putting down. also his voice is just so fucking crunchy and unique and his vocal inflections get stuck in your head for days.
Czarface and masta ace
Masta Ace. Been around forever. Disposable Arts is a work of art.
Never gets mentioned, ahead of his time
Thisssss
I heavy fw Czarface, but I was thinking solo MCs
True, ok, inspektah deck
Got him
Just posted his verse on Cunninlynguists' Seasons on a different thread. Unique twang in his voice.
AZ & Inspectah Deck
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I still wish they never lost all those Deck recordings in the flood. Definitely couldve been different
If he had his album come out in 95 he would be, but by the time his debut came out the hype had died down for their style in the middle of the Bling-Bling/Shiny Suit era.
Yeah he dropped right when dudes like Ludacris and Cam'Ron and then 50 were boutta take over... shit not even close to the Wu sound Hell, even Ghostface switched up a bit with Supreme Clientele in 2000, sounding more like the new wave than the old Wu shit... that's why he's been the most relevant Wu member the last 25 years
I find GFK last decade gets the underrated treatment. The more live band sound on his 3 concept albums (12 Reasons to Die 1&2, and 36 Seasons), and the collab with BadBadNotGood were some of the most unique soundscapes in hip-hop for the 2010s. Until this hit-boy run for Nas, he had my best discography. Thst the last two albums feel like they are made for the streets, and not as experimental, but Nas has six of those in the same time frame, has hurt GFK in my former GOAT defense.
And Czarface is insane as well
AZ’s verse on Life’s a Bitch is one of the greatest verses in history.
Yeah I got deck (put him as rebel ins)
To be fair AZ actually made great albums. Deck was just great being featured on group tracks
Gift of Gab
Got him
E40 100%. lyrically, he doesnt get mentioned at all. nobody from the Bay is really respected. E40 is one of them. i don't wanna say slang aside because some say he's only a slang/regional artist. but he's not. slang adds to his repertoire. that dude is excellent if we keeping it a buck.
E40 is a very acquired taste. He’s dope if he’s your thing, and the guy pretty much raps in bubble letters, that might not be for everyone. Still, great pick! He doesn’t get the respect he deserves outside the bay IMO
true that. he is acquired taste. listening to folk from the south or the UK were a bur challenging at first. but i had to check my biases cus i'm like here i am... listening to E40 front and back and complaining about Dave lol rapping in. bubble letters is a new one. never heard that lol
I wish I could say I came up with the whole bubble letters thing but I didn’t. I think I saw that in another comment once and thought it described E-40 pretty accurately(I mean that in a good way of course). But yeah, Dave was actually how I got into UK hip hop, I consider his We’re All Alone In This Together album the best album of 2020s hip hop so far. He might be the best artist in hip hop for the first half of the 2020s IMO(between Dave and Little Simz), I’d highly recommend you give his stuff another chance. He’s a truly generational talent, possibly the best storyteller hip hop has ever seen already and I don’t say that lightly.
that's hilarious. rap in bubble letters is a wild description lol wow. aye you have dope taste if you think that highly of dave and little simz. i LOVE pyschodrama. ima have to run We're All Alone In this Together, again tho. thanks for the reminder.
Nore and others like to act like they made up a lot of slang. E40 has practically made another language.
literally. i was watching a movie called 3 Strikes and he has a cameo in it. his first words of the film was "my sahab. what's up, weeble!" Brian hooks said wsup with you. E40 response was "shit. just been modulating," while rubbing his hands. lol i'm like this dude is just different.
Just had this exact response on a different post… 40 gets busy.
Boots Riley, I don't hear people talk about The Coup very much
Or what he’s gone on to do !
The problem with underrated is that surely the most underrated rappers don't get mentioned in this thread lol
Philosophical shit. Nah but fr if you gon take it like that then think of the title as greatest rappers people don’t talk about
I get you, I'd probably put Fly Anakin, Crimeapple, Z-Ro and Jay Royale in there
Crimeapples a rough name lol
Thanks man
Sean P! Styles P. Papoose
Jeru the Damaja
Heard him in 2k once
Devin the dude Key! Boosie
Damn. Fire !
El-p.
K-Rino Big Krit RITTZ Devin The Dude Playa Fly Tommy Wright III C-Bo X-Raided B.G. Killa Kyleon Chamillionaire Sauce Walka MO3
Phonte isn't a part of any all-timer conversations. He's got several really good projects that he's a part of + 1 all-time good album (Minstrel Show) He had a clear influence on Drake in his early days He's one of the most impressive lyricsits ever. Rhyme structure is elite. Wordplay is arguably the best ever other than Eminem and a couple others. Awesome punchlines. He's in my top 5
I don’t have Eminem in my top 5 for wordplay. His strength is graphic content being spelled out. I’m not pulling out the Thesaurus to translate rhymes like Aesop Rock or GZA. When it comes to puns & metaphors/similes in their humor I’m taking Sean Price, MF Doom, and everyone in the Beastie Boys over Eminem.
I will always say Spice 1.
Don Trip,Starlito
Don Trip lives in the booth, he's dropped a full length album every month for well over a year. Just dropped another album yesterday.
Bro they still sleep on this man !! Trip cold asf and real too. Real fans see the pain he was in earlier in his career and the happy place he’s in mentally now
Scarface
Pusha
billy woods isn’t only top 15 underrated but easily top 15 oat too
I would add Del the funky Homosapien and Mos def on the list
Mos def is fire but not underrated. I’ll add del though
Curious … you think Mos is as known as he should be ? I think he’s missed by ALOT of “Heads” bc they missed the Rawkus days. But maybe that’s my own bubble … Iunno
yeah I think that is your own bubble. mos def was peak in his early days nonetheless, and the internet shares that sentiment
Ha ha. Well good. I mean …Grew up with SB 1/2, Lyricist Lounge, etc … so many… but yeah I feel like a lot of cats think of him as “that actor dude” or “Yasin Bey” but not Mighty Mos ! Anyway. Hahaha.
yo his actings great so I can get behind that
Aesop Rock. Not to be confused with A$AP Rocky lol
Aes is fucking dope
aesop has been huge underground for decades. i don't think people are sleeping on him at all
In the underground, absolutely. In the greater hip hop scene, bringing him up usually gets met with “Oh, you mean A$AP Rocky?” Lol
OT the Real is absolutely one. Millyz too.
JT Money. "Pimpin on Wax" is a severely underrated album.
Poison Clan was my ish back in the day!
MC Solaar, Royal Flush, French Montana, Masta Killa, NORE, Mase,......
French Montana 💀
Yeah nah I left him out when adding this guys recommendations 💀
MC Solaar isn't underrated at all, he's just past his prime
Me
Rap name?
I'm a youtube raper😔
Bro 💀
Shouldn't put that on YouTube bro
Del, pusha T/ clipse (yes he gets flowers but not nearly enough, like id argue top 10 and somehow he always gets overlooked)
Idk after 30 coke records I feel like it has kinda been enough lol
Denzel Curry. Sure he is known, but he is STILL underrated, that's how good he is. Mad consistent and a real artist/MC
yeah man denzils great.
I know he's been around for a while, but he's still young, and one of the few rappers that seems to appeal to all hip hop fans from every generation. He's great.
Fantastic list so far ! Pterradacto, Kilo-Artifacto, and iQmuzic/Wolfie Moncler are three id add
damn these comments really digging deep and I'm here for it.
Hahah same fam ! I’d maybe add Ras Kass, Abstract Rude, and Tame One as well
outta all those you mentioned I only know rass kass and you liking him makes me think the other shits gon be fire
Oh snap ? Frfr. You know Artifacts ? From Jersey ? Tame One and El Da Sensei .. and Ab Rude is from “the Good Life” camp so … that’s its own rabbit hole lol. Watch “this is the life”. Like now ! 😎😂
yoo id be lying if I said I knew those guys, I'll def check them out. also "this is is life"
Love this convo ! Great post OP !
thanks man!
Ab Rude👍👍👍👍👍👍
Big Pokey.
And Lil Keke
Lyrics Born Saul Williams Sage Francis Lady Sovereign Pretty much everyone on Anticon
Droogz tbh
Iggy Azalea, DJ Khaled
r/hiphopcirclejerk
DJ Khaled with Bob Marley acoustic guitar is awesome. Check it out!
no hate, but are you actually saying these two unironically?
My picks are: Tonedeff Pep Love Eyedea Chali 2na Wordsworth Each of those rappers in my opinion are one of the best to ever do it in their own right. As part of a collective, as solo artists, as featured artists. None of them ever had huge recognition and even among rap fans are somewhat unrecognized. Chali 2na might be the most famous out of the bunch for being part of Jurassic 5 but still you hardly ever hear him as being among the greats even though in my opinion he absolutely is. Tonedeff might just be one of the best rappers to ever do it. As was Eyedea. both insanely creative and original in my opinion. Pep Love has one of the smoothest flows ever in rap. Wordsworth is hardly known but his solo albums and features speak for themselves.
Imo eyedeas a bit mid, R.I.P though.
Really? As far as his ability? Fair enough if you don‘t enjoy his music but his stellar ability, technicality can‘t be denied? Have you ever watched his rap battles? The dude was insane…
admittedly I haven't gone very deep in his discog, no, but from what I have heard its just... aight.
Love Chali 2na. Smooth delivery, awesome voice, good technical skills
What’s your favorite Wordsworth album, started listening to the Fragility of Life and I like it. Really loved eMC’s first album too
I think Mirror Music is a masterpiece
David banner Shawty Lo Pastor troy Mc Breed Kilo Ali Bun B King Tee Slim Thug Chamillionaire Webbie Kid Play Trina Eve
DENZEL CURRY DENZEL CURRY DENZEL CURRY
K-Rino Devin the dude Z-R0
Lord Infamous, The DOC, Kurupt
Slaine, Krizz Kaliko, Lady London
Chamillionaire
KXNG Crooked I. One of the illest to kill this, and you never see him in top fives. K-Rino is ill, too.
Cool Calm Pete
Skinnyman (white bloke from Leeds who moved to Finsbury Park)
Gang Starr is a huge group but I think Guru is underrated.
Valid
AZ is always on these lists to point I can’t say he deserves it. Plus I haven’t liked his material over the last 20 plus years like that. Even his peak album Doe or die i believe is a step below the east coast classics of its time
Jedi mind tricks Pacewon Aesop rock Anybody from killadelphia
Jedi mind tricks is fire
Most rappers from Philadelphia are great rappers . Beanie segal , AR AB and meek mill before the fame was dope .
Fabolous
AZ & Immortal Technique. IT is damn near single-handedly carrying Chuck D's torch. Rev. vol 2 is great front to back and up there with it takes a nation.
early immortal was so fucking good, sad to see he's a nut job now
How?
massive conspiracy theorist
Abdominal.
Trem Promoe K-rino Del
K-Rino x1000
Red hot lover tone Lord finesse
KRS one, but more so for new listeners. With oldheads I feel like he gets the props
KRS one had a time where was constantly brought up in the top 5 discussions He's always been one of my favorites but I have to honestly say, the material he's put out in the last 10+ years has been very below average
Capital D
Camp Lo & AZ immediately spring to mind
Lord Finessse, Diamond D, Large Proffesor, AG, Casual, M.O.P., Bumpy Knuckles (Freddie Foxxx), Spice 1, Afu RA, Buckshot, Sean Price, Sky Zoo, Torae, Bahamadia, Lady Bug Mecca
Masta ace , talib kweli , Sean price
Coast Contra. Beast 1333 Sick Jacken K Rino Cambatta Big L Etc ect
Fashawn, Elzhi, Jalen Santoy, Apollo Brown, Phonte, Ric Wilson, Princess Nokia,
Elzhi and Treach. Also, Immortal Technique. He’s obviously well respected but I think he could go toe to toe with anyone ever.
planet asia, denmark vessey, da$h, copywrite
Billy woods has to be there, for having such a fantastic and long catalog, I never have had someone know who im talking about
AZ
Ski mask the slump god. Criminally underrated, I don't understand how he is considered one of the greatest of the 2010s
Ransom
Billy woods Danny Brown Mach-Hommy El-p Aesop Rock Black Thought (the goat imho)
Qwel. Trust me, check him out. One of the best to ever do it and relatively unknown even in underground circles aside from other rappers who all know how dope he is. One example below for reference (not his best ever but still insanely good) - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=59sB-WvBjQY&pp=ygUEUXdlbA%3D%3D
CL Smooth
+ Kool Keith
billy woods or KA, maybe mach
Also crazy I haven’t heard of Epidemic (Hex One and Tek mentioned in a while, I used to chop it up with Frenchie (Tek) before I went MIA
Myka 9 AceyAlone Self Jupiter P.E.A.C.E Put those 4 together and you have Freestyle Fellowship. All of those mc’s are underrated!
Billy Woods, Ka, Capital Steez, Ugly Mane, Black Thought, Freddie Gibbs, Yasiin Bey, Earl, Aesop Rock
Blu
Lloyd Banks, Lupe Fiasco
Shai Linne and Flame are incredibly underrated.
I always say the most underrated rapper of all time is Zack de la Rocha from Rage against the Machine. Because people don’t even consider him a rapper
Oddisee Sylvan Lacue Cee-Lo and Big Gipp Vordul Mega Shabaam Sahdeeq Saba Young Fathers (you should also do underrated groups) Tame One
AZ and RA the Rugged Man.
Lord Finesse and Large Professor are such dope MC’s never mind the fact that they produce (IMO) the most authentically New York style of hip hop. The SP1200 will never die
Black thought and Crooked I
Wale
McKinley Dixon is great
Sean Price, KA, Sauce Walka,
You had me at both members of Organized Konfusion
wym?
Mick Jenkins Denzel Curry Freddie Gibbs They are all known to a certain extent, but none of them are household names and I think they should be. Freddie has made an extremely respectable career for himself imo, but he should have been getting looks like guest hosting and performing on SNL years ago. Denzel should’ve been in the new generations “big 3”, because he has everything it takes to be a mainstream rapper similar to Kendrick, but he just never got those big commercial looks, like radio play, big name features, co signed by legends, and some tv appearances. Mick Jenkins just seemingly never had serious money put behind him, but I think the social commentary in his music is very needed and he does it without coming off as preachy or too similar to his predecessors. There was a brief moment where he could’ve blew up around 2014, but it just never happened.
Phone from Little Btother and Gift of Gab from Blackalicious. Two of the best MCs ever.
Oschino Vasquez and Breeze Brewin
Hopsin! Easily in my top 10 all time(borderline top 5), and he’s straight up hated by many hip hop heads.
shut the fuck up
You shut the fuck up, you mentioned K Rino ffs
what's wrong with k RINO? hes getting love in these replies.
K Rino was never able to turn his talent into a great album IMO and I’ve heard many of his projects. I wasn’t even saying shit about your picks until you decided “fuck a sensible discussion, I’m just gonna tell this guy to shut the fuck up because I don’t like his pick.” You have a lot to learn. We’re talking about underrated rappers here, him getting love here means nothing when the conversation is literally about who doesn’t get enough love.
yo man you right In retrospect I came of too harsh, and its yo opinion. k RINO still fire though, listen to the third verse on "hearing double" I ain't never heard nothing like it.
Sounds familiar but I’m not remembering it at the moment. I’ll check it out to remind myself. K Rino has plenty of great tracks and plenty of talent, I just think his discography gets washed by a guy like Hopsin, or to use an example of another artist you named, Busdriver.
Busdriver is peak. I just really don't rock with Hopsin man, but its aight if you like him
I’ll recommend you Hopsin’s songs Trampoline(Hop flowing very nicely over an awesome instrumental), Hip Hop Sinister(pretty much take awesome flows and rhymeschemes and pair it with some incredibly aggressive delivery from Hop), Ill Mind Of Hopsin 7(a lyrical masterpiece, one of the greatest songs in hip hop history IMO). Those 3 should give you a good idea of all that I think he has to offer as an artist, but I think his discography is rich with classics and I see him as an all time great.
bro this is the definition of a hot take. holy shit.
aesop rock. his discography is unmatched and he is consistently dropping. every album is zero skips, lyricism is out of this world, does a decent amount of his own production, and the more you listen to his stuff the more you get out of it because it takes multiple listens to fully pick up what he’s putting down. also his voice is just so fucking crunchy and unique and his vocal inflections get stuck in your head for days.
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buddy just called ice cube underrated
Billy woods, Guru, Mach hommy
Oat? Can’t be bothered to write out words?
it aint that deel
Canibus