Hip Hop & Rap recommendations for Taters


There is a rather heated thread that is fairly universally bashing rap & hip hop here in the music section of the Audiogon forums.  This is a thread to search for the best that the genre has.  Please recommend artists, albums, and songs that you feel are the best that hip hop & rap have to offer.  What tracks would you recommend to someone who enjoys music, but is quite far outside of the usual listening audience for hip hop and rap?

Here is the thread that inspired this post:
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/when-rap-came-out-30-years-ago-i-thought-it-was-just-a-fad?la...

So, to start it off, I'll offer up a few of my favorites.  I'll surely come up with a few more, but for now, this is where I would start.  I hope you enjoy this challenge!

- Mark


Format:
Artist
Album
Track


A Tribe Called Quest
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
Bonita Applebum

Mos Def
Black On Both Sides
Hip Hop

Mos Def
Black On Both Sides
Ms. Fat Booty

Us 3
Hand On The Torch
It's Like That

Common
Like Water For Chocolate
The Light

Kanye West
The College Drop Out
All Falls Down

Digable Planets
Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)
Where I'm From

2 Pac
All Eyez On Me
Only God Can Judge Me


marktomaras
PS,  excellent.  Love the Buddhist Monks.

Please have a look at my photography from a philanthropic medical expedition to the remote regions of Tibet:
http://www.marktomaras.com/tibet-gallery#1

enjoy!
- Mark
Wow Mark, very beautiful photos. I take it you are a professional. If not you should be. Regards jet
I'm sorry, but I'm going to recommend albums because that's what I prefer to listen to:

J Dilla - Donuts
OutKast - Aquemini
Ka - Honor Killed the Samurai
Nas - Illmatic XX
Kamayih - Got it Made
A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Mauraders
Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
ABRA - PRINCESS
The Weeknd - Starboy
Missy Elliott - Supa Dupa Fly

And @jetrexpro thanks for the thread. It's a shame how closed minded many of the so-called music lovers in here are. Makes you wonder what the stereo is really for...

There's an infinite amount of new music made every day by people just as talented as the heros of yore. If you're not open minded enough to appreciate it, that's your loss. Sad.