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I think there was a time (late 90s?) when underground rap was really hip and fresh, and then the underground rap kids got too self-righteous, too elitist, too white. So critics, writers and fans kind of turned on it at the turn of the millennium, instead embracing the polar opposite: ultra violent coke-rap (not that there isn't some good stuff in there too). We all remember how that happened, right?
But there were some really good indie hip hop releases to come out after the backlash, stuff like "I'll Sleep When You're Dead" (El-P's best work, for my money), "You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having" (probably Atmosphere's most solid, listenable album... and yeah I'm sure it sold well, but I don't remember there being as big a buzz around it as some of their earlier stuff), B.Dolan's "Fallen House, Sunken City" (super slept on), Blue Scholars, Psalm One, Lyrics Born-- the list goes on.
But critics-- and listeners, to some extent-- needed to distance themselves from both the perception and the reality that underground rap was nerdy white elitist sci-fi BS. So I think some really interesting stuff got lost in the mix.
-------- Guante: www.guante.info Tru Ruts/Speakeasy Records
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