"Live From the Writer's Bench - Our Top 5 Slept On MC's"
Got into another debate up in the barber shop last week about slept on MC's. You had cats saying a RACK of folk who I wouldn't necessarily considered slept on but to each his own and then one cat said Big Daddy Kane and I'm like Kane ain't slept on he's in damn near anybody 30+ top 10 list but dude was like but he's not most folk's #1 which is a TOTALLY different definition of "slept on" then I was talking about. So this week we chopped it up about our top 5 slept on MC's and tried to exclude folk who are on the norm top 10 list, so check it out but who are some of cat's favorite slept on MC's?
4. "RE: Live From the Writer's Bench - Our Top 5 Slept On MC's" In response to Reply # 1
Whew....King Tee. Man, dude is SO slept on I forgot about him lol! I always rocked with King Tee dude get NO WHERE enough props for his presence in the game. I Got It Bad Ya'll is EASILY one of my fave bangers from the 90's!
6. "RE: Live From the Writer's Bench - Our Top 5 Slept On MC's" In response to Reply # 4
>Whew....King Tee. Man, dude is SO slept on I forgot about him >lol! I always rocked with King Tee dude get NO WHERE enough >props for his presence in the game. I Got It Bad Ya'll is >EASILY one of my fave bangers from the 90's!
No doubt.
Not to mention the fact that the Marley Marl remix of At Your Own Risk was the longtime Rap City theme song..
He was the OG when it came to St. Ides rap commercials.
He introduced the Alkoholiks.
Influenced Biggie.
Was not afraid to wear his East Coast influences on his sleeve.
IV is easily one of the underrated/unheralded/slept on classics of the late 90's..
<-- Dave Thomas knows what's up... __________________________
Jay: Look here homie, any nigga can get a hit record. This here is about respect. Game: Like Gladys Knight. Jay: Aretha Franklin. Game: Word, I like her too. Jay: Nigga...
7. "Can we stop calling black though slept on" In response to Reply # 0
When 70% of the niggas here swear he's the goat.. and don't act like it's just here. All the playery niggas I know in the world share the same sentiment
10. "RE: Can we stop calling black though slept on" In response to Reply # 7
But I think that's for cats who are fans of the Roots....but outside okayplayerland I know a RACK of folk who don't like the Roots and the majority of those folk think Thought is aiight at best. Trust, I've been in TOO many arguments when cats have said Thought and Phife are on the same level...I can't make statements like that up either.
AZ - Nas has had the misfortune of living in the shadow of Illmatic. AZ has had the misfortune of dropping arguably the most memorable verse on Illmatic and not only living in its shadow but also Nas' shadow. On any respectable top 5 MC list you will see Nas and AZ has gone toe to toe with him on many occasions and has also come out on top the majority of the time. Doe Or Die is under-appreciated. Pieces of A Man is just as good as Nas and Jay's late 90s albums. Aziatic is also up there. AZ faulters in a few production choices and at times chasing the commercial success of his counterparts but the bottom line is, he can rap as good as anyone you can name. Rebirth, second first...ridiculous. Rather Unique, Gimme Yours, Sugar Hill...ridiculous. The Come Up and The Format...ridiculous. He has out-rapped Rae and Ghost on a few occasions. The guy was born to rhyme and there may be no one more effortless.
OC - OC to me is hip-hop perfection. He does everything right. He selects the correct beats. He writes actual songs with focused concepts. He's versatile. He doesn't over do anything. Word...Life. Jewelz. Starchild. Trophies. How many MCs have 4 albums at that level?
Black Thought - you guys covered this one. Thought is the epitome of an MC. He is the definition.
Aesop Rock - there is NO ONE more complex than this guy. The best writer in hip-hop period. Unfortunately you need to attain a certain level of success to be considered for the best at anything in Hip-Hop. At the end of the day, when you talk about the art of writing rhymes, no one is at nice as Aesop. Metaphors, wordplay, imagery...he's on a completely different level than anyone. None Shall Pass and Skelethon are masterpieces lyrically.
Posdnous - I guess he does get mentioned but I feel like he still doesn't. It's strange because he's an MCs MC and he's been around long enough to be listed in the top 20 but I honestly feel like he is as nice as anyone who has ever picked up a mic. You always hear Rakim, BDK, Chuck D, Kool G, Slick Rick, KRS- One...but you never see Pos listed with them.
I agree with everybody on your list fam...except the dude Aesop Rock and that's only because I'm not up on dude. It's funny my dude was saying the EXACT same thing about Pos...like he's underrated but then again he's not...it's like just enough folk know about him but then enough folk don't know about him. My vote is he's underrated. It's almost like if you're into that Native Tongue type crew then you know Pos is nice but if you're a Wu/Mobb Deep type dude who never really brought a De La album you probably just think Pos is aiight. It always surprises me when I polly with cats and it seems like there's this divide between what I call the "peace people" (Tribe, De La, The Roots, Blackstarr) and the the hood folk (Mobb Deep, MOP, Wu) and how folks kinda gravitate to one or the other but not both.
14. "My man..." In response to Reply # 11 Mon Oct-20-14 08:01 PM by Anonymous
Listen, Aesop Rock is an acquired taste to some degree. I remember joking with Shameless Plug on here how Aesop was the rap Bob Dylan. But I think that description fits. And it may not be for you but if you get to the point where you appreciate the voice and unorthodox flow at times, you then can understand his genius.
Check out None Shall Pass and Skelethon.
Here are two joints to check;
None Shall Pass - he's been extremely in the pocket on these last two albums and you can tell he meticulously writes to the beat. If you like this check Five Fingers. http://youtu.be/ZEBGCOCxLgA
Zero Dark Thirty - he does his own production...all of the Skelethon album. How fucking hip-hop is this beat right here! http://youtu.be/Dbd4h1kaFlY
Edit: and you definitely have to read his shit to pick up on everything. I'm a lyric head so this shit is up my alley all day.
12. "Posdnuos Plug Wonder is on another level to me." In response to Reply # 8
The Stakes Is High LP is currently in my rotation. This dude is fucking incredible with the wordplay.
Kinda strange that Common dipped into this stratosphere around the same time period, only to attempt to sound like the 4th member of Slum Village and never regain his footing.
I'm not Mr. Lyrical Miracle when it comes to my rap listening habits, but guys like Pos, DOOM & Andre can't help but grab your attention if you're somewhat well-read. Common was trending towards that level IMO before he heard SV.
13. "Not sure what you mean on Common" In response to Reply # 12
From Resurrection to Be he was very strong lyrically, and I don't like Electric Circus.
That 97-00 Common was one of the best ever.
I think he started to simplify a little and I guess that's what you mean when you say Slum Village because Com did start to go for that "vibe to the beat" type of flow as a priority over the lyrics but I don't think that was his norm and I think he's done more than enough work not to be seen in that light.
18. "LWFC was the beginning of Common's decline as an MC." In response to Reply # 13
The "beats" were great, definitely in-line with the whole Soulquarian thing.
I just feel like the density was missing from his lyrics.
He had more concepts at the time, but his delivery was so literal.
Kanye's production kept me away from Be and Finding Forever. Those never got past a cursory listen, so I can't *truly* speak on the lyrics…but that shit certainly didn't stick out to me either.
21. "RE: Live From the Writer's Bench - Our Top 5 Slept On MC's" In response to Reply # 0
O.C. - One of my all time favorites. I'm probably one of the only people that feel Word...Life >Illmatic. Hell, Jewelz > It Was Written easy.
Jeru - I was listening to "Ya Playin Yaself" the other day, everything still fuckin applies, SMDH. If no beef developed between him and Premier dude would still be relevant today. Would never be Top 5 greatest but he was dope.
Aceyalone - From All Balls Don't Bounce up to Grand Imperial. Book of Human Language?!
Planet Asia - Whenever I hear this dude I'm like, "Oh yeah," I wish him and Rasco would just drop a bunch of Cali Agents albums. They have two of the dopest voices imo.
Rah Digga - I could list a couple of women actually but she has the longevity to go with being dope as fuck.
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