(shoutout buddy g)

but his post makes a very very good point abt phonte. i cannot think of any other mc whose rhymes resonate with me more.

i think it's interesting, as a die-hard bt fan. i'd still list him above all else, but *identifying* with the lyrics is a whole different conversation that should be had.

so- expanding it beyond rap- which lyricist from any genre speaks & relates to you the most?

yep

j/k

I agree with Phonte.

Oddisee has always been super relatable to me.

Believe it or not, the more cryptic MCs like Lupe and Aesop.

Brother Ali

Mos Def

OC - has always been one of my favorites and I think doesn’t get the recognition he deserves as being one of the first MCs like this and an influence on others like Phonte and Oddisee etc.

He legit has pretended to be something he absolutely is not.

"righteous ass black man"?

That voice he forces?


Nah.

Don't get me wrong, the Brother Ali on that first album who I *thought* was being real? Hell yeah. It was all bullshit.

.

indeed

>
>Brother Ali
>

He is not a "righteous ass black man". He is not "black albino"...that was/is bullshit.


That was all a lie.

The fake preacher voice, the "black" lyrics, etc. A fucking lie.


Dude needs a shrink.


He's just as phony/fake as these fantasy drug dealer rappers.

it was a story he was telling.

"Win Some, Lose Some" is the song.

.

Really, the whole Justus League deserves a mention in that regard, but Phonte especially.

Evidence.

Later career Scarface.

Tribe, especially Phife.

Obviously the content I don't identify with so much as their general dispositions, our experiences have been quite different lol.

But I agree with everyone who said Phonte because he does just seem to literally tell us all about his growth on every record, whether through his MCing or his singing. That Foreign Exchange commercial w/the girl listening to each of their albums as she grew up really resonated with me, as I'm sure it did a lot of us.

Common tops my personal list. I am a bit younger than him but I felt like I connected with his art on a human level more than any other artist I've really ever listened to. A good example is that I individually got into a Pink Floyd/Hendrix/acid rock/classic rock phase (like most white kids my age range did) my freshman and sophomore year of college. And drop dead in the middle of that time period, Common put out Electric Circus, which obviously borrowed a loooot from those artists and that time period of music specifically. So that really felt like a, "whoa, this guy really gets me," type of moment haha. And even more specifically, I also got exposed to people, things, ideas in college that I hadn't necessarily been truly exposed to in the mostly-white suburb I grew up in - such as, real life LGBTQ people ! So around that time, I was going through the process of learning about, and subsequently shedding my childish bigotry and homophobia that my friends and I had normalized throughout our youth and teenage years. And on Electric Circus, Comm did the same w/"Between Me, You, & Liberation". So again, that particular *track*, and the whole album, made me feel like I was growing up right alongside that dude, even tho he was a bit older.

And Blu just always felt like a new-era Common to me, specifically all his work with Exile.

but, this remains to this day, my favorite Kendrick album. Something about the vibe of the music, his voice, the lyrics. "...but, anyway this is for my pops, on his lunch break eatin in the parking lot..."

...cause I been rollin up on FOOLS since 1991, and blastin, then I head out to my beotch crib to do what I do...Thug life forever...fo shizzle...

Dude raps about gardening and hanging out with his son and liking quiet places like Sedona. I'm like bruh aren't you like 25?


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

He felt out of place, especially during the OK Computer/Kid A/Amnesia era. He has such an emotionally pure way of performing his lyrics and I always appreciated his vulnerability.

Kendrick - I'm not nearly as insightful as he is but I sometimes feel this battle he talks about frequently between having a gift or insight and sensitivity but also feeling burdened and ambivalent about it at times.

Oddisee - An everyman MC like OC or Phonte. Genuine and strives for peace. Maybe a little corny, but I identify with that too.

Q-Tip & Phonte - They're both infinitely cooler than me but they talk about themselves with humor and try not to take themselves so seriously. Or basically, really able to relate to anyone.

‘how to disappear’ would definitely be on the soundtrack of my bio flick.

He's a brilliant songwriter. I would hear some of his lyrics that expressed an emotion that I had but didn't have a name for it. His music made me feel a bit more centered in the world when I felt isolated.

I noticed this idea particularly with him as a part of Tanya Morgan, like all three of them are dope but if you made me pick a favourite it would be him, I feel like if I could write rhymes I'd write like him lol, his sense of humour feels really familiar.

...so many options, so i'll have to let this simmer while i think about it for a minute...

imo no one is better at articulating battling mental illness and addiction

particularly on the Never Better album.

Phonte for sure. Blu. Kendrick. Earl.

and a mediocre talent makes sense. Figures your bitch ass would support a predator like P.O.S., you corny ass nigga...

Never heard anything about POS and his past.

I do love that Never Better album.

Never liked any of his other work though.

Admits to it. Took time away to supposedly change, who knows.

grow up dude.

.

AZ, Co$$, Guru

edit: OC, Big KRIT

He has never sounded like he's being anyone but himself in his verses. I want Mello Music Group to swoop him up and get some eyeballs on his projects. He deserves to make a living off his rapping.