Essential hip-hop of the millennium

So im not a huge hip hop listener but I like quite a bit of the late 80s/90s stuff. But as Kendrick and Kanye aside I have listened to very little modern hip hop.

Is Danny Brown worth checking out? I liked a track I heard by The Roots love that live instrumentation thing.

Please share your recommendations

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runs in

fucksake

A very brief list of stuff off the top of my head to tide you over till Shippers and the rest of the gang get here:

Little Brother - The Listening
Noname - Telefone
Isaiah Rashad - The Sun’s Tirade
Vince Staples - Summertime 06
Elzhi - The Preface
Blu & Exile - Below the Heavens
Killer Mike - Rap Music
A playlist of the best Black Hippy stuff (Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock, Ab Soul, Kendrick)
Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
Mos Def - The Ecstatic
Madvillainy
El-P - I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead
Earl Sweatshirt - Doris
A playlist of the best Black Milk stuff (if you like The Roots style live instrumentation give Album of the Year a go by him)
Pusha T - My Name is My Name
Tree - Sunday School II
Chester Watson - Past Cloaks

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Danny brown
Killer mike
Etc

I don’t like shit I don’t go outside > Doris for me, probably my favourite hip hop record ever actually.

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That is an enormous shout, I like it well enough but I want my Earl Sweatshirt output to be more about the flow and the internal rhymes etc, prefer him when he’s rapping for rapping’s sake.

Ah yeah that’s fair just thought I should chuck it in here

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Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury - The Clipse- Wamp Wamp (What It Do) - YouTube

Viktor Vaughn - Vaudeville Villain (or any MF DOOM/ DOOM) - Vaudeville Villain - Viktor Vaughn - YouTube

Spank Rock - Yoyoyoyoyo - Spank Rock - Backyard Betty - YouTube

El-P - Fantastic Damage - - YouTube

Action Bronson - Blue Chips (it’s probably still free) - - YouTube

Killer Mike - RAP Music - Killer Mike - "Reagan" (Official Music Video) - YouTube

Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibit - Danny Brown - When It Rain [Official Video] - YouTube

Run The Jewels (although I can only fully recommend the first one… - El-P and Killer Milke - Run The Jewels - Banana Clipper (feat. Big Boi) | from the Run The Jewels album - YouTube

I’m far from an expert but I like what I like…

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pledge II >>>> RAP music

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Here’s a take i can get behind.

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Rich Gang: Tha Tour Pt. 1- probably one of my favourite mixtapes ever, just so many great moments on there.

Probably a playlist of the best Young Thug stuff, his discog is quite unweildy at this stage.

Gucci Mane is probably essential at this stage, but idk where you would start. The Woptober one was pretty great from last year

Hard to answer this!

17 years of a whole genre that has numerous different avenues/sounds/regions to explore.

Can you give us more than Kendrick, Kanye and some Roots? What sounds appeal to you about those? or do you just want another list of good albums?

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Thats the problem the list I have is pretty bare in the past few years. Which is part of the reason why I decided to make this a wider thread about what people consider to be the best, or most important albums of the last 17 years.

But anyway in answer to your question:

Hip Hop artists I really like and are among my favorite of any genre:

Public Enemy
The Beastie Boys
M.I.A (Only her early stuff though could give or take her last few albums)
A Tribe Called Quest

Other Hip Hop Artists I like:

Kool Keith
K’naan (Okay maybe not musically the most interesting but I love the internationalist perspective. Fan of his first album and the following live one)
Wu-Tang-Clan
Prefuse 73
badbadnotgood
De La Soul
Noname
Death Grips
Some slightly cringey political uk hip-hop

Artists Ive listened to a fair bit but never really clicked:

Madvillain - Found it boring
Run The Jewels - The lyrics put me off

I think I like either relaxing music with interesting, conscious or story related lyrics. Or energetic empowering danceable stuff. I also like stuff that is a bit idiosyncratic.

Seconded. So excited for something new this year.

#MF DOOM

‘Mmm… Food’ has some of my favourite tracks ever on it. Check that out.

impossible

but you should probably start and end with Lil Wayne

dalek - gutter tactics

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Most of what I’d recommend too is covered off, bar Aesop Rock. Skelethon and The Impossible Kid are both great LPs.