Okay, with my recent perchase of Late Registration, I'm in the mood for hip hop. I don't like the older stuff like Run DMC (don't give me the speech, I'veheard it a million times) but I like stuff like Dre, Kanye, and what I've heard of Nas and Jay Z. So, here's the disks I'm planning on buying soon.

Dr. Dre: The Chronic and Cronic 2k1 (which I have a copy of on cassete my friend taped me in 8th grade)

Snoop: Doggy Style

2Pac: Need some reccomendations

Nas: Illmatic (?)

Jay Z- Also need reccomendations

I also like the Rock/rap like RATM but not Korn/Limp Bizkit. So what else would I like?

Rock/Rap sucks ass. Stay away from it alltogether.

2Pac - Me against the world is a must have. Also Makaveli is also a MUST HAVE. If you buy it at a record store it will also be listed under Makaveli (most likely). You could try 2Pacalypse now, but it's probably a bit outdated. Also, don't forget to pick up Strictly for my Niggaz and All Eyez on me is overrated, but if you are going to listen to Pac you should check out most of his stuff.

Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt is a must have as well. That should be where you start listening to Jay from. From there you should probably check out In my Lifetime Vol. 1 and The Blueprint. The stuff in between is OK, but it's nothing essential. Also, the black album is also really good.

Without a doubt you MUST get The Chronic. 2001 really isn't all that important, but The Chronic is fuckin beautiful and incredible all the way though.

For Pac, I recomend All Eyes On Me. I've heard about it being overrated and stuffed with filler, but for me, the album that produced How Do You Want It, 2 of Americaz Most Wanted, California Love, Can't C Me, Life Goes On, Ambitions Az a Ridah, O.G.C.J.M and much more is impossible for me not to love. I dig 2pac's earlier shit, but nothing ever compares for me to All Eyez On Me, either disc. Makaveli is badass as hell too, all the way through, so yeah, get that one as well.

Doggystyle is the shit, but not quite as masterful as alot of people make it out to be, at least to me. I'd definitely check it out though and say it is a must-have for a new or revamped hip-hopper.

Also, often overlooked. Warren G's Regulate...G Funk Era is an awesome, fun fuckin album that never gets any kind of respect. His sophomore effort was pretty weak, and that could have something to do with it. I really love this album, and think you should definitely check it out.

I'm not trying to start shit, but Jay-Z is quite possibly the most overrated rapper of all time in my book. I've just never really felt his shit, with the exception of about 2 songs. I don't like his flow, and prefer Pac, bigtime.

You gotta check out some N.W.A. Straight Outta Compton is great, but just save yourself some time and go for the Greatest Hits collection instead, just so you get everything necessary in one swoop. Definitely check it out though. If you don't know, N.W.A. was pretty much the birth of gangsta rap (debatle with Public Enemy, I know) with Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy E, MC Ren, and DJ Yella. Really good shit.

Also, don't forget the East Coast. Biggie's Ready To Die is pretty solid, although I don't put it up there with the albums I've mentioned above. Diddy's first record, which name escapes me, has some great tracks and cameo's from B.I.G., Lil Kim, Mase, Busta Rhymes, and stuff like that. It is pretty much a solid changing of the guard in the sound, but it does have some nice tracks.

I don't know what you're looking for exactly, but I'd recomend Ice Cube's AmeriKKKaz Most Wanted as a really solid gangsta rap album. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Eminem in here as well, and I (unlike the majority) prefer his either his first (Slim Shady LP) or second (Marshall Mathers LP) over his other stuff that blew up huge. And lastly, I recently tried widening my horizons, and I've checked out some Public Enemy. Its an acquired taste I think, but I dig it, if you can deal with alot of looped beats, inserts, things like that which some people don't dig. You could check out either "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" or "Fear of a Black Planet".

Sorry, that got kinda long. But I fuckin love Rap.

Rock Rap all bad? Fuck that. Rage's self titled is absolutely amazing. All your other advice seems solid, so once I get home (or if I luck out and find a decent music store here) I'll start checkin all thisout.

P-Diddy's an educational experience. He breaks the old stereotypes by proving that not all black people have rhythm.

"yeah, uh-huh. yeah, uh-huh."

Rage is good, but they are the only one that I would even considering listenable.

Ah. That I can understand.

Oh, what about KRSOne? He seems to be one of the more inteligent guys...

KRS One is one of the greatest MC's of all time. Although you are young and most of his political messages may be a bit outdated for you.........but he's one of the best ever. Boogie Down Productions (his crew) put out an album called Crimal Minded that is a landmark in hip hop and it's a must own album. One of my favorite KRS songs is "Love's gonna get you"...........which is a song that may be more true NOW than it was when it came out 15 years ago.

Man, I'm gonna need a bigger iPod....

I can recommend tons of shit for you. What else are you familiar with?

Honestly not all that much. My little bro is real into Run DMC, but I don't like it at all. I find most of the first wave of hip hop to be pretty mundane. Sugar Hill Gang and whatnot really don't od much for me. I like the harder stuff better, like Dre and whatnot.

I used to dig the rap-metal stuff from the early 90's. Keyword is "EARLY" 90's..as the stuff pumped out after 1996 or so blows. And really, Korn isn't "rap" or "rock".... just shitty.

Aside from RATM, you should check out the Judgment Night soundtrack. I can almost guarantee you that you'll find it in your local used CD store for 4 bucks or less. It's a gimmick CD, featuring hard rock/metal bands with rap/hip-hop bands. It opens with a Helmet/House of Pain cut that is literally split right down the middle. There's some total crap on there, like the Sonic Youth and Cypress Hill cut. But there's some really cool crap like the Pearl Jam/Cypress Hill song ("Real Thing"), RUN-DMC/Living Colour ("Me, Myself and my Microphone"), Mudhoney/Sir Mix-a-lot ("Freak Mama") and my favorite: Dinosaur Jr/Del the Funky Homosapien ("Missing Link"). Fun song, and it includes two Marvel comics references! Del's probably most famous for supplying the rap vocals on the Gorillaz "Clint Eastwood" song. The CD also has a mediocre cut from Faith No More and flash-in-the-pan rappers Boo-Yaa Tribe (they were kinda' like Makin' a Difference Fatu!). You could do worse than blowing 4 bucks on this disc.

If you like the 311 style of rap/rock, then you might want to search for Chaos Theory. They were a local/regional band from around here and did alot of heavy rock/rap stuff. Problem was, their guitarist only had ONE distortion pedal and used the same sound for every track.

From around 1992, there's also Pro-Pain's "Pound for Pound", Biohazard's "Punishment" (almost has a heavy rap beat) and House of Pain's "Shamrocks & Shenanigans". There's about 4 different versions of "Shamrocks", but look for the "Butch Vig remix" is you're more inclined to go after the "rock" side.

...and you'd also score 10 cool points if you picked up Anthrax and Public Enemy's "bring the Noise" from the "Attack of the Killer B's" album. It only has 2 rock/rap tracks on it, but I'm holding out hope that you'd buy it, get hooked on the other stuff and cross over to the good side. But I'm biased, since that's my Mostest Favoritest Album Ever (even beating out "Number of the Beast" and "The Smurf's All Star Show").

So I'm assuming a good starting point for you would be right after the startup of Death Row records or the west coast explosion of hip hop in around 1991-1992.

Yea, that's what I was thinking, but I didn't want to mention it becuase I would get ridiculed. Or something.

Then you may want to check out......

Any and all Easy E stuff....

Ice Cube's Amerikkka's Most Wanted and Death Certificate

Ice-T's O.G. - Original Gangsta

Dre's Cronic

Snoop's Doggystyle

Dogg Pound - Dog Food

I see that the most of this discussion has focused on the pioneers and the East/West dichotomy, which I respect. Biggy, Pac, NWA, Cube, and Public Enemy are definetly the first stuff I would recomend. However, I feel it is important to suggest Outkast in this discussion, as all their stuff is great to me. The last album isn't as much pure rap as many would like, but ATLiens and Stankonia are amazing rap records. Also, ANYTHING by Jurrasic 5 is worth getting, for my money.

Note: Everything Rage did, from the self-titled to the Battle of Los Angeles, is absolutely amazing, and I love it all.

Oh, no doubt. self-titled and Evil Empire especially are fantastic.

I didn't think The Eminem Show was too bad, mainly because it had enough catchy beats not to suck, but I'll agree, Encore really really sucked. I wouldn't even recommend it for a hardcore Eminem fan.

Eminem has been heading downhill since the Marshall Mathers LP. If y'all wanna hear a pretty good new CD, check out C-Rayz Walz "Year of the Beast". I've got a few songs if anyone wants to hear them.

Link away with your hip 'self. :P

I get paid tomorrow and Ithink I'll pick up Illmatic and the original Chronic.

Hmmm....I could only find one for free. I'll post it....

http://music.download.com/crayzwalz/3600-8...-100013587.html

....but it's not the best one on the CD because the 2nd guy is wack.

There's some good cameo's on that album.....

I agree. I'm just not a huge 4th Pyramid fan.

Aesop Rock and M-1 are good shit though...........

I love Aesop. M-1 I don't usually listen to that much, but maybe I should.

You know M-1 is a single member of Dead Prez right? IF not, check out some Dead Prez...........it's a little pro black (so if you are not black, then that's your warning) but keep an open mind, their stuff is decent enough.

Well, never mind. I have a lot of Dead Prez....I just forgot/ didn't know M-1 was a member. My bad.

Anybody like Immortal Technique?

Immortal Technique rocks socks. Dance with the Devil makes me cry.

It gives me chills every time I hear it. Probably my favorite song.

I know it's a bit of an older song, but everybody should listen to Omnipotence by Virtuoso. Don't get the version he did with 7L and Esoteric, because the beat is downright crappy by comparison.

Today I picked up The Chronic, 2k1 cuz it was cheap and used, and Public Enemy's greatest hits. Just thougth I'd share. They didn't have Illmatic, but they had lots of simalarly titled ones that I wasn't quite sure on, so I'm going somewhere else. lol

I picked up Illmatic for five freakin' bucks at Best Buy. Greatest purchase of my life.

And I work by a Best Buy. I now have a stop to make. Thanks for the tip.

You manage to find Illmatic, LFV?

Just got it today on my way home from work. It was ten, but still far cheaper than Mediaplay. puttin it on my iPod now...

OH. MY. GOD. This has to be the greatest Rap CD I've ever heard.

We told you so......

And if you don't know, now you know.