Who are the most POETIC MCs in hip hop please?
BeardedD
770 Posts
So I made friends with one of the creators of Poetry Out Loud, which is that 10 volume hippie freakout thing from 1969-1977. If you ever see these, pick them up; they will melt your face. Anyway he asked, and I didn't want to front, about who in hip hop, past or present, he would respond to as a 60-year-old poet in love with LANGUAGE. Right away I thought of Gil Scott-Heron (I know), Q-Tip & Mos Def, but with my extremely limited interest in hip hop (sorry everybody) it was hard to come up with other names that would appeal to HIM. So I'm looking for some consensus about this. Thanks everybody.
Comments
All the memebers of Digable Planets did as well
and don't forget the gawd Rakim Allah
beard boy, tell your man to listen to juelz and cam'ron... very few comping diplomatic linguistics.
I agree. Puma does not rhyme with momma for shit.
Some will disagree (NOT ARCHAIC), but I think your dude might be into some of Aceyalone's stuff. I mean, he does recite Jabberwocky.
hahahaha please. Dipset?
you beat me to it. If this dude really loves language then these 2 are the ones to not to watch for. The shit they do w/ the english language is trully sad.
What? They be to poetry what key be to lock!
Actually, if I told somebody I was interested in rap and they then tried to engage me on the subject of its "poetic" aspects, I think I would vomit.
One more thing: "swoon units"
You mad?
:explosion noise:
poetry wise, Saul Williams comes to mind...a dude not up on hip hop would definately ease into him a little easier...
No i find them more amusing than poetic... It never crossed my mind to put them in a "poetic" category... Now digable who can argue??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
I'm not a good judge though. I don't even really like poetry (i know, i know).
Say... wu-tang??
Or "Pickin' Boogers", that shit puts Byron and Shelley to shame.
or its just ignorant bullshit if you really listen to it
For real I don't think its bullshit, but its just would not fit into my concept of poetic category (see Cassidy ha!), its more marketing gimmick than poetic in my opinion... But then again I am not really trying to figure out who is poetic anymore. I either like the song or I don't and for me to consider something poetic it would have to really be a great piece of writing.
as soon as i saw the title of this thread, i thought "man, i can't wait for the faux_rillz shitstorm"
........and that was the best you could do!??? i commend Rape Donks, who was quick on the attack, a hard act to follow even. but your piggyback was pretty weak. i give it a 4/10. better luck next time.
seriously play him some aesop rock. seriously.
Dude are you serious?
I mean, beyond the fact that Cassidy's a fucking joke, that line is completely ripped off.
I would definitely recommend Cam'Ron's "Purple Haze". Dude clearly has a good time playing with the language.
Aww, I was planning to come much harder when I saw the title but the actual post was more benign than what I was expecting, and the guy seemed genuinely well-meaning, so I really couldn't bring myself to do it.
Wow I mean TMI but T***a might have something for that birdcall
"let me get some of them blue diamonds...
You know I actually put a (PASUE) in there and then deleted it, thinking to myself, "We got some very advanced AYOers on this board, I wouldn't even want to insult them by suggesting they would stoop to responding to such a soft pitch"
Lyrics Born
Blackalicious
Saul Williams
Aesop Rock
Aceyalone Circa Book Of Human Language
J Live
Buck 65
Sole
E 40
Mr Lif
Kool Keith
Can't really cosign the rest of the choices but Douglas your boy should definitely check E-40. Dude invents language.
are you looking for dudes who speak in a particualrly poetic prose or just dudes who talk funny?
There is an old white dude here at work that sounds remarkably like E-40. He looks like santa claus too. bizarre. and i want to be like "hey, doesn't dude sound just like e40?!?" but nobody would know what i was talking about.
oh, and get this- his name is David Duke.
rad.
Bloody murder, crime, drugs, folks smokin'
Man I remember when it used to be cool to leave ya screen door open
And let the mosquitos and the flies sneak in
Look mama and them play whistle so I'ma play tackle football with my friends
I guess them times is gone cause like a wishbone
I wish I had em' back instead of watchin' brothers fiz-all
Catch em' out on every track, bar, street, boulevards
Sweet avenues with dead ends, neighborhoods with antennas
Whatever happened to the days of Little League
Pop Warner and Boy Scouts, the Omega Boys Club
To cool to go to school not thinkin'
Too busy smokin' weed, sellin' dope and drinkin'
I guess we're livin' in the last days
Cause in the last days the Bible speaksof AIDS
Plagues, brothers killin' brothers, earthquakes
Youngsters tryin' to earn stripes as a work face
I'll be a sucker if I don't pull ya ho card
I used to be soft but now I'm hard, look here
I'll be a sucker if I don't pull ya card
Nigga, I practice lookin' hard
[Hook]
I got a mirror in my pocket and I practice lookin' hard
Mirror, mirror make the call
Who's the hardest of them all
I got a mirror in my pocket and I practice lookin' hard
Right before I go to bed
I make sure that my mirror's there
[Verse 2]
Take yo mean face off partner why ya muggin' me
Fools say shit, I can't help that shit's in me
It's automatic cause what's mine ain't even took
It's my mad at the world look
I said I feel ya man, sometimes I catch myself too
Mean muggin' folks that did no harm to me or my crew
But now it shouldn't have to be this way
Fools say, I don't care what nobody say, the other man got me this way
I'm fresh out the pen and out the system for years
Been fillin' out all kinds of applications to make a grip, but I don't know nothin' about no computer chip
It takes that to make a J-O-B in the 93
But a J-O-B in 93 consists of paper rarely
Jobs like the oil refinery
I'd rather work in Napa at the winery
And then ya wonder why I'm stubborn
Forever lookin' hard, I been scarred
[Hook]
I got a mirror in my pocket and I practice lookin' hard
Right before I go to bed
I make sure that my mirror's there
I got a mirror in my pocket and I practice lookin' hard
Mirror, mirror make the call
Who's the hardest of them all
[Verse 3]
Can't tell me shit, I come from a broken up home
Every since I was a youth I thought that I was grown
Meet me after school nigga and we can get it on
Ya talked about my mammy now I'm goin' upside ya dome
I got a complex problem, my guard stay up
I'm always on the offensive side, don't test my nuts, huh
I'm not a Charles nor a Larry but I'm scary
Scared that I might lose it and chop you with my pillsbury
I'm deep into my shit and it's straight like that
I be quick to clobber a motherfucker with my Flintstone bat
Nobody likes me on my father's side of the family
They can't stand me cause they think that I'm sellin' that candy
I kid you not, all bullshit to the side
I got 20,000 niggas in my organization, now which one of y'all niggas down to ride
I gets juiced off the underground ghetto shit
You know that Click shit, that independent shit
It makes me feel like I want to
Got me a baggy full of broccoli and a crooked eye 22
I feel great,
I'm mean muggin, but I feel great
But I feel...
[Hook]
I got a mirror in my pocket and I practice lookin' hard
Right before I go to bed
I make sure that my mirror's there
I got a mirror in my pocket and I practice lookin' hard
Mirror, mirror make the call
Who's the hardest of them all
The Nonce
MF Doom/KMD
Devin The Dude
The Riddlore/Ellay Khule/Blowed
Slick Rick
parable #1: the less you say, the less stupid shit you say.
Mike Jones
Mike Jones
Mike Jones
CL Smooth
Bushwick Bill
Jean Grae
Drag On
Papoose
Prince Po
Nasir Jones
Bizzy Bone
Mele Mel
Mike Jones
Mike Jones
Mike Jones I SAID...
Mike Jones