DMX - Grand Champion

[BullDog_Flash]

Who likes DMX more than most other rappers.

I do only because almost every Album DMX had he had a prayer to jesus.

I enjoy his music and words.

But eminem still has the better rapping style.

The reason I havent been postibng is because of the jurricane i had down here in Nova scotia.

[Phat7]

How's the album? I haven't got it yet...

[norie]

my favorite DMX lyric:


".....shove your head up your A** have you seein' S*** clearly"

[SureShot]

one of my favorite quotes from his new album is


Jackoff in your eye so you can see me comin'

[mjULTRA]

".....shove your head up your A** have you seein' S*** clearly"

"Jackoff in your eye so you can see me comin"

Wow, how profound, DMX. Ill admit, his message could be worse (nelly, ja rule, ludacris), but it could be better (Pharoahe Monch, Chali 2na, Common).

If you want to know who the Grand Champion of Lyrical Skill is, in my opinion, i'd hafta say its Gift of Gab, from Blackaliscous...

[SureShot]

Have you ever heard of the MC Skillz or Madd Skillz as he was formerly known? If you want great lyrical skill - he is one to watch. He does a lot of ghost writing and in one of his songs he even calls out a bunch of guys because they hadnt paid him like they were supposed to.

Guys like Jermaine Dupri, Will Smith, Puff Daddy... it's awesome.

"Ghost writer, and for the right amount I can even make YOUR Sh*t tighter"

[mjULTRA]

Yeah, mad skillz is pretty dope. i didn't know he was a ghost writer though.. thats pretty awesome...

My favorite skillz line:

"You and your crew is about as impressive as a fat wad of one bills.."

haha i love it!

[DDD]

yeah DMX is one of the few rappers who are out there actually rapping with feeling. Kinda how Tupac was you can just feel the energy and emotion behind his music thats passion. I have all of X's stuff. Eminem is pretty wack in my book but he does say funny stuff.

Mad Skillz is tight....So is Canibus.....and also for freestyling Redman.

No I think of it the West Coast is pretty Wack right now.

[SureShot]

Another Canibus Fan!

I love him, his last album was garbage though (or so I thought anyway) but all this stuff before was great. I love his flow and his vocab... glad to see other out there like him as well :)

[telekinesis]

I don't think DMX can even compare to Tupac, Def Jam label groups are turning more commercial every day.

You need to look at some better stuff:

Easy-E
Ice Cube
Method-Man
Old Bone Thugs
C-Bo
Brotha Lynch Hung
X-Raided
Any Tupac
Lil' Flip
Eminem
Obie Trice
Old Ludacris
Youngbloodz

[DDD]

X is tight but you are right no Pac. There will be no other Pac unfortunately.

hahahaha....brother lynch I have all his stuff to....aaaaahahahaha baby guts. I really only like the jeri curl ice cube....the rest of your list is suspect...Although I like Meth. But right now there is no one reppin the West.

[mjULTRA]

Im not sure if repping the west means Gangsta rap only, but the left coast boasts some talented hip hop artists, such as Pep Love, Gift of Gab, and Planet Asia...

[Digitalosophy]

Originally posted by SureShot
Have you ever heard of the MC Skillz or Madd Skillz as he was formerly known?

oh yea, he's with Eastern Conference now. he's dope and so are they. i personally don't like DMX very much. he feels the ned to say b*tch and n*gga way too much for my liking. there is no reason to have to curse to sell records. look at Last Emperor, now he's a real mc, check out his new album

[ahmed]

Originally posted by telekinesis
You need to look at some better stuff:

Easy-E
Ice Cube
Method-Man
Old Bone Thugs
C-Bo
Brotha Lynch Hung
X-Raided
Any Tupac
Lil' Flip
Eminem
Obie Trice
Old Ludacris
Youngbloodz well said :thumb:

[DDD]

Originally posted by Majeye
Im not sure if repping the west means Gangsta rap only, but the left coast boasts some talented hip hop artists, such as Pep Love, Gift of Gab, and Planet Asia...

I know who none of those people are. We have no superstars at the moment. That is what I mean by reppin. I am not into the underground scene anymore.

[Digitalosophy]

Originally posted by DDD
I know who none of those people are. We have no superstars at the moment. That is what I mean by reppin. I am not into the underground scene anymore.

underground is where it's at. don't you like Dilated Peoples? they are from the west

[DDD]

I remember them from waaaaayyy back. But al in all the west is wack right now. When pac died that kinda took the wind out of our sails. I have faith in folks like Xzibit. But that is about it. We all know Snoop is barely hanging by a thread and this new 70's pimp Snoop is terrible.

[mjULTRA]

Planet Asia, is from Fresno, and he recently won a grammy, believe it or not.

Pep Love is out of Oakland, on the Hieroglyphics label.

Gift of Gab is from Blackaliscous, on the Quannum Label.. Very dope.

IMO, The underground scene is where its at.. Mainstream Rap is all garbage, and gives people the wrong ideas about life and living. There are more important things in life than material pursuits.

Has anyone hear heard of Immortal Technique?? His most recent album, Revolutionary vol 2 has the most interesting cover, which kind of sums up what his lyrical content is.

[Digitalosophy]

Majeye you are so right, and yes Immortal Technique's new album is very good. so was their first, but this one seems a bit better

[DDD]

the only underground stuff I listen to now is out of Oakland. But it is kinda old school. Like 415, old school Richie Rich, Cell Block Compilation, Rappin Ron, and Ant Diddly Dog, Mr. Ill, Seagram. I think we have 2 different views of what underground is. But it is cool Rap is Universal. Beats Country Music.

[DDD]

If you have heard of Rapping Ron then you know he is the best freestylist in history or at least top 5.

[mjULTRA]

"I think we have 2 different views of what underground is."

I think your right. I listen to, i guess what some would call, 'popular undergound' - independant artists that have built a name for themselves, without relying on Mtv, and Radio air play (not saying they dont get the mainstream air play, but that if they do, they earned it by hard work, and dedication, not through record company promotion).



"But it is cool Rap is Universal. Beats Country Music." Amen to that. Country Music artists should be beat with a steel guitar, and slowly lowered into a boiling vat of the fat dixie chick's extracted lipsuction fat.

[DDD]

The only person up there that got radio play was Richie Rich. But that was recent in his career. Dont forget the heiroglyphics were mainstream and fell off.....Seriously if u love uderground rap look into trying to get ahold of Bad Nfluenz (rappin ron and ant diddly) and the Cell Block Compilation I think you will like it.

[Digitalosophy]

My definition of an "underground artist" is one who doesn't write lyrics or try to portray himself as what they know would sell records. hmm hmm DMX, Jay-Z, 25 Cent lol.

An underground artist raps about what he loves and believes in and doesn't care if his records don't sell.

Slug, Eyedea, MC Juice, Cage, etc....

[DDD]

this is true, but they aspire to be on the level of lets say a Jay Z, DMX..... And dont forget DMX and Jay Z were monsters on the underground scene b4 they hit it big. And Jay Z did it on his own terms. Unfortunately once on that level naturally you will have to maintain it. Which requires a image adjustment. But I think overall Jay Z and DMX have done well to keep it real. You have never heard them come up with the cheesy style of stuff Nelly or Puffy drops. 50 cent is all around wack to me. But his beats are tight.

[telekinesis]

50 Cent owned the Street albumns, but then he became big.

Ice Cube is tha shizz, Ghetto Bird baby! Remember West Side Connection? Bow Down when you come to my town. Just Clownin.

What about B.I.G.? Straight up!

Brotha Lynch Hung is just pure gangsta underground rap, same with X-Raided (still in jail for murder).

DMX, Smelly, P.****y, Smurphy Lee, Gay Z, Gay Rule, and others are just turning more commercial the more money they make. Come on, 'Air Force Ones', I can't even call that rap, it's Pop without a doubt! Eminem, I am not sure where he stands, he still seems real, but then again how can turning commercial not get to you, he even has a new clothing line.

What happened to the MC Ren and Rappin 4 Tay, where the real gangstas at? They need to go run up in York and punk this Pop bastards and throw them in the trunk.

I have to agree I liked all of these now commercial 'rappers', but back in the day when they were growing up from underground.

Nas is another great rapper that has been around for a long time. What about Kurupt (the ultra-shizz right here)! been around since Pac rapping with him. Dog Pound Gang, Xzibit, Daz Dillenger.

I'm done, maybe I'll post more later.

Then again musical preference is based on personal opinion. . . .

It all depends on if your just listening to music to only listen.

[SureShot]

I think out of all the current "popular" artists, DMX would be the one that keeps it the closest to the street. I mean, he doesnt talk about all the money he has, all the movies he's doing he just raps about what he knows. He is one angry S.O.B. that's for sure :)

As for the underground stuff - we dont get a lot of that up here in Canada, just local stuff. But I can remember listening to Richie Rich and Defari a few years back... great stuff.

[Digitalosophy]

Originally posted by DDD
this is true, but they aspire to be on the level of lets say a Jay Z, DMX..... And dont forget DMX and Jay Z were monsters on the underground scene b4 they hit it big. And Jay Z did it on his own terms. Unfortunately once on that level naturally you will have to maintain it. Which requires a image adjustment. But I think overall Jay Z and DMX have done well to keep it real. You have never heard them come up with the cheesy style of stuff Nelly or Puffy drops. 50 cent is all around wack to me. But his beats are tight.

emm, how big were they in the underground scene? i mean i know DMX was around for a while, but it took him a while before he got big. and he started getting outright wack in his ryhmes, or barking i should say.

honestly Jay-z was the **** back in the day. his first few albums were real hot, but then he just turned commercial. i have freestyle's with jay-z and big l from way back when jay-z was a nobody, so i feel ya to a certain extent.

[DDD]

omg....Defari made it way out there? I know him. He was a str8 studio gangsta (but he is cool with me played hoop with his cousin). He lived up in the Hayward hills with his rich parents. I am going to call him and tell him someone from Canada heard of him. Pump his head a lil bit!!

[ahmed]

Wow, where can i listen to underground rap music at? I mean, I'm honestly starting to dislike how mainstream rap is becoming all about hoes and money... :hair:

[SureShot]

Originally posted by DDD
omg....Defari made it way out there? I know him. He was a str8 studio gangsta (but he is cool with me played hoop with his cousin). He lived up in the Hayward hills with his rich parents. I am going to call him and tell him someone from Canada heard of him. Pump his head a lil bit!!

Wow man - you know this guy!? that's awesome! Yah I listened to them a lot, a buddy of mine had the TAPE *gasp* and we used to listen to it in his brother's car :) whenever we would go for a joy ride.

Any of you guys listen to Jurassic 5? They are great.. some of the best beats I have ever heard. I started listening to Rap in Grade 5. This is when Fat Boys, NWA and the like where hitting it huge. The Fat boys were the SH1T back inthe day... "protect yourself, MY NUTS, MY NUTS!" hahaha :)

[dropkick]

J5 is pretty good. Do any of you canucks listen to swollen members at all? Hardly anyone down here has ever heard of them but every time I've been up North it seems like they are everywhere. A few others to check out: atmosphere(slug), jedi mind tricks, aesop rock, sage francis, cannibal ox, people under the stairs, just about anyone on Quannum, ummm...MF Doom has a few good songs too.

I'll probably get flamed like mad for this but...what was so great about tupac. An old friend used to play his cd's constantly and I never heard anything that impressed me.

[DDD]

some people just miss the bus.......Tupac was a rare musician....a true artist. I read an article about Garth Brooks and he was asked who was his favortie artist. He said Tupac. Now when you got country singers liking you...

[dropkick]

some people just miss the bus
ahhhh...so you have to ride the "special" bus to be a tupac fan. :beam:

[.soulty]

Originally posted by SureShot
Any of you guys listen to Jurassic 5?
Big fan of J5, also listen to tribe called quest and slum village. other two dope hip hop groups.

:smirk:

[mjULTRA]

"I'll probably get flamed like mad for this but...what was so great about tupac. An old friend used to play his cd's constantly and I never heard anything that impressed me."

2pac was great because he was an intelligent gangsta rapper, a truly rare bread. He broke it down in lamens terms, for the streets, cuz thats the life he lived. He may not be speaking your language, figuretively speaking.. :) Im not a huge fan of his, and havn't heard a lot, but i know not to dismiss him as just another gangsta rapper.
He's contributed a lot to hip-hop, and its too bad he's gone.. Now we are left with Ja-Rule holla!

Swollen Members is out of Vancouver, i believe, and they were pretty strong a year or two ago, but now their fan base consists of 15 year old girls with MadChild posters all over their walls. BattleAxeRecords kinda seens to have lost its momentum...

J5 is cool! If you dig Chali 2na, check out Ozzomatli; its what Cut Chemist and Chali 2na were doing before J5... Good latin/funk/jazz/soul/hip-hop music out of California..

[ahmed]

http://www.kirupaforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=5995&highlight=tupac

you might find this thread interesting! :)

[SureShot]

Originally posted by Majeye
J5 is cool! If you dig Chali 2na, check out Ozzomatli; its what Cut Chemist and Chali 2na were doing before J5... Good latin/funk/jazz/soul/hip-hop music out of California..

Thanks for the tip man - I will be sure to have a look.


Soulty - I love Tribe, they are amazing! I have heard they are getting back together and coming out again - I hope it's true. Q has one of the best hip hop voices ever!

As for swollen members - they did get really huge up here with their "Monsters in the Closet" cd and espeically that track with Nelly Fertado (very hot!) it was all over the radio and Much Music. You are right though - I think their rep has slowed a bit at the moment.

Another couple of guys that I really like and put out consistant music that pounds is the Rascalz, Choclair (tried to go mainstream) Thrust, Checkmate, Mood Ruff, Brassmunk, Cryptic Souls, old school Dream Warriors, and K-OS to name a few...

[dropkick]

I hope tribe gets back together. I was pretty disappointed with their solo stuff.

Maj - Has 2na done anything with Ozo besides super bowl sundae and cut chemist suite. Those are the only songs I've heard but there are probably more out there somewhere. If you like them you should check out Yo, Flaco. They do some pretty good jazz/hip-hop. One of the good mcs quit/got kicked out(don't know which). They're still decent though

I think monsters in the closet kind of killed em. Most of what I have heard from it has kind of sucked. Nothing compared to Balance or Bad Dreams. The only exposure they have down here that I've seen is snowboard/ski/mtn bike movies.

Another album that is worth listening to is Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Blackstar. I don't think it was everything it was hyped up to be, but still a good album.

Before I forget, a few others...souls of mischief, company flow, common and the roots.

[SureShot]

common is classic. The way he took on West Side connection... amazing. He's not even close to what I would call a battle MC but he didnt back down. He has balls.