Rap Music Discussion

Although rap isn’t generally a category of music you look at when evaluating good headphones, I’ve found that good headphones can make rap sound so much better.

Currently using the Campfire Audio Atlas and listening to these songs and I can say that I am having a lot of fun!


This song is a fun summer tune. Nice beat with a catchy hook.

Witt Lowry is easily one of my favourite up and coming rappers. Reminds me a lot of a young, angry Eminem without the homophobic slurs and the like.


Watsky is a rapper out of San Francisco that is also up and coming. He’s got some great stuff.


NF has now hit the mainstream with his latest album Perception. You may recognize him for the song “Let you Go”. NF is interesting because he does not swear (he is a Christian hip-hop artist) and when he was coming up he refused to do multiple collaborations with other artists who did want to swear on the tracks.


Remix of the Chainsmokers of “Closer”. I would say this is an interesting take on it and its worked its way into multiple playlists of mine.


Another from Huey Mack. This one is fairly explicit so if that isn’t your thing I wouldn’t recommend listening.


This song is fantastic. Really enjoy it and has an inspiring beat.


I was a competitive freestyle skiier when I was younger and songs like this were always in the videos we would watch of the pros.


An older track. It’s got a great beat and a good hook.

I’m a big fan of most of Eminem’s music (Relapse and his new album excluded). This is one of his earlier songs from the 90s. Hard to recognize that its even him.


This is hands down my favourite Lupe Fiasco song. It exudes the style of “champagne flow” rap that Biggie was famous for.

A lot more tracks to post but I wanted to hear your thoughts first. You’ll notice there isn’t any mumble rap in there. I am not a fan but if you are there’s nothing wrong with that!

Do you listen to rap? Do you like to listen to it with your better headphones and if so, how do you find the song changes?

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I’m a huge underground hip hop fan. I’ll post up a list of tracks later this evening!

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this album isn’t on Spotify, but it is an awesome album! This song is great here is another one that is flowing…his vocabulary isn’t as good as Aesop Rock but it is right up there:

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So this is NSFW but some great songs on there from some of my favorite underground artists, and maybe a couple of mainstreams as well.

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Nice!

I’m a big fan of Living Legends. Super underrated. Really enjoyed the last song too by The Blue Scholars.

This song also isn’t on Spotify but I quite like it

XV doesn’t seem to make music anymore but I really liked his early stuff.

Even though he does a ton of parody rap, I also quite like Lil’ Dicky just because his lyrics are super smart. This song is also pretty good as a more serious track.

I am also a big fan of when genres intermingle, especially when it comes to rap.


This song is a bit country (I don’t like country music) and it just works really well here.

Going a bit more old school this song gets me pumped for any day (definitely NSFW)

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This is a good “country” rap that always gets me in a good mood

These other two from this group also have great beats/hooks:


And if you really want to get country:

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Really liking this dude…been listening to his albums on the Spot… even the instrumentals are stellar.

I’ve been following Logic since his first album back in 2011. His recordings and mastering have really come a long way. His samples are next level.

You also can’t get much better than Dr. Dre when it comes to mastering.

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-kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” is one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time and personally my favorite (gasp! You mean a new school rapper’s album is your favorite!?!?) it has amazing instrumentation and a really cool jazz theme throughout with lyricism to bolster him up as one of the best.

-Jay-Z and Kanye West, “Watch the Throne” Easily is one of the most well recorded albums In hip hop history possibly only trumped by Dre’s 2001

Probably my favorite current rapper right now is Anderson .Paak. This dude has been flying under the radar for the past few years and I think it is just a matter of time before he blows up. This NPR Tiny Desk performance is a great example of his work and even the sound mastering is on point:

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I’m really enjoying hip hop on the HD58X. I listened to Erykah Badu’s Tiny Desk concert and that kicked me off on a journey of exploration that brought me to The Roots via The Soulquarians.

I’d never really listened to The Roots before. Things Fall Apart is a sonic delight, with grooves and ambiance that remind me a bit of The Sound Providers, but frankly at a much higher quality.

Yeah The Roots are no joke. They have a serious evolution from each album to the next. Game Theory is my favorite front to back but Illadelph Halflife has my favorite singles. “Respond React” (Illadelph) or “Clock With No Hands” (Game Theory) being my two top songs. Black Thought is seriously underrated when people make the G.O.A.T. lists.

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I’m a big fan of Rhymesayers (label) they have a lot of good underground talent. Another favorite and is always in the top diverse vocabulary usage is Aesop Rock, too many good songs and albums coming from him.

I am a huge fan of The Roots.

One of my favorite songs from them. First heard it during Rory Bushfield’s part in The Hit List (its a ski movie)

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I’ve never been big into rap, and I’m realizing that’s partly to blame on me listening to it on suboptimal systems (e.g. car). Listening to a bunch of stuff from The Roots right now, on my headphones (QT2 or HD58X), the music grabs me with not just the bass beats and the main rhymes, but some really nice drum kit work, multi-layered vocals, atmospheric synthesizer work, cool panning effects and just generally thoughtful production. When I switch from headphones to listening to the same material in my car, the beat just kind of takes over and all that interesting detail gets lost.

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Eyedea and Abilities did this really cool live show segment where Eyedea would rap and abilities would battle him with scratching records and they would go back and forth…the only comparable thing I’ve heard like it is when electric guitar players can make the guitar “talk”

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I bet you like Sage Francis, right? Man, I had this period where I used Pandora and I was listening to all kinds of this stuff. It’s nice to be getting back to it!

Sage is good, but I prefer some others more. C-rayz waltz is another good one

Buck 80.

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Keep the change :sunglasses:

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