favorite intelligent hip hop artist.

Don't get me wrong.. I enjoy loading up some Jay-Z or Ludacris from time to time, but my preferences lean toward something with less posturing, and more social commentary. How bout you?

Just listened to drug of the nation.

I've never heard anything by Disposable Heroes.

they did one album in 90 or 91 and it has some of the best damn lyrics ever put on vinyl (or plastic as the case may be).One of the all time great hip hop recordings,and in my mind far better than most of Franti's other stuff (though I like that also).

It's really tough to track down (even on Kazaa) but it's definately-DEFINATELY-worth tracking down for anyone with even a modest interest in social hip hop.And his cover of the Dead Kennedy's California Uber Alles is better than the original (this coming from a massive Jello Biafra/Dead Kennedys fan).

Paris is my second choice...more good stuff!

it's floating around out there. I had no idea it was so hard to find. I bought it back when it was released after hearing Uber Alles. Drug of a Nation is my favorite track.

and then moved away....haven't seen it anywhere since,though I have found a few tracks on Kazaa.

I'm torn between Hypocrisy is the Greatest Luxury or Satanic Reverses for my fav...but they are all great!

you ought to check out the William S. Burroughs/Disposable Heroes collaboration "Spare Ass Annie and Other Tales", if you haven't.

Although he was a controversial figure, he displayed the feelings of the oppressed male because of his race. I know many Palestinians empathize with Tupac. However, the Israelis also has this militant rapper that pretends to be like Eminem, but they are totally different. Eminem wouldn't go to the kind of militancy this guy advocates.

In my opinion Eminem is pretty damn intelligent.

stuff is pretty damn smart, lyrically, and beatwise, and mixwise, and samplewise.

Apparently, the definition of "intelligent" here means "engages in social/political commentary." That's all well and good, but I think a lot of the other stuff has its own kinds of logics and intelligence, and we do an injustice to those knowledges by using "intelligent" to mean only one fairly restricted thing. I think good party hip hop (say, Mystikal) is prewtty damn intelligent, in terms of

1) rhyme schemes
2) narratives
3) rhetorical sensibility and crowd management
4) capacity to create affective resonance

Put simply, a brotha (or sistah) can muthafuckin' groove to that shit. Think that's easy. I'd like to see the attempted lyrics of even one of the white bread motherfuckers on this thread claiming "intelligent hip hop artist" is an oxymoron. Just fucking one set of lyrics - forget even the complex notions of call and response, the way to breath with beats, where to come in, how to hit the beats correctly, and the million other details that make hip hop - along with jazz - one of the most amazing emergences on the world stage of the 20th century.

Word.

-

Who made this busted ass poll?

even if you don't "get" hip hop, you are doing yourself a disservice.

"We can bomb the world to pieces, but we can't bomb it into peace"

Franti is great, but I didn't wanna stack the poll for one particular artist. I wanted to include Talib Kweli and Mos Def as well, but settled on Blackstarr.

:shrug:

The Notorious B.I.G.

LL Cool J

Dr. Dre

Beastie Boys

Wu-Tang Clan

NWA

Missy Elliott

Ice-T

Fugees / Lauryn Hill

Afrika Bambaattaa

Eric B & Rakim

Outkast

DMX

Queen Latifah

Ice Cube

A Tribe Called Quest

Cypress Hill

De La Soul

Lil' Kim

is an oxymoron.
;-)

Oh, bless me.

Tribe Called Quest! Strictly butter, baby!

but how did I leave them out?!

Ok, Ok, I'm kidding! I'm kidding!

Though to tell the truth, I just love anything on Def Jux records (El-P, Cannibal Ox, Mr. Lif)... Aesop Rock's Labor Days, however, is probably the best meditation on the underclass I've born witness to in the past decade.

US3, tribe called quest, gangstar, blackaliscious, del the phunk homosapien, and my favorite, basehead

but maybe i am out of touch ...

great stuff

KRS-One, Common, Lauryn Hill, Dead Prez, Goodie Mob, The Roots, Speech

special treat:
try "related media - ras baraka wants to hear an american poem"
http://www.bet.com/articles/1,,c5gb6195-6947,00.html#

but I also love Tribe Called Quest.

They have some of the most lyrically complex rhymes I've ever heard. Not to mention that Chali 2na has the coolest voice ever.

Them or OutKast. Great stuff.

Got exposed to Eminem due to two teenaged boys...started listening and thinking...'hey! this shit ain't too bad'. The CD 'The Eminem Show' rocks!

Trekkerlass
(41 yr old rap fan--sheesh!):crazy:

What you pray for God will give
to be able to cope in this world we live
The word "cope" and the word "change"
is directly opposite, not the same
She should have been praying to change her woes
but pastor said "Pray to cope with those"
The government is happy with most baptist churches
coz they don't do a damn thing to try to nurture
brothers and sisters on a revolution
Baptist teaches dying is the only solution
Passiveness causes others to pass us by
I throw my line till I've made my decision
until then, I'm still fishin' 4 religion

He's actually very sly with a wicked intelligence (he just makes it look effortless)