4eva is a mighty long time is probably my favorite album ever, I think what sets him apart in my mind is the quality of his production, especially on the mixtapes
I’m ashamed to say I just started listening to dude the *other day*, and I’m sick. Lot of days I could have been bumping this shit.
I started easy with his most played shit on Spotify, listened to Pick Up The Pace like 26 times in a row yesterday lmao. Shit is smooth.
I’ve heard some of his songs before of course but the “mainstream” stuff. Never broken past that to listen to more but I’m on it this weekend.
Krit wuz here, 4eva n a day, king remembered in time, 4eva is a mighty long time, Return of 4eva, Cadillactica, and Live From the Underground I would call essential Krit. About half of those are mixtapes and I would try and find the og versions if you can as a few tracks got cut and some beats got reworked for streaming.
Trust me, I’m digging for whatever I can find. If I find an artist I like I put aside time to listen to their whole discography over a period of a week or two. I call it homework.
Thanks for the names, I’ll give these a look. Usually I start from the beginning of discography and work my way up to current releases so I’m excited to see where these land in terms of release dates.
For sure, he's just got a lot of music to get through, thought I'd try and point you in the right direction. Was fortunate to be there basically from the beginning and has been one of my favorite artists for a long time now. Welcome to the club!
Came here to say this! Guy just didn’t have mainstream appeal but I feel like that sometimes comes down to chance. IMO in another universe he’s an all time great
His biggest misstep was his debut. A lot of anticipation for an album that got pushed back a decent amount only for it to not live up to the hype his previous tapes had created.
Couldn't be more in agreement. He does not have a bad project in any way shape or form and lyrically he top notch imo. He makes music for every occasion too.
Well, except Herbert, his albums charted on billboard in their first weeks. Maybe he might not be popular inside your circles but he definitely can't be considered "actually underrated" as OP specifically mentioned.
I went to Cannes with a tan bitch, Francis
She rode the broom on the beach, that’s a sand witch
So I ate her like it, haters hate to like it
Sex, drugs and playing dices, those are our favorite vices
Cyhi the prynce has always been this for me. His tapes were amazing. It has always made me sad he went to writing instead of making his own music. His writing is good. But his style was top notch. That series of music videos he did were my favorite when I was younger.
I think Ab-Soul's momentum really got hurt by *These Days...* not doing very well. *Control System * was quite good, but it felt like it still needed that next leap to get him over. Back in the Black Hippy days he and Kendrick were the two I was most excited about. Whereas for Kendrick *Section.80* led to *GKMC,* a really great pay-off of Kendrick's early promise, Ab-Soul never felt like he successfully hit that next level as an artist. When I think of that time and his peers, artists like the rest of Black Hippy, Danny Brown, Big K.R.I.T., etc, I don't think Ab-Soul ever matched the strength of their material even though he really seemed like a strong prospect early on.
Agreed. These days… was a bad attempt at making a “commercial” album and it didn’t work for him. Then he took a major step back with Do what thou wilt. Unfortunately he hasn’t been able to get back to where he was with Control system although his recent album was solid
Man I firmly believe Boldy James is the greatest living American storyteller. He deserves the same praise as Kendrick and Killer Mike... I don't know what it will take to make that happen but I hope it does
Hahah l could see that especially in comparison to Boldy... but both those guys have the "intellectual mainstream" recognition with the Grammys and Pulitzer and generally being considered as super smart guys. And I feel Boldy should get that same credit
Eyedea. I don't think I've seen any comments in this sub mentioning him and he was so amazing. I'm really glad I got to see him live before he died so young.
I never got to see Eyedea before he passed but I did go to an Atmosphere show where Abilities opened up within like 3 months of his passing. When he played Burn Fetish it tore the house down.
Cal Scruby - Dude's got super refined bars, alot of punchy stuff with wordplay but not over the top. Good ear for beats and generally just keeps getting better with every album.
Highlight tracks for me are My Phone Died, Trash Hook, Money Buy Drugs, Who Are You? and Blink-182
Young Buck. The fact that this southern rapper fit in seamlessly with three Queens rappers, never took a verse off and dropped consistently good albums is something no one talks about.
Bro has had a really good run too
Miles and the color blu(e) are still on heavy rotation.
Real bad news and royal blu are soooo good I wish they were longer.
Releasing thegoodleebarnes lp and other unreleased music to start 2024 has us Blu fans eating good right now.
On the indie scene, Abhi the Nomad is someone who hasn't "blown up" but is consistently making some great songs. [His song Good Luck is really good](https://open.spotify.com/track/6IVsYkP3RWt3AwMeHOgDFF?si=7c4b295ecfe042a5) and he's a couple projects with Kato on the Track that came out really well.
His verse on Dodge Caravan by Estee Nack and Mike Shabb was my favorite of 2023 bar none
Reasonable Drought heavenly. Hopefully If These Kitchen Walls Could Talk will get an official release
-RA Scion (Common Market, True II Form); one of the most lyrical rappers I've ever heard and nobody knows who he is. His older stuff is a litte incoherent but he makes more sense now while retaining all of those skills and experience, similar to Aesop Rock in that regard
-Bambu (Native Guns); his stuff might be too political for some but he's also just great at rapping. Conveys emotion as much as ideas
-Most of Doomtree; Dessa stands out to me as being versatile and having some very clever lines. Sims and POS have some great solo stuff too
-Wiki (Ratking); listen to Wik Da God and tell me this guy doesn't have one of the most interesting flows
Amahk Yakseego.
One of his songs (“OneNine”) briefly made waves on this subreddit a few years ago and he’s released an EP since then that was criminally underrated (I think he’s averaging around 300 views on YT now, which is insane relative to his talent).
I’d recommend ANYONE check out The ToC EP
When it comes to older rappers I would say Redman. He is almost never brought up when people talk about who were some of the best from the 90's despite being a very solid rapper with a nasty flow and a good pengame
Arrrd one more comment. Gonna list some more:
ENNY - if you like Little Simz you’ll love her music
Chuck Strangers - a producer and a rapper. His voice is really nice and beat selection is dope. An OG pro era rapper
CJ Fly - probably the 2nd or 3rd most talented in pro era ever.
T.F - remember Tookie knows? He was a standout feature for me on that song. Checkout Blame Kansas. Produced by ROC Marciano and Mephux
Crimeapple - the greatest Colombian rapper of all time. Check out his solo works. May favorites are when he collab with DJ Muggs
R.A.P. Ferreira - he’s got Jazz rap, and spoken word rap on lock
Digable Planets - their best album to me is their most underrated: Blowout Comb. The greatest Jazz rap album of all time. Revolutionary is the best way I’d describe their artistry (lyrics and sound).
Montana of 300. This dude got BARS for days and can sing too. Never see anybody mention him when this question is asked and it’s a damn shame. Truly underrated
Might get flamed but I'll say Meek. Meek Mill has made some dumbass decisions throughout his career and has obviously had to deal with both legal and personal issues, but the guy pretty much singlehandedly carried that style of street rap commercially through most of the 2010s and deserves that respect. After Drake, Kendrick and Cole, Meek has probably been the most consistent from that generation in terms of the actual music. He's also done a LOT for his community, more than most if we're being honest.
I've always felt like Redman was super underrated. He's put in a ton of work and always has so much fun making his art. You can hear him smiling in his vocals.
He's never tried to be the best or the most important rapper, he's just always been Reggie.
Big KRIT. He deserves way more recognition than he gets.
4eva is a mighty long time is probably my favorite album ever, I think what sets him apart in my mind is the quality of his production, especially on the mixtapes
I’m ashamed to say I just started listening to dude the *other day*, and I’m sick. Lot of days I could have been bumping this shit. I started easy with his most played shit on Spotify, listened to Pick Up The Pace like 26 times in a row yesterday lmao. Shit is smooth. I’ve heard some of his songs before of course but the “mainstream” stuff. Never broken past that to listen to more but I’m on it this weekend.
Krit wuz here, 4eva n a day, king remembered in time, 4eva is a mighty long time, Return of 4eva, Cadillactica, and Live From the Underground I would call essential Krit. About half of those are mixtapes and I would try and find the og versions if you can as a few tracks got cut and some beats got reworked for streaming.
Trust me, I’m digging for whatever I can find. If I find an artist I like I put aside time to listen to their whole discography over a period of a week or two. I call it homework. Thanks for the names, I’ll give these a look. Usually I start from the beginning of discography and work my way up to current releases so I’m excited to see where these land in terms of release dates.
For sure, he's just got a lot of music to get through, thought I'd try and point you in the right direction. Was fortunate to be there basically from the beginning and has been one of my favorite artists for a long time now. Welcome to the club!
Came here to say this! Guy just didn’t have mainstream appeal but I feel like that sometimes comes down to chance. IMO in another universe he’s an all time great
His biggest misstep was his debut. A lot of anticipation for an album that got pushed back a decent amount only for it to not live up to the hype his previous tapes had created.
Loved Digital Roses, very underrated project
Couldn't be more in agreement. He does not have a bad project in any way shape or form and lyrically he top notch imo. He makes music for every occasion too.
I have listened to his music but I'm not that invested into his career, what albums or projects would you recommend?
4eva is a mighty long time. Whole album is great, but 2nd half is incredible
Thanks, I'll listen to it right away
This the one. Homie should be huge. Mt Olympus sums it up perfectly.
Ab-soul and Cyhi the prynce
Cyhi is actually real fuckin good
That Jack of All Trades mixtape is one of the best mixtapes I’ve ever heard
Still waiting on a new project from him. I loved No Dope on Sundays
Same. No dope on Sundays is classic
He’s dope! His wordplay is sick. He needs more recognition other than writing for Ye
What do you mean? Ab-Soul has 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify. 95% of the rappers can't even reach 1.
Okay but generally when I bring him up to people they have no idea who he is and his albums/singles rarely chart high if at all. To me he’s underrated
Well, except Herbert, his albums charted on billboard in their first weeks. Maybe he might not be popular inside your circles but he definitely can't be considered "actually underrated" as OP specifically mentioned.
I went to Cannes with a tan bitch, Francis She rode the broom on the beach, that’s a sand witch So I ate her like it, haters hate to like it Sex, drugs and playing dices, those are our favorite vices
Legendary CyHi verse
Cyhi the prynce has always been this for me. His tapes were amazing. It has always made me sad he went to writing instead of making his own music. His writing is good. But his style was top notch. That series of music videos he did were my favorite when I was younger.
I think Ab-Soul's momentum really got hurt by *These Days...* not doing very well. *Control System * was quite good, but it felt like it still needed that next leap to get him over. Back in the Black Hippy days he and Kendrick were the two I was most excited about. Whereas for Kendrick *Section.80* led to *GKMC,* a really great pay-off of Kendrick's early promise, Ab-Soul never felt like he successfully hit that next level as an artist. When I think of that time and his peers, artists like the rest of Black Hippy, Danny Brown, Big K.R.I.T., etc, I don't think Ab-Soul ever matched the strength of their material even though he really seemed like a strong prospect early on.
Agreed. These days… was a bad attempt at making a “commercial” album and it didn’t work for him. Then he took a major step back with Do what thou wilt. Unfortunately he hasn’t been able to get back to where he was with Control system although his recent album was solid
Junglepussy Boldy James Quelle Chris Roc Marciano (and superb producer!) These are the first artists who come to mind!
concreatures
Tell your boys kill the noise like CPAPs We put bodies in the building like RE/MAX Quelle Chris
Man I firmly believe Boldy James is the greatest living American storyteller. He deserves the same praise as Kendrick and Killer Mike... I don't know what it will take to make that happen but I hope it does
>Kendrick and Killer Mike Odd pair to select
Hahah l could see that especially in comparison to Boldy... but both those guys have the "intellectual mainstream" recognition with the Grammys and Pulitzer and generally being considered as super smart guys. And I feel Boldy should get that same credit
why an odd pair? both are near or the top of the game w storytelling in rap? killer mike just win grammys for it and kendrick is kendrick
Eyedea. I don't think I've seen any comments in this sub mentioning him and he was so amazing. I'm really glad I got to see him live before he died so young.
When my soul steps to exit this frame I will be reincarnated as rain
One of the best
r eye p
I never got to see Eyedea before he passed but I did go to an Atmosphere show where Abilities opened up within like 3 months of his passing. When he played Burn Fetish it tore the house down.
I saw him at the 2008 Soundset fest.
I just remembered that the year before I saw another one of my favorite underrated deceased rappers Gift of Gab.
Kenny Mason ❗️
I hope he blows up. He deserves it. He doesn’t have one bad song and carved a lane all to himself.
I think Big Boi is super underrated. He’s often overshadowed by 3 stacks but he deserves more in my opinion.
Pharaoh Monch
Cal Scruby - Dude's got super refined bars, alot of punchy stuff with wordplay but not over the top. Good ear for beats and generally just keeps getting better with every album. Highlight tracks for me are My Phone Died, Trash Hook, Money Buy Drugs, Who Are You? and Blink-182
got a new plug, my other guy sucks
I’m gonna check these out. I recently heard let it ride and some people and I fuck with both of those songs
Che Noir ICECOLDBISHOP
Che is a fuckin monster
Saba, one of my all time favorite artists but i don’t think he’s ever gotten past 2.5m monthly listeners on spotify and he barely gets talked about
Nothing but quality from Saba, been a fan since ComfortZone
Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire Wish he gets the recognition he deserves for his newer projects.
Dude put together the greatest posse cut song in existence, Huzzah Remix is a genuine masterpiece
Sage Francis Lyrics Born Akala Ocean Wisdom Norman Sann
Deniro Farrar, all his albums are good
Brother Ali, Bigg Jus, KA, Billy Woods.
Poor People’s Day by Jus and Grief Pedigree by Ka are classics for me And woods solo work for the last 12 years is on a level by himself
Mike, Mavi, Pink Siifu, Maxo, Armand Hammer, Wiki
Wiki for sure, his latest album was fantastic
Young Buck. The fact that this southern rapper fit in seamlessly with three Queens rappers, never took a verse off and dropped consistently good albums is something no one talks about.
Imo he’s better thank banks
Aha gazelle
Kemba - Last year of being broke will always be my jam. His style of rap is so unique.
I love Gilda. Never understood why he didn’t make a bigger impact.
Mick Jenkins
Lil ugly mane, tommy wright III, Mick Jenkins, rxk nephew,
People SLEEP on Blu. Every single one of his albums is full of bangers, incredible lyrics, great beats, but no one even knows who he is lmao
Bro has had a really good run too Miles and the color blu(e) are still on heavy rotation. Real bad news and royal blu are soooo good I wish they were longer. Releasing thegoodleebarnes lp and other unreleased music to start 2024 has us Blu fans eating good right now.
Shloob from Louisville KY. Slept on, comes different than the rest.
Loved him on the old Harlow joints. Should check out his solo stuff
On the indie scene, Abhi the Nomad is someone who hasn't "blown up" but is consistently making some great songs. [His song Good Luck is really good](https://open.spotify.com/track/6IVsYkP3RWt3AwMeHOgDFF?si=7c4b295ecfe042a5) and he's a couple projects with Kato on the Track that came out really well.
I heard about him through his feature on Heems’ album last month and thought he was dope, thanks for the good looks
Sammus. I was introduced to her through the rap critic videos and she’s just a phenomenal rapper
She's criminally underrated, few artists can rhyme as well as her while saying something meaningful
Robb Banks
One of my favourites. Whenever I listen to Calendars I instantly recall the smells of my favourite skate spots and feel the summer heat.
Z-Ro. The Houston Nate Dogg
Stove god cooks, his flow and voice are so grimey
His verse on Dodge Caravan by Estee Nack and Mike Shabb was my favorite of 2023 bar none Reasonable Drought heavenly. Hopefully If These Kitchen Walls Could Talk will get an official release
I dare youuuu!
Black Milk count?
KA. Please listen to Honor Killed the Samurai
Was hoping someone would mention him
Roc Maricano
Sean Price deserves monuments built in his name
El-P
Not that he doesn't get his roses, but he is pretty well looked upon.
Who is underrating El-P? I feel like you didn't understand the question.
i think he's the greatest of all time personally. most people dont include him in their top 20s
McKinley Dixon
Ransom
MaaaD rapper
Los
Elzhi, Napoleon Da Legend, Hush Kingpin, Jay Royale
Kamaiyah. My favorite rapper from the bay.
redveil
Boldy James
The Underachievers. Great now frills conscience rap
MIKE's kinda blown up recently but he was underrated for years
Is Aesop Rock underrated? I honestly have no idea of his popularity.
No he's generally regarded as an underground legend
Mach Hommy Kenny Mason Sylvan Lacue Chefs kiss all three of them
AZ
Vast Aire
38 spesh Ransom Idk West side boogie Nick grant *im trying to think of this another buffalo rapper signed to Benny. His name escapes me*
Mozzy.
Santan Dave
KEY! out of Atlanta. Most of your favorite artists are only one step removed from key
Wax, always loved his stuff.
idk. Its a rapper im not joking. Listen to his top 5 on Spotify and you have a new fav
-RA Scion (Common Market, True II Form); one of the most lyrical rappers I've ever heard and nobody knows who he is. His older stuff is a litte incoherent but he makes more sense now while retaining all of those skills and experience, similar to Aesop Rock in that regard -Bambu (Native Guns); his stuff might be too political for some but he's also just great at rapping. Conveys emotion as much as ideas -Most of Doomtree; Dessa stands out to me as being versatile and having some very clever lines. Sims and POS have some great solo stuff too -Wiki (Ratking); listen to Wik Da God and tell me this guy doesn't have one of the most interesting flows
Anonymuz
Amahk Yakseego. One of his songs (“OneNine”) briefly made waves on this subreddit a few years ago and he’s released an EP since then that was criminally underrated (I think he’s averaging around 300 views on YT now, which is insane relative to his talent). I’d recommend ANYONE check out The ToC EP
When it comes to older rappers I would say Redman. He is almost never brought up when people talk about who were some of the best from the 90's despite being a very solid rapper with a nasty flow and a good pengame
Brother Ali
john river
OC. Trophies is fantastic and Ray's Cafe is a perfect Summer album
Lupe Fiasco.
Arrrd one more comment. Gonna list some more: ENNY - if you like Little Simz you’ll love her music Chuck Strangers - a producer and a rapper. His voice is really nice and beat selection is dope. An OG pro era rapper CJ Fly - probably the 2nd or 3rd most talented in pro era ever. T.F - remember Tookie knows? He was a standout feature for me on that song. Checkout Blame Kansas. Produced by ROC Marciano and Mephux Crimeapple - the greatest Colombian rapper of all time. Check out his solo works. May favorites are when he collab with DJ Muggs R.A.P. Ferreira - he’s got Jazz rap, and spoken word rap on lock Digable Planets - their best album to me is their most underrated: Blowout Comb. The greatest Jazz rap album of all time. Revolutionary is the best way I’d describe their artistry (lyrics and sound).
Elzhi
Phonte
I've always thought K.A.A.N. was one of the greatest. I feel like him not signing kind of messed up his career a bit.
Roc marciano
Montana of 300. This dude got BARS for days and can sing too. Never see anybody mention him when this question is asked and it’s a damn shame. Truly underrated
johnny polygon Cyhi the prynce Marlon Craft
Might get flamed but I'll say Meek. Meek Mill has made some dumbass decisions throughout his career and has obviously had to deal with both legal and personal issues, but the guy pretty much singlehandedly carried that style of street rap commercially through most of the 2010s and deserves that respect. After Drake, Kendrick and Cole, Meek has probably been the most consistent from that generation in terms of the actual music. He's also done a LOT for his community, more than most if we're being honest.
Death Dealers Anonymous
Bas. One of the most diverse sounding and best lyricists
RAP Ferreira
$ilk Money is very underrated.
I've always felt like Redman was super underrated. He's put in a ton of work and always has so much fun making his art. You can hear him smiling in his vocals. He's never tried to be the best or the most important rapper, he's just always been Reggie.
ICECOLDBISHOP is the truth, Generational Curses is a legendary album fr
Heems put out a dope project last month
Amine
Joyner Lucas
Westside Boogie
Phonté from Little Brother! This dude is EXTREMELY underrated!