To me, there’s 2 genres for the music I love… it’s rap and hip hop. But did you know that there are now like 50 different sub-genres of hip-hop? What you know about Horrorcore? Are you up on your chillhop? You in tune with what’s going on with abstract rap right now? Yeah… I probably lost you. But there is one genre of rap and hip hop that I feel you should be in-tune with. It’s ALTERNATIVE HIP HOP and sorry to yell at you but that’s the only way I can get things to pop out here on the web. Madvillain were telling you back in the day with “ALL CAPS” so now I carry on the spirit of DOOM with this playlist giving ode to rappers and producers who aren’t afraid to go outside the box. Do something a little bit different…. Stretch the innercity boundaries of creativity to leave behind a piece of art that will forever remain timeless.
The state of rap music is in a good spot right now. We’re seeing a lot of independent alternative hustlers rising to the top with Griselda and Larry June coming to mind. To know Griselda and Larry June now you really gotta know the forefathers of this underground independent hip hop hustle though. You gotta give props where props is due to rap groups like Company Flow who were independent AF and made rap music for the skaters, graf writers, and breakers.
And let’s not forget hustlers like Too $hort, E-40, and Master P who were all entrepreneurs in their own right all selling out the trunk. But I wasn’t around to see that firsthand. I did watch backpack explode though. I remember those nights outside of El Cotixan hanging 40 deep on a Friday night with the skaters bumping shit on their boomboxes I had never heard before. To me there was no better feeling than holding a Cali burrito in hand and hearing “Tried by 12” for the very first time. Shout out to the East Flatbush Projects on creating the song that perfectly encompasses my high school years for me.
But to be honest, I still get those same feels when I hear a track like “Hummus” from Samiyam and The Alchemist. How does that track not even have 100K streams on Spotify yet? I didn’t even know that Samiyam could rap but then I heard this track and my lid was flipped. Dude went toe-to-toe with ALC and they made a good mix. I’m over here wondering when these guys are gonna form the group Hummus and take over the world. But at this point I’ll just take a feature from either one of them.
Alternative Hip Hop to me is Underground Hip Hop and Abstract Hip-Hop in one. It encompasses some lofi with some grime on it or some chillhop all sauced up. I’m even fine with a little bit of draped up and dripped out if the emcee can hold his own on the beat. Some people might call this shit Weird Rap but I call it original. I want to hear some dope samples being flipped with 2 emcees who can compliment each other’s styles while bringing some unpredictability to the next bar. Shout out to ProducerTrentTaylor from everywhere and REY and Psypiritual out of the 520 aka Tucson, AZ. I heard Psy moved out of AZ but for this track he’s getting rolled up into some dope Arizona Underground Hip Hop.
If you’re looking for some mumble rap that never flips cadences or stretches verbs and adjectives then this one ain’t for you. This is for my hip hop heads that hear a track from Cool Calm Pete and just nod their heads and go, YUP.
Or maybe you peep some Seafood Sam and 2 minutes later say, “was I just surfing?” There are waves through the tracks I’m including here and most won’t be for your ears. But they were for mine so I wanted to shed some light on tracks like “Ramsey” which to me are tip top hip hop shit right here on your plate.
And yeah if you know me you know I executive produced a rap album from Murs and Wiardon recently so I’m not going to hit you over the head with this again! But Wiardon did just drop his new album which is definitely worth your ear. His ear for beats is next level which you don’t see that often from a kid just barely old enough to drink a beer. “TANK VS. GARCIA” tho??? Listen to that beat and tell me it isn’t the most refreshing thing you’ve heard in a minute. Wiardon lights one up, let’s the beat ride, and then just kicks his feet up on the couch rappin about everything from Peyton Manning to what he’s learned from Ben Franklin…. Wiardon has dropped the hottest song under 2 minutes this year folks.
If I don’t tell you you’re sleeping on Navy Blue who will? Match him up with Budgie for a whole album which is what happened on Ways of Knowing which dropped earlier this year. I first caught wind of both Navy Blue and Budgie on separate projects both tied to The Alchemist and I’ve been hooked since. This track “To Fall in Love” is just too lovely. It’s summer time feels and if you’re not sippin a coconut on this I don’t know what you’re doing. Beat of the year right here from Budgie out of the UK. Navy Blue stays in the pocket and does what he always does.
I guess I just want to make sure good music is being heard at the end of the day. I like making these playlists because it inspires me to go to look for new music that might inspire you. Shit like when Homeboy Sandman and Edan drop a track like “The Gut” that literally makes me do backflips… well… not backflips but they got me pressing rewind over here on a beautiful alternative rap track.
If you’re a fan of tracks like this that don’t fit within a box, give my new playlist a spin. It covers everything from the 90’s to now and highlights emcees and producers who do things just a bit away from the norm with their music. I call this ALTERNATIVE HIP HOP, what do you?