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Comment by bebop22 | Hacker News Reader

This is a really shitty intro to hip hop. Clearly the author is like 16 years old as he neglected to include anything pre-1996 except Sabotage.

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he neglected to include anything pre-1996

Why is that a bad thing? If I, as someone who knows nothing about the genre, wants to find out what it's all about, isn't it better to start with contemporary bands that are still active so that I can get a feel for the current state of the hip hop scene? All else being equal, I prefer to discover new bands that are still putting out material and touring to discovering 'new' bands where the last member died 1998.

The 90's era was great but is extremely overrated. IMO the 90's doesn't come close to the 2000's and 2010's and I grew up on the 90's.

Not to mention, it's all rap. There is plenty of quality instrumental hip-hop that deserves a mention.

Entroducing (1996) by DJ Shadow remains one of my all time favs. I believe it may even have been the very first album composed entirely from samples*

edit: * Wikipedia doesn't say it was the first.

It's not totally terrible, but I do think its lacking without some Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul or maybe even The Roots for example - its quite Rap based and Rap != HipHop.

Good suggestions, definitely all worth checking out.

Nobody, let alone a hip hop beginner, should be subjected to Joey Bada$$.

His last album included collaborations with some of the most legendary producers in rap/hip hop including Statik Selektah, DJ Premiere, and the Roots. In fact, the Roots collab featured a previously lost beat from J. Dilla, another legend. It's a strong album that any true fan of the genre would appreciate. He's also a great sonic and lyrical bridge between the 90s style and modern day. His current album features Schoolboy Q, Styles P, and J.Cole, among others, and is unabashedly political and, at times, quite poignant. I just wanted to reply to your comment so people wouldn't be influenced by your uninformed opinion. In many ways, people who reminisce about the 90s and think rap/hip hop has changed too much or died, might be reinvigorated by Joey. I also challenge you to give him another listen :)

What songs would you suggest for that time period?

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