Underground Rappers

One Be Lo

Jean Grae

Murs

Little Brother

Supastition

Bronze Nazareth

Blueprint

CunninLynguist

Tonedeff

J-Live

Blackalicous

Skyzoo

K-Os

Immortal Technique

that's a good start...

Well underground to me is a larger group. To me underground is putting out good music without recognition, regardless of name recognition.

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth

Madlib

J Dilla

Talib Kweli (I still think he's underground)

Common (same situation)

The Roots (still underground)

Boogie Down Productions

A Tribe Called Quest

De La Soul

Mos Def

DJ Hi-Tek

Lootpack

Jaylib

MF Doom

Pharoahe Monch

Well underground to me is a larger group. To me underground is putting out good music without recognition, regardless of name recognition.

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth

Madlib

J Dilla

Talib Kweli (I still think he's underground)

Common (same situation)

The Roots (still underground)

Boogie Down Productions

A Tribe Called Quest

De La Soul

Mos Def

DJ Hi-Tek

Lootpack

Jaylib

MF Doom

Pharoahe Monch

tuff_gong92

Anyways,,, Organized Konfusion is probably my favorite undergroup group.

K-Os isn't underground Rob :P

K-Os isn't underground Rob :P

Colt45fool

For us Americans he is. In Canada he's not really.

[QUOTE="Colt45fool"]

K-Os isn't underground Rob :P

Orlando_Magic

For us Americans he is. In Canada he's not really.

[QUOTE="Orlando_Magic"][QUOTE="Colt45fool"]

K-Os isn't underground Rob :P

Colt45fool

For us Americans he is. In Canada he's not really.

[QUOTE="Colt45fool"][QUOTE="Orlando_Magic"][QUOTE="Colt45fool"]

K-Os isn't underground Rob :P

fat_rob

For us Americans he is. In Canada he's not really.

[QUOTE="fat_rob"][QUOTE="Colt45fool"][QUOTE="Orlando_Magic"][QUOTE="Colt45fool"]

K-Os isn't underground Rob :P

Colt45fool

For us Americans he is. In Canada he's not really.

I remember seeing the Superstar video when it came out on MTV but I've never seen another K-Os video on TV outside of MuchMusic which is a Canadian music channel, and I've never heard him on the radio.

K-Os did perform Sunday Morning on Letterman a few months ago too so that got him some exposure.

[QUOTE="fat_rob"][QUOTE="Colt45fool"][QUOTE="Orlando_Magic"][QUOTE="Colt45fool"]

K-Os isn't underground Rob :P

Colt45fool

For us Americans he is. In Canada he's not really.

I remember watching the Superstar video on BET once. That vid owned,but I liked the "Man I Used To Be" video better.

Tech N9ne

South Park Mexican

Juan Gotti

Necro

Tech N9ne is kind of mainstream but most people havent heard him.

My favorite underground artists:

Murs

Phonte

MF DOOM(If you have ITunes, Operation: Doomsday just got re-released on there. Cop it.)

One Be Lo

Aceyalone

Ras Kass

Soul Position'

Immortal technique(Even though alot of people know about him, I still consider him underground)

K-Os

O.C.

Devin The Dude

I guess those would be a few you should check out.

some of my favs

murs

grouch

j-live

lyrics born

blackalicious

asheru

little brother

brother ali

mf doom

del the funky homosapien

louis logic

people under the stairs

zion i

crown city rockers

Yeah but in today's era of hip-hop, do Common, Kweli, Roots and them really that much airplay. There are 2 kinds of underground that sort of melt into one kind. The underground that is considered such because they are not "mainstream" and the underground that are just totally unknown in general. Like Del the Funkee Homosapien, Organized Konfusion is another example. I think that Com, Kweli and them are still fighting for their recognition,I guess.

Speaking of Tribe, that is the one that I thought that everyone knew about but it is still an unknown name most of the time. I guess living in one of the whitest states doesn't help my experience. The fact that good hip-hop doesn't translate into sales also explains why I still consider them underground. To me, regardless of amount of exposure, they have started as underground artists and stayed that way no matter how big they got due to the state and perception of the industry today. They are underground to the mainstream, not in the more traditional sense as some would see it but still fit in the traditional definition somewhat. So to me it's all good.

Go around and talk about some of those artists on my list, if you get positive reactions then you are lucky, because I get blank stares or "F*** (insert underground artist here)" (I get this a lot when I mention Common or Talib for some reason)when that person can't stop talking about how "gangsta" some lame rapper is. I guess to hip-hop heads, my list of artist are not underground because they have a fanbase and get the recognition they deserve from their fans, and that number is high enough to get that album gold. In terms of the big picture, they are still underground to a lot of the mainstream crowd and even to rap listeners. I could have listed really underground artists but I felt that putting those generally underground artists out there was required by my standards anyway.

Really underground artists in the traditional sense :

(some I listen to, some I don't)

J Rocc and the Beat Junkies

Black Milk

Slum Village (my fav in this category)

Wildchild (Stones Throw Records)

MED (Stones Throw)

Guilty Simpson (Stones Throw)

Frank N Dank

Oh No (Stones Throw)

The Beatnuts

Dilated Peoples (don't know how underground they are)

Jeru the Damaja (I don't like him but he's there)

Soul Position

Damu the Fudgemunk (I like his beats, he is relatively new)

Jungle Brothers

Jurrasic 5

The Beatnuts

Jeru the Damaja (I don't like him but he's there)tuff_gong92

The Beatnuts are superdope.

I think Jeru isn't that technically gifted as a rapper but his lyrics and messages more than make up for that imo.

Yeah but in today's era of hip-hop, do Common, Kweli, Roots and them really that much airplay. There are 2 kinds of underground that sort of melt into one kind. The underground that is considered such because they are not "mainstream" and the underground that are just totally unknown in general. Like Del the Funkee Homosapien, Organized Konfusion is another example. I think that Com, Kweli and them are still fighting for their recognition,I guess.

Speaking of Tribe, that is the one that I thought that everyone knew about but it is still an unknown name most of the time. I guess living in one of the whitest states doesn't help my experience. The fact that good hip-hop doesn't translate into sales also explains why I still consider them underground. To me, regardless of amount of exposure, they have started as underground artists and stayed that way no matter how big they got due to the state and perception of the industry today. They are underground to the mainstream, not in the more traditional sense as some would see it but still fit in the traditional definition somewhat. So to me it's all good.

Go around and talk about some of those artists on my list, if you get positive reactions then you are lucky, because I get blank stares or "F*** (insert underground artist here)" (I get this a lot when I mention Common or Talib for some reason)when that person can't stop talking about how "gangsta" some lame rapper is. I guess to hip-hop heads, my list of artist are not underground because they have a fanbase and get the recognition they deserve from their fans, and that number is high enough to get that album gold. In terms of the big picture, they are still underground to a lot of the mainstream crowd and even to rap listeners. I could have listed really underground artists but I felt that putting those generally underground artists out there was required by my standards anyway.

tuff_gong92

Common gets radio and TV play. I just made a thread with Common freestyling in the booth on BET's Rap City from the other day. I rarely if ever hear Kweli and the Roots on the radio but I see both their videos on TV. All three of them have had some success on the charts though. Be (the album) hit #2 on the Billboard in 2005, and I constantly remember seeing Com's videos since "The Light" off Like Water For Chocalate being shown on TV. As for Kweli, he has 3 albums that hit Top 25 on the Billboard. Train of Thought hit #17, Quality was #21, Beautiful Struggle was #14. "Get By" I used to catch on TV a lot when it first dropped.... and a little less so with "The Blast" and "Never Been in Love." Believe it or not the Roots had three albums hit top 10 on the Billboard Charts too with Things Fall Apart and their last two albums Tipping Point and Game Theory.

But I see what you mean when you say they aren't really recognized as much as other mainstream artists out there. Like Joe Budden says, "I'm stuck between platinum and flop, underground and mainstream."

Common got mad airplay with Be doggie...that album went Gold selling 600,00+ (that's almost twice what Lupe sold) and prolly will be certified plat eventually...Talib got mad airplay with TBS...and the roots still sold well with their last album (considering they've never gone more then Gold). None of these artist are underground cause they are all well known...they are Backpack, which is another category entirely...fat_rob

I know that much. But its for that reason, I mean they got all that airplay and how much general recognition do they get? Maybe I'm wrong, but from what I've seen, those names still get blank stares by general music fans and even fans of hip-hop. I try and not get involved with too many categories and names and things because labels don't do anyone good. To me there is mainstream and underground, and anyway you slice it, that is what it is, to me anyway. I wish that Common and Talib and all of them get the mainstream recognition they deserve (which has another situationentirely) and still preserve their good underground sound. I guess I'm being to general in regards to definition of underground. To me underground hip-hopis alternative, indie, "backpack", consciousand/or generally unrecognized hip-hop music. An artist can be well known but still be unrecognized in general and that is what I was trying to get at. Man my posts are getting long.

Damu the Fudgemunk (I like his beats, he is relatively new)

tuff_gong92

Man you know about him! What's up with him dressing like Oompa Loompa:lol: I found out about him after I saw his Penny Foamposites (one of the illest shoes ever) video on youtube, then saw all the beats on his youtube account, and then that led me to his myspace....

[QUOTE="tuff_gong92"]

Damu the Fudgemunk (I like his beats, he is relatively new)

Orlando_Magic

Man you know about him! What's up with him dressing like Oompa Loompa:lol: I found out about him after I saw his Penny Foamposites (one of the illest shoes ever) video on youtube, then saw all the beats on his youtube account, and then that led me to his myspace....

I was looking at some Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth videos and general Pete Rock videos on YouTube and I saw his beat videos on youtube in the related videos section and I saw them and I was hooked. Man he can make some good beats. That Damumpa the Loompa thing is weird but hey look at MF Doom and what weird can bring to hip-hop. I thought that youtube beat account thing was genius, I watched all that I could.

Rolling Stone called the Roots one the best live acts of all time and were almost named to MTV's top ten greatest groups of all time list (a technicality caused them to not be on it), Talib was getting mad respect from Jay-Z and Kanye right before his last album dropped, and Common has gone Gold and Platnium before...none of them are underground...underground is MF DOOM, J-Live, ect. Rap acts that you have to explain who they are to almost every hip-hop fan. Most hip-hop fans know of the roots, common, and talib....even if they do not listen to them or consider them great, they are not underground. fat_rob

Ah you see, I still have to explain Common, The Roots, Talib and them all the time. I guess my general experience with the people I live with has made it hard for me to really see that Common isn't so underground anymore. I know what you mean and I know that they get a lot of critical praise BUT I don't know why I say hip-hop and then right after, I have to explain Common, Talib and them. In the general sense, they are underground when it comes to the mainstream but they are not underground when it comes to the definition. I haven't gotten to the point where I say Common and everyone knows what I'm talking about, so ever since I got into alt./indie/etc. hip-hop, I had to explain them every time and most of the time, explain it again. So I can't even get Common out of the way in that regard and start talking about Slum Village and Madlib and The Beatnuts.

My environment has made me used to distinguishing underground as the non-mainstream hip-hop, and most of the time as alt./indie/etc. I envy the fact that you can say The Roots, and everyone knows who they, regardless if they like them or not, where you can proceed to convince them why they should listen or love them. Man I've been posting like crazy today.

MF DOOM

One Be Lo

People Under The Stairs

Strange Fruit Project

One Block Radius

Panacea

The Procussions

Murs

Five Deez

Edan

CunninLynguists

The Last Emperor

Blackalicious

The Coup

Genelec & Memphis Reigns