Gold standard hip-hop

In an email, my friend Hannah writes:

it's funny, this weekend i felt a sudden desire to listen to hip hop. i've never listened to it in my life, i think it's probably the björk who flipped the switch on. yesterday i made an attempt to explore hip-hop on itunes. i bought five songs--three of them were french. i'm wondering if you have any recommendations for me...? i'm looking for classic, gold-standard hip hop, if there is such a thing.

There is indeed such a thing as gold standard hip-hop. None of it is in French. This wouldn't be any serious head's comprehensive anything, but it does include all of my personal favorites.

Precursors

Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters - Chameleon Chameleon

Herbie Hancock - Future Shock - Rockit Rockit - the documentary Scratch revolves around this tune, editing in clips of the music video every time someone mentions it, which is often

James Brown

James Brown - 70's Funk Classics - Funky Drummer Funky Drummer - the drum break is said to be the most-sampled beat in hip-hop

James Brown - 20 All Time Greatest Hits! - Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine, Pt. 1 Sex Machine

James Brown - 20 All Time Greatest Hits! - The Payback The Payback

James Brown & The J.B.'s - Star Time - Soul Power, Pts. 1 & 2 (Stereo Mix) Soul Power

James Brown - 20 All Time Greatest Hits! - I Got the Feelin' I Got The Feelin'

James Brown & The J.B.'s - 20 All Time Greatest Hits! - Super Bad, Pts. 1 & 2 Super Bad

P-Funk

Parliament - Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome - Flashlight Flashlight

Parliament - Mothership Connection - P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up) P Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)

Parliament - The Best of Parliament - Give Up the Funk - Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker) Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)

Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Mayfield - Superfly - Superfly Superfly

Curtis Mayfield - Superfly - Pusherman Pusherman

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson - Off the Wall Off The Wall

Michael Jackson - Thriller Thriller - When's the last time you listened to this? Even after all these years, it's so great you can't believe it.

Old school

Sugarhill Gang

The Sugarhill Gang - Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight Rapper's Delight

Eric B & Rakim - Paid in Full

Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full - Eric B. Is On the Cut Eric B Is on the Cut

Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full - My Melody My Melody

Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full - I Know You Got Soul I Know You Got Soul

Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full - Paid In Full Paid in Full

Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full - Extended Beat Extended Beat

Run-DMC - Raisin' Hell, Greatest Hits

Run-DMC - Raising Hell - My Adidas My Adidas

It's Tricky (why not on iTunes?)

Run-DMC - Raising Hell - Walk This Way Walk This Way

Run-DMC - Run-DMC: Greatest Hits - Sucker M.C.'S Sucker MCs

Public Enemy - Do The Right Thing Soundtrack (see the movie too)

Public Enemy - Def Jam Recordings - Let The People Speak - Fight the Power Fight The Power

Nineties, non-gangsta

Fugees - The Score

Fugees (Refugee Camp) - The Score (Edited) - How Many Mics How Many Mics

Fugees (Refugee Camp) - The Score (Edited) - Ready Or Not Ready Or Not

Fugees (Refugee Camp) - The Score (Edited) - Fu-Gee-La Fu-Gee-La

Fugees (Refugee Camp) - The Score (Edited) - Fu-Gee-La Fu-Gee-La (Refugee Camp Remix)

Fugees (Refugee Camp) - The Score (Edited) - Killing Me Softly With His Song Killing Me Softly

Fugees (Refugee Camp) - The Score (Edited) - The Score The Score

Cypress Hill - Black Sunday

Cypress Hill - Black Sunday - Hits from the Bong Hits from the Bong (great sample from Son Of A Preacher Man)

Digable Planets - Reachin' (A New Refutation Of Time And Space)

Digable Planets - Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time & Space) - Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat)

Digable Planets - Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time & Space) - Appointment At the Fat Clinic Appointment At The Fat Clinic

Digable Planets - Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time & Space) - Nickel Bags Nickel Bags

Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Lost Ones Lost Ones

Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop (That Thing) Doo Wop (That Thing)

Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Every Ghetto, Every City Every Ghetto, Every City

Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Final Hour Final Hour

Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Everything Is Everything Everything Is Everything

Nas - I Am...

Nas - I Am... - Nas Is Like Nas Is Like

Anquette

Anquette - Respect - Janet Reno Janet Reno - yes, Clinton's Attorney General got a rap song written about her, and it's a classic.

Nineties, gangsta

Dr Dre - The Chronic

Dr. Dre - The Chronic - Lyrical Gangbang Lyrical Gangbang (uses the same Led Zeppelin drum sample as Army Of Me and Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover)

Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggy Style

Snoop Dogg & Dat Nigga Daz - Doggystyle - Gin and Juice Gin And Juice

Snoop Dogg & Dat Nigga Daz - Doggystyle - Murder Was the Case (Death After Visualizing Eternity) Murder Was The Case

Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) - Clan In Da Front Clan In Da Front - RZA's piano line was inspired by watching the Thelonious Monk documentary Straight No Chaser

Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang - 36 Chambers - Da Mystery of Chessboxin' Da Mystery Of Chessboxin'

the Office Space soundtrack (see the movie too)

Geto Boys - Uncut Dope - Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta Geto Boys - Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangster

Ice Cube - Lethal Injection - Down for Whatever Ice Cube - Down For Whatever

Avant-garde

Antipop Consortium - Tragic Epilogue

Laundry

Nude Paper

Moon Zero X-M

Sllab

Hanifah Walidah & Earl Blaize - Adidi, The Unrocked Story

Hanifah Walidah and Earl Blaize - Adidi-The Unrocked Story - We Have Your Children We Have Your Children

Hanifah Walidah and Earl Blaize - Adidi-The Unrocked Story - Flare Flare

Hanifah Walidah and Earl Blaize - Adidi-The Unrocked Story - Uprock Uprock

Prefuse 73: Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives

Prefuse 73 - Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives - Nuno Nuno

Prefuse 73 - Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives - Last Night Last Night

Cibo Mato - Stereo Type A

Cibo Matto - Stereotype A - Sci-Fi Wasabi Sci-Fi Wasabi

Turntablism

A great cross-section of DJ culture:

DJ Babu - Return Of The DJ Vol. 1 Return Of The DJ Volume 1 (and 2 and 3, if you like this stuff)

Scratch

One of the better documentaries I've seen period - its editing style uses a lot of DJ techniques, like "scratching" the same line over and over. Neato!

Dr Octagon - Dr Octagonecologyst

Dr. Octagon - Dr. Octagonecologyst - Bear Witness Bear Witness (ft DJ QBert)

Right now

Mos Def & Talib Kweli

Black Star - Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star

Mos Def

Mos Def - The New Danger - Close Edge Close Edge (Mos does a great version on Chapelle's Show)

Lady Sovereign

Lady Sovereign - Love Me or Hate Me - Single - Love Me or Hate Me Love Me Or Hate Me (dig my remix and commentary on the video)

Lady Sovereign - Vertically Challenged - A Little Bit of Shhh A Little Bit Of Shhh (dig another of my remixes)

Lady Sovereign - Vertically Challenged - Random Random

Eminem

Eminem - 8 Mile - Lose Yourself Lose Yourself (I know, I loathe him too, but this track is so great it would be untruthful to leave it off this list)

Kanye West - The College Dropout

Kanye West, Twista & Jamie Foxx - The College Dropout - Slow Jamz Slow Jamz (ft Twista & Jamie Foxx, the actor Jamie Foxx, who has the song's best line: "Got a black friend looks like Michael Jackson, got a white friend looks like Michael Jackson.")

The Roots - The Roots Come Alive!

The Roots & Jaguar - The Roots Come Alive - The Lesson, Pt. 3 (It's Over Now) The Lesson - Part III (ft Jaguar & Dice Raw)

The Roots - The Roots Come Alive - Don't See Us Don't See Us (not too many other songs these days using diminished scale as a tonality, aside from Björk.)

MC Frontalot (awkward and hilarious white guy)

Missy Elliott

Da Real World

Missy Elliott / Eminem - Da Real World - Busa Rhyme Busa Rhyme (ft Eminem, who once again, loathsome though he is, does really have nice flow)

Missy Elliott / Big Boi / Nicole - Da Real World - All 'n My Grill All 'n My Grill

Miss E...So Addictive

4 My People (ft Eve - Anna hilariously thought this song was dedicated to Missy's mother, when in fact it's dedicated to her mother-f***ing people.)

One Minute Man (Remix ft Jay-Z)

Missy Elliott - Miss E...So Addictive - Get Ur Freak On Get Ur Freak On (dig the Middle Eastern vibe! One of Timbaland's most-imitated beats, out of many.)

Supa Dupa Fly

Missy Elliott - Supa Dupa Fly - The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) The Rain

Missy Elliott - Supa Dupa Fly - Izzy Izzy Ahh Izzy Izzy Ahh

Exclusive

Missy Elliott - Exclusive - Hit Em Wit Da Hee Hit Em Wit Da Hee (samples horses and Björk!)

This Is Not a Test!

Missy Elliott Featuring Elephant Man - This Is Not a Test! - Keep It Movin' Keep It Movin' (ft Elephant Man)

Under Construction

Missy Elliott - Under Construction - Work It Work It (sounds like it was released in 2060)

Missy Elliott - Under Construction - Slide Slide (sounds like it was released in 2061 - check out my remix)

Missy Elliott - Under Construction - Gossip Folks Gossip Folks (ft Ludacris - "F***, have to clear these rumors/I got a headache and it's not a tumor")

Outkast

Aquemini

OutKast - Aquemini - Mamacita Mamacita

Stankonia

OutKast - Stankonia - So Fresh, So Clean So Fresh So Clean

OutKast - Stankonia - Ms. Jackson Ms Jackson

Idlewild (the movie gets mixed reviews - I've never seen it, but the album is tremendous)

OutKast - Idlewild - Mighty "O" Mighty O - quotes Cab Calloway!

OutKast & Outkast Featuring Snoop Dogg & Lil' Wayne - Idlewild - Hollywood Divorce Hollywood Divorce (ft Snoop Dogg and L'il Wayne)

OutKast - Idlewild - Mutron Angel Mutron Angel (musicians, check out this drum loop - a quiet reversed snare on beat three and literally nothing else.)

Outkast featuring Khujo Goodie - Idlewild - N2U N2U (ft Khujo Goodie - dig sampled coughing in the intro)

The Gnarls Barkley guys

Gnarls Barkley - St Elsewhere

Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere - Crazy Crazy - did you know it was the first song to top the charts in the UK solely through legal downloads? And that Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse at one point considered titling the project "Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo: Who Cares?" Man, when it goes to that major chord unexpectedly in the verse, I get chills.

Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere - Who Cares? Who Cares

Danger Mouse & Jay-Z: The Grey Album

A full-length remix of Jay-Z's Black Album, using nothing but samples of the Beatles' White Album! Not even remotely a joke, actually a staggering memetic breakthrough. The Beatles' legal team are such lamos for getting in the way of it.

Danger Doom: The Mouse and the Mask

Dangerdoom & Cee-Lo - The Mouse and the Mask - Benzie Box (Featuring Cee-Lo) Benzie Box (ft Cee-Lo)

Cee-Lo & Timbaland: Cee-Lo Green... Is the Soul Machine

Cee-Lo & Timbaland - Cee-Lo Green... Is the Soul Machine - I'll Be Around I'll Be Around

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