Hip Hop or Rap Fans....

[Dynamite]

With my new iPod coming soon and £20 worth of iTunes vouchers still left over, i need some songs. I'm looking for some "essential" hip hop or rap songs.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Driver The Naniwa]

Common - "I Used To Love H.E.R."

Scarface - "Never Seen A Man Cry"

Eric B. & Rakim - "Microphone Fiend"

Souls of Mischief - "'93 'Til Infinity"

Pete Rock & CL Smooth - "T.R.O.Y."

Nas - "The World Is Yours"

Jay-Z - "Dead Presidents"

A Tribe Called Quest ft. Busta Rhymes - "Scenario"

Geto Boys - "Mind Playin' Tricks On Me"

Wu-Tang Clan - "C.R.E.A.M."

[DMN in the House]

Ice Cube - 'Today was a Good Day'

Ice Cube - 'No Vaseline'

NWA - 'Fuck the Police'

NWA - 'Straight Outta Compton'

Easy E - 'Boyz in the Hood'

Easy E - 'Automobile'

Warren G - 'Regulators'

DJ Quik - 'Jus' Like Compton'

DJ Quik - 'Pitch in on a Party'

Snoop Dogg - 'Gin and Juice'

Snoop Dogg - 'Murder Was the Case'

Dr. Dre and Tupac Shakur - 'California Love'

Tupac Shakur - 'To Live and Die in LA'

Tupac Shakur - 'Picture Me Rollin'

Tupac Shakur - 'I Ain't Mad At Ya'

Tupad Shakur - 'Brenda Had a Baby'

[ACCBiggz]

20 bucks... buy the 2Pac Greatest Hits album. That'll cover a lot. Then of course some of the Dre/NWA stuff DMN mentioned.

[Lowerdeck]

GZA's "Liquid Swords", Raekwon's "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx", and Nas' "Illmatic" are probably the best three East Coast albums of all time.

[Guest jahhz]

My favorite albums...

1. Nas - Illmatic

2. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders

3. Jay-Z - The Blueprint

4. Reflection Eternal (Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek) - Train of Thought

5. Kanye West - The College Dropout

Pick up The Roots - Game Theory (my favorite album of last year), its an awesome album.

[Ash J. Williams]

Ice Cube - Natural Born Killaz

NWA - Fuck Tha Police

NWA - Straight Outta Compton

NWA - Check Yourself

Dr. Dre - 187um

Dr. Dre - Deep Cover

Jurassic 5 - Concrete Schoolyard

Beastie Boys - Intergalactic

[OGpistolpete]

Big L - "Put It On"

Big L - "MVP"

Big L - "All Black"

[tristy]

I don't know about anyone else, but I've been really digging Aesop Rock's "None Shall Pass" album.

[Jorden Snow]

I have to give it up for the Tupac Suggestions and I agree the Greatest Hits discs cover a lot of the good shit, but I also think his best CD was "All Eyez On Me - Book 1 and 2."

I'd also have to give it up for ANY song off of Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt cd. As well as suggesting Lil Wayne's Tha Carter II.

[Verder]

NWA - Express Yourself

The Notorious B.I.G. - Who Shot Ya

The Notorious B.I.G. - Mo Money Mo Problems

The Notorious B.I.G. - Juicy

The Notorious B.I.G. - Hypnotize

The Notorious B.I.G. - Gimme The Loot

2Pac - Hit 'Em Up

2Pac - Changes

2Pac - Keep Your Head Up

Ice Cube - The Nigga You Love To Hate

[Lord Nibbler]

I don't imagine you'll find them all on iTunes, but here goes;

LL Cool J - Rock the Bells (Radio, 1985)

Run DMC - It's Tricky (Raising Hell, 1986)

Eric B. and Rakim - Paid In Full (Paid In Full, 1987)

Public Enemy - Rebel Without A Pause (It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, 1988)

Slick Rick - Children's Story (The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, 1988)

De La Soul - The Magic Number (3 Feet High and Rising, 1989)

House of Pain - Jump Around (House of Pain, 1992)

Ice Cube - It Was A Good Day (The Predator, 1992)

Onyx - Slam (Bacdafucup, 1993)

Snoop Doggy Dogg - Gin and Juice (Doggystyle, 1993)

Nas - N.Y. State of Mind (Illmatic, 1994)

Big L - M.V.P. (Lifestylez Ov Da Poor and Dangerous, 1995)

GZA - Liquid Swords (Liquid Swords, 1995)

Mobb Deep - Shook Ones, Pt. 2 (The Infamous, 1995)

Jay-Z - Brooklyn's Finest feat. The Notorious B.I.G. (Reasonable Doubt, 1996)

Xzibit - Paparazzi (At the Speed of Life, 1996)

2Pac - 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted feat. Snoop Doggy Dogg (All Eyez On Me, 1996)

The Notorious B.I.G. - Kick in the Door (Life After Death, 1997)

Puff Daddy - Victory feat. The Notorious B.I.G. (No Way Out, 1997)

Black Star (Mos Def and Pharoahe Monch) - Definition (Black Star, 1998)

Jurassic 5 - Concrete Schoolyard (Jurassic 5 LP, 1998)

Lauryn Hill - Forgive Them Father (The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, 1998)

2Pac - Changes (Greatest Hits, 1998)

Arsonists - Backdraft (As The World Burns, 1999)

DMX - What's My Name? (...And Then There Was X, 1999)

Dr. Dre - The Next Episode feat. Snoop Dogg (2001, 1999)

Eminem - Guilty Conscience feat. Dr. Dre (The Slim Shady LP, 1999)

Pharoah Monch - Simon Says (Internal Affairs, 1999)

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - Thug Luv feat. 2Pac (The Art of War, 2000)

Common - I Used To Love H.E.R. (Resurrection, 2000)

Cypress Hill - (Rap) Superstar (Skull & Bones, 2000)

M.O.P. - Ante Up (Warriorz, 2000)

OutKast - B.O.B. (Stankonia, 2000)

Raekwon - Criminology (Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, 2000)

Wu-Tang Clan - Gravel Pit (The W, 2000)

Busta Rhymes - Turn It Up/Fire It Up (Total Devastation, 2001)

The Beatnuts - No Escapin' This (Classic Nuts, Vol. 1, 2002)

The Roots - The Seed (2.0) (Phrenology, 2002)

Scarface - Guess Who's Back? feat. Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, Kanye West (The Fix, 2002)

Talib Kweli - Get By (Quality, 2002)

Tech N9ne - Imma Tell (Absolute Power, 2002)

Canibus - Genabis (Rip the Jacker, 2003)

DJ Format - We Know Something You Don't Know feat. Akil and Chali 2Na of Jurassic 5 (Music for the Mature B-Boy, 2003)

Gang Starr - Skills (The Ownerz, 2003)

Immortal Technique - Freedom of Speech (Revolutionary, Vol. 2, 2003)

Jedi Mind Tricks - Tibetan Black Magicians feat. Canibus (Visions of Gandhi, 2003)

Royce da 5'9" - I'm The King (Build & Destroy: The Lost Sessions, 2003)

Kanye West - Jesus Walks (The College Dropout, 2004)

Madvillain - Strange Ways (Madvillainy, 2004)

Masta Killa - Old Man feat. RZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard (No Said Date, 2004)

R.A. The Rugged Man - Chains feat. Killah Priest and Masta Killa (Die, Rugged Man, Die, 2004)

Little Brother - Slow It Down (The Minstrel Show, 2005)

Papoose - You Ain't Nice (A Moment of Silence, 2005)

Lupe Fiasco - Never Lies (Food and Liquor, 2006)

Saigon - Color Purple (Abandoned Nation, 2006)

EDIT: £20 is, what, 25 songs? I've marked the 25 I'd go for if I wanted to get a broad range of stuff.

Edited October 26, 2007 by Jimmy the Exploder

[Guest Big Dog]

Da Lynch Mob - Guerillaz In The Mist

Dr. Dre feat Snoop Dogg - Deep Cover (aka 187 on the undercover cop)

2Pac - Ghetto Gospel (both versions. older one feat Elton John and new one feat Akon)

Soulja Boy - Crank Dat

Edited October 26, 2007 by Big Dog

[Ananas]

You haven't experienced hip-hop until you've heard this song.

[Draevyn]

If you like Battle Raps or anything of that nature, hit up soundclick and download stuff by Ill Christopher and DZK

[GhostMachine]

If you want old school, I have a few recommendations:

"The Breaks" - Kurtis Blow

"Basketball" - Kurtis Blow (note: Lil Bow Wow (I think) did a cover of it that pretty much sucked)

"I Get The Job Done" - Big Daddy Kane

"One Love" - Whodini

"Rapper's Delight" - Sugar Hill Gang (THIS IS F'N ESSENTIAL!!!!!)

"How Ya Like Me Now" - Kool Moe Dee

"Wild Wild West" - Kool Moe Dee