Hip-Hop Worldwide... Any Recommendations?

[Rondell*Beene]

Hip Hop is a worldwide culture.
So over the last few months, I've been motivating myself to expand my musical horizons and take in a little of what the world of Hip Hop has to offer (...that, and I felt like I was running out of decent US and Aus Hip-Hop releases to purchase).
Afterall, if it's good, it's good.

Anyway, I started with the UK Hip Hop scene (as I thought it would probably be the next most accessble scene, from an English-speaking Anglo-European point of view, after America's and my own).
I downloaded some Braintax, Jehst, Blak Twang, Lewis Parker, Roots Manuva and Ty, and found it all very refreshing.
The scene in the UK seems very distinct from its US and Australian counterparts, with a lot of it being darker, grimier, and more street level than most of the shit I'm used to listening to.

So now I'm moving on, and asking if anybody has any suggestions...

• Who are the premier Hip-Hop acts from your country?
• What are some songs/albums worth buying/downloading?
• What makes your country's Hip Hop music distinct from the rest of the world?

...I don't care where it's from particularly, or what language it's in (although language does prove a difficult barrier of accessibility)... just as long as you think its dope, I'd like to give it a listen.

Yes folks, Rondell*Beene is going around the world, and thanks to the internet, he can do it without actually going outdoors... Score!

[Rondell*Beene]

Today I listened to New Zealand's Scribe, and his album, "The Crusader"...

It was pretty average if you ask me (then again, this undoubtedly represents the mainstream face of NZ Hip-Hop).

Although he seems to be popular in his home country, there is really nothing about his music that makes it distinct from the already played-out US product.
There seemed to be no marks of national Hip-Hop identity, and it seemed very club orientated (sporting adopted American accents... something I truly loathe).

Anyway, on the positive side, his flow was good, and the beats were of mainstream quality (P-Money's production is undoubtedly the highlight of the album).

[Psycho Realm]

Here Listen to some of their tracks and give some feedback.

[Rondell*Beene]

^ To tell the truth, I think Psycho Realm are average... I've never thought Cypress Hill were particularly that magnificant either (although I do hold a certain respect for them).
Actually, I don't really like West Coast rap and/or Gangsta rap that much at all.
So really I'm not the person to judge this kind of thing.

...I listened to "Confessions Of A Drug Addict", "Psycho City Blocks", "Gun Control", "Psyclones" and "Stone Garden" and all of them failed to capture my imagination.
Then again, like I said, I've never really liked this kind of thing much anyway... actually, the whole reason I created this thread was to get away from American gangsta rap cliches...

Still, its far from a bad listen.

[SmashmAn]

My country sucks, we got like 2 crews and they suck baaaad---but german hiphop's fine as fuck---just make sure you listen to the right people

Samy Deluxe...almost all of his stuff is nice...he's one of the most lyrical cats over there...If you don't get the words it's still worth downloading cause his DJ (Mixwell) puts out quality beats-

Kool Savas...Fuckin' crazy...but look for stuff that has been on "M.O.R.", "Der Beste Tag Deines Lebens" and he got some songs with Lumidee, his new one "Die besten Tage sind gezählt" and the "Crashin A Party Remix"...he got dope tracks and even better guest appearances, he's pure fire on 16bars. If you find some older shit, I can tell you its wack, there's mp3s on the net at the time he was like in his 20s or summin'...annoying voice and gay lyrics...just perverted and low-ass-quality...But he's grown and HITTIN!

Azad....He's nice, the album "Faust des Nordens" is worth checkin' out, he got fucked up by Samy in a a battle lol

And ASD (Afrob*Samy Deluxe), just a side project...."Sneak Preview" "Big Boys"...bangers!

[Patrick]

I don't live in the Philippines but I try to get into the hip hop scene there even if I live halfway around the world.

From my persepective, rarely does a filipino rap artist(s) become heard in mainstream Philippines. It's usually music from the US you'd hear on TVs or on the radios. With the few rappers who hit the mainstream, actually rap good, maybe kinda like here in the US.

I personally like Gloc-9, Apokalipsis, and Ghetto Doggs, to name a few. They heavily rap in Tagalog, but sometimes they'll rap in Taglish(Tagalog and English). These artists seem more distinctive than the other hip hop artists because they don't try to imitate the Western culture.

Some other recomendations that I think are OK are Madd Poets, Salbakuta, Chinese Mafia, the first known filipino rapper Francis Magalona, Hi-Jakk, and Sun Valley Crew. There's much more but I can't get great access since I live here in the US.

If you try searching on a file-sharing program for filipino hip hop, you'll most likely get a lot of hits by Andrew E., prolly the most popular rapper in the Philippines. He raps a lot of both English and Tagalog so you can understand some of he's saying.

This seems like a big waste since you might not understand Tagalog but someone else reading the boards may be interested.

[Rondell*Beene]

Thanks guys, I'm downloading Sammy Deluxe and Kool Savas off SoulSeek now... the filipino shit is proving a little harder to find (if you know of any links it would be easier), but I'll try my hardest :D

[Patrick]

I got my stuff from Kazaalite and back when AG was still alive and kickin. So yeah, it'll be more difficult to find songs.

[Mitch]

Swollen Members

[gEnEsIs]

I would love to help you, Rondell... but the only people I know are from my own country. And I'm sure you know just as many of them as I do. Sorry...

You might check out Atmosphere... not mainstream, but they're good. They're from Minneapolis. ::

[Mycall]

King Gordy is probably one of the underrated rappers throughout the years.

His style,his album...I love!

He hails from Detroit, and is apart of the Fat Killaz

He played "Big-o" in 8 mile

His album is produced my Eminem and FBT

Obie, Bizzare, and The Fat Killaz are on this album

"Nightmares" is my favrote video so far this year. The Gordy video features Good Charlote, bie, and D12 in it.

Support this Detroit rapper Rondell. Go get his album.

[NastyMC]

punjabi mc anyone?

[Rondell*Beene]

I would love to help you, Rondell... but the only people I know are from my own country. And I'm sure you know just as many of them as I do. Sorry...

You might check out Atmosphere... not mainstream, but they're good. They're from Minneapolis.

Yeah, I've been into Atmosphere for a while, and already own "Seven's Travels" and "God Loves Ugly".

Thanks anyway, though.
I'm glad to see some people finally responding :D


...and I'm still waiting on that German shit (stupid SoulSeek queue!)

[Drex]

A good link for your quest Rondell (and anyone else who wants to look into other hip-hop scenes from across the globe)...

SOHH.com's Universal Magnetic forum. There's threads on Swedish, English, Scottish, Korean, Italian, Japanese and Dutch hip-hop, and that's just the first page.

[gEnEsIs]

Yeah, I've been into Atmosphere for a while, and already own "Seven's Travels" and "God Loves Ugly".

Thanks anyway, though.
I'm glad to see some people finally responding :D


...and I'm still waiting on that German shit (stupid SoulSeek queue!)

I have "God Loves Ugly" but not "Seven's Travels" yet. Its on my list, though.

Hey Drex that sounds like an interesting site.

BTW, Beene... were is the mad mr. beene?