Thought provoking MCs
 

who do you all think is the most thought provoking/socially concious MC today

Aesop Rock.

Definetly Aesop Rock

Immortal Technique, he is mind over matter.

mos def still there

:hphones::hphones::hphones::hphones:

50 Cent/Nelly. Their popularity utterly confirms my theory that:

The combined intellect of the masses < 1.

Makes you think, and weep.

What does 1 represent?

Haha. Just some arbitrary number that is greater than zero but still small enough to get my point across regarding how stupid people are.

Could have picked 0.00001 but meh.

Hammer, amirite?

Mr. Lif. The guy is kind of hit-or-miss, but when he's on he has some great, thought provoking lyrics.

Can u post some videos please
Thanks in advance

Sure. Here's one of my favorite songs by him, "Phantom" from the Emergency Rations EP:

Was he on Def Jux by any chance

Yep.

Immortal Technique.


Look at his interviews and speeches on Youtube too. Dude knows his ****, he's a genuis.

Any chance you could u post some of them please

Maybe not so though provoking but has the same style as Immortal Technique with his I am pretty smart but I am mainly just a really great battle rapper... Canibus.

I would have to say NAS , plus he has been around for along time like almost 20 years

cactunes.com/index.php?title=Nas

I've always liked Andre 3000. You gotta listen to most of his stuff multiple times before you catch everything.

People talk so much **** about me at barbershops. They forget to get their hair cut.

Thought provoking.... ?

Kanye West?
lol


I'd go with Common, although he's not done too much recently.

Chuck D.

...Even today, yes.

Rap hero of mine:





Great, socially conscience, Canada hip hop. Puts a lot of the stuff coming out of my area to shame, quite frankly.

Good pick, I think it goes to Aesop though.

Yea, but you're in Houston

I'm allowed to diss my city. BUT WHEN OTHER PEOPLE DISS MY CITY I GET MAD MOTHER****ER

Haha - I like Houston. But its rap scene traditionally sucks

Ha, no arguments from me on that one. Although we did have Geto Boys and right now our biggest guy is probably Paul Wall. I'd hate to trash our flagship but he's... grating at times.

I concur, Canadian hip hop ftw!

Immortal Technique is nice if you want 15 songs on an album all dealing with conspiracy theories.

I'd say Lupe Fiasco, not only probably the best rapper period right now, but also has lyrical content out the ass.

I really don't understand why people love Lupe so much. He's not bad by any means, he is just so average.

Aesop rock, and Flobots.

That does seem to be the verdict on Lupe. You either love him to death, or find him to be a tad bit overrated. But I'll ask you, in what way is he average? To me his lyrics are insane, flow is off the charts, he could have a better ear for beats but so could a lot of emcees. I don't see anything about him that's "so average". Just interested in what you're seeing that maybe I don't.

I think Lupe is pretty good, I need to listen to more of his stuff though... Suggestions?

Nas gets me thinkin with some of his stuff. Songs like What Goes Around by him blow me away. Mos Def with some of his stuff although I can only handle so much of him at a time. His voice wears on me sometimes. Same with Immortal Technique, he's really good but I can only take so much political stuff

Other than thoughts of smoking weed, what thoughts does he provoke?

Agreed.

If you want legit thought-provoking stuff, definitely check out anything that's come through the Anticon label.

Doseone, Themselves, Alias, Sole, etc.

Also, Busdriver is pretty interesting - not really Anticon, but he's collaborated with 'em.

Yes, yes and yes. That Deep Puddle Dynamics album is intense, hoping they'll get back together someday for a follow up but I don't see it happening any time soon. I heard Sole left anticon but I'm not sure if it's true.

^ It's true.

I concur. I went through a phase of listening to nothing but Immortal Technique and he inspired me to read. Strange, but true.