Underground Hip Hop Best Albums

Underground Hip Hop Best Albums

The late 90s and 2000s saw an influx of excellent albums coming out of the underground hip hop scene. Labels like Def Jux and Rhymesayers were loaded with talent. El-P’s production on Cannibal Ox’s Cold Vein revolutionized the game with it’s spaced out, bombastic, and futuristic sounds. Between El-P and RJD2 the fresh underground sound made every release exciting. Meanwhile, battle rap emcees and punchline rappers were popular. Canibus’s “2nd Round Knockout” and beef with LL Cool J, along with Eminem’s rise with his Slim Shady character led to rise of punchline rappers, like Cage, J.U.I.C.E., Chino XL, and Copywrite.

Then, there were poets and emotional lyricists. Sage Francis from Rhode Island came to fame after winning emcee battles, like Scribble Jam. A month after 9/11 he released the internet hit, “Makeshift Patriot,” which critiqued American media’s response to 9/11. The follow year, he put out his critically acclaimed debut album, Personal Journals. He toured and consistently put out tour tapes (“Sick Of…” series ). Meanwhile, in Minnesota Slug from Atmosphere was penning his struggles. In 2002, he released the classic, “God Loves Ugly.”

Another segment of underground hip hop took the gritty, grimey sounds of Wu-Tang, Nas, and Mobb Deep and carried on with hardcore and horrorcore. Jedi Mind Tricks are disciples of the in-your-face Wu-Tang sound - hardcore rhymes from Vinnie Paz and raw, cinematic production from Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind. Jedi Mind Tricks put out a string of albums that featured emcees that would end up putting out their own great albums, like Virtuoso, Louis Logic, Esoteric, and Mr Lif. Necro founded Psycho+Logical-Records and put out shock rap albums like “I Need Drugs” and “Gory Days,” and a few years later, his older brother Ill Bill took rise in the debut album from Non-Phixion, “The Future is Now.”

Then there’s jazzy underground hip hop stuff. West Coasters People Under the Stairs, Blackalicious, and Aceyalone all fall under this umbrella and have been out consistently good albums.