CD I recommend

[ATLien]

Nas- Street's Discple (actually give it a try DD before writing it off)

Are you kidding? Guys like DD will never ever like any rap album, it just isnt their thing. Everyone has diff. tastes, but rap is one of those things that you either love it or hate it. Not much of an in between.

I loved SD, btw. I thought it was Nas' 2nd best CD (nothing will ever touch Illmatic) and the best CD of 2004 from any genre (American Idiot was close).

[Porter]

Are you kidding? Guys like DD will never ever like any rap album, it just isnt their thing. Everyone has diff. tastes, but rap is one of those things that you either love it or hate it. Not much of an in between.

I loved SD, btw. I thought it was Nas' 2nd best CD (nothing will ever touch Illmatic) and the best CD of 2004 from any genre (American Idiot was close).

Stillmatic was better than Illmatic. That CD had Got Urself a Gun, Ether, One Mic to name a few.

[ATLien]

Naw. Illmatic is the best rap album, and one of the 100 best albums ever created in any genre. Not a single bad song on it, and NY State of Mind is one of the best rap songs ever.

[Porter]

U cant really miss on either. I have both of them and love them both.

[DiamondDave]

ATL is right.... I will not give a RAP album a chance unless it is done with music and not samples and ripping off... Now I gave Public Enemy a LOT of credit when they performed with Anthrax... ground breaking stuff.... unfortunately the industry did not learn from that event... they went back to Psuedo-Musical Entertainment instead of turning towards actually making music....

Now as stated before by someone else, Rap is not the only psuedo-music that samples, rips off, and has no actual music creation in their efforts... but the others that also do it, are also not truly music... so don't think that this is only about rap... it is against all non-music stuff that the ignorant deem as music

[BrianDawkins]

eh, half the rock and "nu metal" bands these days use drum machines, bassline processors and other computer mixers... thats not "real music" either... but if it sounds good to my ears, i could care less whether or not it was made with a computer, a guitar or a bucket of spoons

and i'm not sure what the initial topic is about, but im in complete agreement with ATLien on the subject of Illmatic

[DiamondDave]

eh, half the rock and "nu metal" bands these days use drum machines, bassline processors and other computer mixers... thats not "real music" either...

Which is exactly why most new bands are not worthy of even mopping the sweat up from most of the classic rock bands...

[Killah Sith]

Actually DD I think you'd be surprised how many rap bands actually do use live music. As for sampling, that can be an artform of it's own if done correctly. Of course when it's obvious like P Diddy, of course it isn't original at all. Of course I don't consider that sampling, that's just using a beat. But even the group you mentioned, Public Enemy, used samples early on and were very creative with them, often throwing so many things together and making new music. I know "Welcome To The Terrordome" supposedly has nearly 30 samples yet people can't figure out what most of them are and PE won't say.

[DiamondDave]

Sampling cuold be an artform of some sort.. that still don't make it music...

And as stated.. I have no respect for the supposed 'bands' that use beat kits etc, either...

As for rap bands using instruments... of what I have seen, I have seen exactly zero, zilch, nada... I have seen rappers on different shows that may have actually used a live drummer on the stage, but most everything was sampled/mixed/recorded/etc...

So until I see the evidence that they are making music, instead of making sound entertainment... I'll stick to the bands that actually create and play the actual music...

And I'm not saying that I would actually like the rap if suddenly they created and played actual music... but at least I would have more respect for them than the zero respect I have now

[Killah Sith]

That's fine with me. I'm not trying to convince you to like rap music and I could care less if you do. I am an advocate for rap music and will stand up for it. There is a lot more out there than you see and hear, especially since you don't like rap music and have no interest in doing so. What is shown on tv and played on the radio is only a small part of the genre, and usually not the best part. So whether you want to believe it or not is irrevelent. The fact is there is a lot more rap artists who do make live music than most believe. And there are numerous groups that do it exclusively. Just because you don't see or hear it, doesn't mean it's not there. And considering that you aren't a fan of rap music and don't care to see or hear it, odds are you never will, but that is your choice. I don't like country music so I'm not going to go looking for it. Music is music regardless of how it is made. For someone who preaches to "expand your mind" you are small minded when it comes to rap music.

Sampling cuold be an artform of some sort.. that still don't make it music...

And as stated.. I have no respect for the supposed 'bands' that use beat kits etc, either...

As for rap bands using instruments... of what I have seen, I have seen exactly zero, zilch, nada... I have seen rappers on different shows that may have actually used a live drummer on the stage, but most everything was sampled/mixed/recorded/etc...

So until I see the evidence that they are making music, instead of making sound entertainment... I'll stick to the bands that actually create and play the actual music...

And I'm not saying that I would actually like the rap if suddenly they created and played actual music... but at least I would have more respect for them than the zero respect I have now

[BrianDawkins]

Sampling cuold be an artform of some sort.. that still don't make it music...

And as stated.. I have no respect for the supposed 'bands' that use beat kits etc, either...

As for rap bands using instruments... of what I have seen, I have seen exactly zero, zilch, nada... I have seen rappers on different shows that may have actually used a live drummer on the stage, but most everything was sampled/mixed/recorded/etc...

So until I see the evidence that they are making music, instead of making sound entertainment... I'll stick to the bands that actually create and play the actual music...

And I'm not saying that I would actually like the rap if suddenly they created and played actual music... but at least I would have more respect for them than the zero respect I have now

If you want to hear a good rap band with live instruments, check out The Roots. Fronted by a great lyricist, they play a great, rhythmic blend of jazz and funk music.

[ATLien]

Yeah, The Roots came to my mind also.. They are very under-rated..

[Porter]

The Roots tour like 300 days a year.

[Porter]

Diamond Dave-

Check out Jay-Z's Unplugged Album, he did that live with the Roots, all Instruments. I still wished i could catch Nas's Live to see how he would do but i couldnt make it up to Bumbershoot in time. I'm not trying to start something too much but you like instruments and this CD has them. Its worth giving a chance to listen too.

[DiamondDave]

I will download it from my cheap site.. and give it a try