The Art Of High Fidelity (Or: My List Of Favourite Rappers)

I couldn't sleep last night. I was in bed reading for a couple hours after I wanted to be asleep, and then I put the book away (High Fidelity by Nick Hornby) and tried to fall asleep for what seemed like eternity. My thought tree always sways kinda crazy at these times. At one point I was thinking about the rappers that I like and which ones exactly I frequently return to on my iPod. Then when I got to work today, I went through the Hip Hop artists on my iPod and constructed a (definitive?) list of my favourite rappers. Mind you, I am a fan of a lot of them. My iPod has 432 separate recording artists rappers listed in the Artists category.

I've divided the list into two. One category for those I've been listening to since I started listening to rap in the 90s (The All Time Favourites) and one for rappers I discovered or who only dropped after 2000 (The New School). I'll link each name to a YouTube video and beside the name I'll include my favourite album, mixtape or song of theirs that you should check for.

The All Time Favourites (alphabetically)

• Big L - Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous (album)
• Big Punisher - Capital Punishment (album)
• Canibus - Rip The Jacker (album)
• Chino XL - Here To Save You All (album)
• Eminem - The Slim Shady EP (extended play)
• Jadakiss - Kiss The Game Goodbye (album)
• Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt (album)
• Nas - Illmatic (album)
• The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die (album)
• R.A. The Rugged Man - Die, Rugged Man, Die (album)
• Ras Kass - Soul On Ice (album)
• Royce Da 5'9" - Death Is Certain (album)

The New School (also alphabetically)

• AC - This Is AC Pt. 2 (Staten Lives) (mixtape)
• BadNewz - Falling Down (mixtape)
• The Catalyst - Fuck The Radio Vol. 1 (mixtape)
• Copywrite - The High Exhaulted (album)
• Dr. Becket (aka Doctor Becket / Docta Bec) - Creativity / Bad Muthafucka (vinyl single)
• Emilio Rojas - Recession Proof (mixtape)
• Jay Electronica - Act I: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge) (mixtape)
• Joell Ortiz - The Brick: Bodega Chronicles (album)
• Rhyme Asylum - State Of Lunacy (album)
• Theology 3 - Featuring No Features (mixtape)

It almost undermines just how many different artists I really like. There are so many, some had to miss out. I could easily list double the amount of artists whose entire discographies should be owned by fans. Would be good to get some reaction from rap fans regarding this list.

I just realised that the book I'm currently reading (High Fidelity, which was made into a movie starring the awesome John Cusack) makes a lot of sense being mentioned in this blog post. It's about a 30-something guy who owns a music store and makes lists (both in and out of his head) constantly. Wouldn't be the worst thing to happen in real life, either.

One Ought Not To Think

The above is a random image I came across today while checking out my Google Reader feeds at work. It was the catalyst to whatever happens in this post from hereon in. I enjoy the ongoing battle between thinking and not thinking. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. That probably depends on your personality though. If you're a positive soul then more thinking will likely lead to greater success and happiness. If you're suffering from depression, though, then more thinking may lead to a deeper feeling of sadness/loneliness/anger.

Then there's the whole issue of the mindless masses. The sheep. They definitely think. They think they need to work 40 hours a week. They think they need the big house and the nice car. They think marriage and kids is the ultimate goal of life (though less increasingly these days, thankfully).

What about stopping to think about what is really going on in the world? Who is really in control? Are they moving society in a positive direction? Exactly how brainwashed are we?

It's easier just not thinking sometimes.

Below are the lyrics of a song by Canibus, my personal favourite rapper of all time. I posted this as a Facebook note a couple years back so I conveniently stole my own prior work to save some time.



This one is relatively short, I won't say much about it//
What's the point if you're still gonna doubt it//
History is a weapon being used against us//
Humanity has been abused before but few remember//
Human hybrid Hubble iris double-sided//
Untouchable when it comes to rhyming but I struggle in private//
’One Ought Not To Think’, in other words stop thinking//
Humankind is now on the brink of extinction//
The eagle has landed, Wernher von Braun handpicked//
The evil bastard called Magnum Innominandum//
These Ice Age quotes oppose Helios//
Confusing the most yet I find it remedial//
Turn the radio and TV off, think for a second//
Technology is a blessing but it's also a weapon//
A weapon of mass destruction giving global instructions//
Teaching us how to hate but does it in a way that we love it//
Take my beloved rap music, erase the beat//
Consumers act like they're afraid of intelligent speech//
The rhymes are imagined in theory then itemised into a query//
It takes more than your ears to hear me//
Meditate, you will see it clearly//
Elevate to a level where your judgment isn't impaired dearly//
Before the New World Order right around the corner//
One day soon they gonna lock down the borders//
I ain't an activist, I can't do shit//
I'd rather be a pacifist with a full clip//
Keep saying your prayers, they won't care//
God won't hear, do something, you won't dare//
It’s happened before, it'll happen again//
It’s happening over there, it'll spread here my friend//
’One Ought Not To Think’, in other words stop thinking//
Mankind is now on the brink of extinction//
Lost wisdom from the Lost Kingdom//
Humankind is now on the brink of extinction



I'm not sure what other people take from that verse, but it's a favourite of mine. You don't have to think the same as I do though. Anyway, I was trying to think of something to leave you with and I must have sent some kind of plea out into the universe, because I came across this:

Think about that.