I’m going to go from my oldest obsession to my newest. Hip hop music. I’m going to say upfront I never liked hip hop music. If your name starts with a “lil,” I don’t like you and I know your music sucks. For that shrinking subset of rappers whose names don’t start with a “lil” or autotune, I’ll give you a chance. That being said, I don’t like most rap. I can’t really relate to either the excess rappers (smoke blunts) or the socially conscience rappers. That being said, there is still good rap even if you have to dig deep for it.
Take everything I said about excess rappers and throw it away for a second. Just a second. Or however long it takes you to read the following. Despite what I’ve said, I really like Jay Z despite his embodiment of much that I despise. The only explanation is that he has really soulful beats. Try The Blueprint or the Black Album. Neither album has him rapping over a drum machine which I particularly dig, even if much of his stuff is about living the life.
Watching that video, I remember just how great Eminem is. Eminem was the first rapper I ever heard and said wow. The man doesn’t just rap a line and take a break, he barrels forward without a break, even if it means you have to catch up to him. His dark humor and violence turn me off at times but even then, he is, undisputedly, the most clever lyricist out there. Similarly, Louis Logic’s clever lyrics and similar sense of humor remind me of Eminem.
My favorite rapper, however, is Common. Originally attracted to his cool, soul and jazz influenced beats, I also started listening to his meaningful lyrics and was hooked. There are, like with every other rapper, particulars that I don’t particularly enjoy but his album Be is the only rap album that I enjoy all songs on.
This last bit is about my favorite verse in all of hip hop. It’s on a Kanye West song but no, it’s not a Kanye West lyric. Jay Z is also on the song, but it’s not his either. It’s by a hip hop poet by the name of J Ivy and you can skip to 3 minutes to hear it on the following link.
The Music Court 
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