A rap education for an picky atheist feminist weaned on indie, punk and new wave - primarily music but books/essays would be good too. [more inside]
posted on Apr 25, 2008 - 76 answers

Obscure early-90s-late-80s hip hop song identification: I used to hear this song on the radio back in the day, and the only part of it I can remember is a line that goes "Joey's in the back / He makes the fly folds wiggle." Anyone? [more inside]
posted on Mar 20, 2008 - 2 answers

Is there any hip hop / rap music out there that makes fun of itself or goes completely off the wall in some way? [more inside]
posted on Feb 27, 2008 - 39 answers

So, I was listening to the new Saul Williams album and its awesome. Can you recommend other more intellectual hip hop.
posted on Dec 14, 2007 - 40 answers

What are some good rap/hip-hop songs based on classical music? [more inside]
posted on Sep 22, 2007 - 18 answers

Sittin' in my crib, sippin' on 'nac... Who was the first rapper to promote and popularize the imbibing of cognac? What song was it and when did it come out? [more inside]
posted on Sep 11, 2007 - 5 answers

Contemporary pop culture term equivalent, in both meaning and ridiculousness, to "getting jiggy wit it"? [more inside]
posted on Aug 13, 2007 - 18 answers

Help me find melodic(?) hip hop. [more inside]
posted on Aug 9, 2007 - 34 answers

What are some old-school rap or hip-hop songs that go against the gang/sex/drugs culture? [more inside]
posted on Apr 16, 2007 - 49 answers

What old school hip hop artist's song are these the lyrics to? [more inside]
posted on Apr 2, 2007 - 6 answers

Which rap / hip-hop song has the most writing credits?
posted on Feb 26, 2007 - 9 answers

Any suggestions for spanish/portuguese hiphop/rap like you can hear in Gotan Project's Mi Confesión (Coxmoz) or Bajofondo Tango Club's Miles de Pasajeros? Similar arabic hiphop would be welcome as well.
posted on Jan 22, 2007 - 7 answers

Has rap and hip hop essentially replaced rock? [more inside]
posted on Oct 5, 2006 - 27 answers

Recommend me some French hiphop and rap, s'il vous plait. [more inside]
posted on Aug 17, 2006 - 24 answers

Hip hop song identification plea: the song is super-minimal, recently released, and has lots and lots of MCs on it. [more inside]
posted on Jul 17, 2006 - 8 answers

In what rap song do we first hear this much-imitated lyric pattern? "my name is ____ and i'm here to say... [followed by a line that rhymes with 'say']" Was there an actual sincere use of this rhyme by a hip-hop artist, or was this conceived of as a joke from the start? It may be hard to have an answer for sure, but perhaps we can approach the origins by listing examples and dates for the examples. One of the more ridiculous instances I've seen is the Sushi K rap in Snow Crash.
posted on Jul 16, 2006 - 15 answers

ObscureHipHopFilter: identify this sample. [more inside]
posted on May 12, 2006 - 5 answers

What are some good hip-hop songs to dance to, that I haven't heard of? [more inside]
posted on May 9, 2006 - 14 answers

Who was the first hip-hop artist to "drop science"? [more inside]
posted on May 3, 2006 - 22 answers

If you had to amass a large collection of mp3s of mainstream rap club bangers in a short amount of time - how would you do it? [more inside]
posted on Apr 3, 2006 - 29 answers

I'm looking for the title/artist of two rap/dance songs from around the mid-Eighties, one of which says "change the beat", and the other says "freeze...defrost". Sketchy details inside. [more inside]
posted on Dec 29, 2005 - 8 answers

What is/could be a useful "notation" used to transcribe hip hop lyrics that would account for the lyrical delivery (i.e. syllables, accents, pauses, word length, etc.)...? [more inside]
posted on Dec 1, 2005 - 29 answers

Why does Q-Tip wear a mask in the "Hot Sex on a Platter" video? [more inside]
posted on Aug 15, 2005 - 10 answers

Help me find a mixtape I lost! [more inside]
posted on Jun 3, 2005 - 1 answers

Boogie to the boogie say up jump the boogie to the bang bang boogie! What songs use this lyric (or some clear variation of it?) I'm pretty sure it originates from Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight'. At the very least this song popularized it. And it appears in, for example, Kid Rock's 'Bawitdaba', Will Smith's 'Freakin it', and 311's 'Welcome' So what other songs make some use of this classic hip-hop lyric??? [more inside]
posted on Feb 28, 2005 - 14 answers

Christmas is coming up and I want to be a cool parent to my 10 year old. She wants to listen to, what I can best describe, hip-hop. Not really rap, but stuff that has a beat (she liked Black Eyed Peas "let's get it started in here"). Her current problem is I am uncool. I didn't let her watch Mean Girls—all the other kids got to. I don't let her listen to the local "cool" radio station—mainly because of the language and DJs. So any suggestions on what could keep a kid cool but let me feel like she's getting music of some quality? I don't have to like the music, but I don't want anything with questionable lyrics. Answers that accuse me of censorship will be ignored. When she wants to save her own money up and buy a CD she can, but I'm buying these.
posted on Nov 16, 2004 - 52 answers

Any recommendations for non-English rap/hip-hop songs? I've found a couple I like ("Represent" by Orishas (Spanish), "Hasta la Vista" by MC Solaar (French)), and I'm trying to put together a full mix CD. Bonus points for songs available on iTunes.
posted on Aug 4, 2004 - 31 answers

I'm listening to some Public Enemy MP3s and it has ocurred to me that I don't know, nor have I ever known, what "cold lampin'" means or refers to. Anyone?
posted on Jul 15, 2004 - 12 answers