Underground Hip-hop

No, it's not underground because it started in basements. Underground is the term developed for artists on small or non-existent record labels. The lyrics are based more on the "Foundations of Hip-Hop" like graffiti, MC'ing and turntablism (scratching) vs. the typical ass, tits, cock, bottle of alcohol, etc you hear in more mainstream Hip-hop. As a result many of the artists get mislabeled as nerdcore Hip-Hop. This is the genre that restored my faith in MC's (Master of Ceremonies) as someone who doesn't just scream over music (I've wanted to pull an MC's mic at almost every club I've gone to).

Taken Best: While doing manual labor or just hanging out (I can't really imagine dancing to it).

The album review I've already done for this genre is Aesop Rock's "None Shall Pass". Some other great artists from this genre are MF Doom (Doomsday), Del tha Funkee Homosapien (Rock the House); along with MC'ing the gorillaz, he has multiple acts including Deltron 3030 and Deltron Z. Jurassic 5 (What's Golden), and to wrap up: two artists I like to think are underground (halfway there) are Mos Def (Got) and common (Universal Mind Control).

Enjoy!
Sherwood