By artistic talent, it could be anything you find artistic: rhythm, speed, creativity, meaning/message, voice, etc.
I’m not a huge hip hop fan but I really like Aesop Rock’s lyricism and I like the style that astronautilus has.
The first two songs that come to mind is Aesop Rock’s citronella
https://youtu.be/dQmvt9WHfqE?si=7wbb65LTg5aPUuqk
and astronautilus the river the woods.
https://youtu.be/6jg19GyxV2Y?si=BlrJpknydCca7TrR
Both worth at least a listen in my opinion
NAS- One Love (Illmatic, 1994)
The song is about a street criminal writing his friend in prison. It’s actually a literary form called “Epistolary”, where the narrative is in the form of documents, usually letters.
So anyway the song is full of the street lingo, misogyny, drug use, and violence you’ve come to expect from “gangster rap”. But just underneath, it’s also sweet and affectionate. The song is vulnerable and positive about masculine and platonic affection despite the most toxic context imaginable.
The Pulp Fiction of rap
There was a team of super producers working on Illmatic like Q-Tip and Pete Rock who were all essential to creating a classic album. People sometimes don’t hear their contributions since the focus is so squarely on Nas.
Eyedea & Abilities always came with some of the best and most creative hip-hop. Their entire album E & A is next level with all the aspects you referenced. I love track #2, Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZVkW-HtSgA&t=9
3 wildly different perspectives on life lived and living life. For me its mostly the feel of the music, the lyrics.
Lacrae - Welcome to America (Before Mr glover recorded his hit)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zVyEPNIR-yk
Nocando - El Camino (The big lie of the American dream)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=94Bxhhmm0FA
Classified - All About U (An underground Canadian hip hop wonder from the maritimes with a positive message for everyone )
It’s just so smooth. Saw this also live once. Very impressive.
Similar experience for me: Prezident - Classic Coke (German)
Edit: NSFW obviously
Lately, I’ve had two. One in English and the other Spanish.
English - Eminem ft Joyner Lucas - Lucky You
- The speed and rhythm are unbelievable. The musicality matches the emotion so well too. It’s insane that someone can create and perform that.
Spanish - Residente - La Catedra
- Awesome rhythm that varies throughout and a ridiculously long diss track at 12 mins lol. And just to show off, the dude raps a whole lyrical set rhyming with each of the vowels starting at 6:07. Who does that?! 😮
Edit: Just for fun, here’s a song that is impressive for being so bad by someone so important to hip-hop. The backstory is that Melle Mel was one of the original founders of hip-hop and part of the first rap group inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A few years ago, Melle Mel started publicly attacking Eminem for being White in hip hop. Eminem mostly ignored it, even thanking Melle Mel in this Rock and Rock Hall of Fame induction speech. However, after being attacked enough time by Melle Mel, Eminem dissed him in the song Realest by making fun of Mel’s obsession with his muscular physique. Melle Mel responded by seriously producing and disseminating this song to the public. It’s hilariously bad. Melle Mel - Kickback
Good pick on Lucky You. That one is up there for me too.
“3rd Reel Judy Garland” by Restiform Bodies. The whole thing is very dense, menacing, and centered around a bunch of extras waiting in casting, unusually. Very unique writing.
Akala - Fire in the Booth 1 The flow, message, content. An artist with top skills, showcasing what he can do.
Supreme NTM - Le Pouvior Just always dug this track. Resonates with me.
Wow didn’t expect to see Akala already posted here.
This is the correct answer although I think Fire in the Booth Part 4 might even eclipse Part 1 in terms of talent.
Second place for me would be Lowkey. For message Soundtrack to the Struggle 2, for pure ability has to be The Return of Lowkey… Genius bars like a laptop shop.
I hadn’t heard Fire in the Booth 4 before as it never hit my music streaming services. Thanks for waking me to its being.
Dig Lowkey too, music was the only good development of the criminal “war on terror”.
BIGGIE
- Unbelievable - wordplay
- My Downfall - the flow
- N----z Bleed - storytelling
The time signature changes create a surreal effect. In the first half of the track, it creates a feeling of being lost in thought. And then in the end it becomes a sense of panic.
If you like that, I also recommend live for no audience during a global pandemic
Notorious BIG regularly switches the style of rhyming and cadence in an organized manner while freestyling. See the banrious YouTube videos that explain it.
A Day at the Races by Jurassic 5
It’s just got awesome rhythm, it manages to evoke the feeling of racing (awesome song for driving; awful if you’re stuck in a traffic jam). The rhymes are excellent, poetic induction at the level of Shel Silverstein’s poem Magic.
They manage to somehow capture the smooth satisfaction of dry roads and eventual traction, the pacing of the action with zero distraction just perfect samadhi doing naughty shit with haughty wit and they got me with them in the pack even though I’m stuck back in the stack of whack traffic jams that make me slam on my brakes I love the way it gets my brain going. It’s hard to drive slow to this track especially if I listen to it back to back like crack for a sober mind this is my kind of jam man fuck:
Ha, just responded to “coming thru” recommendation above and then saw yours!
Tech N9ne “Speedom (WWC2)” ft. Eminem & Krizz Kaliko
Mainly because of the insane levels of cadence and speed with which they deliver the lyrics
This was my first thought too. Technical abilities off the charts
