Alternative, Underground

Alternative hip hop (also known as alternative rap) is a genre that is defined in greatly varying ways. All Music Guide defines it as follows: more...

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Alternative Rap refers to Hip-Hop groups that refuse to conform to any of the traditional stereotypes of rap, such as gangsta, funk, bass, hardcore, and party rap. Instead, they blur genres, drawing equally from funk and pop/rock, as well as jazz, soul reggae, and even folk.

Stephen Rodrick cites Arrested Development, Basehead, and The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy as examples of such \"alternative\" hip-hop. In the mid 90's labels such as Rawkus Records and others had mainstream success with alternative rap acts such as Jurassic 5, Company Flow, Black Star, Mos Def, Common, The Roots, De La Soul, Talib Kweli, Dead Prez and Pharoahe Monch.

Rodrick writes that alternative hip-hop has \"drawn little more than barely concealed yawns from other rappers and urban audiences\". Heywood and Drake counter that \"making rap music that appeals to mass audiences isn't simply about selling out\", stating that alternative hip-hop is an attempt to counter the association that much of the mass market has between (mainstream) hip-hop music and violence, giving as an example the \"Smokin' Grooves Tour\" of 1996 (featuring Cypress Hill, A Tribe Called Quest, The Fugees, Nas, Ziggy Marley, and Busta Rhymes — all of whom, with the exception of reggae singer Marley, are hip-hop performers who \"don't fit the mold of gangsta rap\").

Chicago is rapidly becoming the reservoir of the new \"mainstreaming\" of alternative rap. Pioneered by the Chicago rapper Common and expanded by Kanye West, Chicago's brand of rap is quickly commercializing the alternative rap genre. Other noted Chicago artists include Lupe Fiasco, Diverse, The Molemen and Qualo. Another site for this is in Los Angeles, where Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park formed side-project Fort Minor, their debut album, The Rising Tied, has been critically acclaimed for appealing to non-hip-hop fans. This type of Hip-Hop is also comming out of different areas from artist such as North Carolina Hip-Hop Duo Little Brother and Toronto Rappers Drake and Kardinal Offishall. These artist all in their own way are bringing the genre to new heights and depth.

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