I am amazed no one has mentioned Canibus yet......
Seriously intricate vocabulary and......hell I don't even have to explain it, his lyrics speak for themselves:
I used to listen to a lot of Rap/Hip-hop, I used to love DMX (his first album was the best), listen to a lot of Wu-tang etc. It wasn;t long after 50-cent came out that I got tired of it all, same old crap over a different beat. My mate used to come up to me:
"Yo you heard the new song by The Game??"
"No, but let me guess, he talks about how he has a nice car, he has loads of bitches, he will shoot you if you mess with him, he has/does deal crack/cocaine, he's got loads of money, lots of jewels, he likes going to clubs and drinking expensive champagne, at some point he will remark how he has a general dislike for 50 cent"
Naturally, I would be right. The only part I can respect about hip-hop these days is the production because a lot of the time the beat will sound really good, then some idiot has to ruin it by yacking over it with topics such as those listed above.
I rarely listen to much anymore, aside from Canibus as it stimulates the brain cells somewhat, but for the large part I've gone back to rock/metal music as I love playing it on guitar
Methtical