Good hip-hop suggestions?

Chris Brown songs are good.

Old or new hip hop? For old school, I would check out NWA, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Ice T, Snoop Dog, Tupac, Tribe Called Quest, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, KRS-1, Too Short, Biggee. For newer stuff, Eminem, JayZ, 50, and many more.

Atmosphere, Mos Def,

Gang Starr.
They have 2 of their greatest hits compilations on iTunes.
so start from there?

Flobots!
not a big fan of Jay-Z but Jay-Z + Beatles =Awesome
and of course, the greatest of all time, Wu Tang Clan

Abstract Rude, Aceyalone, RJD2, Atmosphere, Common, Dilated Peoples, Jedi Mind Tricks, Jurassic 5, Little Brother, Lupe Fiasco, Sage Francis, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, A Tribe Called Quest

Kanye West
Tupac
Lupe Fiasco,
Chris Brown,
Timbaland
Nas
T.I.
Wyclef Jean
Fort Minor
Jay-Z
Pretty Ricky
Ray J
Taio Cruz
OutKast

where to begin??
Old skool hip hop has more meaning and heart to it, while new skool is just reptative club music that lacks individuality.
Dido with what shilolo said for old.
Lupe Fiasco has some good lyrics along with kanye west, jay-z, the roots, nate dogg, timbland, n.e.r.d., outcast, wyclef jean, bone thugs n harmony, swizz beats just to list a few (mix of old and new). I would lean toward older songs but it all depends on what your into.

EPMD.

Hey Molly, what kind of music do you like? Hip hop is pretty varied, I find it hard to suggest much in the absence of any kind of indication of musical taste. As a “primer” of sorts I would suggest what I would consider to be “pure” hip hop (which is just my own humble opinion):

Notorious B.I.G. (easy to understand, low barrier for entry)
Ludacris (Creative and interesting)
Eminem (Lyrically excellent)
Kanye West (Musically fantastic)
Girl Talk (not strictly Hip hop, but definitely interesting)
Jay-Z (Gray Album in particular)

MF Doom (Madvillian and Danger Doom are also him)
Aesop Rock (Labor Days)
RJD2 (Columbus!)
The Streets (A Grand Don’t Come For Free)
Lil’ Wayne (Smartest rapper on the radio)

And like the others said you can’t go wrong with B.I.G, Tupac, Outkast, Public Enemy, Eminem, and The Gray Album (Danger Mouse + Jay Z).

And if you’re looking for less rap/more pop, go with Ne-Yo. He writes half the stuff on Hip Hop channels.

thanks everyone! i forgot to add that i already listen to much of this, (aesop, MF Doom, RJD2, the streets, outkast, eminem, kanye, luda, timbaland, nas, jay-z, sage, atmosphere, flobots, wu-tang) and i’m not at all partial to stuff like chris brown and ne-yo but again, thank you for suggesting. so, i guess anything besides all that?!

I guess “avoid” isn’t an option?

molly: I really like Aceyalone, Jedi Mind Tricks, and Abstract Rude, so I highly suggest them. I’m saying this again because they weren’t in your already-listen-to list and they weren’t in your anything-but list either. Also, none of these three are like Chris Brown or Ne-Yo.

Wow, great lost so far. The only person that I have yet to see is NaS. Certainly on my list of hip hop greats.

Old school over new garbage any day. If you want to hear hip hop at it’s greatest, don’t listen to Soulja boy or anything similar lil Wayne.

Blackalicious is my favorite. Also: anything with Cee-Lo, especially Gnarls Barkely; second on the Aceylone and NaS; Asheru, who did the Boondocks theme; you might try MIA for a weirdo French flavor.

edit: list

One of my favorite songs
DJ Quik with Suga Free – Do i love her

ah, more great answers, thank you! i love blackalicious, gnarls barkely and MIA. but i should really listen to more gnarls, i’ve only heard a few songs off of a few albums. also thank you to everyone who suggested jedi mind tricks, i have not listened to them yet but now i think i should!

eambos, haha, thank you, i cannot stand lil wayne (or anything similar)

Tribe Called Quest
Gang Starr
Wu-Tang Clan
Beastie Boys
NAS
Notorious B.I.G

Lil Wayne is CRAP!!!

I actually like Lil Wayne. =| (Runs and hides..)

People like Lil Wayne was the reason that i thought all rap was horrible. Then i opened myself up to it more and realized there stuff wasnt rap at all, there is great rap out there, their stuff was just garbage.

@uberbatman

Lil Wayne is just a lyrical genius. I don’t like his content though.

@crunchaweezy LYRICAL GENIUS!?! ARE YOU MAD!?!

“Ow… Uh huh lil homo Young Mula Baby
I say he so sweet make her wanna lick the rapper
So I let her lick the rapper

She lick me like a lollipop”

oh boy that sure is genius song writing skills at work there~ <rolls eyes>

Mac Dre
E-40
El-P
Immortal Technique
Cage
Zion-I
MCsquared

@Uber

That’s the chorus, also that song is widely popular, it’s not his best. Give a few of his older stuff a listen, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

I will not deny the fact that people like Lil’ Wayne’s garbge, but most of these people don’t even know what real hip hop is!

Sorry, Allie

Just because I like Lil Wayne doesn’t mean I don’t know what real hip-hop is (and I definitely agree that Lil Wayne is not hip-hop). See above.
It’s cool, E.

There’s other questions like this, you should search for them. Most of the suggestions here are great too but I must say one thing:

You are wasting precious minutes that could be used to go get yourself all that MF DOOM (Madvillain, etc. see trumi’s answer) has made or been part of – the guy is one of the best things to happen to music. You must stop abusing yourself (musical negligence) go now!

And if you want foundational stuff (read: older) then look no further than Eric B & Rakim, KRS ONE and Big Daddy Kane to begin with. Of course you can trace the whole thing back to Robert Johnson… but I digress.

And for the love of cod stay the hell away from Lil Wayne and anything remotely like it.

whoa, whoa, whoa people!!! How did nobody mention the greatest hiphop MC/Producer of all time???

J-what? J.DILLA!!! seen. Detroit’s blowin’ up the state in ‘08!!! Black Milk, Elzhi, PPP’s, Jake One!!! The Rap Renaissance is here!

I’m a child of the Golden Era too, but yo—get with the freshness!!!
Where are all the REAL headz at???

Did anyone mention Madlib, and the entire Stones Throw crew?

Oh… and the Roots!!! can’t forget the Roots!

Really, I could go on and on…

i loooove the roots!

My favourite hip hop band. so sick live in concert.

i wanted to go see them recently when they were around me, dammit!

like most music, hip-hop was way better before, but there are still a few artists making good music out there.
J DILLA, Nujabes, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, MF DOOM, Common (everything except his last album, Atmosphere, CYNE, Fiv Deez.
Wu-Tang Clan, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Black Moon, Smif-n-Wessun, The Roots, Madlib, The Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Outkast

50 cent, soulja boy, Lil Wayne etc. is NOT Hip-Hop