But, like anything, experimental hip hop, is highly subjective. While mainstream rap gets the glory, experimental hip hop artists are usual the ones doing the hard work of challenging listeners and pushing the boundaries of what people recognize as rap music. 7. Albums that are boundary pushing or "out there" in some way. The absolute pain and torture heard through Danny’s lyrics already bring the listener into an abstract landscape that feels like a world obsessed with drugs. Find the latest in experimental hip-hop music at Last.fm. The album weaves in and out of crazy sonic textures that can be sometimes harsh, sometimes make your head bob, and sometimes bring your heart rate down. was casted in Hamilton, my hopes and dreams for the project were lost. One of the few albums where the context makes it better, J Dilla’s Donuts is the beautifully constructed masterpiece from the king of instrumental hip-hop. Connect your Spotify account to your Last.fm account and scrobble everything you listen to, from any Spotify app on any device or platform. It’s clear that Danny Brown is ahead of the game, and I think it’s going to stay that way. Author: Voidman. All experimental hip hop bands take chances and risks that have made them beloved by their loyal fans, and have thus built a cult following. 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Experimental Hip Hop is a style of Hip Hop music that refers to the experimental use of eccentric hip hop elements (usually including but not limited to abstract lyrics) in ways unconventional and considered unsuitable for traditional Hip Hop music. Leave feedback. Find experimental hip-hop tracks, artists, and albums. When Daveed Diggs, lead of the group clipping. So, who should be considered among the best experimental hip hop artists? The Cold Vein’s album cover is goat. 3,203 listeners, Blaktroniks From the psych-rock passage of “Downward Sprial” to the off the fucking wall “Ain’t It Funny” to the post-punk of “Golddust” this album puts the current rap world on it’s head. 347,892 listeners, Comfort Fit Let us know what you think of the Last.fm website. A perfectly weird blend of Hip Hop instrumentals, IDM, jazz and ambient music make for one of the trippiest albums of the decade and a great starting point for an electronic music fan looking to get into Hip Hop. Death Grips MC Ride’s vocals and lyrics that cover dark themes and topics such as suicide, death, and more make this record the pure definition of experimental rap. If that sounds dark, the instrumental are even darker. More refined than a group like Death Grips, Dalek achieves the same amount of aggression and energy through distorted guitars and straightforward hooks rather than cluttered mixes and demonic flows. This record has inspired rappers from Tyler, The Creator to Mos Def, and I’m sure that it will inspire more. Cuts like “Get Got” and “I’ve Seen Footage” lure listeners in with catchy hooks and an off kilter pop appeal, but as people listen to the album more, they realize there are way more brilliant layers to each track than what meets the eye. This record is criminally underrated and is a great segway into experimental hip hop and into hip hop in general if you’ve only listened to rock. If you like your albums cinematic, please give this one a shot. That's why you can have experimental hip hop artists as diverse as Death Grips, Aesop Rock, A Tribe Called Quest and Gorillaz on the same list. The Money Store by Death Grips. All experimental However, my thoughts were immediately discarded when this album, a “space opera” of rap, with harsh noise interludes and gospel, spiritual inspired rhythms was announced, I realized the group was weirder than ever. It’s surprising to hear even after hearing the record, considering that both Doom’s flow and Madlib’s dusty soul samples are so irresistibly catchy. While the genre is easy to define, selecting what experimental hip hop musicians should be at or near the top of this list. A true-blue rap classic that holds up better than any lavishly produced record today, the duo of genius producer Madlib and insane rapper MF Doom that form Madvillian have proven to us the impossible: you can make a 40 plus minute vocal album with no hooks. An a amazing lyricist and rapper going into a Broadway smash musical from an experimental hip hop outfit with a small audience? MC Ride’s vocals and lyrics that cover dark themes and topics such as suicide, death, and more make this record the pure definition of experimental rap. Go directly to shout page. They sound like songs. Play the latest new releases, popular artists and songs in Experimental Rap/Hip-Hop, or pick your own favorites from a library of millions of songs. Hip-hop is the first commercial art form to take on postmodernism's infatuation with the cut-and-paste aesthetic, and it continues to break new ground sonically and culturally. The Best Songs on JPEGMAFIA's Album 'All My Heroes Are Cornballs', The Best Songs on Brockhampton's Album Iridescence, The Best Songs on Brockhampton's Album 'Ginger', The Best A Tribe Called Quest Albums of All Time, The Greatest Musicians Who Died Before 40, The Greatest Rappers Who Are Already Dead, The Best Hip Hop Producers Right Now, Ranked. The Needle Drop's Best Experimental Hip Hop Albums of All Time. Some user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that alternative and experiment rap album covers are more creative, expressive, and cool-looking. A new version of Last.fm is available, to keep everything running smoothly, please reload the site. While mainstream rap gets the glory, experimental hip hop artists are usual the ones doing the hard work of challenging listeners and pushing the boundaries of what people recognize as rap music. Usually beat tapes are instrumentals waiting for someone to hop on them, but every song on this album is like a work of art, is best left untouched, unless MF DOOM wants to get on “Lightworks”, that’s fine for me. When I heard Ishmael Butler of Digable Planets, a highly underrated jazz-rap group, rapping on a wonky and overall abstract work of electronic music, I was confused yet entranced. Definetly not for people who listen to Rap music to get drunk to, this man’s vocabulary and off the wall flows could be studied for hours and still make you scratch your head. The most recent entry on this list, Aesop Rock’s instrumentals can be easy to listen to and get behind, but his lyrics are what make this experimental.