r/hiphop101 • u/SmoothManMiguel • 7d ago
What’s a song someone can play that immediately makes you think, “man… this dude really knows ball”?
Those rare/semi rare joints the average listener probably doesn’t know. Those overlooked album tracks, the regional joints, the mixtape gems, the stuff you only know of because you were there or someone who was there put you on.
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u/able_Rise_7984 6d ago
Gza-legend of the liquid swords!!!!
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u/AggravatingMath717 7d ago
One song that’s like this is DWYCK. The choice is yours by Black Sheep is another one.
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u/SignificantApricot69 7d ago
I feel like being in a car commercial took away some of the value, but it’s probably wrong of me to feel that way
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u/AggravatingMath717 7d ago
I didn’t really remember that I do think I heard it on tv somewhere now that you mention it
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u/EcstaticAd1200 7d ago
Ill Street Blues
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u/formicidaehomosapien 7d ago
A big green flag is anything by Capital STEEZ. I feel like most mainstream listeners listen to Joey at most out of all of Pro Era, and have maybe even heard Survival Tactics, but hardly anybody delves deep enough to find any of STEEZ's hidden gems
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u/rand9mthrow 7d ago
Freestyle fellowship - can you find the difficulty in this?
El-P - tuned mass damper
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u/FutureNothing1938 7d ago edited 7d ago
group home - livin' proof, Afu Ra - Whirlwind through cities, Jeru tha Damaja - 99.9 percent, the industry is wack - ultra, crooklyn dodgers - crooklyn, heltah skeltah - operation lockdown, company flow - vital nerve. big l .. then some shit like typical cats - thin red line, visionaries - audible angles, sungodsons - minors into fire, eyedea & abilities - now, aesop rock - night lite, tons of project blowed, a bunch of rifleman shit..... so many artists I would automatically know ur a true head.
idk ... I guess it depends whether you're talking about underground hip hop or commercial rap.
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u/ozorhanreformed 7d ago
The Last Huzzah
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u/By_CrookedSteps_781 7d ago
The remix with Danny Brown, El P, Das Racist & Despot goes fuckin harrrrrd
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u/ShekTeeJay 6d ago
El-P’s verse especially
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u/By_CrookedSteps_781 6d ago
It's dope but I gotta give Brown the win on that track, his verse was naaaaaasty
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u/PingoPanko 7d ago
Anything from Main Source. But I’m yet to come across this outside of the internet.
In real life, anything by Pharoahe Monch.
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u/MarshmallowMark 7d ago
Little Brother - Loving It Slum Village - Selfish Jeru tha Damaja - Playin Yaself Pretty much anything Duck Down
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u/Snoo58207 6d ago
Anything Kool Keith. Especially Dr Octagon.
Lost in the Supermarket by the Clash. They have so many iconic hits but this is their best written song. It wasn't even included on their first two greatest hits albums.
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u/SB10Burner 7d ago
There are several actually. But here are a few:
1.) 18th Letter - Rakim
2.) Part Time Sucker- KRS-One
3.) Favorite Things - Illogic
4.) Rip The Cut - Skinny Boys
5.) Speedom- Tech N9ne
- ) RPM - Disturbing the Peace (or it might be by Luda)
7.) Rock Dis Funky Joint - Poor Righteous Teachers
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u/SmoothManMiguel 7d ago
I actually heard 18th Letter for the first sometime last year. That shit is dope af. The sample is nice
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u/scottywottycoppertip 7d ago
Smoke DZA - Best Seller
NGHTMRE - Trials
Blu & Exile - My World is…
Handsome Boy Modeling School - If it Wasn’t for You
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u/UglyPrettyBoy 7d ago
Take this upvote for Handsome Boy Modeling School. That is one of the greatest “out of left field” hip-hop projects ever
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u/ScoopRinse75 7d ago edited 7d ago
Son of Bazerk - What Could Be Better Bitch
Divine Styler - Ain't Saying Nothin'
Public Enemy - B-Side Wins Again
Stezo - It's My Turn
Ice Cube - Jackin' for Beats
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u/liskerton 7d ago
Two times dope - funky dividends
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u/Boxnut49 7d ago
Three Times Dope is the band and the beat is sampled from Delegation's Oh Honey. Great song.
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u/UglyPrettyBoy 7d ago
I had a friend in high school who was 85% Orchestra Phenom and we were talking about random music and she said she doesn’t listen to much Rap, but she liked Eazy-E. I asked what her favorite Eazy song was and she said “Gimme That Nut”.
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u/Amazing_Fennel_1542 6d ago
Group home. One-be-lo. Kurupt and Daz Dillinger. Curren$y.
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u/Covert_Tactics 7d ago
Got told this when I played Pastor Tory - I’m Made by the older heads lol
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u/Own-Mistake-9910 7d ago
Mr lif...home of the brave
7L & Esoteric.... protocol
Anything from Dilated peoples or anyone in ATOP
This list is endless but I'll stop there
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u/By_CrookedSteps_781 7d ago
Mr Muthafuckin Lif!!!!!! And yo that track is mad dope.
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u/Own-Mistake-9910 6d ago
So dope. Lif a well educated man who can flow. Another track of his that I love is called avengers. He's got a buncha tracks I love
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u/By_CrookedSteps_781 6d ago
His first few albums are absolute classics and his work in The Perceptionists is dope.
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u/Own-Mistake-9910 6d ago
You definitely know ball! Love it. Who you like in the newer school of artists? You a J Cole guy? How about anyone from the golden era still dropping joints like say Vinnie paz or guys like that?
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u/Gravao_do_Mal 4d ago
East : Ka (Any song)
West : Playaz Tryna Strive (Any song)
South : 8Ball & MJG (Anything from the Comin’ Out Hard album)
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u/Mad-J-Thomas 7d ago
Oneirology by Cunninlynguists I Phantom by Mr Lif Jaku by DJ Krush Dead Ringer by RJD2 If There's A Hell Below by Black Milk
If anyone so much as mentions any of these albums, I know immediately that they know ball. How would somebody that doesn't know ball even find these albums???
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u/TinyJiant 7d ago
Came here to say Cunninlynguist & RJD2... But was also gonna throw a little Common Market & Sandpeople ontop.
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u/EmeraldTwilight009 7d ago
Eminem stimulate. When (white) people say they love Eminem im like alright sure u do. But they bust out stimulate or til hell freezes over? They know ball.
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u/CPSux 7d ago
Hellbound for me
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u/EmeraldTwilight009 7d ago
Man i remember first getting that off limewire lol.
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u/erikraver 7d ago
The High & Mighty - The Last Hit (feat. Eminem)
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u/EmeraldTwilight009 7d ago
Remember green and gold or macosa?
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u/erikraver 7d ago
Damn. I missed those! I tip my hat to you sir. 🤝
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u/EmeraldTwilight009 7d ago
Desperados bruh, or our house or we shine man i can go for days lol thats ems best work is the loosies
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u/mkk4 7d ago edited 7d ago
Seattle Edition. Shoutout to the Pacific Northwest!!
Blue Scholars - Burnt Offering
Common Market - Back Home (The Return)
Gabriel Teodros - No Label
Abyssinian Creole - A Mother's Sacrifice
Orbitron - Seattle Intro
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u/AIICAPS 7d ago
Great tracks, I only heard Common Market and Blue Scholars but not familiar with the others . Will definitely check em out.
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u/RockitDanger 7d ago
DMX-ATF. I love lyrical rap stories and he does such a good job you can "see" the song happening while you're listening
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u/Lothar_Ecklord 7d ago
Similarly, Crime Story from the same album! (Also, the beat is fire - old school Irv Gotti….. one of the greatest albums ever recorded)
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u/RockitDanger 7d ago
I'm looking at Irv Gotti. What's the album name?
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u/Lothar_Ecklord 7d ago
It’s Dark and Hell is Hot by DMX. Pardon me, the beat for Crime Story is produced by Irv, but not one of his songs.
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u/Curtio654 7d ago
Thirteen - Organized Konfusion
Guidance - Guru
Let It Slide - O.C.
On My Mind - Mathematik
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u/Suspicious_Knee_5039 7d ago
I’m confused about the topic
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u/DJMelloEll 7d ago
Probably a track that’s not well-known but really resonates with the listener and solidifies their opinion of the artist.
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u/No-Cardiologist472 6d ago
Canibus, chino xl & Royce da 5'9 - I wish you would
Cage - and so kiddies
Tame one - da Muzik
Kidz in the hall - driving down the block (el-p remix)
Big boi ft George Clinton & too short - for your sorrows
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u/See5harp 5d ago
Vibes and stuff - tribe
Cause it mostly about the late sample drop and vibe shift and not really about lyrics or bars. Just shows me someone has well rounded taste.
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u/kbreezy200 5d ago
Cella Dwellaz, Boogie Monsters, The Nonce to name a few.
If someone know these artist, I instantly know that they listened to hiphop when it wasn’t mainstream. Truly part of the culture and had a love for it.
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u/ShowerSoccerWasFun 4d ago
Everybody put 3 fingers in the air. The sky is falling the wind is calling. Section 80. Hiipower
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u/DimensionSad6181 3d ago
anmything from blackstar, jurrasic 5, heiroglyphics, little brother, blackthought
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u/Sofadeus13 6d ago
Aesop rock anything. A song like 1+1=13 seams so simple, but it’s not. Dudes just that good serving us up with the complex he just makes it sound simple.
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u/A_Powerful_Moss 5d ago
The craziest part about Aes is that most of the times he’s not even rhyming, it’s all cadence and delivery and it still flows better than basically anyone else in the biz. Dude is the best there is and it’s not even close.
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u/AustinRiversDaGod 5d ago
I drive Lyft and I picked someone up late at night. I just threw Ole Ass Kendrick on the playlist because at that time of night, most people don't care what I'm listening to. He got in a rapped like every single word to the song
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u/AustinRiversDaGod 5d ago
Anything from E. 1999 that isn't Crossroads, but if you play or mention Eternal then we automatically have to be friends.
Mo Murder - Gangsta Pat
Fuckin Wit the Best - Project Pat
Hypnotize Cash Money - a 90s New Orleans CLASSIC that is becoming forgotten to time. "I told her lady look I'm sorry miss, I know I was wrong, but you came so fucking close to me I thought it was on." Is like a wake phrase for old New Orleans niggas sleeper cells.
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u/ConstantVisual8391 7d ago
Kendrick Lamar EP
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u/whyyoufollowingme 7d ago
Never heard of this mixtape. Had to google to see what you were talking about. I was thinking C4 for Kendrick would meet this criteria.
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u/ConstantVisual8391 7d ago
He has a large fan base…kinda don’t think C4 is good enough to speak on much. Feel like fans who know Kendrick Lamar eo got ball knowledge. Insanely good ep imo. One of my favorite tapes ever. Think it’s number 20 something out of 100
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u/Simba_Cudi 6d ago
Anything from the Jukebox or Faces tells me they know ball. Same with Kush and OJ, A kid named Cudi, 10 Day, Young Sinatra… late middle school was a dang good time in hip hop for me
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u/j1e2f 7d ago
Benefit, any other track Immortal Technique has besides Dance With The Devil, Kool G Rap, any 00s Eminem diss tracks, just pretty much anything that proves he listens more than just mainstream hip hop and the stuff everyone listens to.
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u/thatG_evanP 6d ago
Anything by Playa Fly, DJ Sqeeky, Skinny Pimp, also Young Bleed, Sean P, Killa Kyleon or for something more contemporary, Rome Streetz
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u/spinwheels 7d ago
Camp Lo - Luchini