(Part 2) Best products from r/hiphopheads

Hmmm... I think it's fucking amazing. It's true that it wasn't entirely completed, but they came close. Do yourself a favor: listen to the Smile Sessions set with the original 1960s recordings (I have the [giant boxed set] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Smile-Sessions-Box-Set/dp/B004RFYEEC) that I got signed by Brian Wilson, but you can probably make do with the 2 disc set as the rest of the box is an extremely exhaustive history of the recording sessions). Then pick up and listen to Brian Wilson's [Smile] (http://www.amazon.com/Smile-Brian-Wilson/dp/B0002LI11M/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1407730812&sr=1-1&), which is his completion of the original album with his own band from 2004. Both are exceptional. If I had to choose, I'd probably take Smile, even though Pet Sounds may be an objectively better album as they stand. I think Smile had a really good chance of being better if Mike Love hadn't been such a piece of shit.

I imagine a lot of these kids already listen to a bunch of hip hop. They'll have their own tastes and preferences and opinions, which you can definitely use to your advantage.

For some stuff they're probably not familiar with:

Scratch is a really great film about DJing. It's rated R for language so you might need parental permission. It goes over the significance of the four elements and includes a fair bit of history. Not to mention the dopest shit you've ever seen on turntables.

Black Noise is a great book. It will definitely be over their heads, but it could be great background for you and there are parts you could photocopy to put a lesson plan together about the modern cultural impact of hip hop. You can really challenge the cognitive dissonance of listening to music that seems to preach values you don't share.

Here are a bunch of NPR interviews with important people discussing hip hop.

I think a great exercise would be to assign one of the essential albums from HHH for them to listen to. Give them a 1-2 sentence description of each MC/album and let them pick one they haven't heard to listen to. Have them write 1-2 pages on what they think and then discuss them as a group. It would be a really cool place to start and it would be some guaranteed expanding of horizons. Of course, if your school has strict regulations about profanity etc, this might be a problem. I'd emphasize that this is not going to expose them to anything they haven't seen before...

Good luck!

If you guys are looking for a certified book on Rap, please consider Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists . It's a little old now (about 10 years out of date) but it is a fucking fantastic read if you have even a slight interest in rap music. Great coffee table book that you can just pick up and flip to a random section and be thoroughly entertained.

Edit: It's also very funny. I'll give someone 5 grand if they can find me that Biz Markee dummy.

Pretty interested to see how this goes. I'm not a big reader even though I always have intentions to start and tons of interesting books on a list. Hopefully this helps get me going.

Also, a long time ago I read the DMX autobiography and thought it was pretty well done and interesting. Figure you might want to add it to the voting list at some point: E.A.R.L.: The Autobiography of DMX

For Earphones I use these

They are cheap, but they are the best earphones I've used, and I've had pairs that cost £70.

For headphones I use these

They are good, but I don't know if they are worth £120. You could probably find just as good ones for much cheaper.

u/TheRoyalGodfrey and u/diabetesdavid got me covered. Cosign those comments as entry level tables. Make sure to get some good speakers as well, I'd recommend these but if you can't afford those or something, the most important part before getting decent sound is making sure you're treating the discs themselves good so I'd focus on just getting one of those first.

I hope you weren't actually planning on learning to rap with that book.

It's an interesting read in places, but it doesn't actually have any useful or practical information on how to rap.

A great book is Check The Technique.

I was able to get some Sennheiser HD 598s for $100 on Black Friday, and they were definitely worth it and still are at the current price. They are a little light on bass, and people will be able to hear the headphones as they are open back. The sound quality is some of the best I've heard and I still don't have a headphone amp, which I've heard makes them even better.

[NVX XPT100])(http://www.amazon.com/NVX-Over-Ear-Headphones-ComfortMax-Cushions/dp/B0093PVTPS)

These are great for their price. If you wanted you could get an amp (or something, not super familiar with all the audiophile stuff) to boost the bass tho because it's not there as much as in like most popular headphones.

Yeah that one's really great. I'd also recommend Can't Stop Won't Stop like /u/courage_wolf said, as well as Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip-Hop

So fucking interesting. With the number of big acts that have went through Def Jam it's nearly a history of hip hop itself. Lots of really cool artwork/photography as well to go along with all the interviews. It's this one if anyone is interested in ordering it, highly recommended. But be warned - it's about a square foot and 15 lbs.

For me, these seem exactly like Beats. More a fashion statement than audio equipment, you'll pay a HUGE premium just because RZA has his name on them.

If you're looking for a solid set of cans that'll last the rest of your life, look no further. I've got a pair, fuckin' love 'em. My dad has had the same pair for the last 15 years, the only thing he's had to do is change the ear cups.

The biggest selling point for me is that these are the exact headphones used by professionals in the A/V industry. I was a production assistant for a small A/V company and all of the sound guys had this exact pair of cans. If the musicians create their music using these headphones (which they do, 75% of the time), this is how they wanted their music to sound.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

It's still an official cover. Not the original, but it's the official special edition cover.

When you say it's not official, you make it sound like it's fan made or something.

Are we done here?

I recommend buying it from amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Yeezus-Explicit/dp/B00DF0POXA/ref=sr_tr_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371534723&sr=8-1&keywords=yeezus

$10 for MP3s and a CD seems pretty good to me

Sennheiser HD 598, I got them for Christmas and they have great quality and are really comfortable. I think they're also on sale right now.

Sennheiser HD 598 Over-Ear Headphones https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0042A8CW2/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_Z7ANub0MQ3X5Q

Rap IS poetry man, at least the good stuff. I've always loved Doom for the rhyme schemes and original metaphors with lines like
"A dead mouse is how he catch a phrase / in paws plays with it / kill it, and eat of it for days, get it?"
He uses a lot more tools than a lot of rappers. Aesop Rock is another guy who borders on gibberish but after enough listens you start to come around to the way he talks about things. A good book if you're seriously interested in the topic and/or want to write an actual paper is this. Also, rapgenius.com is dope for reading along if you didn't already know.

You can get a used copy of Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists on Amazon for very cheap. It was published in 1999 but it's a great read.

Also available on Amazon.com.

Amazon.com mp3 Copy - 9.99

Amazon.com Physical Copy - 9.99

Note: if you buy the physical copy, you get a free copy of the digital from Amazon.com.

EDIT: Google Play now has it too! - 11.49

For in-ear's, I have purchased multiple pairs from Klipsch. They're my favorite in-ear brand. From Klipsch, I can recommend the R6i's

Shure is also a great brand I've used. The SE215K fits your budget.

Now as for which one I prefer, I personally like the sound of the R6i's more. However, I purchased the SE215's because of the detachable and replaceable cable. From my experience the cable of Klipsch headphones are very fragile, and tend to wear. The SE215's have yet to break on me. Klipsch headphones for me tend to last for a year before the plug breaks. It isn't too big of a deal if you don't mind soldering and repairing them, but otherwise you should go with the SE215's.

Crown City Rockers - Earthtones

If he likes "real" hip-hop then this is the one. It's of the most underrated albums of all-time. The production is on-point and the lyricism is fantastic.

A bit more expensive than 50 euros, but these

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00001WRSJ/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

are REALLY good.

Heads up though, currently available on Amazon for $7.99 pre-order of the CD, and you get the full album in mp3 available for instant download.

Edit: This is the definite option IF you have Prime. Otherwise, only if you want a physical copy. Includes all the same songs as the iTunes version, bonuses and booklets.

Check out The Tao of Wu or The Wu-Tang Manual by RZA. very cool and interesting

EDIT: forgot to mention DMX's autobiography its reeeaaally dark tho

Everyone interested in this needs to peep this book, explains the stories behind classic albums and their individual tracks. Fucking great book and no I'm not a shill. Check The Technique:
Edit: downvotes? This is about exactly the thread topic. Funny shit

I've used Bose once before and the sound quality was great. I haven't had a quality set of headphones in a while. I was looking at the Beyerdynamics and these Sennheisers

Just splurged and purchased myself a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 770s and a FiiO K3. What are some albums that are mastered extremely well/have great production to break these things in on and test them?

Edit: Current List

What price range? I personally have these and love em.

Otherwise, just look at this guide, go to your price range, and look for IEMs with a B next to their name.

Scratch is a really good doco on turntablism.

so raashan ahmad is the vocalist for crown city rockers who for the last 10 years have been highly slept on despite basically being the bay area's version of the roots. with that said i feel like the roots are more soulful/gritty where these guys are more soulfull/partyvibe. their sound can sometime kind remind me of the dc gogo scene.

they all went to music school together and their senior project was released under the name 'mission: one' and is a classic. they then changed their name to crown city rockers and released another must listen called 'earthtones'

with this new album raashan has also released 4 solo albums and is one of the most consistent cats in the game imo. here's some gems

1

2

3

and once again I made a huge mistake and read some comments below the story...oh god why

> By the way, these are less than $100, and I guarantee will sound better than Beats when listening to anything but rap music: http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-V6-Monitor-Series-Headphones/dp/B00001WRSJ

Amazon is saying that B4.DA.$$ drops on [October 7th] (http://www.amazon.com/B4-Da-Ss-Joey-Badass/dp/B00MHS5BMU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=undefined&sr=8-1&keywords=b4.da.%24%24).

These headphones were $99 a few minutes ago. Just went back to $200 but it's the second time today it went down to $99.

Use this book as a tool!!!!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465003478/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0972188223&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=16T63P90Y6R2SSR5YRGX

Ego trip's book of rap lists. http://www.amazon.com/Ego-Trips-Book-Rap-Lists/dp/0312242980. This is a must read. It's kinda old. I've had it for at least 10 years.

Thats not Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists

>thats just the copy you get in stores

no

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DF0POXA?ie=UTF8&qid=1458422788&ref_=tmm_msc_swatch_0&sr=8-1

http://www.defjam.com/artists/kanye-west/

https://play.spotify.com/album/7D2NdGvBHIavgLhmcwhluK?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open