When it comes to Kanye West i think that it would be better if he continued to produce instead of being infront of the mic. It is good that he is bringing new topics to speak about in mainstream but when it comes down to it- there is a very minute number of compositions that have been decent or even commendable in mainstream. For that reason i will forever stay with my freestyles and mixtapes.

Yea hes good a lot better then most mainstream so at least you have to give him that.

Kanye West is good love that song Juses Walks that'sn real rap proving a point in yor rhymes. And making a point to people.

What do you dudes think about the following rappers? They are my personal favourites who are really popular and mainstream. But i dont want your opinions on them.

2Pac (dont even bother commenting on this one)
Jay Z (No comments either)
Snoop Dogg (Same here, i dont want to hear about why you guys think about him)

Actually forget i mentioned them.

We've all talked about those guys a bit too much, so im not really interested in a forum about whos better, biggie or 2pac, because i dont care. WHat im more interested in is what you think of my other favourites. These guys are still pretty mainstream, but not to the same degree as the others i mentioned above.

Talib Kweli
Hi Tek
Blackalicious
The Roots
Jurassic 5
The Streets

What do you guys think about those rappers?

hi tek cant really rap although i only heard him once n the streets isnt too good, older j5 is mo betta n u 4got the important dilated, as well as the now labeless-maybe-not wu-tang r pretty nice

kanyes ok but ive heard better, altho hes better than most mainstream, however, altho the content isnt too impressive, lil flip's lyrical style in sunshine is actually getting better with flow and rhymes with bigger words, and game over by him suct, but i for once have to mostly disagree w/ halcyon's choices

the earlier, jay was much better, mostly cuz he dint suk, so 99 problems is so much better lyrically because it was recorded earlier in his career, oh yeah n the beasties kick ass

mos def also is not very much underground, but him, kweli, k-os, j5 n them r really qualified not as following rappers but technically otherground, and they are all somewhat talented

check out the new j5 album wen it comes out tho, cuz trust, itll be better than power in numbers

needless to say, the roots and the streets are awesome, i luv the rest of them except jurassic 5.
i have only heard of one of their tracks. and already i dislike them. are they any good? or is it me that misjudged them by just listening to a single track.

IdolNic I don't know which J5 song you've heard but you should definitely check a whole album and not just one single track. (I recommend Quality Control) And yeah the Streets are pretty good.

FrAwD do you know the release date of the new J5 album?

But it seems that people have began to misconstrue the point I was trying to make. First, I dont think its reasonable to try and hold mainstream rap to the same quality standards as quote 'underground' or good hiphop. Everybody knows that its lesser quality so pointing that out is pointless and boring. Second, the tracks that I mentioned are hot BECAUSE they get worked in clubs and are designed for high-output, loud, bass-heavy, house music soundsystems. Dont believe me? Then you've never heard that memph bleek/jigga track played out somewhere. People went crazy for it. Oh, and even your heros tend to bob and shake they ass when its played. Just so you know.

yes kweli listens to such things and fabolous but i dont n recently, a lot if not most of these artists have had airplay on mtv, making them somewhat mainstream
n ppl, the streets isnt a group, its a person so stop referring to him as they or them

I know they are somewhat mainstream. But not to the same degree as 50 cent or something like that. And its very easy to make the mistake that "The Streets" is a group since his name is plural. It also sounds like a name that a rap group would use. Since hes the only British rapper I know, i think hes pretty good.