[quote=@SleepingSilence]
[@Inkarnate] I showed twelve rap songs that I like. All non-mainstream artists. It's not like I haven't listened to a shit ton of it, believe me I have. XP
[/quote]
Oh, I’m sure you’ve [i]heard[/i] a few albums you enjoy. But as with the culture of hip hop, you need to [i]comprehend[/i] it beyond a surface understanding—which so far I have not seen from your responses. I don’t say this as an inflammatory remark, but an observation based on the facts in front of me. You get stuck on shallow points in songs [particularly within Lamar’s body of work, which you have not actually explored as you have admitted], and make criticisms that don’t really have any weight or understanding of the pieces presented.

[hider][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdNaZEzUmFc[/youtube][/hider]
Also, going back to the topic of the contemporary scene there is no reason a new listener should avoid the “mainstream” as plenty of prolific rappers have created songs that have become part of the hip hop zeitgeist [and are actually important, relevant, and influential] such as Jay Z, Tupac, Outkast, Kurtis Blow, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Public Enemy, and many many others. It would be grossly unwise to ignore them to satisfy some independent perspective that any rapper within the avant-garde, abstract, or experimental sides of the genre would agree is important for any newfound listener.

The most important thing to recognize from and about hip hop, the music of the street, is the [i]message[/i]. There are many MC’s who range in technicality, flow, phrasing, wordplay, and much more; and just because an experimental rapper uses longer words does not make him a better rapper than one who uses a simple yet succinct style.