I was going to make this post a while back when this thread started, i didnt think it was that important then but after reading this all I think you all shoud read this anyay.
I love rock, even back in like 3rd grade when every kid listened to rap and hiphop i loved my rock. And for a long time i thought all hip-hop and rap was horrid. Then recently the underground hip-hop scene has come out to me. If anyone has hear Gorillaz then you have heard in some sense underground. They took some of the best underground hip hop people and made an album. All of you should check ou things that Dan The automator has produced. He is a musical genious. Kool Keith is an ok rapper hes got some great prducing on his albums. Also if you want to hear what many people call the best hip-hop album of all time check out Deltron 3030. Go to
http://www.75ark.com or
http://www.stonesthrow.com and check out some of the music. These are underground labels and you can see some of the music.
I rember someone said that LL cool J did a unplugged show. if you are interested in hip hop with instruments check out yesterdays new quintet and The roots. The roots backed up whoever that rap artist is who had the unplugged. They all play instruments and then have an emcee up front.
Another thing with underground hip hop/rap is that there isnt so much rage in the music. They are making music and rarely say the N word. They dont cuss that often. They make music that they want to be heard so they keep it clean. Rarely do you see a warning label on a good underground record. Thats why gorrilaz did so well.
Andrew