Good hip hop exists if you look hard enough.

It’s refreshing to see that there are still a grip of passionate folks creating hip hop music that stays true to its sonic roots (dope beats, fresh rhymes). I thought I’d take some time out to post a few lesser-known albums I’ve discovered and have been feeling lately. Best of all, they’re FREE.

I’ve been saying that the future of music is free, and I wholeheartedly stick to my nostradomical prediction. 2009 was the year of the free digital EP/LP, bet your download time that the trend continues into 2010 and beyond. Also, the artists pissed off about their music being digitally bootlegged are fighting a war they will never win. Let it live and embrace it. I’d rather be heard than not, how about you?

And to all those folks creating “hybrid” hip hop, stop kidding yourself, it’s not hip hop. That is, if you subscribe to the foundation the music was built upon.

These are my “humble” opinions. If you disagree, let’s have an educational discussion. Now on to the albums.

Wizdumb – Dollar Bin Delicacies
Website: http://www.myspace.com/wizdumbnw

Beats that sound like they just came out of the dusty crates they were assembled from. Classic, raw, and gritty. The ultimate combination for a late night cypher.

Pistol – The Birth of a Legend
Website: http://slangcorp.com

Remember the time when almost everything that came out of the East coast sounded dope? This album takes me back to that era with its no frills, hard hitting beats and mean rhymes.

Skipless – Rooftops
Website: http://www.myspace.com/skipless

Living proof that cats from other countries understand the foundation of hip hop beats better than some of the folks that live in the same country it came from. Simply put, this is a compilation of neck-breaking hip hop instrumentals.

Barry Bones – Sweatin in the Tee Pee
Website: http://www.myspace.com/thekeymaker1

This album encompasses everything about the underground hip hop from my hometown: non-conformist, gritty, angst-ridden, and hard. It’s a compilation of tracks produced by Barry Bones and rapped over by some of San Jose’s finest, both old and new.

Overdoze Recordings – Sampler 2009
Website: http://www.thegreenvault.blogspot.com/

Ethereal, melodical, tripped-out, and outer-worldly. Just a few words that describe this beat album. It’s only a sampler but 10 tracks strong. Can’t wait to hear the rest.