It depends what kind of rap… Beastie Boys & Run DMC are good kinds of rap.
Also,
A Tribe Called Quest
DJ Format & Abdominal
Binary Star
Blackalicious
Boogie Down Productions/KRS One
Chali 2na
Del the Funky Homosapien (first 4 albums)
Deltron 3030 (first album)
Dilated Peoples
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (first 3 albums)
DJ Shadow
Eric B. & Rakim (Paid in Full)
Gang Starr (Step in the Arena)
Guru’s Jazzmatazz
Hieroglyphics
Jurassic 5
Kool Keith (not for everybody)
Lyrics Born
Mighty Underdogs
Mos Def
People Under the Stairs
Quannum
Ugly Duckling
Ultramagnetic MCs
Wu-Tang ClanThat’s my shit right there.
You forgot MF DOOM though. <_<
Just favourites that are on my phone right now.
More,
Afrika Bambaata/Soulsonic Force
Big Daddy Kane
Biz Markie
Busta Rhymes
Common
Company Flow
Cut Chemist
CYNE
Dan the Automator
De La Soul
Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy
The D.O.C. (first album)
Eazy E (first album)
Epik High (hit and miss)
EPMD
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Group Home
Hilltop Hoods
Invisbl Skratch Picklz/DJ Q-bert
LL Cool J (more misses than hits)
Latyrx
Main Source
Naughty By Nature (first album)
N.W.A (first album)
Panacea
Public Enemy (not really a fan of their sound, but usually on point)
The Pharcyde
The Roots (hit and miss)
Souls of Mischief
Stetsasonic
Time Machine
Tone Lōc (first album)
I didn’t listen to hip-hop/rap for many years, thinking I had grown out of it. I still always liked Run DMC and the Beastie Boys, but commercial rap was shaped a lot by “gangsta” shit that quickly lost its appeal once my teenage years came to an end.
I still dust off Straight Outta Compton now and then; it was pivotal and it still rocks - however, that album along with Dr. Dre’s The Chronic (which I loved at the time) set hip-hop down the wrong path; the path of violence, materialism and misogyny. It wasn’t until my 30s, when I deliberately spent months tracking down all the stuff that fell through the cracks; the more upbeat, more literate, more positive groups, that my love for the genre was reignited.
It is difficult to get away from the language, from the n word, and let’s face it - rappers usually rap about how good they are, so I understand when people hate the genre altogether, but there are ways to be creative about it, ways to employ the English language to great effect without bragging about all the guns, bling, bitches and Escalades that you have.
The ability of the DJ also became a lot more important to me, I initially only cared about the rapping, and completely overlooked the talent of DJs like Jazzy Jeff, while at the same time overlooking the laziness of DJs like Dre, who used drum machines and DATs rather than two turntables and a microphone.
The artist that most frustrates me is Eminem. He is without doubt a supremely talented lyricist and rapper, but I hate his music. Partly due to his voice and his material, but largely due to the fact that Dre is his producer, churning out the same tired drum machine garbage and G-funk loops in the studio.
DJ Premier’s beats and scratching on Gang Starr’s Step in the Arena is so good I tracked down the instrumental version, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Young Einstein from Ugly Duckling are turntable gods. Not to mention that none of these groups (Gang Starr, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Ugly Duckling) curse or use the n word - you can play three of the best DJs in hip-hop at a kid’s birthday party. Dr. Octagon is certainly not going to appeal to everyone, but the combination of Dan the Automator and DJ Q-bert is sublime.
I don’t expect to convert anyone who has never liked rap, but if you like stuff like Run DMC and the Beastie Boys and have never moved past that, or you used to like gangsta rap and now don’t, maybe you should check out some of the artists I’ve listed. The best stuff is in the first list ;)