"Papermill"

This song was a revelation to me a couple weeks ago. The woozy samples, the outer-space guitars, the lo-fi grittiness, and on top of it all MF DOOM's hypnotizing flow.

Having never been a listener of hip hop, I immidiately checked out Madvillain's debut album Madvillainy from 2004. This album also blows me away. Every track is a highlight; that's how strong it is. I don't spend much time trying to figure out what DOOM is saying. I just get hooked on his voice's gritty deep tone, his flowing rhythms, and his trance-inducing consonance and rhymes. Take, for example, "Figaro."



"Do not stand still, both show skills
Close but no crills, toast for po' ills, post no bills
Coast to coast Joe Shmoes flows ill, go chill
Not supposed to overdose, no Doz pills"

Right around these lines I fall into a flow trance.

Next I checked out Wu-Tang Clan's Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Like I said, I'm clueless about hip hop, so I've just been checking out the lay of the land. Enter the Wu-Tang is another amazing album. I love the song "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'." The rapping by everyone is tight, and Ol' Dirty Bastard's verse is transcendent.



There's a long road ahead of me to hunt down revelatory hip hop from across the ages. Anyone have any suggestions?