also, let's not forget that wu tang once sold albums out of their van on beat street.
that em was signed to rawkus (please see first two soundbombing compilations) and scam before that.
master p traveled all over the south selling shit outta his trunk.
the difference between these dudes who stayed on their regional grind and DefJux and Rhymesayers cats staying on their regional grind? There are several, but only one is relevant:
1. the three i listed started to become adored by LARGE mainstream population.
my question is, why the fuck aint these dudes "real" hip hop in 2006?
rza's worst beat is just as good as ant's worst beat. just as good as lif's worst beat. just as good as rjd2's worst beat. em's production is equally skilled.
i understand you respect dangermouse (clearly, since the OP mentions him 3 times among his top five) and others (do you own revolutionary but gangsta or just talking about it?) but shit, you gotta understand the infrastructure of the game itself. hatin on the game is one thing, but disassociating dudes who've lived this shit by disassociating them from the categorization "real hip hop" is mad ill.
there are two kinRAB of music: good and bad. fuck this real vs. fake shit.