Jester

might recognize him from D.I.T.C., Finesse is one of the greats; probably the only punchline rapper i don't find boring, dude's just so fresh. plus, he's got an excellent voice. mad tight flow, and he's a really good producer, too. Big L totally styled himself after Lord Finesse

Mrd00d

Yeah I take Lord Finesse over Big L any day. Punchline raps are hit or miss with me. Finesse doesn't get any love either, it's a shame...

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Jester

well most punchline rappers are just boring as fuck

and I agree completely, Finesse >>> Big L

he gets love, most heads who know about him like/love/respect him, but i feel you... he doesn't get discussed like he deserves to

yo Mrd00d you ever seen his classic battle with Percee P from 1989?





^ classic, anyone who hasn't seen it is missing a huge part of hip hop history

Mrd00d

No I hadn't thanks....

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Sparky

I've always thought percee p was wack. Dude has 1 flow and one flow only.

This guy always got named by my elders when they were saying some "learn your facts!" type ****, appears as if funky teechnician would be a good place to start

Jester

dude, Percee P is not whack!! his album with Madlib was half assed (except for that track with Aesop Rock, that was ill), but that was a shame because Percee P is a monster... that delivery and signature flow (i guess that was a problem with his release--kinda monochromatic) and attention-stealing voice is fantastic... plus, if you peep that battle, that style was mad original for '89... (the Good Life scene kinda crushed his technicality imo, but he still was legit)

yeah, Funky Technician would be a great place to start. came out in 1990, he was putting other battle rappers to shame with his punchlines... i don't even like punchline rappers, they usually suck, but Lord Finesse, who mostly made use of punchlines, was just so goddamn fresh.

after Funky Technician, go for The Awakening, then go to Return of the Funky Man. (that's his debut -> 3rd (final) -> sophomore)

they're all real dope... Lord Finesse is one of the greats

you feeling any of those tracks matious?? my favs are probably Here I Come and Hip 2 Da Game... and Bad Mutha

by the way, Funky Technician has some of Premo's beats before he became a legend... some of Diamond D's early beats too. both mad respected cats. i oughta mention Showbiz cause he was on there too... album shows off all their early styles, dope shit too.

The Awakening is fully produced by Lord Finesse. he's mad underrated as a producer (see: Hip 2 da Game--one of my favorite beats, personally). he put down some tracks on Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous, and I know he produced "Suicidal Thoughts" from Ready to Die... might have had some other beats but i dunno

ok i'm done ranting... enjoy the info and don't sleep on Lord Finesse peeps

Sparky

maybe for 89 but it sounds extremely dated now. That dirt and filth song was great though, i listened to that a lot.

Seriously though he sounds the same on all those songs.


I wasn't getting into it too much but that last track is great. His style of rapping on that song sounded more interesting, it was less chronic punchlines, at least in the 1st verse.

So far i don't see why he's better then big l.

Jester

Rakim sounds dated now too, still, props for doing some amazing shit back in the day, it's just too bad Percee P couldn't get an album out back then. and I think his flow holds up pretty well, the main problem with his release was the monotony, you are right about that

word, well... i think his punchlines are more creative, Big L was like a Lord Finesse Jr., plus I think Lord Finesse had a smoother delivery / voice, and I usually like the beats he's on over Big L's

Sparky

yeah i respect all these cats, but i can't really get into rakim either.

Hip Hop, more then any other genre, benefits from modern production. I also think the actual act of rapping has gotten far less repetitive and encompasses a lot more personality and charisma these days.

A lot of these old school rappers don't make a nice melody over the beat with their voice, they just follow this frustratingly limited structure they set up and it's like they're scared to switch up the flow. Finesse(1st impression) is slightly guilty of this.

I mean we got dudes like slick rick who sounded way smoother then this back in the day

Jester

word, hip hop's production has made it a lot better, i think production was at its best in the '90's though, some of the most recent production sounds too polished to me

and while the technical aspect of rapping has obviously increased, i completely disagree that rap today encompasses a lot more personality and charisma... old school cats got off on unique personalities, that's what rap is missing today in my opinion. we got too many cats thinking they're dope because they're super-lyrical (or try to be), but they don't have the same level of character/charisma rappers like Kool Keith, Melle Mel, Snoop, the Fat Boys, Guru, De La Soul, Slick Rick, Tim Dog, Tribe, Willie D... lot of dudes. they weren't crazy lyrical or anything, they just had style that made the songs entertaining

i don't think Lord Finesse sounds as stiff as you seem to think he does, his flow sounds tight & on point to me, he's somewhere between that old school stiffness and the coming "new school" smoother delivery (Funky Technician was released in 1990, a lot of the raps written in '88/'89).

i like that stiff sound sometimes anyway, certain cats make it work. Evidence still raps like that, he's got a basic flow but it's so weathered, he wrings so much out of it. there's room for both.