I agree 100%
Pop star makes sense, no insult
Just true.
Kanye has some really interesting original stuff. He’s pretty legit song writer all around. Yea the Beastie Boys are a whole other thing and on another level for me. I just find myself enjoying some of the late nineties JayZ & mid nineties BIG stuff. Just was around and though not my favorite I like some tunes but I agree some of the stuff Above is strait up pop and produced as such.
There’s other eighties hiphop artists who blow this list away and are up there with Beastie Boys old school legit, I just wasn’t exposed to much. Imma do a deep dive for some other eighties raw hip hop 🎙
The early 80's excelled in New Wave. To be honest ... very little Hip Hop ever spoke to me. There was some amazing R&B electronic fusion though later in the decade and in the early 90's ... often dismissed as just dance or disco ... but often very musically complex (with movements and overlay) and original sounding. However they often featured lip syncing beauties in the videos and were panned because of this.