Who do y'all think are the most underrated rappers in the industry? Here's a few of my favorites who I feel don't get the recognition they deserve:
3-2 (The Convicts, Blac Monks) - probably best known for his classic UGK features like One Day, 2 Real, and Stoned Junkie. He was in the group The Convicts with Big Mike. He was also in John Bido's group The Blac Monks, who's debut Secrets of the Hidden Temple is an underground classic. His solo debut, the hard to find Wicked Buddah Baby, is another slept-on classic. I'm pretty sure it's out of print. I believe it came out on Rap-A-Lot (not sure) and it features UGK, Eightball & MJG, etc. with production by John Bido. Despite having a tight flow and distinct voice, he's never seen the recognition that most of his fellow Houston rappers have.
Tech N9ne - to me, one of the best flows of any rapper I've ever heard, with the exception of maybe Twista. I've never seen an underground rapper who's come closer to making it big more times than Tech. He was signed to Quincy Jones's Qwest Records when that label folded. He then signed with JCor Records, which also went bankrupt. He's done tracks with Eminem, Scarface, Ice Cube, 2Pac, Yukmouth, Paul Wall, Twista, Three 6 Mafia, etc., and he actually knew Pac. Eventhough he started his own successful label, Strange Music, he's never gotten the mainstream attention that a lot of rappers with far less talent have. He's also a member of Yukmouth's group, The Regime.
Brotha Lynch Hung - career never really took off because of a bad deal he'd signed with Black Market Records. He did some work with Master P (I'm Bout It Soundtrack, Mr. Serv-On - Life Insurance, West Coast Bad Boyz), who tried to sign him to No Limit. He recently signed with Tech N9ne and Strange Music, so maybe now he'll get the respect and recognition he deserves.
Devin the Dude - pretty much the same situation as Tech N9ne. Best known for his appearance on Dr. Dre's "Fuck You" track off of Chronic 2001. He's worked with a lot of big people like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Scarface, Ice Cube, UGK, Jay-Z, R. Kelly, Lil Wayne, Twista, Nas, De La Soul, Kool G. Rap, etc., but he's never gotten recognition for his solo work. The hard to find Odd Squad - Fadanuf fa Erybody and Devin the Dude - The Dude are both underground classics. Dr. Dre even produced the tight ass track "It's A Shame" on Devin's second album, Just Tryin to Live but it still never took off because of, in my opinion, weak or nonexistant promotion by Rap-A-Lot. To Tha X-treme and Waiting To Inhale are also some of the best rap albums to come out in the past decade. Now that he's off Rap-A-Lot, I'm curious to see if he'll ever be recognized on a national or global level.
