A worlda' hip-hop

Hip-hop continues to be US-centric, with heads from within the contiguous 48 not paying much attention to what's going on outside the borders. Sure, there's the occasional "world hip-hop" compilation (anyone remember 1993's Planet Rap on Tommy Boy?), but how much people that proclaim themselves true heads really make it a point to search out what crews from other countries are doing?

I've recently been dipping my toes into the Polish hip-hop scene. The 3-X-Klan's Dom Pełen Drzwi from 2000 is a wicked l'il piece of work with some solid beats (the album opens with a music box and leads into a really dope orchestral track), nice flows, and eerie background vocals. Even better, though, is a 2004 compilation titled Kodex 2 Proces. The production is as good as anything you're hearing from the states today and the emcees are clearly not bandwagon jumpers, but cats from across the pond that are just as entrenched in the hip-hop culture as we are. My favorite track is "Powietrze" by O.S.T.R., where the simple, bouncy beat is reminiscent of some of the best mid-90s productions and the delivery has that intensity that is becoming less and less common. Check out the MP3 sample at the previous link. I've gotta find more stuff by these guys.

Anyone else have any favorite non-North American emcees or groups that I should check out?

Update: I stumbled upon a discography of Dutch hip-hop dating back to the mid-80s. It's part of the much larger Universal Hip-Hop.

Comments

[Bol]

>Anyone else have any favorite non-North American emcees or groups that I should check out?

No.

[Peter Mac]

Check Mareko from New Zealand. Hes got a 12 out in the US, with Inspectah Deck and Scram Jones.

[Ray-knowledge]

Check 'Opgezwolle' from the Netherlands, you will understand basically nothing, but it is dope music.
There are also got some great producers in the Netherlands and belgium.
Such as: Nicolay (check www.nicolaymusic.com)Krewcial(www.krewcial.com)and of course the website of Opgezwolle (www.opgezwolle.nl.)France & Germany are making noise too, but i'm not familair with the scene over there.

Greetings from Amsterdam

(excuse my poor english)

[islamoyankee]

I'm a fan of the Muslim hip-hop movement in France. Zebda is one of my favorite groups. Also inclined to IAM and its members Akhenaton, and Imhotep. You should also check out the soundtrack to "Comme un Aimant."

[Hashim]

that Universal Hip Hop site is a great find. Too bad there's no email sign-up or rss feed. I'll probably forget about the site tommorrow.