Best Underground Internet Hip Hop Artists

The Internet has provided a platform for a multitude of diverse music, put together with relative ease and sent forth to millions across the globe within short spans of time. Two artists across the globe can work on the same project, separated by many hundreds or thousands of miles, through the magic of the upload and the download; at one spot on the Earth, one could be putting together beats and samples; at the other end of the Earth, the vocalist could receive those beats and add his lyrical finesse to the mix.

During this time of Internet proliferation of music, I discovered my favorite Underground Internet Hip Hop artists. No longer was it necessary to sift through stacks at the record shops, I had access to the most obscure, diverse, and skilled Hip Hop artists at my fingertips and on the World Wide Web. Here, I list and explore some of the finest of Hip Hop's Internet Underground which reflects the diversity of the artists and the experiences they express.

Lyrics Born, part Japanese and part Jewish, with soulful and funky sounds, has the perfect product for progressive Hip Hop; he is based in Berkeley, California, the Bay Area, home of the 60s radical free speech movement, hippies, Black Panthers, and student and anti-war protest. For certain, his lyrics reflect this political and social consciousness, perfect for the flavor and texture that is Hip Hop.

Blue Scholars are Geologic (AKA Prometheus Brown) and Sabzi. Sabzi provides music and DJ skills, a trained musician and adept at putting together unique groovy sounds which compliment the vocal mellowness and depth of Geo's lyrical art. Both men are from Seattle, famous for its musical trend setting, having met at the University of Washington where they both began making music together; soon becoming a major force on Seattle's exploding Hip Hop scene. Geo is Filipino-American, and his lyrics reflect this fact, exposing the brutalities of colonialism and the class struggle of Filipino immigrants who'd been exploited as cheap farm labor. Geo is clearly versed in history and culture, as well as politics, which catapult his eloquent writing and smooth delivery. Sabzi's rhythms and sound have unique flavor and add spice and impetus to Geo's charged rhymes.

Sabzi also DJs and produces music for the incredible, radical, explosive MC Ra Scion, and together they form the group Common Market. Ra Scion looks rough and rugged and his rhymes match that look, speaking on the plight of the poor and economic injustice. A person can't help but be drawn into his music, drawn into the struggle, realizing it is your struggle: Ra makes this clear. He urges the listener to push back against a system that degrades him physically, mentally, and spiritually. With incredible eloquence and deftness, he guides you into the depths of a psyche destroyed by a social and economic structure that fundamentally erodes the human being; but he shows you that you will pool your psychological resources together to blast the corrupt structure to bits and free yourself. Ra Scion hits the nail on the head.

The Internet and the evolution of Hip Hop has brought great diversity to the genre, bringing together artists from varied backgrounds and experiences, delivering the same diversity of messages. The skill, subject matter, and depth of coverage in Hip Hop has accordingly expanded, bringing us some of the best music to date, more than we might have dreamed back in the day. Hip Hop Ya Don't Stop.