Some of my favorite artists (plus artwork by a homie)

So since I have had quite a weird life, I might have different preferences on the Hip Hop I listen to when concerning certain MC's. I will present a list (plus artwork done by the incredible AZHQone) 

Last job he did for me was a drawing on Gang Starr... Since the unexpected news of DOOM I started reminiscing more about heroes that passed away. Guru being one of them. I chose a picture that wasn't clear enough to work from, but he managed to deliver quality as usual. Guru would not be on my top 10 MC's of all time when concerning favoritism. He would be when I look at it from a more objective point of view... Anyway here is the drawing and I hope people like this one!

Next up will be my favorite WestCoast MC. Back in the day, I used to sleep on a lot of WestCoast Underground. Saafirwas kinda one of them, even though I copped this album back in the day already (and got rid of it too, pretty quick). It was meant to be that I ran into a great seller from Miami, Florida that had a copy of this album for sale on FaceBook. I remembered my homie (who btw also produced for Dopestyle1231) was a huge fan and made me listen to the album's evaluation copy again and again. I fell in love at last with this MC's style. I bought most of his other stuff meanwhile too and play 'Boxcar Sessions' at least once a week on the stereo with pretty loud volume... Saafir is lyrically, technically, and voicewise an MC who differs quite a lot from the rest. He is one of those special ones IMHO. I will babble no longer and present the picture of the drawing:

Now we are going through with the next one. My favorite MC, or at least the one I got the biggest weak spot for Canibus. The story of how I got to learn to appreciate Canibus might seem weird to some. Back in '96, I wasn't feeling that buzz he was making at that time. This was strongly underlined when he decided to drop 2nd Round Knock Out. LL was my first favorite ever, and even though he had loads of tracks I did not dit that much I couldn't stand this. I was anti-Canibus for life (so I thought). In '99 I got stuck at home due to a very complex mental disorder pattern that I still suffer from (but can handle this way and way better now). A couple of years later I got to know a guy on MSN Messenger (yes, those days) who told me about Canibus great lyrical ability... I was kinda like: Yeah whatever, still having the LL-incident in my head. In that period I went to my old record store who was selling everything they had, including 2000 BC from Canibus. I copped it and I loved the track with Rakim! Rakim was all that for me at that time (and still is).  Learned to appreciate it a bit more, but as time went by no more Canibus-playing along the way. In 2017 I got detoxed from a crazy hard chemical straitjacket they had me in for 10+ years. My growth started musically with Poet Laureate II, I was deciphering it and loved the choice of words and way of rhyming by Canibus. Got interested more when I saw a video displaying him as #3 rapper OAT on a big ass YT-account. The rest is history... Had a great race to get all albums and still don't have all 3 discs of Lyrical Law, but I do got the album itself and it's a signed copy...so quite happy. Canibus will remain my weakest spot forever. Here we go:

Next up, before mentioned Rakim. The greatest rapper of all time didn't die on march 9th (had to link back to Bus), he is still alive (not kicking it that much anymore though). Rakim was love at a first ear... Back when I heard his first 12", tapes were being passed along in those days like crazy in the city where I lived (a city with quite some heads then and still these days it has quite a Hip Hop and also Graffiti-scene). If I were to be objective, this is the GOAT I'd say. Even though his solo work got less and lesser of quality with each release... His body of work with Eric B. (and we all know quite some other producers mingled in) is enough for that. 4 classics straight following each other. I ain't that eager to call an album a classic too soon... But the 4 Eric B. & Rakim LPs are IMHO. Saw him 'live' as a matter of fact one time. It was the most disappointing thing ever though. He was lipsyncing and I was disappointed as can be. Still, I know he can do it at a live show, so I hope I will get a 2nd chance at that. I even have a Rakim-portrait on my left calf. To end it positive, the feature on the Busta album and the recent joint for a series or something made me semi-enthusiastic... Will he be dropping another (quality-)release. Let us pray! Btw: I am doing the high-quality scan as a picture, if you wanna steal it, be my guest... The joke would be on you!

Next up the late Big L... What can I say, I saw this cat live in Nijmegen where he was kind of a surprise-act to come along with O.C. He killed it! Was always a fan of his IMHO very funny and deadly punchlines. His flow was super nice as well. It's kind of a trend to play down his importance and the quality of his stuff (especially on Hip Hop-Twitter). I think his name would be amongst the GOAT's undoubtedly when he wasn't killed for something he did not even was to blame for... Well, I loved his debut from the start. Copped when it dropped! I kinda do love the 2nd album (post-mortem) and all projects after. Big L is never a miss for me when he drops a verse. He never disappointed me... A biopic or a nice documentary is what the public wants (I am on a few social media and forums)... Once again AZHQ killed it and you ain't getting a quality scan on this one!

Last but certainly not least: Kool Keith. A weak spot since I first heard the Critical Beatdown album, well back then it was great enthusiasm. Never heard an MC quite that good tbh. Technically who could and probably still can f*ck with the best MCs out there. The first 3 and some of the unofficial releases of Ultramag are nice as can be. The 4th studio album was a disaster and most of his solo-albums lack quality production-wise throughout (most) of the album. That he still can spit is no question, I am hoping for a mad Keith who will diss the entire industry as he did on Matthew and Dr.Dooom... Two of the most overlooked and underrated albums in Hip Hop as far as I am concerned. This was the first drawing AZHQ did for me... I was super enthusiastic by the result back then. He executed my idea superbly and translated it into a super dope drawing. Based on his stories about Bellevue and the Straitjacket he wears in the Poppa Large video. I used to have 40+ Keith albums but almost sold the entire bunch... To my regret at his point (well, I fucked up more with selling albums)... Might be trying to get some again at a certain point, cause you gotta love Keith!

This was it, if you love these types of drawings don't hesitate to contact the originator on Instagram. He is up for nice Hip Hop-related Graffitidrawings any given day. Though he is a busy person (had to do some plugging extra). Hope you all enjoyed this and love the artwork!

P'z
Peter