Alternative hip hop artists are an emerging group in the hip-hop industry. Alternative hip-hop mixes sound of original rap music, with sounds that are initially expected to go against the grain, such as rock and funk. Made extremely popular by Kanye West and OutKast, these industry leaders have given rise to other unique sounds like those created by Macklemore.
Mixing two different sounds, while using a modern hip-hop beat makes for catchy tunes, and lots of radio air play. Other sounds to be mixed with the gangster hip-hop sound include jazz, reggae, country, soul, and even folk. Beastie Boys are some of the original creators of the genre, which gave rise to many modern day artists. Alternative hip hop artists mostly originated from the East coast, while the West Coast music industry was being dominated by Gangster Rap.
Initially alternative hip hop saw a rapid decline after being taken over by Gangster rap artists like NWA. But, alternative hip hop artists like Kanye West and others revived the scene with albums like Graduation. These artists have dominated the whole music industry by using the genre of alternative hip-hop, and have made great music because of the innovation. Some of the alternative hip hop artists that have been reviewed by Indie Music Plus are listed below…
The word “Classic” is not one that I like to throw around but, this Contagion project by Sick.Life has all the makings of a Classic Hip-Hop album. I mean, this thing is truly solid from front to back. Production, Lyrics and the chemistry between the artists all blend well together to make a truly great […]
Mandabrat, born Shame Manda in Mutare, Zimbabwe, is a producer/DJ now based in South Africa. He is churning out the tunes and we’ve had the pleasure of reviewing a few of them. I’m happy to see the consistent progression and “The Road Trip” is going down in the books as one of his best yet. […]
Upon first listen, “Unbelieveable” by Vizualye gives off a very weird yet hypnotic vibe, similar to that of popular recording artist The Weeknd. The first 42 seconds of the song has the listener admiring producer Tone Jonez’ ability to fuse Techno, Hip-Hop and R&B into one potentially incredible “Club Banger”. And as if that wasn’t […]
Based in Houston, TX, but originally from Nigeria, ZuluGod is making waves for himself in a foreign country. He emigrated from Nigeria around 7 years ago when he was 16. We first noticed ZuluGod after playing his song “Purple Dank” on one of our recent shows. He claims he wasn’t high but only on the […]
I’ve often thought that rappers do not nearly often enough reference “the electronic document in which data is arranged in the rows and columns of a grid and can be manipulated and used in calculations,” otherwise known as a spreadsheet. Finally an MC, Daze The Nomad, has the courage to talk about these electronic documents […]
Annnnnnd the man MandaBrat is back. Born in Mutare, Zimbabwe, on March 27, 1979, he has become a household name around the Indie Music Plus block. We’ve reviewed several tunes by MandaBrat over the past year and you can find them by typing his name in the search box in the sidebar on our website. Mandabrat […]
The track begins with a Hip-Hop Willy Wonka-ish vibe, provided by the melodic tones of the synthesized piano slowly building up to what feels like something EPIC! As the high hats kick in, we hear our Master of Ceremonies ZuluGod for the first time. After a brief introduction, he wastes no time beginning his first […]
Royal Ruckus, ok, the name piqued my interest. I was super surprised and super pissed at the same time when I found out the group has been around for 19 years! I’m surprised because I’ve never heard of them until recently and pissed because I’VE NEVER HEARD OF THEM UNTIL RECENTLY! We had a chance […]
