Has anyone here ever heard of Alternative Rap?  It's basically what Alternative Rock was like in the 1980's (as in, it's an actual alternative, not mainstream stuff proclaiming to be alternative).  Anyway, one of my friends lent me some albums by Talib Kweli and Common yesterday and it's actually really good stuff.  It's a lot more intelligent than Mainstream Rap and actually has a thing called substance, something mainstream Rap seems to have forgotten.  It's also not really gangsta either (that's a separate form of Underground Rap, Alternative Rap tries to be different from the hip-hop stereotype).

Anyway, has anyone else heard any Alternative Rap?  Stuff like Talib Kweli, Common, Jurassic 5, etc.  If so, does anyone have any recommendations for further listening?  If anyone hasn't heard it, the two albums my friend lent me were Talib Kweli's Quality and Common's Be (which actually got some degree of mainstream exposure last year).  Both awesome albums, in my opinion, that show that good Rap nowadays does exist, even if it's underground.  Next week, my friend is going to lend me an album by Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, who I've heard is also supposed to be really good.

Yeah, I really like Common's music. His CD from 2000, "Like Water For Chocolate" is a really good album. I also have a CD by Jurassic 5. Also, Slum Village has a similar style to Common.

...and if you enjoyed Public Enemy in the 80s, you'll enjoy their 2006 release.

From the groups I've seen mentioned in this thread thus far, "alternative" rap is a return to what rap was when it began.  And (in my not-so-humble opinion) that's a hell of an improvement.  If you like today's alternative rap but don't know what 80s rap was, try going back to the early '80s, and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

YES.

Atmosphere, The Phormula, Sage Francis, awesome stuff man!  :)