I fell in love with hip hop listening to albums Low End Theory by a tribe called Quest and then Illmatic by Nas. I enjoyed the jazz influence of tribe “cause the beats” were “hard but gentle”. The way Nas painted pictures of his experience of Queensbridge and his imagination of living a better life captivated my 13-year-old mind. Those two albums have shaped my perspective on rap more than any other aspect of the culture.  I would suggest to any hip hop newcomer to listen to those albums first. They offer a depth in both instrumentation and lyrical capabilities.  I would argue that Public Enemy’s song “Fight the Power” off the Do the Right Thing Soundtrack...